APPLYING TO A MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY SCHOOL
There are many types of students who apply to marriage and family therapy training programs. These students range from newly graduated baccalaureate students to experienced professionals who are returning to school to enhance their skills or change careers. The following information was developed with this wide range of applicants in mind. Our aim is to familiarize you with the general application process for marriage and family therapy programs and to suggest steps you can take that may improve your chances of getting accepted. As you look over this information, keep in mind that each applicant will have strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others. Your goal should be to identify and emphasize your strengths in your applications and interviews with programs.
There is a lot you can do to prepare yourself for admission into a marriage and family therapy program even a year or two before you plan to send in your applications. The more you can do right now, today, to ensure that you meet the admissions criteria, the more confident you will feel as you send in your applications and attend interviews at prospective programs. You will then be able to communicate this confidence to your prospective programs and enhance your ability to gain admission.
Getting Clinical Experience
Having clinical experience is one of the most important aspects of your application to a
marriage and family therapy program. Because it is essential that marriage and family
therapists have good interpersonal skills and emotional maturity, graduate programs will
be looking for evidence that you have been successful in working with people.
If you have experience as a therapist already, emphasize this information in your application. Write clearly about your clinical experience in your statement of objectives essay and be sure to ask at least one person who is familiar with your clinical work to write a reference for you. During interviews, be sure to highlight your clinical experience and explain clearly why marriage and family therapy training will enhance your clinical career.
If you don't have experience yet, get some, as much of it as you can. Many colleges and universities offer internship or externship programs for college credit. Internships are typically held during the fall or spring semesters and can give you experience in local women's shelters, teen homes, crisis hotlines, mental health centers, etc. Your career center may also offer externship programs with university alumni during the summer. Check into your extracurricular program to see if any volunteer experiences are available, perhaps on a rape crisis hotline, through community service, or at the student health center. If you are not currently enrolled in college, ask your your local community mental health center about their volunteer programs.
Whatever the source of your clinical experience, search for a placement that will allow you to have contact directly with clients. Also look for a placement where you can establish a relationship with the internship coordinator or clinical supervisor. You will want someone from your placement to write a recommendation for you about your interpersonal and/or clinical skills. Marriage and family therapy programs value references from individuals who can evaluate your interpersonal and clinical skills.
References
In addition to a reference about your clinical and interpersonal skills, you will need one
to two more references. If you are currently in an undergraduate program, you will want
one of these references to be an academic reference. Keep this in mind as you choose your
courses during your last two years of your undergraduate program. You will want to get to
know at least one college professor very well, so that he or she can write more on your
reference than just "Sarah was a good student", or "Dan got the highest
score on the final exam". You will want your academic reference to be able to discuss
your character, your motivation, your love for the field, etc. There are two places where
you can get to know a college professor well. One place is in an upper level course in
your major. These classes tend to be smaller and allow for more interaction between you
and the professor. Another place to get to know a professor is to volunteer to be a
research assistant. Many colleges offer college credit or tuition waivers for research
assistantships. Serving as an assistant will allow you to work one-on-one with a professor
for one or more semesters.
If you are currently in a master's degree program, you will also want one of your references to be an academic reference. Choose one of your graduate professors that is familiar with all elements of your academic career including your didactic, research and clinical skills. You will also want this reference to be able to discuss your character, your motivation, your love for the field, etc.
If you have not attended college recently and do not have a good academic reference, you will want one of your references to be from a supervisor or manager who is familiar with your skills, motivation and character. If this person is unfamiliar with the field of marriage and family therapy, be sure to educate him or her about the field so that he or she write an informed reference for you.
Statement of Objectives Essay
Many marriage and family therapy programs require a statement of objectives essay as part
of their application process. The programs use this essay to assess your writing skills,
your level of motivation, your maturity, your interest in the field, and your belief in
marriage and family therapy. Take time before you begin writing to really think about what
you have to offer your prospective program and the field of marriage and family therapy.
If you are not familiar with the field, go to a career center or library and read up on
marriage and family therapy so that you can tailor your discussion of your skills and
strengths to match the requirements for marriage and family therapists. This essay is your
sales pitch -- don't be afraid to tell the program about what makes you unique and
special.
If you have the time, take several weeks to write the essay so that you have time to refine and improve it. Have a couple of other people read your essay to get their feedback and to check for spelling errors.
Interviewing: Almost all marriage and family therapy programs require a personal interview before they make their final selections each year. As mentioned earlier, they are looking for highly motivated, mature students who have good interpersonal skills and an interest in marriage and family therapy. It is important to prepare yourself for the interview so that you can project confidence and competence. Research the program and the field of marriage and family therapy ahead of time and use this information to anticipate the types of questions they might ask. Think about the same kinds of things you thought about when writing your essay:
- What qualities can you bring to the program and to the field?
- What type of clinical experience have you had and how did you feel about that experience?
- What types of research interests do you have?
- What do you know about the field of marriage and family therapy?
- Why did you decide to apply to this particular program?
- Why did you choose the field of marriage and family therapy?
Be prepared to participate in role plays or other experiential exercises -- many programs include these exercises as a way to observe you "in action". Be sure to get plenty of sleep the night before the interview and relax the day of the interview. Remember, if they selected you for the interview, you are qualified to be in the program! You can relax now and show them your "stuff". Also be prepared with a list of questions that you want to ask the program during the interview.
GRE Scores
The most obvious statement here is to earn a high score, the higher the better. Many
applicants feel frustrated by this, especially if they are not good test-takers or freeze
up during major exams like the GRE. The good news is that there are many excellent GRE
preparation courses available all over the country. While these prep courses cannot teach
you every single vocabulary word you need to know for the exam, they can teach you how to
take the test, including how to approach the questions and how make sure that your
strengths shine through. If at all possible, choose a prep course that offers sample tests
under real testing conditions so that you can practice taking the test and learn where
your strengths and weaknesses are. Then you can focus your study efforts on your weak
areas and not waste your study time on areas in which you already excel.
Grades: Like with the GRE, the most obvious statement here is to get good grades, the higher the better. Most programs look for a GPA of 3.0 or above, some look for 3.5 or above. What may be less obvious are the types of courses that you should take. Programs look not only at your overall GPA, but also at what types of courses you took. A student who has a 3.7 and took abnormal psychology, research and upper level psychology courses will look better on paper than a student who had a 3.7 and took basketweaving and entry level courses. In general, aim to take upper level courses in your major, in addition to courses in abnormal psychology, statistics, child development and research. Check with your prospective programs and see what types of prerequisite coursework they have for admission.
Research
Most marriage and family therapy programs require students to take research and statistics
courses. Because many universities require graduate professors to conduct original
research, programs will look for applicants who have experience conducting psychological
research and have an interest in helping professors with their research. So, you should
try to take at least one research course and one statistics course prior to applying for
admission into a graduate program in marriage and family therapy. If you have the
opportunity to serve as a research assistant during your undergraduate or master's career,
do it. You may discover an area of the field that interests you, and you will be much more
valuable to your prospective graduate program if you have had this experience. An added
bonus -- many graduate programs have paid research assistantships -- you could work your
way through graduate school conducting research!
If you graduated several years ago from your undergraduate or master's degree program, you will have less control over the courses you took, the research experience you had, and the grades you earned. It is a good idea to ask your prospective programs about their prerequisite requirements. Many programs allow you to take your prerequisite courses after you have been admitted into their program. Others may recommend that you enroll as a continuing education student to take the courses and then reapply to their program.
If you are concerned that your grades will not gain you admission into the program, take time to think about what other aspects of your experience could make up for your grades. Make sure to emphasize these aspect of your experience in your application and during your interviews.
Our last suggestion for application to marriage and family therapy programs is to be a good consumer. Not only do you need to sell yourself to the programs, but you also need to determine which programs will be a good fit for you. Because marriage and family therapy training is a very personal and intimate adventure, you will want to feel comfortable with the program's focus and with the philosophy of your professors, supervisors and mentors. Be sure to think about what you want, in addition to what the program is looking for, so that you can ask the right questions and gather the information you will need when the acceptance letters come and you need to make a decision. If you are honest with yourself and are clear about your desires, you will succeed in selecting a program that allows you to learn the art of marriage and family therapy in a comfortable and supportive atmosphere.
© 2002 American Association for Marriage
and Family Therapy • 112 South Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3061
Phone: (703) 838-9808 • Fax: (703) 838-9805