Applying to graduate schools in psychology
(revised October 6, 2004)
Alvin E. House, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Clinical-Counseling Psychology
Illinois State University
You're earning your undergraduate degree in Psychology and have really enjoyed
your exposure to the field. You have decided that the next step for you is going
to be a graduate program in Psychology. What to do next? Here are some thoughts
and suggestions for you to consider. Be aware that it has been many, many years
since I applied to graduate school. Most of my experience is from the "other
side": evaluating application to the Clinical Psychology master's sequence
at Illinois State University for 25 years and applications to the Clinical-Counseling
Program for the past five years. When students at ISU ask me questions
about applying to graduate schools, one of my standard responses directs them
to also ask the same questions of other professors here. You should seek multiple
sources of input and thoughtfully evaluate the ideas that have been exposed
to. Some of the same principles of formulating questions and evaluating data
that you have seen at work in your undergraduate classes can be put into action
here. While I have sought the input of other faculty members, what you read
below basically represents my opinions. I hope you find these useful in furthering
you efforts. Please send any feedback regarding these ideas to my e-mail address
below.
When should you begin applying?
Early
This question actually has several answers. You will probably be mailing out
your applications between late November and late January. You want to make sure
each school has all your application materials before their deadline. Some schools
have a date they dont want to receive application materials before--typically
sometime in the fall of the year prior to when you would begin classes. Most,
possibly all, schools have a deadline date they want your application completed
by (They usually mean not only your application but also all supporting materials:
letters of reference, GRE scores, etc.). One basic rule: Do as you are told. The large majority of graduate programs evaluate applications once
a year, in the spring, for admission the following fall semester. Some programs
might let you take a limited amount of course work as an unclassified
graduate student prior to gaining admission to a degree program, but you
should be cautious about this optiontaking graduate classes from an institution
usually has little or no influence on your chances of admission to a degree
program.
Mailing out the applications, however, is actually near the end of the process.
Your work at applying began much earlier--when you began to consider programs,
gather information, consider who could write you letters of reference, arrange
for any required testing. You hopefully began thinking seriously about graduate
study early in your junior year or sooner. This gives you time to not only think
about who you would like writing letters of reference but making sure you had
the time to give them useful things to write about: research projects, applied
experiences, independent studies. You can begin researching the schools, programs,
and faculties you are interested in working with. Think about applying for graduate
study in the same way you thought about a major paper you wroteit took
planning, some sustained effort, and (for a really good grade), attention to
the finishing details.
What programs do you want
to apply to?
The ones which fit your interests
Sure, but how do you decide which these are and what your interests really are?
Psychology has several areas of specialization. Part of the attractiveness of
psychology for some of us is the wide range of activities it allows within the
role of psychologist. As a university professor of psychology I
have an opportunity to teach, to do research, to write and publish papers, and
to see clients for psychological assessment and counseling. Other psychologists
consult with agencies and businesses, design evaluation instruments, administer
government and private programs, and participate in medical education and training.
You have probably been exposed to many or most of these roles in your undergraduate
classes. The task for you is deciding which area you would most like to work
inthis directs you choice of programs to apply to. Hopefully you have
found some faculty members in your undergraduate psychology department you have
a good relationship with and can talk with them about your interests. You have,
no doubt, found a great deal of information about psychology on the web. The
American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society
(APS) have a good deal of information about psychology as a science, profession,
and career. Your undergraduate institution may have vocational counseling services
(Often offered by a psychologist.) available which could assist you in evaluating
your options. Hopefully you are beginning this process fairly early in your
undergraduate career (See above), and have plenty of time to gather information,
consider, and choose the direction which seems most satisfying to you.
A core differentiation among graduate training programs are those in applied
areas, such as clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology,
industrial-organizational psychology, and neuropsychology; and those in basic
science areas of psychology, such as developmental, social, cognitive, personality,
learning, and neuroscience psychology. All of these areas see themselves as
a part of psychology (with the possible exception of neuroscience, which is
often viewed, as an interdisciplinary area), using basic psychological knowledge
and theory as a foundation for further work. Applied areas, as the name suggests,
tend to focus on the application of this knowledge to address human concerns,
as well on the expansion of our applied understanding of human functioning and
adjustment. The more basic science areas of psychology focus on the foundation
of psychological knowledge; attempting to expand our understanding of the fundamental
basis of behavior and interaction. One of your real tasks is to decide whether
your interests and goals lie more with furthering the growth of experimental
knowledge, or in the application and use of this knowledge. Wanting to
help people is a fine motivation, but not really sufficient to power a
journey of several years and a great deal of work. You need to carefully examine
your ambitions and decide what path best serves your goals. Most doctoral level
clinical psychologists, for instance, may spend little of their time engaged
in direct psychological service to clients. A terminal masters degree
or a degree in a related discipline, such as social work, may provide a career
that spends much more time engaged in psychotherapy or consultation. These are
issues it is important to discuss with your advisor as you consider graduate
programs. The psychology department at your school may present programs on these
issues which would help your deliberations also.
Another important decision you need to make is whether you are going to apply
to doctoral programs, masters programs, or both. Many doctoral programs
in psychology do not require you to have previously earned a masters degree,
some actually prefer that you have notthey would rather address these
training issues themselves. If you do not have a masters degree, a doctoral
program will often have you complete an equivalency project. Sometimes
this leads to the actual awarding of a masters degree, but often not.
Entering a doctoral program with a masters degree may save you a little
time in completing the terminal degree, but seldom is the savings substantial.
Why would anyone bother to complete a masters degree then? Several reasons,
among with the two most important are that a masters degree often lets
you work as a professional and the activities that earned you the masters
degree may also help you gain admission into doctoral training. Doctoral programs,
even in applied areas, are fundamentally preparing individuals for a career
of research. The usual objective measures evaluated in applying
for graduate study (grades, GRE scores) are being considered not only from the
perspective of whether you are capable of succeed in graduate studies but also
your potential to contribute to the science of psychology. Your past research
activities are very important in earning admission. A doctoral admission committee
may not be terrible impressed that you completed a masters degree, but
they may be influenced by the thesis research you carried out to earn that degree.
A masters degree in psychology also can prepare you to function in an
applied human service occupation. Some states license masters level psychologists
for counseling and assessment work within agencies and school systems. Most
others have human service careers (such as the Licensed Clinical Professional
Counselor in Illinois LCPC) for which a masters
degree is required. Direct human service activities, such as psychotherapy or
employee assistance programs, are the goals of many students entering the field
of psychology. Most direct human service activities are carried out by professionals
at the masters level of training.
What about private practice?
Aint what it use to
be, maybe it never was
The popular mental image of a clinical psychologist is someone in
solo private practice, seeing an assortment of wacky clients, doing individual
and group counseling. In matter of fact, I know some psychologists whose professional
lives resemble this model but it is not necessarily an accurate picture of how
most psychologists operate today and may be even less so in the future. APA
provides a great deal of information about psychology as a career and you should
consider this data carefully. The subspecialty of clinical psychology has changed
a great deal over recent decades. Establishing a private practice, especially
an independent practice, is a major undertaking. Usually a doctoral degree is
necessary to operate privately as a psychologist, although this varies with
state laws. A good deal of business sense is necessary for success and your
graduate education in psychology will not provide you with this. This is another
good topic to discuss with your undergraduate faculty and with private psychologists
in your community if opportunity presents itself.
What schools do you want
to apply to?
The best you can get into
to
But how do you know which schools are good? Again, you can consider the information
made available on graduate programs in psychology by APA. You should talk with
your advisor. Schools have a number of features which contribute to the quality
of their programs: The faculty who are actively involved in graduate teaching,
the experimental and clinical resources, the resources of the larger university
(libraries, computing facilities, allied institutions such as hospitals and
schools), the reputation of the program. There are also practical matters to
be considered: how much does the program cost, how available is financial support,
how long does the program require, where is the school?
If you are applying to doctoral programs in applied areas (such as clinical,
counseling, school, community mental health), you will want to see if the program
has APA accreditation. A school might not yet have APA accreditation if it is
a relatively new program, but this is a factor to weight. Gaining acceptance
into an APA approved internship program (there are more applications ahead)
is probably easier if your doctoral program had accreditation. Completing an
APA internship has potential employment implications for your future. APA, however,
only accredits certain types of programsthose in applied areas. Doctoral
programs in basic experimental psychology have no comparable external review.
Also, only doctoral programs in applied area can obtain APA accreditation; not
programs which offer terminal masters degrees. Talk with your advisors
about the programs which best fit with your career interests and your developing
theoretical orientation.
How many programs/schools
do you want to apply to?
Several
Applying to graduate schools is expensive. Most schools have application fees.
Transcripts cost money. GRE and other test scores cost money. Even the cost
for letters of reference (see below) can add up. Obviously, applying to more
than one school multiplies the cost. So, why should you apply to more than the
one program you think you're the most interested in?
The answer is that admission into most graduate programs in psychology is a
highly competitive process. Even very good students often receive more rejection
letters than offers of acceptance. Applying to more than one program increases
the chances you will have at least one positive response to consider. I always
recommend that the students I advise apply to more than one program, even when
this is a student I would very much like to see attending our sequence. My opinion
alone doesn't guarantee their admission into our program, and each year we have
to turn away a large number of qualified and well-motivated students. You should
definitely discuss this with your advisor at your undergraduate institution,
but it is almost never a good idea to apply to a single program.
So, how many programs should you apply to? There is not a simple answer: More
than one, less than 50, maybe 10, at least 5. Talk with your advisor, take a
look at your list of possible programs, take a look at your budget. This is
part of the reason your application process needs to begin earlyyou have
to support it. Also, we are talking about applying to programs where you have
a chance at being competitive. Graduate programs often provide data on the average
GRE and grade point averages of incoming classes. You should carefully review
this information. While most programs do not have absolute criterion for these
types of student characteristics and do consider other features of your record,
it is also true that these scores usually do influence decisions to some degree.
For instance, you might have very good grades, low GRE scores, several extracurricular
activities relevant to psychology, and good letters of reference. Perhaps one
of your references makes a point of stressing how the GRE scores are not reflective
of your academic performance or potential. Such communications are usually taken
very seriously by admission committee. However, that committee may have 30 other
records of applicants with similar characteristics. They are assembling a class
of 15 students. Ten of the positions have been assigned to students having very
good grades, high GRE scores, several extracurricular activities, and good letters
of reference. You are now vying with 29 others for the 5 remaining spotsand
they all look just like you to varying degrees! The chance the committee selects
you instead of someone else is approximately 1 in 6. There is nothing wrong
with going after your dream program, but you also want to apply to a number
of schools where your record is clearly competitive.
Another reason to start considering graduate school early is that it presents
you with the greatest degrees of freedom in making your record more competitive.
Many of us find it is easier to focus of motivation and energy if we have clear
and specific goals in mind. If obtaining graduate study in psychology is one
of your goals, start planning and making choices with this in mind. This is
another good topic to discuss with the faculty at your school.
How do I get good letters
of references?
Choose carefully, ask questions,
be helpful, follow through
Hopefully you have gotten to know several faculty members at your school well.
If you havent, this is part of the process of applying to graduate schoolyou
need references. Your reference needs to be able to say good things about youyou
have to give them the material to work with. Faculty from which you have taken
several classes know more about you than professors you have had only one class
with. Some instructors are easy to approach outside of class with questions
and enjoy discussing psychology with students. Professors who know about you
from different types of experienceyouve taken classes with them,
done research with them, served on committees with themhave a better basis
to write about you from. Student organizations such as Psy Chi or a Student
Psychological Association provide other opportunities to meet professors and
for them to get to know you.
Talk to the faculty member you may seek a letter from. Ask them if they feel
comfortable writing you a letter in support of your application to graduate
school. Listen carefully to what they saya cautious and guarded reply
suggests that at best you are going to get a cautious and guarded endorsement.
You want the most positive letters of support you can get. Talk to several potential
referees and make your best choices.
Give the people who are going to write letters of reference for you a written
copy of information about you: The correct spelling of your name as you would
like it used in the letter, a list of classes you have taken and your grades,
information about other research, undergraduate assistantships, special projects
activities you have been involved in. Theres no problem with giving them
more information than they need; there is a problem if they lack information
that would help them write a stronger letter for you. Give them a copy of your
personal statement.
It is customary for you to provide your references with all the forms they will
need, as well as addressed and stamped envelopes for each of
the applications. You are expected to bear the cost of mailing the letters of
references.
I direct all my students to give each of their references of list of the school
they are applying to, indicate where there is a reference form or whether a
reference letter alone is asked for, and list the deadline dates for each school.
Ask your reference writers when they would like you to check back to
see if the letters have been mailed. Professors can get very busy and
their desks can become very clutteredyou need to check to make sure their
good intentions got translated into finished letters which were mailed.
What's important in a personal
statement?
Let your light shine
The personal statement portion of the application is your opportunity to give
the application committee a picture of yourself: your interests, ambitions,
goals, and strengths. Take advantage of this and do so in a way that is easy
for the application committee to use. If the school has a form for sending in
this materialuse the form. Do not say: See my attached personal
statement. It certainly is a pain to deal with 10 or 15 different applications,
all of which ask the same questions in slightly different ways, and give you
different spaces in which to reply. But do you want to make it a pain for the
person reading your application, having to jump back and forth between their
form and your attached documents? If you are going to go to the expense and
time of applying, apply in the manner the school asks (See basic rule above:
Do as you are told.).
If you are applying to some schools with doctoral programs and some schools
with masters programs, you will definitely want to develop different statements.
It doesnt help your application to a masters degree program to be
talking about you immediate goal of going into private practiceyou wont
be able to do this with a masters degree. The committee may think you
are poorly informed, they may think that you were too lazy to direct your comments
to the specific programs you are applying to, they may make some other attribution.
Probably none of the likely attributions will be positive or help your application
to that school.
Proof read you statements carefully. It would probably be a good idea to type
them out separately, run a spelling check, and possibly have a friend or professor
read critically what you have written. Make your application as neat as possible.
Some people are going to be viewing these pieces of paper as reflective of what
kind of student you will be. Another basic rule: Appearance
counts.
Dont forget to tell them positive things about yourself and include relevant
experiences. If you won awards for your writing, community service, or scholastic
activitiesthis will be of interest to the application committee. If you
are applying to an applied area (Counseling, Clinical, Community, School), they
will be interested in volunteer and paraprofessional activities and jobs you
have been involved in. Dont just tell them you worked as a volunteer for
a telephone crisis linetell them you completed a two week training program,
worked as a volunteer for your junior and senior year, serving a monthly eight-hour
shift that gave you the opportunity to respond to callers with a variety of
personal crises and needs. Give the application committee enough information
to see what this experience really involved.
What do I do after the applications
are sent in?
Follow up, follow up, follow
up
Check back with your referees to make sure the letters of reference went in
as needed. At some point well before the schools deadline you should check
with the graduate secretary to ensure that your application is completeif
not you then have time to get whatever is missing attended to. Remember:
The school will not consider
your application until they have everythingyour application, letters of
references, test scores, any other required documents.
Be prepared to receive a telephone call from someone on the admission
committee. The director of training or coordinator, or another member
of the admission committee might call you for a variety of reasons. Some schools
like to do telephone interviews of the final round of candidates prior to making
admission offers. Some programs interview students placed in an alternate
category to have more information about them. Many program administrators make
initial notification of offers of acceptance by telephone. It is useful to consider
in advance what you might want to say under each of these scenario. Intelligent
questions, which show you have done your homework and know something already
about a program, never hurt the opinion others have of you. Hopefully you have
learned as much as you can about the programs you have applied to; keep this information and any questions
you have about the school at hand near your telephone.
You should also begin considering what your options will be if you dont
gain admission into a graduate program this year (see below).
Suppose I get accepted to
a program, what should I do?
Be happy, be gracious, ask
questions, dont sign anything just yet
Sometimes you will get news though the mail, sometimes you may get a call from
the director or coordinator of the program you have been accept to. Happy news
is always nice to get and give. Along with your rejoicing, ask some questions:
Are you being offered any financial assistance? This could come in the form
of an assistantship from the department or university (Work for money, often
with an attached tuition waver), a scholarship (money straight to you), a tuition
waver (often very important if you are going to be an out-of-state
student), as well as other arrangements. Sometimes financial aid decisions are
know at the same time as acceptance decisions, sometimes these decisions are
made latter. What is your situation with respect to financial assistance? How
soon does the program need to know your decision? The program is now recruiting
you, and they would like to know as soon as possible (They have an alternate
list in case you turn them down.), but you might be waiting to hear from some
other programs you have applied to. It is alright to expect some time to consider
their offer. If you have made up your mind it is considerate and professional
to let everyone know, this allows backup plans to be put in motion.
Suppose you receive an offer of acceptance from one school and are still waiting
to hear from another program, a program you are still very interested in. You
might consider contacting the program you have yet to hear from and inquiring
into your status in their evaluation sequence. Since you havent heard
from them, it is possible you are on their alternate list. Be polite and reasonable,
but also let them know what deadlines you are now under.
In general, once you make a decision you are expected to stick with it. The
school whose offer of acceptance you accept will want you to send a letter of
acceptance. The programs I am aware of want an actual letter, with your signature;
not just a Yes! over the telephone or an e-mail. Once they have
this letter, you and they have a formal commitment to each other. It
is considered a serious breach to withdraw from a formal acceptance without
the permission of the school you had agreed to attend; there could be consequences
from doing so. You want to be as sure as you can when you make a formal acceptance
that this is the decision you want to go forward with. If your situation changes,
you may wish to counsel with your faculty advisor on how best to proceed. In
many ways academic psychology is a small community and you do not want to bruise
the feelings of people you will be working with in the future.
Suppose I get placed on an
alternate list, what should I do?
Be patient, keep in touch,
consider alternatives
Being told you are on an alternate list for one of the programs you applied
to is a good news, bad news kind of situation. The good news is
that they have decided you are the kind of student they want for their program.
Graduate programs in psychology typically receive more applications from qualified
students than they can accept. If the admission committee was not sure you showed
potential to succeed in their program and was the kind of student they wished
to have in their program--you would not be on the alternate list, you would
have received a rejection letter. So, you are really in the running. The bad
news, of course, is that someone else is ahead of you and your fate now depends
on their decisions. If you are on an alternate list the decision making process
has passed out of the hands of the admission committee. You are probably not
going to know more for some period of time, while the individuals who received
the first round of offers ponder their decisions.
Is there anything you can do to help yourself while waiting on an alternate
list? Yes, a few activities are advisable. Keep in touch with the admission
officer or faculty member who informed you of your earning a place on their
alternate list. Dont call them every day, but do let them know you are
still interested. Ask if there is any additional information the committee would
like to have. If you should be moving or changing telephone numbers or e-mail
addresses, be sure to let the school knows how to reach
you.
You should also begin seriously considering your alternative plans. No matter
how impressive your undergraduate record, your experiences, the glowing letters
of reference about you; it is possible you will not move off the alternate list
this year. Up until the point the applications were mailed your primary focus
was probably on attending graduate school next year. After the letters are off
and before you have been offered an acceptance is a good time to begin serious
consideration of alternatives. You could consider working in an allied area
and gaining experience which may augment your applications next year. You might
consider other career options. It is always useful to have backup plans.
Suppose I get turned down
from all the schools I apply to, what should I do?
Sulk for a little while and
then move on to Plan B
None of us likes rejection and it is no fun to seek admission to graduate study
and fail to gain a position. I know this from personal experience, the first
time I applied to graduate programs none of my applications were accepted. After
feeling sorry for myself awhile I spoke with one of my favorite professors.
He pointed out several things I could have done differently to help my chances
of success and encouraged me not to give up. I spent the next year working as
an aide in a state mental hospital and completing a research project I had started
for one of my professors. The next year I applied again and was successful;
in part, I believe, both because I had heeded my teachers advice and because
the experiences of the year contributed to the strength of my application.
Its normal to feel bad when we are disappointed, but you wouldnt
want to let this disappointment be the determining factor in your life. As is
implied by my one line answer above, you ought to have a Plan
B to move on to. As much as you plan to begin your postgraduate education
the next year, you should also be making some alternate plans in case you education
is postponed by various events. Talk with your faculty advisors; ask them (again)
for an honest (i.e., blunt) assessment of your record and you potential
for success in graduate school. Do they think you should make another attempt?
The ultimate decision is yours alone, but it doesnt hurt to have as much
input to consider as possible. Carefully consider this question:
What can I do to enhance my future applications?
Whatever your final decision and outcome turns out to be, my best wishes to
you.
Summary: Gather information,
organize, plan, execute, monitor
Applying to graduate school is a major undertaking. It involves a good deal
of your time and a significant amount of expense. Work at getting the most out of your time
and money by carefully preparing for this task, going about it in a methodical
and careful manner, and following up to make sure everything has been received
by the school you are interested in. It is
really helpful to have a faculty member you know pretty well to help you with
the process. I look forward to meeting some of you in my classes.
Alvin E. House, Ph.D.
aehouse@ilstu.edu
personal web page: ../aehouse