Getting into Grad School in Psychology
By Denis Birgenheir
University of Wyoming
Psychology Dept.
dbirgenh@uwyo.edu
Though it may seem overwhelming at first, applying and getting accepted into graduate school in
Psychology can be done in a systematic and productive manner. This essay is intended to be a
brief document to assist you in the application process and help improve your chances of getting
accepted. I am writing this soon after completing the application process and getting accepted and
will give a broad outline of my process, things that I learned, and things that you should know.
This essay is not a synopsis of, but does borrow material from Getting In: A Step-by-Step Plan
for Gaining Admission to Graduate School in Psychology published by the American
Psychological Association. This is the primary book that I utilized in my admission process and it
provides a very good guide to graduate programs. I would recommend this book to anyone
serious about applying.
Deciding what program is for you
Graduate school in psychology is not a proper path for everyone. First, you must decide what
your reasons for attending grad school are. To teach in a college setting, conduct academic
research, or practice clinical psychology without supervision, a doctorate degree is necessary. A
master’s degree will open up a few more doors than simply a bachelor’s by allowing a person to
counsel in some instances and work under supervision of doctorates. This is a key thing to decide
before applying. A doctoral degree will take 4-5 years and a master’s degree will take 2-3 years.
Doctoral programs are far more competitive than master’s programs and this should also be
considered.
There are many areas in psychology ranging from clinical to industrial to health psychology. Talk
to your advisor to narrow down the area of your interest and decide what field would best help
you accomplish your goals.
After narrowing down your goals, a key part of applying is to find the schools that match your
interests the best. In the academic world, you must go where your interests lead you and this
sometimes consists of going to school in another area. If you are interested in clinical psychology,
what are your interests? Depression, alcohol abuse, autism? Before diving in to applying, it is
useful to look at each program specifically and determine if the faculty members are doing
research in an area of your interest – if they are not, you could be doing better elsewhere. I
personally looked at the websites of several schools to determine what the faculty members were
researching before I applied to any of them. The faculty members at BHSU also keep books
describing different programs around the country. Furthermore, some programs emphasize
research, some emphasize practice, and some in between. Determine where your interests lie and
apply accordingly.
Improving your chances of getting in
First and foremost, it needs to be stated that everyone who wants to get into grad school will not
get in. There are plenty of people who would make good psychologists that will not be able to be.
The average clinical psychology PhD program accepts around 5% of applicants each year.
Knowing this upfront will help you to better plan for other options and to not be devastated
should you not get in. This section talks about some things programs look for in admissions. In
my personal experience, I have only applied to clinical PhD programs, so this section is
somewhat biased in knowledge about these programs. Every type of program has its own criteria
that emphasis might be placed on.
Most graduate programs place most emphasis on the following areas:
GPA – Most doctoral programs look for a minimum of a 3.2, and master’s programs cutoffs are
somewhat lower around 2.7-3.0. However, a much higher GPA is normally needed to be
competitive.
GRE – Doctoral programs look for a combined score of at least 1100-1200 and a Psyc score of
550 (although not all programs require the psyc GRE); Master’s programs are slightly lower
Letters of Recommendation – Most programs require 3 letters of recommendation. These are
often held in high esteem although maybe less so than more objective criteria. The best letters are
from those who can best attest to your ability to succeed in Psyc grad school
Experience – This includes both related work experience and research experience. Especially if
you are looking at a research-intensive program, the program would like to see that you have
been involved in previous research.
The process of applying
Now that you have decided to go ahead and apply to certain programs there is a decent amount of
work ahead of you. Every program has different application requirements and different deadlines.
Deadlines can range from as early as November to as late as February. Make sure to check
everything and when it is due – Most of this info will be on the program’s website. A good way
to organize this info is to use separate folders or a 3-ring binder with sections for each school you
are applying to. It is helpful to keep a copy of everything you are sending to each school for later
reference. The following is a short description of some of the key things you will need to send in.
NOTE: this is not an exhaustive list and some schools might require more or less in the
application packet.
Application Paperwork: At the minimum, a program will require a short application with basic
personal information on it. However, a good number of schools will require multiple applications
(for the department and for the grad school) and might ask some short answer questions.
Transcripts and Test Score Reports: One of the biggest annoyances of the process (at least for me)
was making sure each school received ‘official’ transcripts from BHSU and also ‘official’ GRE
scores from ETS. The best bet is to get started on sending these as soon as possible so that your
application is not held up unnecessarily.
Letters of Recommendation: Most programs request at least 3 letters of recommendation. The
school wants to see letters from those who can state why you will succeed in graduate school.
Talk to Dr. Stoltenberg to get information on how to properly request these letters and what to
include in a request packet.
Application Essays: This is one of the most time consuming steps of the process, and every
school wants essays written in slightly different manners. My best advice on these is to get started
early and spend some time thinking about each question before answering them. A detailed,
drawn out essay is not necessary and with all the applications to go through, probably will not be
fully read. Try to figure out what the school is most interested in about you and how your
background and experiences line up with the goals of the program.
Going to Interviews
Some programs do not require interviews, but a lot (especially clinical ones) do. If you are invited
to an interview, it is in your best interest to go! Most programs will invite anywhere from 2-4
times as many students to an interview as will be accepted, so although the competition is still
stiff, it has decreased considerably from the beginning.
At this stage, it would be wise to review your knowledge about the program and the faculty
members. Also review your knowledge of yourself and the aspects that allowed you to get an
interview in the first place. Think about possible questions and answers to them. During my
interviews, a good number of questions focused on my current research with Dr. Stoltenberg and
also papers and experiments that I had completed previously. I was also asked questions about
why I was a good match for the school and program and why I wanted to attend there over other
schools.
Interviews can be of different formats. I attended on interview that started with a semi-formal
supper with the Psychology Dept. on a Friday night and then extended into the greater part of
Saturday with one on one interviews with a mix of faculty and current students. Another
interview I attended lasted only one day but consisted of several group interviews and multiple
one on one interviews.
The Final Frontier
Each school has its own way of accepting or declining applicants. There is a national deadline of
April 15th for all acceptance/rejection of offers from the programs. Depending on the school, you
could be notified far earlier than this. Also be aware that you could be given alternate status,
meaning that you will be accepted should another candidate decline an offer. If you are accepted
to two or more programs, congrats! Decline the lesser desirable programs as soon as possible so
that the alternates can be notified (since they might be waiting for other programs as well).
The best advice is to get started early and remain organized throughout the process. Don’t hesitate
to ask for help from your professors and other students who have been through the process
already. Best of luck to everyone!