Choose a program:

• Statement of Purpose
• Optional Resume

• Statement of Purpose
• Statement of Research/Inquiry
• Optional Resume

Please write 3 seperate essays addressing the following questions:

1. Please submit an autobiographical essay, to include past accomplishments, future career aspirations, and why you are choosing to pursue this degree at this time (from both a personal and professional perspective).

2. Please fully outline your theoretical approach to counseling at this stage in your career.

3. Please discuss any research interests you might have at this point, for future study and for possible dissertation inquiry

• Statement of Purpose
• Statement of Research/Inquiry
• Optional Resume

• Resume Required
• Statement of Purpose
  Please submit a personal statement of no more than 3 pages (double spaced) that addresses the following:
  1. How your prior experiences have prepared you to enter a Ph.D. program
  2. Why you are interested in MSU's Family Studies Ph.D. program
  3. How your educational/research experiences at MSU will contribute to your professional and career plans
  4. Indicate up to three faculty members in Family and Child Studies with whom you are interested in working and explain why
  5. Your long-term professional and career plans.
• Scholarly Writing Sample
  Please submit a document you wrote alone or took the lead in writing. For example: a literature review, an honor's thesis; or a manuscript published, accepted for publication, or submitted for publication. If you do not have a scientific writing sample, please write a 3-4 page (double spaced) literature review, incorporating citations from the scientific literature, on a topic related to family studies that you are interested in pursuing as part of your graduate studies.

• Statement of Purpose
• Statement of Research/Inquiry
• Optional Resume

• Statement of Purpose
• Statement of Research/Inquiry
• Optional Resume

• Autobiographical Essay
• Conception of Good Teaching Essay
• Statement of Research/Inquiry
• Required Resume

Please write an integrated essay (1-2 pages) on your long term professional goals, addressing the following questions:

• How has your Master's in Counseling degree influenced your current position as a counseling professional or intern?
• What population(s) do you plan to work with in your professional discipline, and what special knowledge will this certificate afford you?
• If this certificate will enable you to change your professional direction in terms of setting/population, please explain why you desire this change? (For example, if you have a Master's in School Counseling and would like to gain an LPC).

A personal statement of your professional objectives
This statement, 1-2 pages in length, is your opportunity to explain your reasons for seeking the MBA degree. You may discuss any of the following topics:

• Your ultimate career goals, and the ways in which you expect the MBA to advance them.
• Personal and/or professional accomplishments that demonstrate your ability to master new challenges.
• Gaps in your existing knowledge or experience that affects your job satisfaction or productivity, and that you believe will be addressed by the MBA.

Please note that this statement is your opportunity to demonstrate your written communication skills as well as your interest in the MBA.

Please write an integrated essay (1-2 pages) on your long term professional goals, addressing the following questions:

• What are your plans for graduate study and your future career?
• Describe your experiences and settings with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including your approach to education and intervention and any opportunities you have had to collaborate with other professionals and disciplines.
• Please provide any additional information you would like us to consider in assessing your candidacy for the certificate program.

Please write an integrated essay (1-2 pages) on your long term professional goals, addressing the following questions:

• What experiences have led you to pursue graduate education in Family and Child Studies at Montclair State University? In your answer, please be sure to include relevant experiences in your academic background, professional experience, and research training.
• What do you hope to learn during your graduate studies, and how do you see the graduate program in Family and Child Studies at Montclair State University meeting these goals?
• What are your career plans/objectives once you have completed the program?

Please write an integrated essay providing a response to each of the following questions:

• Identify your topical interests and long-term goals, and explain how your past experiences (educational, professional, etc.) have led you to these interests and goals.
• Explain why you believe that this particular program - one that integrates concepts and practices pertaining to communication within and beyond organizations - will address your topical interest and help you to accomplish your long-term goals. Be specific with regard to course topics and the program's overall design.
• Considering your personal characteristics and life experiences, please clarify what you are likely to contribute to this learning community. Use this opportunity to address anything about yourself that the faculty should know - things that might not be included in your formal application materials, but which will help to familiarize you to us.

Write an essay of no more than three double-spaced pages in response to the prompt below. Your essay can include some description, but it should also demonstrate that you have critically reflected on the profession and your potential place within it. Please write in a concise, formal, professional style. If you make generalizations or assertions, be sure to provide support for them.

Essay prompt

In one integratedessay, thoughtfully discuss each of the areas identified below:

• Why you are interested in the profession in which you want to pursue graduate work and, if applicable, the particular concentration within that profession;
• Your knowledge of issues and trends in this profession or field;
• What areas and topics you hope to study in depth and why;
• Any related professional or personal experiences you have had, including opportunities to collaborate with other professionals, and how these experiences make you particularly well-suited for the profession;
• Potential challenges and opportunities associated with diversity you think are relevant to the profession you are pursuing. Be sure to explain what you mean by "diversity" (related, for example, to race, gender, age, sexual orientation, language, dis/ability) and how it may pose challenges or present opportunities.

Please write an integrated essay providing a response to each of the following questions:

• What are your goals for graduate study and your future career?
• In what ways do your academic background and your professional experiences provide evidence of your potential for success in the program you selected and in your eventual career? Please give specific examples of relevant coursework and/or experience.
• Is there any further information we should consider in assessing your candidacy?

A major goal of Montclair State University’s teacher education program is to educate teachers who understand how to prepare their students for democratic citizenship. Democratic citizenship includes the ability to think critically and to play an active role in improving our society.

Please review the “Portrait of a Teacher” on the next page and note that several of the standards in the Portrait focus on this important goal. In a cohesive essay of three to four double-spaced, typed pages, please write about item numbers 5 or 6 from the “Portrait of a Teacher” addressing the following questions:

In your life as a citizen, student, and future teacher of this society, what experiences are reflective of this standard? Additionally, what experiences in your life have conflicted with this standard?

Envision yourself as a teacher. How would you foster a classroom climate that would promote this standard in your discipline? You might begin by reflecting on some of your own classroom experiences as a student. Which things would you do differently and which would you emulate in creating such as classroom climate?

Montclair State University
PORTRAIT OF A TEACHER
The Montclair State University community is committed to the continuing development of teachers who exemplify the dispositions, knowledge, and skills reflected in this portrait. They:

1. Have expert knowledge of the disciplines they will teach and can use various strategies, including media and technology, for creating learning experiences that make the subject matter accessible and meaningful to all students.
2. Understand how children and adolescents learn and develop in a variety of school, family and community contexts, and can provide learning opportunities that support their students’ intellectual, social, and personal development.
3. Understand the practice of culturally responsive teaching. They understand that children bring varied talents, strengths, and perspectives to learning; have skills for learning about the diverse students they teach; and use knowledge of students and their lives to design and carry out instruction that builds on students’ individual and cultural strengths.
4. Plan instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, families, communities, and curriculum goals and standards; and taking into account issues of class, gender, race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, age, and special needs in designing instruction.
5. Understand critical thinking and problem solving, and create learning experiences that promote the development of students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills and dispositions.
6. Understand principles of democracy and plan and carry out instruction that promotes democratic values and communication in the classroom.
7. Understand and use multiple forms of assessment to promote the intellectual, social, and physical development of learners and to inform instruction.
8. Create a community in the classroom that is nurturing, caring, safe, and conducive to learning.
9. Are reflective practitioners who continually inquire into the nature of teaching and learning, reflect on their own learning and professional practice, evaluate the effects of their choices and actions on others, and seek out opportunities to grow professionally.
10. Build relationships with school colleagues, families, and agencies in the community to support students’ learning and well-being, and work to foster an appreciation of diversity among students and colleagues.
11. Possess the literacy skills associated with an educated person; can speak and write English fluently and communicate clearly.
12. Develop dispositions expected of professional educators. These include belief in the potential of schools to promote social justice; passion for teaching; and commitment to ensuring equal learning opportunities for every student, critical reflection, inquiry, critical thinking, and life-long learning, the ethical and enculturating responsibilities of educators, and serving as agents of change and stewards of best practice.