Letters of recommendation should be submitted using the online application. If you are unable to use the online application, please print and mail the appropriate letter of recommendation form.

The following is a checklist of materials that are required to complete your graduate application by program. Please see the Grand Valley State University catalog for specific admission requirements.

• Accounting (M.S.A.)
  • Official GMAT scores
  • One-page essay/personal statement
• Applied Computer Science (M.S.)
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or satisfactory GRE or GMAT scores
  • Two recommendations
  • Resume
  • U.S. students with a GPA below 3.0 from all of their undergraduate coursework must contact the School of Computing & Information Systems for advising.
• Applied Statistics (M.S.)
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or satisfactory GRE or GMAT scores
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Two recommendations
• Artificial Intelligence (M.S.)
  • Resume
  • Two recommendations
• Athletic Training (M.A.T.)
  • Applicants must apply online through ATCAS.
    • In addition to completion of the ATCAS application, students must also submit the GVSU Supplemental Form and $30 application fee.
• Audiology (Au.D.)
  • Applicants must apply online through CSDCAS.
    • In addition to completion of the CSDCAS application, students must submit the GVSU Supplemental Form and $30 application fee.
• Certificate in Bioinformatics and Genomics
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
• Biology (M.S.)
  • Three recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• Biomedical Sciences (M.H.S.)
  • All official transcripts
  • Three recommendations
  • Typed response to the following questions, limit total response to five pages:
    • What are your career/educational plans for after the master's program?
    • What do you hope to achieve while in graduate school?
    • Why are you interested in the M.H.S. program at GVSU?
    • What experiences have prepared you for success in graduate school?
    • What are your research interests and why?
• Biostatistics (M.S.)
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or satisfactory GRE or GMAT scores
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Two recommendations
• Business Administration – Executive Program (M.B.A.)
  • One-page essay/personal statement
  • Resume
• Business Administration – Professional Program (M.B.A.)
  • All official transcripts
  • One-page essay/personal statement
  • Resume
  • Two recommendations
• Business Leadership (M.S.)
  • One-page essay/personal statement
  • Resume
  • Two recommendations
• Cell and Molecular Biology (M.S.)
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0
  • Official GRE scores
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Two recommendations
  • Resume
• Clinical Dietetics (M.S.)
  • Applicants must apply online through DICAS.
    • In addition to completion of the DICAS application, students must also submit the GVSU Supplemental Form and $30 application fee.
• Communications (M.S.)
  • Resume
  • Two recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• Criminal Justice (M.S.)
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Three recommendations, including two from current or former professors
• Cybersecurity (M.S.)
  • Resume
  • Two recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• Data Science and Analytics (M.S.)
  • Two recommendations
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or satisfactory GRE or GMAT scores
• Education (M.Ed.)
  • One recommendation
• Education - Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration (M.A.)
  • One recommendation
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement (approximately 500 words) answering the following questions:
    • Tell us why you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in higher education and student affairs. In your response, be sure to provide specific examples of how the curriculum and professional opportunities provided by the program at Grand Valley State University align with your professional interests and goals.
    • Tell us what you believe to be the most important issue facing post-secondary education in the United States and/or globally and why.
• Education - School Counseling (M.Ed.)
  • All official transcripts
  • One recommendation
• Education Specialist in Leadership (Ed.S.)
  • Essay/personal statement
  • One recommendation
  • Current resume must include the following:
    • Title of master’s project or thesis
    • Degrees received with dates, institutions, majors, and minors
    • Listing of employment
    • Description of leadership experiences, dates, and location
    • Presentations, publications, memberships, and professional development
• Engineering (M.S.E.)
  • All official transcripts
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Three recommendations
  • International students must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) that is equivalent to at least 3.0, when linearly scaled on a 0.0 - 4.0 scale, in all undergraduate coursework. They must also submit GRE scores, which must be satisfactory, independent of their cumulative undergraduate GPA.
• Certificate in English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
  • No additional documents required
• Health Administration (M.H.A.)
  • All official transcripts
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Three recommendations
    • Note: Essay/personal statements and recommendations submitted previously for a graduate program other than health administration will not meet M.H.A. application requirements.
• Health Informatics and Bioinformatics (M.S.)
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or satisfactory GRE or GMAT scores
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Two recommendations
• Certificate in Interprofessional Health Informatics
  • Resume
  • Essay/personal statement
• Human-Centered Computing (M.S.)
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Two recommendations
• Medical Dosimetry (M.S.)
  • All official transcripts
  • Resume
  • Three recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Prerequisite verification and GPA calculation worksheet
• Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership
  • Resume
  • Three recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• Nursing (M.S.N., D.N.P.)
  • Curriculum vitae/resume
  • Please indicate, within essay, the program emphasis to which you are applying. 
  • Typed responses to the following questions adhering to the following guidance.  Limit total response to no more than 5 double-spaced pages, excluding reference page.  Between 1 to 3 paragraphs would be necessary to adequately address each question.
  • Use scholarly writing and include relevant evidence to support your responses.
  • Use citations and references following current American Psychological Association (APA.
    • Identify and describe a population of interest to you.
    • Identify three factors that may affect achievement of optimal health in the selected population.
    • Select from these factors the one that you believe is both a priority and most amenable to nursing interventions, then:
      • State your rationale for selecting this one over the other two.
      • Describe the implications of this factor for your practice now and in the future.
      • Describe the approaches you would take to deliver nursing care to this selected population, considering the influence of the selected factor.
• Occupational Therapy (M.S.)
  • Applicants must apply online through OTCAS.
  • In addition to completion of the OTCAS application, students must submit the GVSU Supplemental Form and $30 application fee.
• Occupational Therapy (Dr.O.T. - Post-Professional Doctorate)
  • Resume
  • Three recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• Certificate in Online/Blended Instruction and Assessment
  • One recommendation
• Certificate in Palliative and Hospice Care
  • No additional documents required
• Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (M.P.N.L.)
  • Resume
  • Three recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• Physical Therapy (D.P.T.)
  • Applicants must apply online through PTCAS.
    • In addition to completion of the PTCAS application, students must also submit the GVSU supplemental form and $30 application fee.
• Physician Assistant Studies (M.P.A.S.)
  • Applicants must apply online through CASPA.
    • In addition to completion of the CASPA application, students must also submit the GVSU supplemental form and $30 application fee.
• Certificate in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
  • Curriculum vitae/resume
  • One-page essay/personal statement
• Public Administration (M.P.A.)
  • All official transcripts
  • Resume
  • Three recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• Public Health (M.P.H.)
  • Resume
  • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0
  • Two recommendations
  • Typed response to the following questions:
    Limit total response to two double spaced pages (maximum).
    1.  What would make you an excellent candidate for the Grand Valley State University M.P.H. program?
    2.  What are your expectations for a future career in public health (highlighting your emphasis area of interest)?
• Recreational Therapy (M.S.)
  • Resume
  • Two recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
• School Psychology Specialist (M.S., Psy.S.)
  • Resume
  • Three recommendations
  • Typed response to the following:
    • Discuss your background and experiences that have led you to pursue school psychology (rather than other related fields), your specific interest in GVSU's program, and your future career goals.
• Social Innovation (M.A.)
  • Two recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement
  • Submitting a GRE score is not required. However, applicants who have neither a 3.0 GPA for the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework or five years of professional experience may consider submitting a GRE score to strengthen their application.
• Social Work (M.S.W.)
  • All official transcripts
  • Three recommendations
  • Resume detailing work and volunteer experiences
  • Coursework requirement form - Complete this form within the online graduate application.
    • As stated in the GVSU School of Social Work Admission requirements, all applicants must have a minimum of 18 credits in a combination of human biological, social, and behavioral science courses, with a good representation in sociology, psychology, and/or social work.
    • Please list prior academic courses in these areas.  This information will be used to determine whether you will need to take prerequisite courses prior to admission in the MSW program.
  • Applicants should answer the following questions in a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 3 pages (double-spaced, 12-point font). These statements will be used by the GVSU Admissions Committee to assess writing skills, self-reflection, conceptualization, and critical thinking, as well as suitability for graduate studies within our MSW program. We are looking for your personalized, original responses in these statements; applicants should not submit essays generated exclusively by AI.
    • Describe your motivation to pursue a master's degree in social work at this time and how your past personal and professional experiences, opportunities, qualifications, strengths, and/or challenges have prepared you to become a master's level social work student.
    • The MSW program at GVSU is committed to social, political, economic, racial, and environmental justice and human rights. Describe your goals in social work and how these commitments/our MSW program will prepare you to become an effective social worker. How will you use your MSW degree to advance these commitments in your career? We encourage you to discuss a specific social problem, population, or type of social work within your response to this question.
• Software Engineering (M.S.)
  • Resume
  • Two recommendations
• Speech-Language Pathology (M.S.)
  • Applicants must apply online through CSDCAS.
  • In addition to completion of the CSDCAS application, students must also submit the GVSU Supplemental Form and $30 application fee. 
• Water Resource Policy (M.S.)
  • Three recommendations
  • Essay/personal statement