Admissions Staff will determine eligibility and complete the initial review. The admission staff is responsible for scoring the academic information, essays, letters of recommendation, work experience, and extracurricular activities using a standardized rubric. Any questions regarding scoring will be deferred to the Program Director. Based on these scores, students will be placed in one of five tiers:
- Tier 1, 2, 3 will be granted an interview (score ≥ 40 on rubric)
- Tier 4 will be placed on a waiting list for interview score (score 20-39 on rubric)
- Tier 5 will be denied admission (score <20 on rubric)
Interviews will occur at two points. Applicants who submit their application before the fall priority deadline will be interviewed during the fall semester. Otherwise, the application deadline is mid-spring semester, with interviews to follow. An on-campus interview will be encouraged, although a virtual platform option will be available if the applicant requests. The interview format will include two interviewers with two applications. At least one of the interviewers will be a program faculty member. Interviewers will use standard interview questions but are allowed to ask follow-up questions to develop further or clarify points made by the applicant. The interviewer will determine a composite interview score based on a standard rubric. The interview score will be added to their initial application rubric score.