MSC PsychologyCAS Application Process
MS in Counseling PsychologyCAS Application Process Introduction
Application Period opening September 4, 2025
We are pleased to announce that we have joined Psychology Centralized Application System
(PsychologyCAS) for our application process.
As you prepare to start the application process, pay special attention to:
- Application dates – September 4, 2025, through January 31, 2026.
- Applications must be complete prior to 11:59 pm EST, January 31, 2026 (8:59 pm PST), to be eligible for consideration.
Incomplete applications after January 31, 2026, will not be considered for this application period. - Application fee
- Evaluation Requirements
You will need a copy of your transcripts to accurately enter your coursework.
Please note: Official Transcripts are required to be sent to PsychologyCAS, NOT KPSAHS and should be ordered directly from your application.
Begin contacting potential references who can complete an evaluation in the PsychologyCAS system.
Review the instructions in the Help Center and the PsychologyCAS Applicant Responsibilities.
Creating Your Account
When creating an account, consider the following:
- Create only one account to avoid processing delays and difficulties. Duplicate accounts and any documents associated with those accounts are deleted.
- For your own security, do not share your password or account information with anyone.
- Usernames and passwords are case-sensitive.
- Use an email address that you check frequently to avoid missing important updates.
- From the application home page, click Create an Account.
- Complete the required fields, agree to the terms and conditions, then click Create my account.*
- A message appears that your account was successfully created. Click Continue.
- Use the arrows to review helpful information. When you're ready, click Start Your Application!
- Use the filters to find and select the programs to which you want to apply. Note that you can go back and change these selections
at any point before you submit your application. - When you are finished selecting your programs, click I am Done, Review My Selections.
- Review your selections, then click Continue To My Application to view your dashboard.
- *You must enter your first and last name. If you only have one name, enter it in the applicable name field (i.e., first name or last name), then:
- Enter FNU if your first name is unknown.
- Enter LNU if your last name is unknown.
- Once your account is created, you receive a CAS ID number. This appears in the top right corner of your application. If you need to contact customer service, provide this number to them so they can quickly find your application.
Completing Colleges Attended
Requirements
Report all institutions attended regardless of their relevance to the programs you are applying to. Failure to report an institution may cause your application to be undelivered. This can significantly delay the processing of your application. Report all institutions attended, including but not limited to:
- courses taken in high school for college or university credit
- summer courses
- community college courses
- U S military academies (note that this does not include courses on SMART or JST transcripts)
- post-baccalaureate, graduate, and doctoral work
- study abroad, Canadian, and foreign work, etc.
List all institutions on your application even if the coursework completed there was transferred to another institution.
Report each institution only once, regardless of the number of degrees earned or gaps in the dates of attendance.
Send official transcripts for each Institution to PsychologyCAS. Do not send transcripts to KPSAHS.
Adding a College or University
- Click Add a College or University
- Type and select your college or university. It may take several tries to find your school, especially if it shares its name with others or could be spelled differently. For example, if you attended "Saint John's University," you may need to try "Saint John," "St. John," or "St John" (no period) to bring the school up on the list. If you exhausted all options and it does not appear, select Can't find your school?
- If you select Unlisted French Speaking Canadian Institution or Other Foreign Institution, select the school's country from the drop-down.
- Select if you obtained (or plan to obtain) a degree from the selected institution.
- If you earned or plan to earn a degree, provide details about the earned or expected degree.
- If you have a double major, select the checkbox to enter your second major. Note that you can only enter one minor.
- Click Add another Degree to add additional degrees for this same college or university.
- Select your college's or university's term system. You can usually find this on the back of your official transcripts, or you can contact your college's registrar.
- Term system refers to the type of hours your credits are worth, not the length of the term or how many terms a year your college or university offered.
- If your transcript lists some courses as quarter and others as semester, enter the term type that is most common (i.e., if you have six quarter terms and two semester terms, enter quarter).
- Select if you are still attending your institution. Enter dates of the first and last (if applicable) terms you attended. Be sure to only enter each college or university you attended once, regardless of gaps in your attendance there.
- Click Save to complete the entry.
Evaluations
Before You Begin
Evaluations (sometimes called Letters of Evaluation, Letters of Reference, or Letters of Recommendation) are submitted by the evaluators themselves; they cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant or another party on behalf of the evaluator. We are not responsible for verifying evaluators' identities. If a discrepancy is found, we reserve the right to contact the appropriate individuals to investigate and to share the discrepancy with all programs.
Before getting started, consider the following:
All evaluations are submitted electronically by evaluators using Liaison Letters, our Recommender Portal.
Research each program's requirements. You should determine whether your programs have specific requirements regarding evaluator roles or relationships before listing evaluators on your application. Many programs have strict guidelines and completed evaluations cannot be removed or replaced.
Choose your evaluators early in the application process to ensure they have adequate time to submit your evaluation.
Prepare your evaluators. Once you choose your evaluators, be sure to inform them about the process and that they will be completing the evaluation electronically. We recommend getting their preferred email address and asking that they monitor that inbox for your evaluation, including any junk or spam folders.
The Evaluation Process
When you request evaluations, your evaluator receives an email request with a link to Liaison Letters. Evaluators review your requests, and then accept, complete, or deny them. Evaluators may complete assessments such as writing essays, completing Likert scales, and/or uploading letters.
Once your evaluator completes your evaluation, you'll be notified via email. You can check the status of your evaluation requests in the Check Status tab of your application at any time.
Requirements
You are required to request at least 3 and may request a maximum of 5 evaluations. If you want to submit more, send those additional evaluations directly to your programs.
Submit a Request
- In the Evaluations section, click Create Evaluation Request.
- Enter the evaluator's full name and email address.
- Select the date by which you would like this evaluation completed. This date should be before your program(s) deadline.
- Enter a brief message or note for the evaluator.
- Select whether you want to waive your right of access to the evaluation. See Waiver below.
- Click the checkboxes to indicate your permission for us (and programs) to contact your evaluators.
- Click Save This Evaluation Request to submit it. Once you do so, an email is immediately sent to the evaluator.
- Confirm with your evaluators that they received the email notification.
Use the Check Status tab to monitor the status of your evaluations. Completed evaluations are marked as "Complete" and have a Complete Date listed. Follow up with your evaluators if their evaluations are still marked as "Requested" or "Accepted." It is your responsibility to ensure that evaluation requests are received and completed on time. We will not notify applicants about missing evaluations.
Resend the Evaluation Request
If you need to resend a request:
- In the Evaluations section, locate the request you wish to resend.
- Click the pencil icon to edit the request.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Resend this Evaluation Request.
Change the Evaluator's Email Address
If you entered an incorrect email address for any evaluators (or if any evaluator asks that you send the request to a different email address), you must delete these requests and then re-add them with the correct email.
Waiver
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) gives you the right to access evaluations unless you choose to waive your right of inspection and review. Prior to requesting any evaluations, you are required to indicate whether you wish to waive your rights. PsychologyCAS will release your decision to waive or not waive access to your evaluators and designated programs. Your waiver decision serves the same purpose as a legal signature and is binding.
Selecting Yes indicates to programs that your evaluator completed their evaluation with the understanding that you would not be able to view it. This means you will not be able to see the content of the evaluation. Programs may view this type of evaluation as a more accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.
Selecting No indicates to programs that your evaluator completed their evaluation with the understanding that you may choose to view it in the future. Selecting this option does not allow you to view your evaluation via the application. If you do not waive your right to view the evaluation, you may ask your evaluator for a copy of the evaluation. Programs may view this type of evaluation as a less accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.
Once you make a selection, you can't change it, so consider the choices carefully.
Questions?
For general questions and questions regarding the PsychologyCAS admissions process and/or Counseling program questions, please contact us at msc@kpsahs.edu.
Additional Resources:
-
PsychologyCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs
https://www.apa.org/education-career/grad/PsychologyCAS/before-applying
