The Graduate School Process
Decide what you want to study
 If
not sure----You are not alone--Don’t panic
– Do research on career options--use counselors,
books, web, professional organizations, people
Some areas of psychology
 Clinical
 Cognitive
 Counseling
 Experimental
 Social
 Community
 Personality
 Health
 Developmental
 Industrial
 Biopsychology
 School
 Forensic
Organizational
Google: “areas in
psychology”
APA Divisions—one for everyone!
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Society for General Psychology
Society for the Teaching of
Psychology
Experimental Psychology
Evaluation, Measurement, and
Statistics
Behavioral Neuroscience and
Comparative Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Society for Personality and Social
Psychology
Society for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues (SPSSI)
Society for the Psychology of
Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts
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Society of Clinical
Psychology13Society of Consulting
Psychology
Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology
Educational Psychology
School Psychology
Society of Counseling Psychology
Psychologists in Public Service
Society for Military Psychology
Adult Development and Aging
Applied Experimental and
Engineering Psychology
Rehabilitation Psychology
Society for Consumer Psychology
APA Divisions—but wait there’s
more!
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Society for Theoretical and
Philosophical Psychology
Behavior Analysis
Society for the History of Psychology
Society for Community Research and
Action: Division of Community
Psychology
Psychopharmacology and Substance
Abuse
Psychotherapy
Society of Psychological Hypnosis
State, Provincial and Territorial
Psychological Association Affairs
Society for Humanistic Psychology
Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities
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Society for Environmental, Population
and Conservation Psychology
Society for the Psychology of Women
Society for the Psychology of Religion
and Spirituality
Society for Child and Family Policy
and Practice
Health Psychology
Psychoanalysis
Clinical Neuropsychology
American Psychology-Law Society
Psychologists in Independent
Practice
Society for Family Psychology
Society for the Psychological Study of
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Issues
…and more….
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Society for the Psychological Study of
Ethnic Minority Issues
Media Psychology
Exercise and Sport Psychology
Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict,
and Violence: Peace Psychology
Division
Society of Group Psychology and
Group Psychotherapy
Society of Addiction Psychology
Society for the Psychological Study of
Men and Masculinity
International Psychology
Society of Clinical Child and
Adolescent Psychology
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Society of Pediatric Psychology
American Society for the Advancement
of Pharmacotherapy
Trauma Psychology
**Most of these represent areas for
graduate study!
Clinical Psychology
 General
Career Pathways
 Education options
What does “clinical psychology” mean
as an area of work and education?
 Related
to the study and treatment of mental
illness
 Related to the study and promotion of mental
health
 This is not limited only to “clinical”
populations
 May also include “non-clinical” populations
Work in Clinical Psychology
 May
be Research
 May be Teaching
 May be Practice
– Therapy, treatment etc.
 May
be all three!
Will I get rich?
 Probably
not
 Will you earn a good living?
– Probably so
 Check
APA.org for salary surveys
What about Getting a “License”?
 To
“do therapy” you need a license
 If you seek a Ph.D. only to do research (which
is really what the Ph.D. is for) you don’t need
a license—though you can get one
 The PsyD and many MA degrees provide
options for licensure
 Getting a license requires a combination of
coursework and therapy training
 Licensure is on a state-by-state basis
Some Licensable Degrees
 Ph.D.
 Psy.D.
 M.D.
 MSW
 M.Ed
 Masters
in School Psychology
 Masters in Counseling
 Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy*
 MS in Autism Studies
Educations related to Clinical
Psychology
 Ph.D.
– This is a research and teaching oriented degree
– If you don’t like research you should not pursue it
– If you only and/or mostly want to do treatment, you
should not pursue it
Ph.D. in Clinical
A
Scientist Practitioner Model
 Available through Universities
– Usually includes some funding
– If you don’t get funding you should not go
 Very
competitive
– Programs typically get 300-600 applications in a year and take 6-8
applicants
 Mentored
(usually)
– An applicant works with an individual faculty member
– Completes the masters and dissertation with this person
– Choice based on shared interests
More Ph.D.
 Includes
clinical training
– Requires a one year clinical internship
 Focus
is on research
– Quantitative/Qualitative
– Collecting data
– Publishing
A
Ph.D. program is not just more/more difficult, classes
 It is possible to flunk out of a Ph.D. program
–
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–
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It is not a degree to rush into
If you aren’t really really sure, you are better off waiting
And it helps tremendously to have research experience
Consider working in a research lab for a year or two before applying
Psy.D.
 This
is a clinical treatment oriented doctoral
degree
 Four years (typically) of coursework and
training
 Focused on clinical work
 Research is a minor focus, but necessary
 Whether it requires an internship varies by
state
 Licensure requirements vary by state
Psy.D.
 Programs
are most often free standing
professional degree programs
– Like some law or medical schools
 Accept
a larger cohort than Ph.Ds
– E.g. around 100 in a class
 May
not have much access to funding
 May be costly
Psychiatrist
A
medical degree
 Requires you to go to medical school
 May lead to research
 Commonly leads to practice
– Private, clinic, hospital all common
 Practice
is usually oriented towards
medication related treatment
 It may also include therapy
MSW
 Master
of Social Work
 A two year degree
 Will confer an opportunity for a clinical
license
 Can be a treatment related degree
 Can also lead to other applied work
– Policy, community organizing, human services
management
M.Ed.
 Master
of Education
 A two year degree typically
 May be a treatment related degree
– Can lead to licensure in counseling, school counseling,
marital counseling
 May
be an education related degree
– If you want to go into teaching and have a more advanced
understanding and training in the field
– Can also lead to licensure as a teaching professional
Masters in Counseling
 Also
a treatment related degree
 Typically two years
 Can lead to licensure in counseling
 May include individual, group, or system
related counseling work
Masters in School Psychology
 May
be a treatment degree
 Typically two years
 Usually orients towards working within a
secondary school system
 Clinical treatment
 Assessment and testing
MA in Marital and Family
Therapy
 Programs
that focus education specifically on
this area
 Not all states offer licensure
 You should check the program/state
guidelines carefully to be certain
Some programs in the area
 Ph.D.
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in Clinical
Umass Boston (also counseling and school psych)
Clark University
Umass Amherst
Harvard
Northeastern (Ph.D. in counseling)
BU
BC
 Psy.D.
in Clinical
– Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology
A few area MA Programs
 Simmons
 Assumption
College
 BU
 BC
 UMass
Boston
 UMass Amherst
 UMass Lowell
 Salem State
 Worcester State
Deciding what to study
(cont)
 Talk
to a Career Counselor 978-934-2355
 Talk to people ---professors, friends, alumni-----INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
 Get experience in different fields to better
understand options
 Think about what you really like to do and
relate it to jobs and academic areas
 Review different Graduate School offerings
Initial Graduate School Search
 Do
a google search with key words that are
most relevant to your search:
– “graduate program” plus
 Area of psychology (clinical, social, developmental)
 Location
 Type of degree (MA, PhD, MFCC)
– American Psychological
Association link on graduate & postdoctoral
education
 Apa.org
– http://www.apa.org/education/grad/index.aspx
Researching
Graduate Schools
 Compile
list of schools offering your field of study
– Directories and web sites list
schools by fields of study
– http://www.psychgrad.org/
 Talk to people
– Professors
– Administrators
– Staff members
– Professionals
– Friends
 Read
about schools’ programs
professional journals--what schools are
represented / professors?
Narrow the list of schools
 Location
 Admission
requirements - Test scores,
grades, field experience, ...
 Time frame of program – Day, evening, part-time, full-time----Start time also
Narrow list of schools (cont)
 Reputation
 Programs
and mission of school, program
and coursework offered
 Professors’
 Current
backgrounds and interests
Students’ and Alumni’s comments
 Accessibility
of faculty
 Accreditation
Choosing a School
“Attend the best school to which you have
been accepted and can afford”
 Academic Requirements
– Entrance Test Scores
– Grades
 Class
and Program Offerings
– Cost
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Financial Package offered to you
– Free Monies - Scholarships, fellowships, grants
– Loans
– Graduate Assistantships: teaching, research, administrative,
resident halls
Choosing a School (cont)
Size of student body in relation to size of faculty
Facilities (library, housing, study space, etc.)
Demographics of student body
Enrollment and class size
Make a site visit (research professors before visit)
School Admission Criteria
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GRE scores
GPA
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Personal Essay
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Work experience
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Letters of reference / recommendation
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Interview
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Samples of previous work (optional)

Financial Aid Application
Graduate Record Exam
(GRE)
 Computer
adaptive test
 General aptitude test of three parts
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Analytical
Verbal
Quantitative
$fee
Subject test – 8 tests of major fields of
study-ex. Biology, Psychology
 GRE
– Is not computerized
– $fee
– check with school if required
 http://www.gre.org
Potential Benefits of Waiting a
Year or More
 Work
in related profession and decide if field
is right for you
 Earn
money to help pay for education
 Gain
work experience which may assist
admissions chances
 Relax
before the rigors of Graduate school
 Mature
Potential Costs of Waiting a Year
or More
 May
lose some reading, writing, and
analytical skills
 May be difficult to motivate yourself to go
back to school (may indicate your desire was
not as strong as you had thought)
 The longer you wait, the longer it will take to
finish
 Some schools have a deferment policy
 May lose contact with references: Go ahead
and secure letters of recommendation before
leave undergraduate institution.
Application Tips
 Follow
Directions of application
 Start Early--Most applications due in December,
January or February
 Contact schools to be sure application is complete
Letters of Recommendation
 Should
come from people who know you well
enough to offer a truly informed assessment
of your abilities
 Academic references carry most weight
 Provide your references with
– a copy of your personal statement and CV
– Instructions on how the letter should be submitted
 May
be a checklist format or a letter request
– *** Which box do you check? Do you waive your right to
view the letter?
Personal Statement
 Usually
in some manner covers the question:
Who are you, and why do you want to go to
graduate school?
 Include your “plan” for graduate school
– research and experiences you hope to attain at that specific
program
 Writing
should be clear and concise
 Draw attention away from your weak points by
focusing on your strengths.
 Try to not exceed 2 pages (length may be mandated)
Funding Graduate School
 Forms
of financial aid
– Grants / scholarships which do not require
repayment
– Scholarships: check out
www.fastweb.monster.com
– Wages, which are provided in return for
work
– Loans, which require repayment
 75% students finance education with
loans
Questions to Ask Graduate Schools
Plan Ahead !!!
Time table
 Spring
semester of your junior year:
– think about what type of program you're interested in
– start talking to the faculty
– if you haven't already done so, find out if you can get involved in
faculty research or an Independent Study project; consider taking a
fieldwork course
 Summer
before your senior year:
look over Graduate Study in Psychology
– make a rough list of schools you might apply to
– start writing your personal statement
– begin studying for the GREs
Time table
 Fall
semester of your senior year
– near the start of the semester, write to schools for information
about their programs
– as you receive this information, start making your final list of
schools you will apply to
– IN OCTOBER TAKE THE GREs
– near the end of the semester, ask professors to write letters of
recommendation
 After
the fall semester
– complete your applications and send them off -deadlines may be in
January, February, or March, depending on the school
– if possible, visit the schools
UMass Lowell Grad Programs
How to Figure out Which Program and Increase
Success of Getting Accepted
Some areas of psychology
 Clinical
 Counseling
 Cognitive
 Social
 Experimental
 Personality
 Community
 Developmental
 Health
 Biopsychology
 I/O
 School
 Education
 Forensic
 Behavioral
Google: “areas in
psychology”
Some areas of psychology
 Clinical
 Counseling
 Cognitive
 Social
 Experimental
 Personality
 Community
 Developmental
 Health
 Biopsychology
 I/O
 School
 Forensic
 Behavioral
Google: “areas in
psychology”
M.A. in Community Psychology
 Faculty
and students share a commitment to social
justice and the empowerment of all citizens
 Designed
to help students understand the complex
relationships between individual, family and community
well-being
M.S. in Autism Studies
 Launched
in September 2012
 42 credit program
 Mix of online and on-campus courses
 Enables individuals to meet the education,
experience and supervision requirements for
board certification
Behavior Intervention in Autism
(BIA)
 We
1.
2.
offer 5 BIA courses within a post-baccalaureate
graduate certificate.
You can complete the certificate with 4 of the 5
courses, or 3 plus an approved elective. This is
designed for those just beginning their graduate study
You can complete the certificate with all 5 BIA courses.
– This option is designed for those who already possess or are currently
pursuing a master's degree
– All 5 of our BIA courses enable you to meet the education
requirements for national certification as a Behavior Analyst
How do I figure out which program
is right for me?
GET INVOLVED!!!
 Volunteer (see craigs list)
 Work in the field (Melmark, May Institute)
 Conduct research with faculty
 Volunteer to participate in research
 Interview faculty
 Take advantage of all of your opportunities
 Join Psychology Club
1.