Communication Sciences and Disorders Central Application Service (CSDCAS)
Application Deadline
For Miami University, the CSDCAS application DEADLINE is December 15, 2023. All applications must have the status of COMPLETE at this deadline. Letters of recommendation should be submitted by your letter writers no later than December 15, 2023. Learn more about CSDCAS and create a CSDCAS account. Once the account is made, then additional information about CSDCAS will be provided.
At any time, if you have questions regarding the CSDCAS application process please contact CSDCAS directly or visit the CSDCAS Applicant Customer Service Center.
The CSDCAS portal for Miami University opens on August 15, 2023, for students applying to begin the program in the Fall of 2024.
Application Considerations
Miami University uses a holistic admissions process in reviewing applications. We seek students with strong academic and interpersonal skills. We recommend that students have an overall GPA of 3.3 or higher and a CSD-specific GPA of 3.4 or higher, though we will consider students with lower GPAs who have very strong applications. Preference may be given to students with strong extracurricular involvement, including (though not limited to) student/ community organizations, volunteer work, employment, athletics, arts, and research.
All applicants will be considered for both admission and funding. There is no separate application for assistantships.
General Application Components
These responses will be required for all schools that you are applying to that are also using the CSDCAS portal. The following areas are based on questions asked during last year's application process:
- Personal Information
- Complete the information per the instructions provided.
- Note: We recommend that you use your personal email address rather than your school email address. The email you use (school or personal) should be one you check regularly and that you will have access to post-graduation. Make sure you use an accurate phone number.
- Academic History
- Official transcripts - All official transcripts, including those for AP credit, must be sent to CSDCAS Verification Department P.O. Box 9113 Watertown, MA 02471
- Colleges Attended - Simply add your school, degree, and year. If you did something like PSEO/CCP, you have to also enter those college credits
- Transcript Entry - This needs to be done for EVERY school you received college credit. This is a VERY TEDIOUS part of the application but make sure you are thorough. If you make a mistake in this area, it can significantly delay the processing of your application submission.
- Standardized tests - GRE scores will NOT be used by Miami University and do not need to be submitted.
If you are an international student and are required to submit a TOEFL score, this is where the score should be entered. See Miami University’s criteria for English proficiency test scores for details.
- Supporting Information
- Evaluations (Letters of Recommendation) - You will send a request from CSDCAS to your recommenders, using their system and entering the recommender's email address. Once your recommenders submit their letters, you will be notified.
- Experiences - Enter pertinent extracurricular activities, jobs, observation hours, clinical clock hours, TA experiences, work experience, and research.
- Use short complete sentences to describe the experience.
- Each leadership experience should be added separately.
- You will categorize every experience using the drop-down list.
- The system will ask for dates started and ended (use your best judgment)
- Achievements - Includes dean's list, president’s list, and any scholarships that you have received. Dean’s list and president’s list is one entry. In the description, list all of the semesters you received the award.
- Conferences Attended - The conferences may include those related to communication sciences and disorders or leadership. For other conferences, use your best judgment.
Program Material
These are specific components of the CSDCAS application unique to Miami University. As we are not reviewing GRE scores this year, both the personal statement and CV/Resumes will carry more weight and be reviewed both on the content and professional appearance. Please make sure that you carefully follow the instructions for both prior to submission.
- Personal Essay:
- Formatting:
- 11-point font or larger
- 1.5 or double spaced
- No more than 2 pages
- Prompt (please address each of these in your statement):
- Summarize your interest in the profession and include any brief career objectives (if known).
- If you did not major in Communication Disorders/Speech Pathology or are switching careers, please explain why this field is a good fit for you.
- Explain why Miami University would be a good fit for you and highlight any skills that make you a strong candidate for our program.
- If you have applied previously, discuss how your current application has been strengthened.
- Select a favorite course from a different field OR an experience that you had outside of speech pathology and describe how this course or experience will help you in the field.
- If changing fields, explain how your experiences in the previous field will support you in speech-language pathology.
Once you have completed your personal statement, upload your document on the Miami University CSDCAS Documents Tab.
- CV/RESUME
- Formatting:
- 11- point font or larger
- No more than 2 pages
- Do NOT include a photograph of yourself
- Aside from the above points, you may personalize your formatting (professional)
- Only include activities since beginning college
- Please include the following sections, in order:
- Personal
- Name
- University, Degree(s), Dates Attended
- Major(s), Minor(s), Certificate(s)
- Overall Cumulative GPA
- Guided Observations (formal observation hours under the direction of an ASHA-certified provider who has met the new ASHA standards; typically these hours are obtained from a clinical methods course)
- Current total number of hours (if none, please state this)
- Expected total number of hours by graduation (if none, please state this)
- Shadowing Experiences (these are informal observation experiences of speech-language pathologists; if none, you may delete this section)
- Location of shadowing experience
- Total number of hours observed
- Clinic Experience: (If none, you may delete this section)
- Location of experiences
- Populations/ types of disorders you served
- Current total number of direct patient contact hours
- Expected total number of direct patient hours by graduation
- Research: (If none, you may delete this section)
- Name of research mentor(s) (faculty/grad students)
- Area(s) of research
- Number of hours per week working on the research project
- Dates of involvement (e.g., MM/YY - MM/YY)
- Your responsibilities
- Any presentations or publications resulting from your work (if applicable)
- Extra-Curricular and Volunteer Activities - Include the following for EACH activity listed
- Name of Activity/Organization
- Frequency of activity (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, one-time event)
- Dates of involvement (e.g., MM/YY - MM/YY)
- Define any leadership roles/responsibilities, if applicable
- Employment (If none, you may delete this section) - Include the following for EACH job listed
- Name and location of employer
- Brief summary of job (e.g., title and basic responsibilities)
- Approximate number of hours per week
- Dates of employment (e.g., MM/YY - MM/YY); indicate if it is year-round or seasonal employment
- Define any leadership roles/responsibilities, if applicable
- Awards/Honors (If none, you may delete this section)
- Name of award/honor
- Date(s) received
- Relevant Other Experiences (If none, you may delete this section)
- Specialized training/certifications
- Conferences attended
- Other relevant training/experiences not listed above
Once you have completed your resume/CV, upload your document on the Miami University CSDCAS Documents Tab.
- Miami University CSDCAS Pre-Requisites Tab, found on the CSDCAS Application: This information is reviewed very carefully and checked against the requirements of the program. Many of the classes on this list are required before entering our graduate program, please see the Review Graduate Admission Requisites section above for details.
- Twelve (12) Different pre-requisites are delineated in this section.
- Carefully indicate the courses/credit hours/grades that you have completed OR NOTE THAT YOU ARE SCHEDULED to take a course for the Spring/Summer semester.
- Please leave a course blank if you have NOT taken or DO NOT have a plan to take a specific course. Portions of courses do NOT fulfill the requirement of a completed course. For example, if you take a course that combines voice and aphasia, you are still required to take voice and adult aphasia as separate classes at the graduate level. Also, independent study for research OR work in a lab does not replace a designated research methods course.
Most common CSDCAS question: What do I do if I will not receive my Fall 2023 grades BEFORE the December 15, 2023, deadline? Do I wait to start my application? The answer is NO.
- You should use the one-time academic update allowed by the CSDCAS to submit final grades at the end of the fall semester.
- DO NOT WAIT to complete your application to our program while you are waiting for the grades for your fall coursework.
- This one-time academic update allows you to submit your application in full prior to December 15, and then when your grades are posted for the fall semester, you can just update the academic portion of your application.
- You can use this one-time academic update beginning December 15.
- To ensure that our graduate committee will have adequate time to review your grades, please submit your academic update no later than Tuesday, January 2, 2024. This date is different from what is posted on the CSDCAS website because of the timing of our selection process.
Complete and update your academic application.
Three main points to remember:
- The CSDCAS application deadline of December 15, will require your application to be in the COMPLETED phase.
- Letters of recommendation are due by your letter writers by December 15.
- Students should NOT wait for their Fall transcripts to complete their application. Instead, complete the application, and then once the Fall grades have been received use the one-time academic update allowed by the CSDCAS. The one-time academic update is allowed beginning December 15. To ensure that our graduate committee will have adequate time to review your grades, please SUBMIT your academic update by January 2.