Program Cross Cultural Knowledge Paper

School of Counseling

Goal Statement Guidelines

Directions: The following instructions contain information about your goal statement, which is a required part of your application to Walden University. Please focus only on the information requested about you, your background, and your future goals. You are strongly encouraged to carefully proofread, grammar check, and spell check your goal statement. Overall writing

presentation and clarity are very important.

Name: You must provide your full name (first and last) on your goal statement for it to be accepted by admissions.

Degree and concentration: You must clearly indicate to which degree program you are applying as well as the concentration you wish to pursue within that degree program.

Content: There are five sections described below. Please include the following information when preparing your goal statement. While not required, we strongly suggest that you format your goal statement by heading each section with the headings shown below. Write your information in paragraph form and do not use bullet format under the section headings.

Please note that applicants with incomplete goal statements will not be considered for admission.

Personal, Academic, and Professional Goals/Personal Qualities

 Please describe your interest in pursuing a counseling degree and also please explain why now is the right time to start?

 What influenced you to choose this field?

 Please describe your interest in the specific program (and specialization if applicable) to which you are applying. Please note that your goals or reasons should be in line with the program and specialization to which you are applying.

 What are your personal and professional goals for after you receive your degree?

 Please describe the personal qualities you possess and rely on to form effective interpersonal relationships with others?

Academic Experience

 Describe your undergraduate and any graduate education, including experiences that influenced your choice of graduate program/specialization (e.g., study abroad, certificates or research experience).

 Outline how you intend to apply what you learned previously to your master’s program at Walden (note: it is not necessary to have previous academic experiences in the same field).

 Explain any inconsistencies in your academic record (e.g., if your GPA is not what you would have liked, please explain any special personal, physical, or family circumstances that may have adversely affected your GPA). Work /Other Experience

 Describe your work, volunteer, and/or extracurricular experiences that complement your academic and career goals (if you do not have directly relevant experience, please indicate this and explain how your personal and professional goals, along with your skills, interests, and personal qualities, make you a good candidate for this program).

Cross Cultural Scenario

 Provide an example or examples of when you interacted with individuals and small groups of people who are different from you (e.g., ethnically, sexual orientation, racially, spiritually).

 Discuss the importance of being culturally sensitive, and provide examples of how cultural sensitivity impacted (or could have impacted) the outcome in the example(s) you provided.

 Discuss the importance of self-reflection in considering and responding to issues of cultural sensitivity. Why Walden?

 Describe how Walden will be a good match for you and your future goals.

 Share why you are interested in an online program.