GRE REQUIRED AT UTAH COUNSELING PH.D.?

[EyelandPsychePhD]

Hello SDN, I would greatly appreciate if the general public could help me out.

Is it just me, or do most APA accredited school websites manage to have conflicting information about whether or not the GRE is required on their sites? For example, one link within the application FAQ will say they're not required for Fall 2021, but then another link within their application FAQ will say that they are. Whoever is editing these sites is not very thorough and it is driving me crazy.

Anyways, here is a great example. Can someone help me figure out what this means? Admissions Information - Department of Educational Psychology - The University of Utah.

I am trying to apply to University of Utah's Counseling Ph.D. program, and it says

• GRE Scores(Optional for Fall 2021 admissions): You must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for all programs except for IDET and Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Reading and Literacy M.Ed. applicants take the writing section only. Plan to take this test at least one month before your application date, as it takes an average of three weeks to get your scores back. This test is administered by Educational Testing Services (ETS). Your GRE Scores must be forwarded to the University of Utah (Code 4853) by ETS. Personal photocopies are not sufficient. For more information you may contact ETS or your university's testing center.

Sooooo is the GRE optional? Or are they mandatory for the Counseling Ph.D.? (FYI, IDET and Clinical Mental Health Counseling are different from the Counseling Psychology Ph.D.).

I would just e-mail the school but I really need to send my list of schools to my recommendation writer and I probably won't apply here if GRE's are required. Since it's the weekend, I don't want to e-mail my recommender with my finalized list asking her to write one for this school and then have to e-mail her later and say nevermind.

Has anyone happened to have contacted this school or attended a scheduled virtual info session? Any info would help. Thanks all!

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[WorkLifeBalance]

It sounds like it's their standard blurb regarding the GRE and rather than changing it (with the idea that they'll likely have to change it back next year), they've added the parentheses indicating that all of this is optional this year.

 

[Tulsa]

I’m seeing this on the website now:

• GRE Scores: For fall 2021 admissions GRE scores are optional - with the exception of Reading and Literacy M.Ed.: applicants are required to take the writing section only. Please plan to take this test at least one month before your application date, as it takes an average of three weeks to get your scores back. This test is administered by Educational Testing Services (ETS). Your GRE Scores must be forwarded to the University of Utah (Code 4853) by ETS. Personal photocopies are not sufficient. For more information you may contact ETS or your university's testing center.
• My understanding is that the GRE is not required there, but the webpage for the counseling psych program will have more info.
  
  
  
  
  

 

[Lukewarm Counselor]

Hello SDN, I would greatly appreciate if the general public could help me out.

Is it just me, or do most APA accredited school websites manage to have conflicting information about whether or not the GRE is required on their sites? For example, one link within the application FAQ will say they're not required for Fall 2021, but then another link within their application FAQ will say that they are. Whoever is editing these sites is not very thorough and it is driving me crazy.

Anyways, here is a great example. Can someone help me figure out what this means? Admissions Information - Department of Educational Psychology - The University of Utah.

I am trying to apply to University of Utah's Counseling Ph.D. program, and it says

• GRE Scores(Optional for Fall 2021 admissions): You must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for all programs except for IDET and Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Reading and Literacy M.Ed. applicants take the writing section only. Plan to take this test at least one month before your application date, as it takes an average of three weeks to get your scores back. This test is administered by Educational Testing Services (ETS). Your GRE Scores must be forwarded to the University of Utah (Code 4853) by ETS. Personal photocopies are not sufficient. For more information you may contact ETS or your university's testing center.

Sooooo is the GRE optional? Or are they mandatory for the Counseling Ph.D.? (FYI, IDET and Clinical Mental Health Counseling are different from the Counseling Psychology Ph.D.).

I would just e-mail the school but I really need to send my list of schools to my recommendation writer and I probably won't apply here if GRE's are required. Since it's the weekend, I don't want to e-mail my recommender with my finalized list asking her to write one for this school and then have to e-mail her later and say nevermind.

Has anyone happened to have contacted this school or attended a scheduled virtual info session? Any info would help. Thanks all!

The University of Utah (and many others) temporarily suspended their GRE score requirement for PhD applicants due to COVID-19 restrictions. The idea behind this is that some applicants -- particularly those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds -- have less access to such testing or test prep. More, applicants from some regions remain relatively unaffected by the COVID restrictions (like here in Idaho), while applicants from other areas (such as Los Angeles or NYC) have lived with extreme lockdown restrictions this last year.

With this in mind, the UU just wants to level the playing field, so as to provide more equitable consideration for all applicants. It seems very possible that we may see the GRE waivers continued for another year, too, as this COVID stuff will continue into 2021. But time will tell.

That all said, if you can perform well on the GRE, it is never a bad idea to submit these scores. Just know that they will carry less weight for admissions this year and possibly next, as well.

Regards, Eddie