An application for admission to a graduate program (Master of Arts or Master of Fine Arts) are examined using the following criteria:
- Curricular Limits: The proposed study can be supported by expertise available in the faculty.
- Critical Inquiry: The application demonstrates the applicant’s willingness and ability to engage in critical, scholarly engagement.
- Readiness: The applicant has earned a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, and the materials submitted with the application indicate a readiness for a graduate-level, writing-intensive independent program of study.
1. Online Application
If you have already started an application, please email your Admissions Counselor with the additional materials needed to complete your application.
If you would like to start a new application, please apply here:
2. Official Transcripts
Applicants to graduate programs must submit proof of completion of a bachelor’s degree from a college or university accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Transcripts and other official records must be submitted by the credit-awarded institution directly to Goddard College, Office of Admissions, 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, VT 05667.
In rare instances, applicants to MFA programs may submit documentation of an extensive record of professional-level accomplishment (such as publishing, performance/exhibition record, teaching, or editing experience) in lieu of a bachelor’s degree.
3. Recommendations
Three (3) letters of recommendation must be submitted in support of your application.
At least one letter should address your ability to do graduate-level work. Letters can be from an academic or professional setting; or be from colleagues, advisors or mentors. Recommenders must send letters of support directly to the Office of Admissions.
Recommenders may submit letters of recommendation online.
4. Essay and Supplemental Materials
Master of Arts: Education
PERSONAL ESSAY
Write no more than 1,000 words on the following:
Please tell us how your personal and professional experiences led you to pursue this degree. Describe your “call to teach.” How do you hope to use this degree? Describe how you plan to accomplish the three stages of Goddard graduate education: the theoretical, practicum experience, and thesis. If you intend to petition for transfer of graduate credits (12 credits maximum), list the courses and how they inform your future studies.
To be eligible for the bilingual education endorsement, applicants must demonstrate proficiency in a second language by taking the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) assessment or by taking a language proficiency course at Goddard College.
Master of Arts: Health Arts & Sciences, Individualized Studies, or Social Innovation & Sustainability
PERSONAL ESSAY
Write no more than 1,000 words on the following:
- What do you intend to study?
- What events in your life have led you to want to earn a graduate degree? Discuss the skills you wish to hone (such as critical thinking/writing, oral communications, research skills) and/or your professional goals.
- What has been your educational and experiential background in these areas?
- What will having a graduate degree mean to you on a personal and professional level?
- Briefly articulate your graduate inquiry question or statement. Your response will serve as a template for constructing your individualized study plan should you be admitted to the Goddard Graduate Institute. Provide a preliminary list of resources that you intend to consult while pursuing your studies (This list should include theorists, books, journal articles, films, interviews, etc.).
- If you intend to transfer graduate credits (12 credits maximum), please list specific courses (prefix, number, title and name of institutions), and address how your previous coursework informs your future study at Goddard College.
Master of Arts: Psychology or Clinical Mental Health Counseling
PERSONAL ESSAY
Write no more than 1,000 words on the following:
What events in your life have led you to want to earn a graduate degree in psychology or clinical mental health counseling? Write about your readiness for graduate study that is largely independent as well as your ability to motivate yourself and to advocate for your style of learning. Please reflect on life experiences from which you learned important lessons about yourself and your own psychological well being. Please comment on the strengths and weaknesses in your background that will play a part in your beginning this program.
Master of Fine Arts: Creative Writing
PERSONAL ESSAY
Write no more than 1,000 words on the following:
- What are your creative and theoretical goals for your MFA study?
- Please indicate your current thinking about the shape and genre of your creative thesis.
- Name several authors whose work influenced or inspired your writing and describe the nature of their effects.
- What do you envision for your teaching practicum?
- If you intend to petition for transfer of graduate credits (12 credits only), list the courses and how they inform your future study at Goddard College.
CREATIVE PORTFOLIO
Submit a portfolio of no more than 20 double-spaced pages. If you are planning to write in more than one genre, please include samples from each. Poetry may be single-spaced. You may submit: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, graphic novel script, or dramatic work (television or film script, stage play, or libretto).
Master of Fine Arts: Interdisciplinary Arts
CRITICAL CONTEXT STATEMENT
In no more than one fully developed paragraph, please describe your goals for graduate study and the questions that drive your critical interest. When drafting your response, name at least five theorists, artists or other sources that have informed or influenced your thinking.
PERSONAL ESSAY
Write no more than 1,000 words on the following:
Help us to understand your particular influences, aspirations and intentions within an interdisciplinary arts context. Please write about your current art practice in relation to your proposed graduate study, reflecting on the history, knowledge(s) and questions you will bring to your studies. Please be sure to address your reasons for pursuing graduate education and how you hope to use this degree.
ARTISTIC/CREATIVE RESUME
Artistic/Creative Resume (up to 3 pages) which specifically addresses experience relevant to your creative practice, demonstrating the various ways in which you have developed your art practice, including how you have been actively involved in art and art-making over time. This may include traditional work experience in arts or arts-related fields; formal educational background; exhibitions, performances, screenings, showings and publications; teaching, residencies and guest artist experiences; as well as non-traditional, alternative modes of presentation, art practice and learning such as art interventions and actions, experiments with art and everyday life, etc.
CREATIVE PORTFOLIO
In selecting Creative Work Samples and creating a Context Statement (see detailed instructions that follow), share representative pieces reflective of the experience, full character and range of your existing practice. Please send documentation, not originals of your work. Work samples will not be returned. You may select and submit up to 3 of the following:
- Writing Samples: No more than 20, double-spaced pages of writing samples this may include poetry, prose, creative non-fiction, lyrics, critical writing, blog posts, written materials designed to accompany or inform other mediums, etc. Submit as a single document.
- Video or Audio Documentation: No more than 15 minutes. Submit a single Word document or PDF with links.
- Images: No more than 20 images. This may include documentation of 2 or 3-D works in any media, images of installation or other performed works, etc. Images should be packaged into a single, upload-able format, such as PDF.
- Web Links: Up to 2 URLs or links to interactive sites, web-based works or new-media experiences
If you are seeking readmission to a program in which you were previously enrolled but left without graduating, please see readmission application instructions here.
Request more information from an Admissions Counselor.