Program Application Materials and Student Selection Process

The first step in the application process is to apply to JSU’s Graduate School at the following Graduate Admissions Portal: https://mygradschool.jsums.edu. After creating an account, you will be able to complete the program application process. After entering personal, demographic, and academic information, you will complete the Supplemental Application. You will also find the Application Instructions, Rights, and Consent Form, which includes the instructions for completing the application and a signature line for the applicant to agrees to participate in the admissions screening, evaluation, interview, and selection process. Note that you can also access the documents at the links noted below.

A. PROGRAM ADMISSION PROCESS

A major goal of this program is retention and graduation of students within the prescribed five years. This is best accomplished by selecting applicants who have the educational foundation, motivation, and personality characteristics required to successfully complete an intensive and rigorous doctoral program.

Admission to the program is very competitive.  There are a limited number of slots (about 6) are available each year. Please note that simply meeting the minimal application standards does not guarantee admission into the program.  Invitations to be interviewed by the graduate faculty are extended to applicants that pass the initial screening process, which is conducted by the entire graduate faculty. Shortly after the interview process is complete, the interviewed applicants will be notified about the status of their application.

Program Application

Application Instructions – Rights – Consent

B. STUDENT SELECTION PROCESS

The application process includes the submission of several important application requirements. The Director of Clinical Training (DCT) is primarily responsible for coordinating and managing the entire process. The application deadline is January 15th of each year. The applicants are instructed to submit all application materials, which can be downloaded from the program website, to the Division of Graduate Studies. The Division of Graduate Studies, subsequently forwards the information to the DCT. The DCT maintains a file on each applicant. The DCT also fields all electronic and telephone inquiries about the program. The DCT routinely informs all applicants about the status of their application via e-mail. During the monthly graduate faculty meetings, the DCT updates the faculty on the selection and admission process.

Once the deadline has ended, a meeting is held with the graduate faculty to initiate the following applicant review process:

  1. All applicants are assigned a minimum of two reviewers.
  2. At least a week is allowed for the assigned reviewers to evaluate his or her assigned applicants through the use of the applicants file and the attached Applicant Evaluation Form.
  3. The DCT facilitates a meeting held to determine which applicants will be granted an interview, which involves assigning each applicant to one of three categories (i.e., Interview, Alternate, and Denial).
  4. Each of the applicants is informed about his or her status (i.e., Interview, Alternate, and Denial).

A meticulous process is utilized to choose the next class of incoming students. Particular attention is paid to the interviewees’ level of academic, clinical, and research background and experiences. The applicant interview process is as follows:

  1. All graduate faculty members are involved in the interview process. Each applicant is assigned a minimum of three interviewers to be present during the interview.
  1. The faculty uses an Interview Rating Form to evaluate the interviewee.
  2. The DCT facilitates a meeting in which each interviewee’s application and interview is discussed in detail. Faculty members may refer to several resources (e.g., letters of recommendation, clinical/research experiences, interview performance, Interview Rating Form scores, etc.) during the discussion. Decisions are including, but not limited to the information on the Interview Rating Form.
  3. The interviewees are placed in one of three categories (i.e., Accept, Alternate, and Denial).
  4. After the top interviewees are designated, the list of Alternates is ranked in case some of the top interviewees accept offers to other programs.
  5. The chosen interviewees are given an April 15th deadline to provide written notification about his or her decision.
  6. After April 15th, the DCT contacts the ranked “Alternate” applicants to inform them whether they will be chosen replace an applicant that chose not to accept our offer.