Admissions Procedures and Requirements
The primary program faculty serve as an admissions committee and make recommendations to the UTC Graduate School on whether to accept or reject each applicant to the program. The admissions committee has developed admissions standards designed to serve the goal of admitting students it believes will be successful in the program.
All application materials should be submitted to the UTC Graduate School at the following address:
The Graduate School
103 Race Hall
Dept 5305
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37403
(423) 425-4666
Fax: (423) 425-5223
The Graduate School notifies the program coordinator when an applicant's file is complete and ready for review by the admissions committee. Applications are considered for admission during the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters ("rolling admissions"), hence new students can be admitted at the beginning of any of these semesters. Note, it is preferred that new students begin in the Summer or Fall semesters.
An applicant becomes a student by:
1) Filing an application for admission with the UTC Graduate School. An application form can be requested by phone at (423) 425-4666 or accessed on the web at http://www.utc.edu/Administration/GraduateSchool/forms/Applications.php
2) Paying an application fee of $30.00
3) Submitting all college transcripts. (To be accepted an applicant applying with a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.7 or a GPA of 3.0 during his/her senior year. An applicant from an unaccredited college must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.)
An applicant with a bachelor's degree seeking admission to the program as a degree student must:
1) Submit scores (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing) on the Graduate Record Examination. Verbal and Quantitative scores will be combined with the applicant's undergraduate GPA to form an admissions index score. Student index scores are calculated using the formula:
Index Score= 200 x (Undergrad GPA) + 0.5 x (GRE Verbal) + 0.5 x (GRE Quantitative)
For Example, recently admitted students had an average Undergraduate GPA of 3.40, Verbal GRE score of 490 and Quantitative GRE Score of 520. Thus:
Index Score= 200 x (3.4) + 0.5 x (490) + 0.5 x (520) = 1185
Students meeting or exceeding a minimum admissions index score of 1,000 will be considered for admission; however, it is noted that meeting admissions index criteria does not guarantee program admission. Competitiveness of a particular index score will vary based on the quality of the scores of other applicants.
2) Show evidence of having completed a minimum of 18 semester hours of undergraduate or graduate courses in psychology and/or education (with no grade below C) including:
- Three (3) semester hours in general or educational psychology
- Three (3) semester hours in child/adolescent development
- Three (3) semester hours of characteristics of exceptional children
(An applicant lacking one or more of these courses can be accepted into the School Psychology program as a degree graduate student but must complete any missing course(s) prior to becoming a candidate for the Ed.S. degree.)
3) Submit three (3) letters of reference from professors and/or community professionals familiar with his/her academic and/or professional work.
4) Submit a personal statement describing his/her reasons for wishing to become a school psychologist.
An applicant with a graduate degree seeking admission to the concentration must:
1) Submit transcripts of all graduate work. A student with a GPA above 3.0 on all graduate work will be considered for admission.
2) Show evidence of having completed a minimum of 18 semester hours of undergraduate or graduate courses in psychology and/or education (with no grade below C), including three (3) semester hours in general or educational psychology, three (3) semester hours in child/adolescent development, and three (3) semester hours of characteristics of exceptional children. (An applicant lacking one or more of these courses can be accepted into the School Psychology program as a degree graduate student but must complete any missing course(s) prior to becoming a candidate for the Ed.S. degree.)
3) Submit three (3) letters of reference from professors and/or community professionals familiar with his/her academic and/or professional work.
4) Submit a personal statement describing his/her reasons for wishing to become a school psychologist.
Following his/her admission to the program as a degree student, each student has an orientation conference with Dr. Guess. During this conference, students who lack professional experience in either education or psychology are encouraged to pursue volunteer opportunities in schools. The program faculty believes that such experience as a volunteer helps "contextualize" and make more meaningful the knowledge and skills that students will be acquiring during their initial courses in the program.
DEADLINES
The program considers applicants for admission to the program during all semesters. However, students are strongly encouraged to begin the program in either the summer or fall semester. Application deadlines are as follows:
March 1st - Summer admission
June 15th (**March 1st Priority deadline**) - Fall admission
**Students may be asked to attend a campus visit/interview day in March. Attendance is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended.**
NOTE: For applicants wishing to apply for a Graduate Assistantship through the Graduate School, the deadline for the Graduate Assistantship application is February 1st. Form for Graduate Assistantship can be found at: http://www.utc.edu/Administration/GraduateSchool/documents/AppforGraduateAssistantship.pdf
