Application Form
The application form is available to fill out online.  Applicants should read this page before proceeding to fill out the application form.  Upon submitting your form, you should receive an email providing your BC Credentials (username and Eagle ID), which you can use to view your application status.

Please note: There is an additional application form to fill out if you are applying to the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps (UCTC).

Application Fee
A non-refundable application fee of $65 is required for every degree and non-degree application submitted.  Applicants have two payments options:

• Pay by credit or debit card via the web;  To pay the fee online, you must log into the Agora Portal using your BC Username and password.  You must already have an application on file to use this payment link.  If you do not have your BC Credentials, please contact the admissions office.
  
• Pay by check or money order made payable to Boston College, via regular mail. If you are applying online, please print a copy of your confirmation page and send your check/money order and the confirmation page along with the rest of your paper materials in one package to the address above. If you are applying via paper application, please include your check/money order with all of your materials in one package to the address above.

Please note:  The application fee cannot be refunded for any reason.  If you qualify for a fee waiver, you should not pay the fee when you submit the application form. 

Fee waivers are granted for the following programs: Boston College Fifth Year and Early Admit Program; the UCTC program; Teach for America; the Jesuit Volunteer Corps; the McNair Scholars Program; and the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers.

back to top

Personal Statement
You can now upload a pdf version of your personal statement via the Agora Portal.

The statement of purpose, usually three pages in length, describes your academic and professional goals and any experience relevant to the program to which you are applying. This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your writing skills as you describe your future plans, expectations, and aspirations.  Please be sure that your full name and intended program are included on the pages of your personal statement.

• Applicants to the Donovan Urban Teaching Scholars Program should describe their interest in urban teaching and any work experience in an urban setting
• Applicants to the M.A. program in Higher Education should specify their intended concentration: Student Affairs, Higher Education Adminstration, or Catholic University Leadership
• Applicants to the M.A. programs in Counseling Program should include their understanding and connection to social justice
• Applicants to the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership (PSAP Program) should include a short description of any experience working in teams and should comment on their degree of comfort with team participation

back to top

Letters of Recommendation

• Download and fill out a Letter of Recommendation Cover Form for each letter you submit
• 3 letters of recommendation are required of doctoral applicants, with at least two from academic sources (professors familiar with your academic work) and one or more from a practical or applied setting
• 2 letters of recommendation are required of Master's applicants. These should be from academic sources. Master's applicants with significant relevant professional experience may submit additional letters of reference from supervisors
• Please note: There are additional letters of reference to fill out if you are applying to the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps (UCTC)

back to top

Resume or Curriculum Vitae
You can now upload a pdf version of your resume or CV via the Agora Portal.

Resumes are required for doctoral and Master's applicants.  In addition to your academic history and relevant work experience, it is helpful to the admissions committee if you include the following information on your resume:

• any teaching or counseling license you currently hold
• if you posses language skills other than English (especially Spanish language skills)
• any research experience or publications

back to top

Transcripts
Official transcripts, bearing the official seal of the institution and the signature of the registrar, are required for all previous post-secondary education. Certified copies are acceptable, but photocopies are not.  We only require one copy of each transcript.

Request that the registrar or appropriate official of each institution at which you enrolled in undergraduate and/or graduate course work send copies of your transcript to you. The school official should seal your transcript in an envelope, sign across the seal, and return the sealed envelope to you. Any documents in languages other than English should include a certified English translation, in addition to the original language document.

Students who file applications prior to the completion of their undergraduate work must subsequently send a final transcript, showing all coursework, degree granted, and date of degree to the Office of Graduate Admission, Financial Aid, and Student Services in Campion Hall 135.  This is necessary for final confirmation of an offer of admission to the Lynch School.  You should arrange to have this final transcript sent to the above address as soon as you have completed your present course of study, and prior to enrollment.  Your offer of admission could be rescinded if we do not receive an official copy of this transcript before the beginning of your first term.

back to top

Standardized Admission Tests
A Standardized Admission Test is required of all degree applicants.  Official test scores must come directly from the testing agency.  Applicants should make arrangements to register for admissions tests well in advance of application deadlines to assure that the test results will arrive in time. All test results must be received on or before the application deadline.

Please note:  The Standardized Admission Test requirement is waived for applicants to our Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership (PSAP Program).  This requirement is not waived for any of our other programs.

The GRE General Test (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytic Writing) is required for:

• All Ph.D. applicants
• All applicants to the Master's programs in Counseling Psychology
• All applicants to the Master's programs in Secondary Education for Mathematics or the Sciences
• The Lynch School's GRE Code is 3218
• A note about the GRE: Beginning August 1, 2011, Educational Testing Services (ETS) will offer a new revised version of the GRE.  We encourage new applicants to the Lynch School to take this version of the test.  Please plan accordingly: scores for tests taken in August and September will be reported in early November; scores for tests taken in October will be reported in mid-November; scores for tests taken in early to mid-November will be reported in late November.  Score reporting returns to the normal 10-15 day turnaround in late November. More information on the new version of the test is available on the ETS website. 
  

Applicants to all other master's programs are required to submit GRE General Test scores or scores from one of the following standardized admission tests:

• Miller Analogy Test  (the Lynch School's code is 1194)
• LSAT
• GMAT
• MCAT

If you will be submitting one of these alternate tests, please call or email to alert us.  There may be additional steps involved in submitting these scores.

We do not accept the MTEL, Praxis, or other teaching licensure tests during the admission process.  These tests do not satisfy the standardized admission test requirement. 

For test dates and sites, visit the ETS website or call ETS at 609-921-9000.

Applicants for whom the Miller Analogy Test is an appropriate test should contact Pearson Education, Inc. for information about testing centers and dates.

back to top

Writing Samples
You can now upload a pdf version of your writing sample via the Agora Portal.

Doctoral applicants are asked to submit one piece of work that demonstrates their writing ability. This writing sample may be an academic term paper, a published work in which you are the primary author, a training manual or curriculum that you have created, a clinical case formulation, or another representative sample of your writing.

Master's applicants are not required to submit a separate writing sample.

Please be sure to include your full name, Eagle ID, and the program to which you are applying on the first page or your writing sample.  A cover page is not required. Do not attach your writing sample to other pieces of your application (e.g. your personal statement).

back to top