The advanced standing one-year program requires 30–35 credits of coursework and at least 300 hours of internship.
This alternative will allow students to finish their MSCID in one year, provided they have taken certain courses or courses of similar content during their undergraduate years in college. Students will be admitted into the advanced standing program if they have taken at least 7 of the following courses or their equivalents: ACCT 121 - Fundamentals of Accounting , Research Methods I, II, III, IV (BHSC 230 , SOCI 432 , SOCI 433 , SOCI 434 ), SOCI 408 - Emergency Preparedness , BSAD 355 - Management and Organization or PSYC 315 - Organization and Human Resources , SOCI 421 - Development Theory & Practice , SOCI 431 - Needs Assessment and Social Policy , and Social Policy.
Advanced Standing curriculum is based on Regular Standing requirements, with course requirements taken prior to admission as prerequisites waived and credits reduced to no fewer than 30. Students who have taken at least 5 of these prerequisites may be accepted provisionally into the advanced standing program. Provisional status will remain in effect until the prerequisites are completed.
Students majoring in Anthropology, Psychology or Sociology with an emphasis in Emergency Preparedness or Public Health may refer to those sections of the bulletin for specific information on how these prerequisites can be integrated into their major.
In addition to having completed the prerequisites listed above and meeting the general admission requirements of the Andrews University School of Graduate Studies & Research, applicants to the one-year Advanced Standing program should also have the following:
- A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university;
- An overall undergraduate GPA of 3.00 or higher, 3.50 or higher in 8 or more credits of previously taken graduate courses graded A–F. Students may be admitted provisionally with a GPA of 2.6 or higher. Such students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher during their first 12 graduate credits to continue in the program;
- Completed Graduate Application packet.
The director of the program may request a personal interview or a third reference and/or other information.
Students who apply for admission to the MSCID program have two options related to the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). For those students who are seeking a graduate scholarship, the GRE must be taken. Scholarship amounts are based on the score achieved on the exam. For students who do not seek a graduate scholarship based on the GRE score, the GRE is not required.
Incoming graduate students who have finished their undergraduate degree in a relevant field or at a different university, but lack some courses with similar content required for advanced standing in the MSCID program, may take the CLEP test (College-Level Examination Program) so that they may qualify for advanced standing. Decisions regarding what classes could be accepted through CLEP will be taken on an individual basis.
Recommended: A reading knowledge of a foreign language is strongly recommended for those planning on graduate work.
