Admissions Standards
ICSW welcomes applicants from many backgrounds and with an array of professional ambitions. If you are interested in joining our community, please review the general admissions guidelines below. To discuss exceptions to any of the guidelines, contact Director of Doctoral Programs Dennis Shelby at (312) 726-8480, ext. 25, or rdshelby@icsw.edu.
Please note that as of January 10, 2009, ICSW no longer requires its students to be licensed clinical social workers at the time of admission.
Ph.D. and Advanced Clinical Practice
Minimum requirements for consideration for the Ph.D. and Advanced Clinical Practice programs include:
- A master’s degree from an accredited graduate school of social work or a master’s degree in a closely related field
- Demonstration of a superior graduate school record: that is, a grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
- Mastery of written and spoken English
- Personal therapy experience is not required as a prerequisite for admission, though such experience is favorably considered