Admission Information

Policies 

For traditional students, each student is assigned an admissions counselor based on that counselor’s assigned  geographical territory.  For traditional transfer and SAGE students, each student is assigned to an admissions counselor in the SAGE office based on the student’s intended major.  Each SAGE admissions counselor has expertise in the major in which they are advising. 

The admissions counselors are required to evaluate admissions applications and determine admission to the college for their assigned students based on the admissions criteria.  The College utilizes World Education Services to review transcripts for international students.  If there are questions regarding an applicant’s eligibility for admission to the college, the admissions counselor will consult with the Director of Admissions.   

Procedures

Traditional students submit an essay in which students respond to prompts or a graded paper.  The essay or graded paper is evaluated according to the student’s critical thinking skills, ability to be reflective, and the ability to write clearly and well. This is part of a holistic application evaluative process that includes the student’s high school GPA or 2.00 or higher and the student’s co-curricular activities.  However, the student’s high school GPA of 2.00 or higher is the primary criterion for admission to the college. Students with any special circumstances may be asked to submit an addendum to their application indicating those circumstances for the consideration of the admissions counselor in rendering an application decision. 

The names and content information for any admitted students interested in majoring in social work at Cedar Crest are then sent to the social work program faculty, who are also the advisors.  Program faculty members then contact the students via email to provide more information about the program and answer any questions or concerns the students may have, as they decide on their college of choice. 

When applying to admissions to the college, Traditional and International students indicate their intended major.  After being formally admitted, all of these students intending social work as their major are assigned to a social work faculty member as their academic advisor.  The academic advisor meets with each student to determine whether the student’s professional goals are congruent with a major in social work.  If not, the academic advisor will recommend other majors for the student to pursue that might better align with the student’s professional interests.  If the social work major is an appropriate fit for the student, the advisor joins with the student in choosing appropriate courses for the student’s first semester at the college.  One of these courses will be SWK 201 Introduction to Social Work.  Taking this course early on in their academic career helps students and the social work faculty in determining if social work is a good fit for them.  During the course, students receive a copy of the college’s Declaration of Major form, which when completed and submitted by the student formally indicates to the program faculty and to the Registrar’s Office that the student is officially a social work major. 

Transfer students could, of course, be traditional age or non-traditional age (SAGE) students.  Regardless, the process for entry into the social work major is the same.  Prior to their admission into the college, transfer students will submit transcripts from their previous institution(s).  If they have completed an A.A. or A.S. Degree, they are automatically exempt from completing the college’s Liberal Arts Curriculum.  If the student’s intended major is social work, the social work faculty will review the student’s transcript to determine if the student needs to take any non-social work courses required for the major, such as SOC 100 Introduction to Culture and Society or MAT 110 Probability and Statistics.  If the student has taken professional social work courses at an institution with an accredited social work program, the social work faculty will determine how to credit that student for having completed relevant Cedar Crest social work courses.  This determination is necessary to ascertain how the content in the student’s previously taken social work courses align with the content in the program’s courses. This is to assure that the student’s educational preparation for the professional practice is maximized and in accordance with that of all social work majors. 

Many of the program’s transfer students come to us from the two area community colleges, Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC) and Northampton Community College (NCC).  With both colleges, Cedar Crest has formal articulation agreements that specify which courses taken at the respective community colleges will be accepted with particular equivalent courses at Cedar Crest.  Typically, LCCC transfer students who transfer to Cedar Crest for social work will have an A.A. degree in Human Services or Social Work, while NCC transfer students will typically have an A.A. degree in social work.  The program faculty have worked closely with both programs in recruiting students and in creating a match between the liberal arts courses required for those respective A.A. degrees with those required for the social work major at Cedar Crest.  This has resulted in students with those particular A.A. degrees who transfer to Cedar Crest having already completed all necessary liberal arts courses for social work and only needing to complete all social work courses required for the major. 

After a transfer student is accepted to Cedar Crest following college procedure, the student will be assigned for the first semester to the college’s admissions counselor whose expertise is the social work program requirements.  This advisor works very closely with the social work faculty in determining the student's schedule.  Prior to and during the first semester, students often meet with social work faculty members as well to answer any questions or address any concerns.  In addition to schedule planning, the college’s admission counselor assists the transfer students with orientation to the college itself.  As was the case with traditional students, transfer students arrive at Cedar Crest with the intended major of social work and have already demonstrated via their A.A. degree completion that social work is the appropriate major for their professional career.  When the student completes and submits the college’s Declaration of Major form, which the student can do at any time, that student is officially admitted to the social work program.  Intended social work major students are regarded no differently in the classroom by the faculty than declared social work majors.

Nontraditional age (SAGE) students who are interested in social work and whose first collegiate courses will be at Cedar Crest upon admission, will be assigned to the same college admissions counselor that works with transfer students.  When the student completes and submits the college’s Declaration of Major form, the student is then assigned to a social work faculty member for academic advising.  Again, these students will have already met with the social work faculty to help them determine whether the social work major is their best choice given their professional career interests. 

Policies and Procedures for Notifying Applicants of the Admission Decision 

Policies: 
Students applying for admission to the College are either Accepted or Denied.  Any prospective traditional student who does not meet the GPA qualifications (anyone with a 1.99 GPA or lower) will be denied with recommendations for the next step.  For example, the student may be encouraged to attend a community college to increase their GPA to ideally transfer to Cedar Crest at a later date when they achieve a 2.0 GPA.  The applicant’s admissions advisor will work with the student to ensure that they are taking courses at the community college that will transfer into Cedar Crest to meet Liberal Arts Requirements and/or program requirements for their intended major. 

Procedures: 
Traditional and international students are notified via phone and email by their admissions counselor.  They are then sent an acceptance folder with information by USPS mail service.  Denied students receive a denial letter via USPS. 

SAGE and transfer students are notified by their admissions counselor via a phone call when the admissions decision is made, and the counselor will follow up with a congratulatory email that includes information about the Statement of Advancement Standing process that evaluates the transcript for credit transfer to the college as well as contact information for their academic advisor.  The official acceptance packet is sent via email and also postal mail. 
The social work faculty is notified when a social work student is admitted prompting a congratulatory email from the faculty soliciting any questions or concerns the student may have about starting the program. 

Policies and Procedures for Notifying Applicant of Any Contingent Conditions Associated with Admission 

Policies: 
There are no contingent conditions associated with admission to the College.  Prospective students are either accepted or denied acceptance. 

To apply to Cedar Crest College, please click here.