Emergency services workers track potential threats and ensure the safety of others, and if this field interests you, you need to know the prerequisites for an emergency services administration degree. Most schools require that you submit several letters of recommendation, a copy of the your transcripts from each college or school you attended and a strong essay. If you apply for a graduate level program, most schools also require that you take the Graduate Records Examination and have your score sent to the school.
Letters of Recommendation
The prerequisites for an emergency services administration degree often require one to three letters of recommendation. These letter must come from former teachers, bosses or others who have knowledge about your experience and level of expertise. While some schools let you submit one letter from a peer or close friend, schools typically want to know more about how you act in a classroom or a professional setting. Peter Van Buskirk recommends that you sit down and talk with the writers after asking them to write letters for you. This gives you the chance to talk about your future hopes and goals and give the letter writers more familiarity with you. Make sure that you give those writers several months notice of your application deadline, which gives them time to compose the perfect letter.
College and School Transcripts
When you fill out your application for graduate or undergraduate school, the college will ask you about the schools that you attended in the past. If you spent even one semester or took even a single class at another school, you need to list that college on your application and send a copy of your transcript from that school. Most schools will only accept an official transcript that lists the courses you took, the grades you received and your overall grade point average. You can send the transcript yourself or ask your previous school to mail it for you.
Essay Topic
Many colleges and graduate schools ask students to write an in-depth essay on a topic or question listed in the application. As one of the prerequisites for an emergency services administration degree, the schools often want to know how you prepared yourself for working in the emergency services field and what you hope to do in the future. The essay will typically ask you why you want to study that topic or what your future goals are.
Specific Courses
When you decide to study at the graduate level, most emergency services programs require that you have experience in the field. Students who successfully completed an internship with FEMA or another emergency services group and those who took classes in the field have a better chance of making it into graduate school. When you submit your application, make it clear why you deserve a spot in the program. Many students find that taking business, management and finance classes at the undergraduate level will help better prepare them for their graduate studies.
Emergency service refers to the people working after a natural disaster strikes and those working hard to identify potential natural disasters. Prerequisites for an emergency services administration degree typically include a good score on the GRE, several letters of recommendation, an answer to an essay question and a strong history of taking courses related to emergency services.
For more information on earning your Emergency Management degree, please see Top 10 Best Online Emergency Management Degree Programs.