MHCI Admissions

We encourage recent undergrads and accomplished professionals from a variety of educational and employment backgrounds (e.g., health communication, health professions, public health, nursing, human resource management, management, psychology, leadership or other social sciences) to apply. Rutgers’ MHCI is designed for working professionals and sixty percent of our students work full-time.

To apply:

• Complete our admission application
• Provide a $70 non-refundable fee
• When you are applying for the New Brunswick MHCI degree select “Health Communication and Information – 17503”
• If you are a SC&I undergraduate applying for the five-year BA/MHCI dual degree: 
  • Communication majors, select "Health Communication - Communication BA/MHCI Dual Degree - 175033C"
  • Information Technology and Informatics majors, select "Health Communication - Information Technology and Informatics BA/MHCI - 175033I"
  • Journalism and Media Studies majors, select "Health Communication - Journalism and Media Studies BA/MHCI - 175033J"

For application questions, guidelines and forms, visit Rutgers Graduate and Professional Admissions. For MHCI program questions, email MHCI Program Director Richard Dool or call 848-932-7550, option 2.

E-transcripts are strongly encouraged and can be sent to e-transcripts@gradadm.rutgers.edu

If your institution does not offer e-transcripts, please have official transcripts mailed to:

Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Proctor Hall, Suite 308
65 Davidson Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854 U.S.A.

We expect MHCI students to have a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average and are particularly interested in your allied coursework grades.

International applicants or those with international degrees: We require all transcripts to be evaluated by a National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) member. Please refer to the International Students section below.

Graduate Records Exam (GRE) scores are OPTIONAL for MHCI applicants for the Fall 2023 semester. All applications will be reviewed equally with or without GRE scores. Not submitting GRE scores will not hurt an applicant's chances of admission, nor will submitting GRE scores give applicants an advantage in admissions.

To send your GRE scores to Rutgers, use institution code 2790. We review files once the Graduate Admissions office receives your official GRE score OR you have been granted a waiver (see next section for more information).

Ideally, our applicants will have:

• A combined score in the mid-150s for Verbal and mid-140s for Quantitative
• A writing score at or above 4.0

Learn more about the GRE and how to sign up for it at ETS.

In general, GRE scores are good for five years. We may grant GRE waivers when an applicant has:

• Significant, related full-time work experience (5+ years)
• A graduate degree in a related social science or arts and sciences field
• A cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.5

Students meeting any of the GRE waiver requirements are automatically exempt from needing to provide GRE Scores. No further action is necessary.

We require two letters of recommendation. As part of the online application process, you must supply the recommenders’ names and email addresses.

The letters should:

• Come from the applicant’s professor or senior member of a professional and/or corporate organization.
• Comment substantially on the applicant’s academic capabilities (e.g., problem solving, thinking, analytical and reflective skills to undertake a rigorous graduate program) rather than on workplace efficiency and character traits.
• Include the recommender’s relationship to the applicant.

We require all applicants to provide a personal statement of 300-500 words. In writing it, please describe your professional and academic backgrounds as well as your career objectives.

Within the statement, be sure to:

• Include why you want to attend Rutgers’ MHCI program
• Detail aspects of the program that you find attractive
• Note specific areas you would like to study within the program

We require all applicants to submit either a résumé or CV (curriculum vitae) as part of the application process.

The résumé or CV should describe your skills and experience and include:

• Employment history
• Academic honors
• Scholastic recognition
• Publications
• Leadership roles and/or other academic, professional and community activities

Use the admission checklist to keep yourself on track with your admission process. 

We consider applications on a rolling basis. Complete your application by the deadlines stated below in order to be considered for admission.

September Program Start

• U.S. resident deadline: August 1
• International student deadline: July 1

January Program Start

• U.S. resident deadline: December 1
• International student deadline: November 1

May Program Start 

• U.S. resident deadline: April 15
• International student deadline: March 15

Students may transfer up to six credits of graduate coursework toward the degree if credits were earned within the past five years and from another program outside of the MHCI. The coursework must translate directly to the student's development and preparation in the MHCI program, and the student must have received a grade of B or higher in this coursework. A syllabus for each course should be forwarded to Richard Dool, MHCI Program Director, for consideration of transfer.

Students should also fill out the credit transfer evaluation form.