Prospective Students
We are dedicated to supporting individuals exploring this collaborative, rapidly evolving field. Our prospective student offerings are designed to provide foundational knowledge, clear professional insight, and accessible guidance to help applicants make confident decisions about their future. Through our varied offerings, students can better understand clinical practice, reflect on their readiness, and build core competencies in genetics, patient care, and ethical reflection.
We recognize that outstanding genetic counselors come from a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds, and we embrace the reality that there is no single "ideal" pathway into the profession. Instead, we deeply value curiosity, a strong commitment to learning, and a demonstrated passion for serving patients and families in complex healthcare settings. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that prospective students feel informed, supported, and prepared to undertake both the exciting opportunities and profound responsibilities of entering a field at the intersection of genomic science and the human experience.
Explore our prospective student events:
- Webinars
- Open Houses
- Experiential Practicum
EXPERIENTIAL PRACTICUM
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gain hands-on experience with the clinical practice of genetic counseling. This in-depth exploration of the profession is essential prior to applying to graduate school. We realize that access to shadowing and genetic counseling internships may be limited and have developed the Experiential Practicum to assist prospective students in gaining meaningful exposure to clinical work of genetic counselors.
Participants will engage online/remotely with our genetic counselor faculty, observing and debriefing about client sessions in various specialty clinics, including:
- Reproductive genetics
- General/pediatric genetics
- Cancer genetics
- Neurogenetics
Participants will also have the opportunity to attend an interdisciplinary genetics meeting on our campus (remotely) and participate in a journal club focused on the clinical specifics of genetic counseling and work with clients.
Applications for the Fall 2026 Practicum are now open and are due by October 5, 2026. Contact us at gc-program@cumc.columbia.edu to learn more and request an application.