Graduate School
Start to study for the GRE.
• Start to study for the GRE as soon as
possible.
• If you are planning on applying to Clinical
programs or competitive programs in other
areas, you will probably need to take the
GRE Subject Test in Psychology as well.
Studying for the GRE
• There are plenty of online resources and
books that can be used to study for the
GRE. Actually, the number of options may
be overwhelming.
• Each person will have their own preference
for certain study materials.
• Here are a few good resources…
Study Materials
• www.syvum.com/gre
• Barron’s “How to Prepare for the GRE”
• ARCO’s “GRE CAT Questions to the Real
Essay Questions”
• Barron’s “How to Prepare for the GRE
Psychology”
Barron’s “How to Prepare for the
GRE”
ARCO’s “GRE CAT Answers to the
Real Essay Questions”
Barron’s “How to Prepare for the
GRE Psychology”
How long do you want to be in
school?
How much time can you commit to graduate
school?
• Master’s programs take about two years.
• Ph.D. programs typically take anywhere
between four and six years to complete.
• Clinical Psy.D. and Ph.D. programs can take
from five to seven years to complete (including
practicum).
Funding
• The funding/financial aid that programs offer varies greatly,
depending largely on the type of program that you are applying
to (Master’s, Ph.D., Psy.D.), and the cost of living in each area.
• In Master’s programs, students typically need to pay their own
tuition.
• In most Ph.D. programs, tuition is covered and students are
offered either Research Assistantships, Teaching
Assistantships, or Fellowships that provide additional funding
to take care of living expenses.
Are you mobile or place bound?
• You will have more options if you are
mobile.
• Just remember, some of the best
schools aren’t in the nicest areas.
Figure out what you like.
What area of psychology do you want to pursue?
• Biopsych/ Neuropsych
• Clinical
• Cognitive
• Developmental
• Industrial/ Organizational
• Social
Maybe there are a number of areas that interest you –
this is OK!
Continuing to figure out what
you like.
If you are interested in clinical work, consider what
populations you would like to work with. Are you
interested in certain age groups, SES, men/women,
specific psychopathologies, etc.?
If you are interested in research, consider what specific
things you would like to look at (It’s great if you know
exactly what you want to research, but if you aren’t
sure yet, that’s not necessarily bad). A good way to get
some ideas would be to go through some of your old
textbooks, or thumb through some psychology journals
in the library.
Begin your search.
Once you have considered your interests, how long
you want to be in school, funding, and whether you
are able to apply nationally or not , you’re ready to
begin looking at specific programs.
Run web searches for topics that you’re interested
in. (You can run an Advanced search in Yahoo and
choose to find “only .edu domains”). Check out the
search results and note the schools that interest you.
If you find journal articles that interest you, look to
see who wrote them and what university they’re
associated with.
Check out the programs.
Once you find some universities that interest you, check out their
web sites. Make sure to look for:
• Acceptance rates
• Mean and median GPA
• Mean and median GRE
• Browse the whole list of faculty in their Psychology
department – there may be other people there who are
doing cool things. Many faculty actually have bio
sketches on their university’s website.
Another great resource is APA’s “Graduate Study in
Psychology”.
APA’s “Graduate Study in
Psychology”
Contact the programs.
If you find a program that you are interested in and that you think
you will be competitive for, it’s a good idea to contact an interesting
faculty member from that program before you apply.
This has a number of benefits:
• Introducing yourself may plant a seed.
• You want to know if the faculty member that you are
interested in working with is actually taking students for the
following year.
• The course of a professor’s present work may be different than
the stuff you saw published. Ask them about what they’re
doing now.
Letters of Recommendation
• Letters of recommendation are one of the most important
aspects of your application.
• You’ll probably need at least three letters of recommendations
(maybe four if you apply to Clinical programs).
• Make sure that you choose people who know you relatively
well – professors that you have done research with, professors
that you have taken multiple classes with, etc.
• Give people plenty of time to write letters. It is considered
courteous to inform someone at least a month in advance of an
application’s due date.
Research Experience
• Most research-focused programs look for
students who have had prior research experience.
• This helps programs know that you really do
enjoy research and that you were involved as an
undergrad.
• It’s also a great way to get to know
professors…who may end up writing you letters
of recommendation.
Time Off
What if you don’t know exactly what you want to
do in graduate school? What if you don’t have
any research experience? What if you want to
have more time to study for your GREs?
Don’t worry!
It is not at all uncommon for graduates to take a
year or two off to work on these things.
So what about FIU?
• FIU has Ph.D. and Master’s programs in:
Developmental Psychology
Legal Psychology
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
• FIU has Master’s programs in:
Counseling Psychology
Behavior Analysis.
• http://psych.fiu.edu/GraduateProgram.htm