College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA) Admission Information

• Have at least a 3.0 GPA*** (on a scale in which A equals 4) for the last 60 hours of undergraduate work. The preferred GPA is greater than 3.4.
• Undergraduate leadership experiences in both curricular and co-curricular activities and organizations (if one is coming from a traditional undergraduate background.)  If one is a nontraditional student working full-time, the person is expected to have experience in a community college, college, or University office that works with students.

TO CHECK YOUR STATUS OF THE ADMISSIONS INFORMATION, Create Welcome2ISU account. It is an easy, one-time process that will provide you with quick access to a number of useful services including an online admission application, application status check, financial aid information, important reminders, and much more! https://www.welcome2isu.ilstu.edu/createAccount.jsp

TO CHECK THE STATUS OF THE EAF SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION, contact Kelly Peiffer (kdpeiff@ilstu.edu0.

• Official scores can be obtained from GRE (if < 5 years) or sometimes from a previous institution (sometimes on a transcript). Check with the admissions office for what constitutes an official GRE.
  Computer-based GRE tests may be taken at any time at various centers throughout the nation. Visit http://etsis4.ets.org/tcenter to select a site.
  Download the practice software

The target scores are 900 for combined Verbal and Quantitative sections, and 4.5 for the writing section.  If scores are slightly lower or are inconsistent (lower verbal but high writing score--5 or higher) see the Supplemental information section below.  If scores are substantially below the targets and consistent, one may retake and resubmit GREs.

• Applicants with full-time college or university work experience should have one's supervisor send a letter discussing  leadership and work experience. If no recent academic reference is available, ask a second reference in some supervisory role to address oral and written communication abilities as well as analytical abilities.
• Applicants who are undergraduate students with no full-time college or university experience should have one reference from a faculty member who can discuss academic career specifically addressing oral and written communication skills and analytical abilities. A second reference should come from a supervisor/advisor who can describe leadership abilities and experiences that would relate to the College Student Personnel  Administration program.

TO CHECK THE STATUS OF THE EAF SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION, contact Kelly Peiffer (kdpeiff@ilstu.edu0.

A. Why are you interested in pursuing the College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA) Program?
B. What experiences have you had that prepared you for academic work in the CSPA program?
C. What are your short and long-range career goals?
D. How will the CSPA program help you meet those goals?
E. What qualities and characteristics do you possess that make you a strong candidate for admission to the CSPA program?

Supplemental information that is sent to the EAF Department

The Department considers multiple criteria for admission.  If an applicant does not meet the preferred criteria, the admissions committee looks for strong credentials in the other areas that would indicate success as a graduate student.

Applicants who do not meet the one of the criteria above (such as lower GRE scores, lower GPA, not able to provide a faculty/academic reference, etc.)  are strongly encouraged to  provide additional evidence that would indicate their ability to conduct doctoral research.  For example, if one has a lower verbal GRE score but has published an article, one should submit the article with a note explaining its relevance. The admissions committee looks for consistent indicators of one's ability to complete graduate work. If one measure is not consistent, additional evidence is extremely useful.