How to Apply

Apply online by creating a new account or signing in to an existing account. At the end of your application, you will be prompted to pay a $60 nonrefundable application fee. If your current financial situation warrants waiving of your application fee, you may submit a fee waiver request.

After you submit the application form:

• RSVP for an interview day
• Complete your application by uploading documents (e.g. essays, unofficial transcripts)
• Send out requests for letters of recommendation

APPLY ONLINE

We encourage you to be actively engaged in the admission process. Once you have submitted your application online, you can log back in anytime to check the status of your application and documents.

Naropa University requires transcripts from any and all institutions where undergraduate or graduate coursework was completed, and it is very important that you successfully complete the coursework entered on your application. An official transcript of a conferred bachelor’s degree must be received by the Office of Admissions prior to beginning graduate coursework.

Transcripts that are uploaded as part of your application are not considered official; however, we encourage electronic submission at time of application to expedite an admissions decision.

If mailing, official transcripts should be sent to:

Naropa University
Office of Admissions
2130 Arapahoe Ave
Boulder CO 80302

Electronic transcripts from your university may be emailed to admissions@naropa.edu.

Electronic official transcripts are acceptable if submitted through a secure document sending service used by your university. If you submit your transcripts by email, as an attachment, they will not be accepted as official.

If you completed any coursework at a foreign college or university (other than a study abroad program), an international education evaluation is required.

Statement of interest

In a maximum of 500 words, 12-point font, double-spaced essay, please refer to the following readings when writing your essay:

• Dance Movement Therapy: Chaiklin, S. & Wengrower, H. (2009). The Art and Science of Dance/Movement Therapy: Life is Dance. New York, NY: Routledge.

• Contemplative Reading: Siegel, D. (2007). The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

• Multiculturalism, Diversity: Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2013). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice, 6th edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

All of Naropa University’s counseling programs offer skills training and counseling career preparation, diversity work, contemplative practice, community engagement, and deep personal reflection. Given this and your understanding of the assigned readings for this application please respond to the following prompt:

Naropa invites students to transform themselves and transform the world. What is one thing you would like to transform about yourself while training to be a counselor/ dance/ movement therapist? What is one thing you would like to transform in the world and how would a degree in Somatic Counseling from Naropa enable you to do this?

Supplemental essays

Through supplemental essays we hope to uncover your level of exposure to and experience with different forms of movement, sensory awareness, and body-based expression from your essays. Please limit your answers to a total of 500 words for each section, using 12-point font and double-spaced.

Supplemental essay I

List and describe your training. The following is required:

• Expertise in at least two different dance (or movement) forms

• In-depth and dedicated experience in a minimum of one dance form

• Exposure to composition, choreography, performance, and dance history

How is your particular background in the dance forms you studied relevant to the roots and practice of Dance/Movement Therapy as you understand it from the assigned reading for this application?

Supplemental essay II

A minimum of 100 hours of either paid or volunteer fieldwork experience is required. Fieldwork can be in a supervised setting in the mental health field or through work in a community facility or service organization.

• Please describe what you have done to complete the required fieldwork experience in direct service to others. What have you learned about yourself from this experience as it pertains to becoming a counselor? Please discuss the Multiculturalism, Diversity reading as you answer this question.

Please include both supplemental essays in one document with headings indicating the start of each essay.

After submitting your application form, you may RSVP for one of the interview dates. Applications need not be completed (e.g. essays, letters of reccomendation, resume, transcripts etc.) in order to interview.

Admissions interviews are a required part of the admissions process and will be offered at our campus in Boulder, Colorado and remotely via Zoom. Interview dates for consideration for admittance in 2023 are as follows:

Friday, February 10, 2023 (on campus in Boulder, CO)
Friday, February 17, 2023 (remotely via Zoom)
Friday, April 21, 2023 (on campus in Boulder, CO)*
Friday, April 28, 2023 (remotely via Zoom)*

*Note: these interview dates will only be offered if there is space available in the program. Additional interview days may be added if space allows.  

DANCE EXPERIENCE

• Expertise in at least two different dance (or movement) forms
• In-depth and dedicated experience in a minimum of one dance form
• Exposure to choreography, composition and performance

PREREQUISITE COURSEWORK*

The following psychology courses from an accredited academic institution: 

• 3 semester credit course in Introduction to Psychology
• 3 semester credit course in Abnormal Psychology OR Theories of Personality

All courses are subject to approval and may require additional documentation such as a syllabus or course description.

A grade of “C” or above is required for all prerequisite coursework. All prerequisites are to be completed at accredited academic institutions for credit (not pass/fail or audited).

*Coursework need not be completed before applying. Applicants must submit an official transcript showing proof of completion of the prerequisite coursework and bachelor’s degree prior to the start of the program.

Domestic applicants: learn more about how to apply for financial aid.

International applicants: learn more about how to apply for financial aid.

In addition to the graduate admissions requirements, international applicants must also complete the following international applicant admissions requirements:

English Proficiency Testing

International applicants must document their English language proficiency by submitting scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) tests. Applicants must earn the following required scores:

• TOEFL
  • Internet test (iBT): 80 or higher
   
  • Computer test (cBT): 213 or higher
   
  • Paper test (pBT): 550 or higher
 
• IELTS
  • 6.5 or higher

Exceptions are granted for applicants from countries where English is one of the official national languages.

Non-U.S. Education Records

Applicants (including U.S. citizens and permanent residents educated outside of the U.S.) must have all non-U.S. records of secondary and/or post-secondary education evaluated by a professional international education evaluation service. In this case, all non-U.S transcripts should be sent to one of the below evaluation service providers, not to Naropa University. Once the evaluation is completed, the applicant should request that the report be sent directly to: Naropa University, Office of Admissions (2130 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80302).

Naropa works with the three following credential evaluation services.  Evaluations will not be accepted by other services.

1. Global Academic Evaluators (www.aevaluators.com, 720-298-9564)
2. Josef Silny & Associates, Inc. (www.jsilny.com, 305-273-1616)
3. World Education Services (www.wes.org, 212-966-6311)
4. SpanTran (www.spantran.com, 713-266-8805)

All undergraduate and graduate applicants must submit A COMPLETE COURSE-BY-COURSE EVALUATION.

Please note: international applicants who have completed their undergraduate degree at an accredited U.S. institution do not need to provide an evaluated transcript.

If accepted to Naropa University, international students are required to submit the following:

• Copy of passport
 
• Financial documentation