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Admission Process & Criteria for Graduate Students
Two of the primary tasks of the Office of Graduate Admissions are to assist students through the application process and collect all the admissions requirements submitted by each student.
Each graduate program at the University of Saint Joseph has specific admissions requirements that must be submitted before the student’s application will be reviewed. A list of the specific requirements for each program is available by clicking the program of interest from the Graduate Programs page.
Below is a general list of admissions requirements used by our various graduate programs. The program has the right to add, change, or waive certain requirements for an individual student on a case-by-case basis.
Conversations with a Counselor
For further information, please sign up for a virtual meeting with your Admissions Counselor.
Application & Application Fee
The application is the single most important document submitted by the student because it provides the necessary contact, background, and previous degree information as well as the selection of the student’s program of interest. Furthermore, the application is used to create/start the student’s file at the University of Saint Joseph.
The application fee is a one-time payment of $50 that validates the student’s interest in applying to the University of Saint Joseph. The application fee can be paid online directly after completing the application, by visiting the Student Status Page, or by submitting a check or money order made out to the University of Saint Joseph to the attention of the Office of Admissions.
Transcripts
The University of Saint Joseph requires all candidates applying to a graduate program to provide official transcripts from all undergraduate institution(s) attended. Students should request official transcripts from their institution’s Registrar, either via mail or official electronic (“E-Script”) submission. Official electronic transcripts can be directed to [email protected] Official paper transcripts can be delivered to:
University of Saint Joseph
Office of Admissions
1678 Asylum Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117
The University of Saint Joseph will always require the transcript showing degree conferral of a Bachelor degree program from a regionally-accredited institution for students interested in a Master degree program or graduate certificate program, regardless of the student’s program of interest. The University of Saint Joseph will also require the transcript degree conferral of a Master degree program from a regionally-accredited institution for students interested in Post-Master’s degree programs including the Doctor of Nursing Practice and the Applied Behavior Analysis graduate certificate.
Note: Graduate students cannot be reviewed to take non-matriculated coursework without the minimum of an official or unofficial transcript from their degree conferral institution.
Minimum GPA & Prerequisite Courses
GPA (or grade point average) provides the quantitative knowledge about the student’s past academic experiences on the transcript. At the University of Saint Joseph, many of the graduate programs use a minimum GPA that is set by that individual graduate program. Course prerequisites are used to ensure that every student has a strong foundation to be successful in their program of interest. Course prerequisites are required for the Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Nutrition graduate programs.
For information regarding the minimum GPA and prerequisite courses for a graduate program offered by the University of Saint Joseph, please visit the Admissions Requirements section of that specific graduate program’s listing in the Academic Course Catalog.
Professional Letters of Recommendation
Only two letters of recommendation are required for all programs. These should be from supervisors, colleagues, and/or university professors who can speak to a candidate’s academic or work experience and overall fit for their graduate program of interest.
Instructions on submitting the recommendation will be emailed to the student’s recommenders based on the contact information provided on the application.
Program Essay or Letter of Intent
The program essay or letter of intent is a document used in the admissions process to determine the student’s ability to discuss their past experiences in this area, or how the student’s program of interest will affect both the student’s professional and personal life. All programs require one of these documents for admission, and some provide guidelines to review prior to writing it. You can view these guidelines at the Graduate Forms page. If no specifics are provided for your program of interest, a general letter of intent will suffice.
Resume
A copy of a resume or CV is important to our admission process because it helps paint a broader picture of each candidate outside of their previous academic performance. This document can be used to show prior working experience, internships, academic awards, merits, or other experiences working in a specific field that wouldn’t traditionally be known.
Planned Program of Study
The planned program of study provides information about which elective courses the student plans to take to make up their program of interest. This plan is done at different times in the admissions process, depending on the program of interest.
Students in the online Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Nutrition programs will be contacted upon admission by the faculty advisor with feedback on your course selections. The planned programs of study for those graduate programs are available on our Graduate Forms page. Students in all other programs will be contacted to meet with an advisor to create their planned program.
Copy of RN License (All Nursing Programs)
Because all students in Nursing programs at the Master degree or Doctoral level must be practicing nurses, the RN license is a requirement. A copy of the student’s RN license can be sent to the Office of Admissions via fax, scan/email, standard mail, or the original can be brought to the office for copying by the student.
Proof of Immunization
The proof of immunization requirement is designed to make sure all graduate students attending courses on the University of Saint Joseph campus have been vaccinated for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella. Student Health forms are available online upon formal admission to your program of study on the Student Health Portal. Please note that Pharmacy, Nursing, Dietetic Interns, and Physician Assistant students require different health forms. Please refer to your program for specific details.
Students pursuing fully online degree programs are exempt from this requirement.
Note: Graduate students can be reviewed for admission and can register for their initial semester of coursework without proof of immunizations on file; however, graduate students will be required to be compliant before they can register for their second semester of coursework. Please contact Health Services with questions.