Admissions Criteria
Students applying to the General Clinical MS program must meet the admissions criteria for both
Graduate Admissions and the Psychology Department. Acceptance by Graduate Admissions
does not guarantee admission into the General Clinical MS program as the criteria for the
latter are much more rigorous. To qualify for consideration for admission you must:
Meet the academic requirements for Graduate Admission (see graduate catalogue:
http://catalog.emich.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=17&poid=8045&returnto=2691).
• Present evidence of having completed a minimum of 20 semester hours in psychology,
including a course in statistics and a laboratory course in experimental psychology.
While not a prerequisite, a course in history and systems of psychology is highly
desirable.
• Present an undergraduate record with a grade point average of at least a “B” (3.0 on a 4.0
scale).
• Present three letters of recommendation from employers, instructors, or others who can
testify as to your suitability for graduate study.
• Present a transcript of scores on the Graduate Record Examination with scores above the
50th percentile on the Verbal and Quantitative tests combined.
Please note that these are minimum requirements and the majority of students accepted into the
program far exceed these minimums (see table below).
•
Admissions Process
Applications for the GC program are due in no later than February 1. This includes: Graduate
School application and fee, Department application, GRE scores, ALL transcripts, Vita, Writing
sample, 3 letters of recommendation (see Admissions application for details). We will not
consider any late applicants.
Some time in late February or early March, the General Clinical faculty will begin to review
files, including those of individuals who have applied to the PhD program. From the 70+
applicants, the GC faculty will decide to invite about 25-30 individuals for an Interview Day. If
you are not invited to this interview day, you will receive a rejection letter. At this point,
applicants are typically rejected because test scores for the GRE and/or GPAs are low compared
to the applicant pool and/or essays, vitas, writing samples, etc. do not reflect the quality expected
of a graduate student or because the applicant does not appear to understand what would be
expected in a clinical graduate program.
During Interview Day in mid- to late March, students get an overview of the program
expectations, meet with 2-3 faculty for individual interviews, and meet other students from the
GC program, as well as other graduate programs in the department.
From the Interview Day pool, the faculty extends offers to 10-14 students, wait lists an additional
3-5 students, and rejects the remaining students. Decisions are generally made within a week of
the interview day. Candidates who are extended offers generally have about a month to decide if
they are coming to the program. Wait listed candidates will be notified as soon as openings
occur.
General Clinical Student admissions statistics:
Average GRE Verbal %
Average GRE Quant %
Average GRE Writing %
Average Undergrad GPA
Number applied
Number offered acceptances
Number accepted
Number graduated
Incoming class 2012
72
61
61
3.45
81
16
14
9
Incoming class 2013
66
54
59
3.62
52
16
10
10