Congratulations on your acceptance!
Both VA Tech and GMU are highly regarded. They both emphasize multiculturalism
and information technology in their counseling curricula. VA Tech generally
scores higher than GMU in national rankings (though most of these rankings are
for PhD programs in psychology - not exactly your intended program).
Unfortunately, one now has to pay to view USNews rankings. However, the
rankings aren't everything.
The program you choose should best match your priorities and what you
ultimately want to do (without knowing your feelings on these issues, I can't
decide for you). Some factors to consider in choosing your Master's program are
listed below. You may want to talk with the university student services
representatives or current students before you make your final decision.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER:
* Cost of the program
* Associated costs, e.g. living, transport expenses, books and fees (even if
Virginia Tech's Falls Church campus and GMU are relatively close, think of gas
or metro expenses)
* Financial aid offered by the university (especially money you don't have to
pay back, such as grants, scholarships and fellowships)
* Flexibility for you to keep working while studying, if desired
* Time required to complete the program (particularly, how many years the
average student _really_ takes to complete a Masters degree at each institution)
* Flexibility of the curriculum (can you tailor the program to your specific
career goals through additional certificates, programs, coursework; schedule
flexibility if you need to work, etc.)
* Departmental resources (computers, labs, libraries, etc.)
Note: Virginia Tech does offer some distance learning options, but not in its
counseling program. However both Virginia Tech and GMU integrate technology
into their counseling Masters programs.
* Career focus of the program (What aspect of community counseling do you want
to pursue? What aspect does each Masters program emphasize, e.g. academic
counseling vs. mental health counseling vs. career counseling vs. marital
counseling, etc.) VA Tech's counseling program ( http://www.chre.vt.edu/ )
seems to focus more on academic counseling, human resources, mental health and
substance abuse counseling on top of their general core curriculum. Prospective
students focus on "business, design, science, service and teaching." (The VA
Tech CRHE graduate links don't seem to be working right now. When you can,
check out http://www.rgs.vt.edu/grads/). You may want to look at the Human
Development Web site in VA Tech's School of Education (
http://www.chre.vt.edu/HD/ ).
GMU's counseling program ( http://gse.gmu.edu/ ) focuses health and public
policy, with a nice emphasis on multicultural communities and multidisciplinary
studies. Health education is one of the pillars of the university as a whole.
* Potential earnings and job placement for graduates. University rankings play
a part in this, but GMU has recently become quite aggressive in setting up
connections and improving their reputation. Ask each university's career center
for a listing of employers where recent grads in your domain/department
received offers.
* Career services (career counseling, employer on-campus recruiting and other
support for job search)
An interesting aspect of GMU's counseling program is that it is integrated with
GMU student services. Aside from providing standard student counseling
services -- such as time management, stress, eating disorders, etc. -- the GMU
counseling center ( http://www.gmu.edu/departments/csdc/ )offers certificates
through its Self-Development Center, and offers a training program for graduate
students of the Clinical Psychology and Counseling & Development programs. This
qualifies as supervised experience for the license.
* Quality and placement support for the required practicum and internship for
your counseling license. (The Virginia Department of Health Professions
requires 600 hours of supervised practicum and internship before obtaining
their license as a Professional Counselor.)
* Faculty to student ratio, as well as size of university and of the specific
program's student body. If you like smaller classes and communicating with your
professors, this will be important.
The GMU Counseling and Development Program Web page (
http://gse.gmu.edu/programs/counseling/ ) estimates "70 full-time faculty and
up to 100 part-time faculty, approximately 2000 full-time and part-time
students"
I have not found the statistics for Virginia Tech's specific program
* Program satisfaction of current students and alumni
A great thing about both GMU and VA tech are that their institutional
evaluations are publicly available online:
Virginia Tech's Office of Academic Assessment
http://aappc.aap.vt.edu/
GMU's Office of Institutional Assessment
http://assessment.gmu.edu
GMU keeps annual records. You can read students' feelings about the GMU
experience by year:
1999 Graduate Student Exit Survey
http://assessment.gmu.edu/GRAD99/results.cfm?level=C&opt=GSE
2000 Graduate Student Exit Survey
http://assessment.gmu.edu/reports/GRAD/2000/results.cfm?level=C&opt=GSE&choice=0
2000 Counseling and Development and Adult Education
http://assessment.gmu.edu/reports/GRAD/2000/results.cfm?
level=M&opt=CNDV&choice=0
2001 Graduate Student Exit Survey
http://assessment.gmu.edu/results/grad/2001/results.cfm?level=C&opt=GSE&choice=0
2001 Counseling and Development and Adult Education
http://assessment.gmu.edu/results/grad/2001/results.cfm?level=M&opt=CNDV%
2CEDAE&choice=0
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
(How specialized can you make your degree? How specialized do you want it to
be?)
You may be interested in fine-tuning your Masters degree with one of the
additional graduate counseling certificates offered by the university you
choose.
GMU certificates include:
* Post-master's Counseling Licensure (PCLC)
* Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning (ATLC)
* Alternative Education (ALTC)
* Applied Behavior Analysis (ABAC)
* Assistive Technology (ASTC)
* Early Childhood Education (ECEC)
* History (HISC)
* Instructional Technology (INTC)
* Integration of Technology in Schools (ITSC)
* Literacy (LTYC)
* Math (MTHC)
* Multimedia Development (MMDC)
* School Counseling Leadership (LSCC)
* Science Education (SCIC)
VA Tech certificates include:
* Post-master's certificates in Marriage and Family Therapy (Graduate Program
in Human Development)
* Graduate Certificate in Gerontology
* (applicability of some coursework towards Certificate in Family Life
Education - a program by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR))
You may also want to ask about opportunities to work as a research assistant in
one of the Research centers in the Graduate School of Education
GMU research institutes include:
http://gse.gmu.edu/centersoffices/centers.htm
* The Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities (KIHd)
* Center for Multilingual/Multicultural Education (CMME)
* Center for Restructuring Education in Science and Technology CREST)
* Center for the Advancement of Public Health (CAPH)
* Center for Outdoor Education
* Center for Recreation Resources Policy (CRRP)
Virginia Tech research institutes include:
http://www.chre.vt.edu/HD/learning.html
* Center for Gerontology (
http://www.rgs.vt.edu/interd/Gerontology/gerontology.html )
* Center for Interdisciplinary Studies ( http://www.cis.vt.edu/cis/cis1.html )
* Center for Public Administration and Policy ( http://www.cpap.vt.edu )
* Family Therapy Center ( http://www.chre.vt.edu/HD/ftc.html )
* Adult Day Services Center ( http://www.chre.vt.edu/HD/ads.html )
* Child Development Laboratory School ( http://www.chre.vt.edu/HD/cdl.html )
Curricula: Will the course offerings and requirements give you the kind of
foundation you are looking for?
GMU Counseling and Development syllabus
EDCD 525: Advanced Human Growth and Development
EDCD 604: Analysis of the Individual
EDCD 607: Advanced Theories and Techniques of Counseling
EDCD 608: Group Processes and Analyses
EDCD 610: Career and Educational Counseling
EDCD 623: Principles and Practices of Elementary School Counseling
EDCD 627: Principles and Practices of Secondary School Counseling
EDCD 644: College Student Development
EDCD 654: Counseling in Community, Agency, & Business Settings
EDCD 656: Diagnosis and Treatment Planning for Mental Health Professionals
EDCD 658: Couples and Family
EDCD 660: Counseling and Development for Special Populations
EDCD 668 - Counseling and Development Programming
EDCD 754: Practicum in Counseling and Development
EDCD 790: Internship in Counseling and Development
VA Tech Masters course sequence (School & Community Counseling Programs)
EDCO 5204 Orientation to Professional Counseling (3)
EDCO 5214 Theories of Counseling & Consultation (3)
EDCO 5224 Counseling Techniques (3)
EDCO 5234 Group Counseling (3)
EDCO 5244 Counseling Special Client Populations (3)
EDCO 5254 Career Development & Information Services (3)
EDCO 5264 Appraisal in Counseling (3)
EDCO 5284 Practicum (3)
EDCO 5354 Counseling the Substance Abuser (3)
EDCO 5364 School Counseling (3) or EDCO 5374 Community Counseling (3)
EDRE 5404 Foundations of Educational Research (3)
HD 5424 Life Span Human Development (3)
EDCO 5614 Internship (12)
EDCO 6534 DSM Applications in Counseling (3)
TOTAL: 51 Hours
ADDITIONAL LINKS
College Rankings bibliography
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/rankbib.htm
Princeton Review's guide to deciding on a grad school
http://www.review.com/graduate/gradDecideSC.cfm
GMU - University Career Services annual report 2000-2001
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/cdc/annual.pdf
I hope this helps your decision. |
