|
 If
you still have questions about the Graduate Program of the Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Department (RPT) and admission after viewing the RPT
graduate student webpages and the SFSU Graduate School webpages, then
responses to these frequently asked questions may be helpful to you. You
may also contact faculty at the Faculty/Advising
page.
The following questions are covered. Scroll down for the answer
to your question.
1. Does RPT require applicants
to take the GRE?
2. How long on average do students take to complete the program?
3. How flexible in creating a program to suit the needs of your students?
4. Am I allowed to apply to the master's program with less than 2 yrs
experience?
5. Do new students need to take the G.E.T.? What happens if I do not pass
it?
6. How many students are in the program? How
many minority students are there?
7. Any requirements on where these letters should come from for RPT application?
8. Where are majority of students placed? What is your job placement rate?
9. Is a thesis required? Is there an internship option available instead?
10. Do you offer fee waivers or graduate assistantships in your department
?
11. Are there opportunities to incorporate study and internships abroad?
12. Can a new graduate student take an 800 level class right away?
13. Must I show an advising slip to RPT graduate class instructors?
14. I must show computer competency, but how can I do that?
1. Does RLS require applicants to take the GRE?
We do not require a GRE. International students
must take the TOFEL exam (see http://www.sfsu.edu/prospect/grad.htm#toefl).
2. How long on average do students take to
complete the program?
Most of our students work full time while going
to school, so they take 3-4 years of part-time school to finish their
degree. It is possible to finish in
2 years when not required to take pre-admission classes and going to
school full- time, including working summers.
3. How flexible is your department in creating
a program to suit the needs of your students?
We are very flexible, in general. You can customize
your program, with approval of your RPT advisor, to include a variety
of classes from RPT and other departments at SFSU, to meet your educational
and career goals. Students must, however, complete the core classes.
4. What if I do not have 2 full years
of experience and was not a recreation, parks or tourism
major (but have taken a few related classes), am I allowed to apply to
the master's program? If so, what will this mean for me as a graduate
student?
Applicants for candidacy for
the Master of Science in Recreation must meet all SFSU requirements,
as listed on the SFSU application process website and meet the following
RPT admission criteria.
1. An undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or
better in the last 60 units of undergraduate classes, or other strong
compensating qualifications.
2. Minimum of two (2) years, or the equivalent,
of successful full-time paid employment in recreation or a closely allied
field. If , for example, you worked as a social worker some or
all of this experience may satisfy our work experience requirements.
Check with your RPT graduate advisor about the applicability of your
work experience.
There are four general patterns
which student applicants fall into:
A) The student has an undergraduate
degree in recreation, parks, tourism or a closely related field AND
has professional parks, recreation or tourism work experience. Usually
in this case you are admitted as a qualified candidate (classified
status) and have no admission requirements or prerequisites. You are
able to take undergraduate or graduate classes.
B) The student does not have an undergraduate
degree in recreation, parks, tourism or a closely related field, but
has significant professional parks, recreation or tourism work experience.
In this case you may be admitted with the condition that you take prerequisite
classes before you can advance to candidacy. In this case you
can take undergraduate and lower division graduate classes only.
C) Student has an undergraduate degree in recreation,
parks, tourism or closely related field but does not have two
years full time professional work experience in our profession or a
closely related field. In this case you may be admitted under the condition
that you acquire additional work experience (usually at least 1 year
full time experience) in the field prior to advancement to candidacy.
In this case you can take undergraduate and lower division graduate
classes only.
D) The student does not have an undergraduate
degree in recreation, parks, tourism or a closely related field and
does not have have two years full time professional work experience
in our profession or a closely related field. In this case a student
might need to work for a year in the recreation field and then apply
to the program for admission.
All candidates must have some
professional work experienced in the profession or your application
will be denied.
The Department evaluates all candidates on an individual
basis upon receipt of your complete application.
5. How many students are in the program?
How many minority students are there?
Currently we have about 20 graduate students. About
35% are minority students. About 10% are international students.
6. Do new students need to take the
G.E.T.? What happens if I do not pass it?
You do not need to take the Graduate Essay Test
(GET) prior to admission. But newly admitted students must take
the GET before beginning their 2nd semester in the
program. Register for this in January or August exam in the university's
Testing Office. New students who do not take the test will not be allowed
to continue in the program until this requirement is completed. To get
more information on the GET see http://www.sfsu.edu/~testing/get.html.
If you do not pass the GET, then the next semester
after taking the GET that student must take either TPW 400, BUS 514,
ENG 614 or if these are not available you must take a CHS 514 course
through College of Extended Learning for an additional fee.
7. In the RPT application you require three
(3) letters of reference. Do you have any requirements on
where these letters should come from?
We strongly suggest that one letter is from an academic
source (professor, teacher, etc.), one is from a professional source
(past supervisor at work, etc.) and the final one can be from any source,
include a personal reference (friend or colleague).
8. Where are the majority of the students
placed? What is your job placement rate?
Our graduates find jobs in a very wide variety of
settings, ranging from community recreation departments, national/state
parks, therapeutic recreation clinics, recreation planning consultants,
resorts, schools and leadership training firms. The job opportunities
are very broad and varied. Almost all our grads are quickly able
to find a professional job.
9. Is a thesis required? Is there an internship
option available instead?
Culminating experience is either a thesis or a comprehensive
exam.
10. Do you offer application fee waivers or
graduate assistantships in your department?
We do not offer fee waivers. In the RPT
we generally do not have full-time paid Teaching or Research Assistantships.
But we have a number of paid part-time opportunities for these. In addition,
there are opportunities for paid positions with our associated programs,
like Pacific Leadership Institute and the Fort Miley Ropes Course.
11. Are there opportunities to incorporate
study and internships abroad?
This is a possibility and can be setup with your
advisor's consent. But most current students we have take advantage
of the many employment and study opportunities found in the Bay Area.
The key question is will a class or international work assignment, contribute
towards your educational and career goals? Keeping this in mind,
you have electives that are flexible in terms of the classes you can
take.
12. Can a new graduate student take an 800 level
class right away?
Only classified graduate students (have completed all
pre-requisites and work experience requirements) can take 800 level
classes such as REC 850.
13. Must I show an advising slip to RPT graduate
class instructors? Is advising mandatory?
"Students enrolled in any graduate class offered by the
Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism must show the instructor
a copy of a recent (with 4 months) Advising Slip signed by your advisor,
indicating that you are approved to take that specific graduate class.
This must be done at the beginning of each semester."
Getting an advising slip may be as easy as emailing your
advisor at the beginning of the semester with your planned classes and
letting him/her know that these class are consistent with your jointly-developed
and previously approved program and class schedule, or if you have not
developed a 1-2 year graduate program plan and course schedule then
you will need to meet with the advisor. So if you have not already gotten
an Advising Slip within the last 4-5 months please contact your advisor
asap to get one, and then show it to your REC 700-800 class instructors.
14. I must show computer competence, but how
do I do that?
There are several options: A) A student can show your
advisor a transcript identifing a computer class you have passed; B)
Show your advisor a letter on company letterhead signed by your supervisor
indicating you have shown competence in the use of Word Processing,
Spreadsheet, Graphics (like in Excel) and Email software at work. C)
Pass the self-administered, self-paced RLS computer competency test.
This test requires the use of Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Graphics
(in MS Excel) and Email software and is found in the Gym 117C computer
lab after the beginning of the semester. You can take it during lab
hours as many times as you wish, but can not take the test outside the
lab. You can gain skills to pass the test by working with friends or
take the free computer short courses (3 hours) offered by Info Tech
at SFSU (see http://www.sfsu.edu/~doit/train.htm) on something you need
to get more familiar with (like making bar charts in Excel).
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