AU Seattle BA-MA Counseling Pathway Information

Introduction:

The purpose of this document is to lay out information needed to plan for and take the necessary steps required to take advantage of the BA to MA Psychology pathway at Antioch.  If interested, please read closely, and make careful note of deadlines and other important details.  

What it is:

If you are offered admissions into either the MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) or the MA Couples and Family Therapy (CFT) programs at Antioch Seattle, the AU Seattle BA-MA Psychology Pathway allows you to overlap the final 12 credits of your BA degree with the first 12 credits of your MA degree.  There are both cost and time savings in this route, which make this an attractive option for many BA students graduating with the Health Counseling Psychology major degree or a Psychology & Counseling concentration in the Liberal Studies degree.  

Which programs are included: 

• Antioch Seattle MA CMHC or MA CFT (either of which can also be combined with Art Therapy or Drama Therapy). Wondering the difference between the two programs? See the comparison document at the bottom of this section, or reach out to our admissions department.

• There are no pathways at this time into the summer Low Residency MA CMHC program or the PsyD program. 

• For the MA Education pathway, please see that separate pathway information document. 

• While students can also apply to MA pathways on other Antioch campuses, this information is for Seattle MA Psychology programs only.  

• Pathways are not allowed into AUS PsyD program. For more information on Antioch PhD programs, visit our website.

How it works:

Students apply for admission to the MA program about 4-5 quarters before their Senior Synthesis quarter. If accepted into the MA program, students complete all BA degree requirements, with exactly 12 credits open after finishing their Senior Synthesis quarter. They then enter the MA program after their Senior Synthesis quarter and complete 2 MA quarters, taking a maximum of 6 MA credits each quarter. This 6 credit per quarter maximum for the two BA overlap quarters is an accreditation requirement for the programs for students without a conferred BA degree and is not flexible. You are not allowed to continue to take BA classes during the two overlap quarters.

When the first 12 MA credits are done, please complete the BA Graduation Application, an embedded form found in AU View. This will then allow your BA degree to confer, with the MA credits completing your BA degree as well as remaining in your MA degree. Please note that if you don’t complete the Graduation Application, your BA degree won't confer and the needed status change into a full MA student won’t occur. 

Anticipating future admissions deadlines:

Admissions deadlines are set by admissions, and subject to change, but generally MA Psychology applications for spring quarter starts are due in early November and applications for Fall quarter starts are due in early February. And applications for Winter quarter starts are due by early August each year. Note that that MA Psychology programs do not admit new students to start summer quarters.  And art therapy and drama therapy only admit in Fall and Spring. 

How to apply:

1. Plan:

Plan your classes with your advisor so all BA requirements are completed with exactly 12 credits left for the MA.  Remember to keep checking back to update your timeline as the quarters of your BA progresses because things change! (like number of expected priors credits, or having taken fewer 4 credit options in your coursework)

Attend an MA Information Session early on: The strong recommendation from these programs is to attend their information session through Admissions to get information on the application and process before applying. These are typically held once per quarter.

Consider who would be the best people to write the requested 3 required letters of recommendation for your graduate admissions application: your advisor? class faculty you have worked with a lot? field experience site personnel? etc.  Ask them if they will write a letter of recommendation for you well before the deadline; a month minimum is the most professional.   

Pre-requisites vary between the programs due to differing accreditation requirements. Abnormal Psychology and Developmental Psychology are requirements for some of the programs. Please check with the MA program for any pre-requisites. While these technically can be taken in the first 2 MA quarters if not taken already through your BA program, that may not allow you to take the usual MA sequence of classes, given the 6 credit per quarter limit. 

2. Apply: 

Apply for MA Psychology program admissions 4-5 quarters before you would like to start the MA program, choosing the quarter after your senior synthesis quarter. 

At the same time (or before!!) you submit your graduate admissions application, complete a BA-MA “Intent to Pathway” form to your advisor that documents the particulars of your planned overlap timetable and credit load.  This needs to be signed by the undergraduate chair who will forward it to the admissions office to attach to your MA admissions application file. 

If accepted, the exact MA classes to be taken are determined by the MA program for each student. This is the usual sequence of classes to list on the pathway form by program, including Art Therapy or Drama Therapy programs: 

CMHC: 

1st quarter:

              COUN 5030 Family of Origin Systems 3 cr

              WRTG 6110 Writing in Psychology/TBD 3 cr

        COUN 5001 CMHC Group Advising 0 cr 

2nd quarter:

              COUN 5040 Multicultural Perspectives 3 cr

TBD by Chair 3 cr

CFT:

1st quarter:

             COUN 5030 Family of Origin Systems 3 cr

             WRTG 6110 Writing in Psychology/TBD 3 cr 

             COUN 5000 Competency Assessment I - 0 cr

2nd quarter:

  COUN 5040 Multicultural Perspectives - 3 cr

             TBD by Chair - 3 cr 

             COUN 5010 Competency Assessment II - 0 cr

The programs are highly competitive and no special treatment is given to pathway applicants. Should you not be accepted, the program will typically ask if you wish your application to be moved to a subsequent quarter. No feedback is given as to reasons for acceptance or non-acceptance. Most quarters they have many more strong applicants than can be accepted. 

Summary of key points:

• Anticipate whether you would like to do a pathway as soon as you can, at the very least 4-5 quarters from when you’d hit the required 180 credit total required credits for a BA.

• Attend an MA info session as soon as you are able to educate yourself about the program(s) you are interested in and their admissions requirements and deadlines.

• Apply for graduate admissions through the admissions office.

• Use the “intent to pathway form” to let your BA advisor and chair officially know your specific pathway plans, no later than the time you apply for MA admissions (the undergraduate chair will pass it along to admissions to attach to your formal graduate admissions application.

Please consult with your advisor early and often to make sure as you plan and undertake your BA program you stay on track to make a MA Psychology pathway possible. We wish you the best in your application! 

NOTE: all info here is subject to change; if interested in applying to an Antioch MA Psychology program, please let admissions know and stay in touch with them about deadlines.