Strengthening your application
Here's some tips and advice on how to strengthen your application. We receive hundreds of inquires and applications every year, and can only admit up to 30 students every year.
Typically an applicant fails to get a strong recommendation from the screening committee because of:
- A weak academic background in sign language, linguistics, Deaf Studies, education and/or interpreting
- Insufficient evidence of Sign Language field awareness. ASL professionals often attend or participate in different events such as ASLTA conference, local ASLTA chapter, ASL RoundTable conferences, Deaf Studies Conference, Conference of Interpreter Trainers, Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research and more.
- Academic language production/comprehension issues in either (or both) ASL and English
- Different indicators exhibiting possible unpreparedness for intensive graduate school study
What if you do not have a BA degree in a related field?
Since the field of sign language pedagogy is a relatively recent phenomenon, we understand many of the applicants for our program do not have a Bachelor’s degree in a related field such as ASL, Deaf Studies or Linguistics. For those who do not have a degree in a related field, we strongly recommend including in your application a list of professional development events, lectures, workshops or conferences attended. Professional development topics vary and can include Sign Language pedagogical strategies, Deaf history and culture, Sign Language linguistics, discourse and structure, classifiers and/or depiction, fingerspelling and numbers, non-manual signals and markers. Professional development does not include your work (teaching) experience or courses that are already on your undergraduate/graduate transcripts.
Undergraduate/graduate transcripts are required by Graduate Admissions, and will be reviewed separately. Document your professional development in a list format, where the name of the workshop is listed, the dates, sponsoring agency and the number of hours attended, with a running total at the end of the list. For ASL educators, we highly recommend becoming active members in your local ASL Teachers Association (ASLTA) and attending the bi-annual national ASLTA conference and annual national ASL RoundTable conference to help strengthen your application and preparation for the competitive Masters in Sign Language Education program.
We review the entire application package:
1) Online graduate application
2) Goal statements
3) Submission of all official postsecondary transcript(s)*
4) Three references
5) Program Interview in both ASL and English
6) ASLPI score of 4 or up for ASL teachers, and 3+ or up for teachers of other signed languages.
We have noticed that applicants who are admitted into the program usually:
-Are members of their local ASLTA chapter and national ASLTA organization
-Attend local workshops, presentations, and training related to ASL, linguistics, Deaf Studies, education and/or interpreting
-Have academic background, coursework and/or degrees in sign language, linguistics, Deaf Studies, education and/or interpreting (e.g. AA or BA degree in a relevant field)
-Are sign language teachers, tutors, consultants, diagnosticians and/or trainers
-Are sign language proficiency evaluators/raters
-Are interpreters, or in the process of being Certified Interpreters (Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDI)/National Interpreter Certification (NIC)/Board of Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) certified.
-Have strong language skills in both ASL and English, including competency in comprehending and producing academic discourse in both languages.
-Are familiar with the formal, respectful etiquette involved in application process
Here are some samples of online/onsite courses our applicants have taken before applying for our program:
PST 202/DST 311: Dynamics of Oppression
PST 203/DST 314: Oral Traditions in Deaf Community
PST 212/DST 201: Deaf Culture
PST 213/DST 202: Introduction to Cultural Studies
PST 260/DST 316: Disability Studies
PST 322/ASL 270: ASL and English - A Comparative Analysis
Sometimes linguistics and education courses are offered, those are also an excellent ways to strengthen your application.
Click here to register for those courses listed above.
What do the course acronyms stand for?
PST: Professional studies courses, offered at a cheaper rate, and cannot be counted towards an academic degree (approximately $900 for a 3-credit course)
ASL/DST: Academic courses, can be counted towards a degree (approximately $2100 for a 3-credit course)
What do the course numbers represent?
100-400: Undergraduate-level courses
500-600: Upper undergraduate/graduate courses
700: Graduate-level courses
800: Doctoral-level courses
Typically an applicant fails to get a strong recommendation from the screening committee because of:
- A weak academic background in sign language, linguistics, Deaf Studies, education and/or interpreting
- Insufficient evidence of Sign Language field awareness. ASL professionals often attend or participate in different events such as ASLTA conference, local ASLTA chapter, ASL RoundTable conferences, Deaf Studies Conference, Conference of Interpreter Trainers, Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research and more.
- Academic language production/comprehension issues in either (or both) ASL and English
- Different indicators exhibiting possible unpreparedness for intensive graduate school study
What if you do not have a BA degree in a related field?
Since the field of sign language pedagogy is a relatively recent phenomenon, we understand many of the applicants for our program do not have a Bachelor’s degree in a related field such as ASL, Deaf Studies or Linguistics. For those who do not have a degree in a related field, we strongly recommend including in your application a list of professional development events, lectures, workshops or conferences attended. Professional development topics vary and can include Sign Language pedagogical strategies, Deaf history and culture, Sign Language linguistics, discourse and structure, classifiers and/or depiction, fingerspelling and numbers, non-manual signals and markers. Professional development does not include your work (teaching) experience or courses that are already on your undergraduate/graduate transcripts.
Undergraduate/graduate transcripts are required by Graduate Admissions, and will be reviewed separately. Document your professional development in a list format, where the name of the workshop is listed, the dates, sponsoring agency and the number of hours attended, with a running total at the end of the list. For ASL educators, we highly recommend becoming active members in your local ASL Teachers Association (ASLTA) and attending the bi-annual national ASLTA conference and annual national ASL RoundTable conference to help strengthen your application and preparation for the competitive Masters in Sign Language Education program.
We review the entire application package:
1) Online graduate application
2) Goal statements
3) Submission of all official postsecondary transcript(s)*
4) Three references
5) Program Interview in both ASL and English
6) ASLPI score of 4 or up for ASL teachers, and 3+ or up for teachers of other signed languages.
We have noticed that applicants who are admitted into the program usually:
-Are members of their local ASLTA chapter and national ASLTA organization
-Attend local workshops, presentations, and training related to ASL, linguistics, Deaf Studies, education and/or interpreting
-Have academic background, coursework and/or degrees in sign language, linguistics, Deaf Studies, education and/or interpreting (e.g. AA or BA degree in a relevant field)
-Are sign language teachers, tutors, consultants, diagnosticians and/or trainers
-Are sign language proficiency evaluators/raters
-Are interpreters, or in the process of being Certified Interpreters (Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDI)/National Interpreter Certification (NIC)/Board of Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) certified.
-Have strong language skills in both ASL and English, including competency in comprehending and producing academic discourse in both languages.
-Are familiar with the formal, respectful etiquette involved in application process
Here are some samples of online/onsite courses our applicants have taken before applying for our program:
PST 202/DST 311: Dynamics of Oppression
PST 203/DST 314: Oral Traditions in Deaf Community
PST 212/DST 201: Deaf Culture
PST 213/DST 202: Introduction to Cultural Studies
PST 260/DST 316: Disability Studies
PST 322/ASL 270: ASL and English - A Comparative Analysis
Sometimes linguistics and education courses are offered, those are also an excellent ways to strengthen your application.
Click here to register for those courses listed above.
What do the course acronyms stand for?
PST: Professional studies courses, offered at a cheaper rate, and cannot be counted towards an academic degree (approximately $900 for a 3-credit course)
ASL/DST: Academic courses, can be counted towards a degree (approximately $2100 for a 3-credit course)
What do the course numbers represent?
100-400: Undergraduate-level courses
500-600: Upper undergraduate/graduate courses
700: Graduate-level courses
800: Doctoral-level courses