General Information on Admissions

Most students who are admitted have completed a B.A. or B.S. in psychology, although persons with outstanding records who have majored in other subjects will be considered. Similarly, individuals who have an M.A. degree in psychology from another university will be considered when their credentials are unusually strong. Students who are admitted with a master’s degree will be required to take all the clinical core courses.

The competition for admission is keen, with seven or eight students selected each year from a large pool of applicants. (See Student Characteristics table below.) Grades (especially the last two years of undergraduate study), GRE scores, and letters of recommendation (preferably from psychology instructors) are used to select the most promising students among the applicants. Flexible admission criteria are used in an attempt to select those students with the best potential for success in our program. We admit students to work with specific faculty members, although students may choose to work with another faculty member if the initial match is not satisfactory. Students should make their research interests clear in their applications. Clinical admissions are for the fall semester. In order to insure full consideration for admission, applications to the clinical area should be completed by December 1st. Students are notified of our admissions decisions by April 15th. Typically, eight students are accepted into the program each year. Assistantship decisions are made following admissions decisions.

Open House

Each year the clinical program holds an Open House for selected applicants. The Open House provides an opportunity for applicants to meet with faculty and students in the clinical program and learn more about the training environment, the campus, and the local community. Although attendance at the Open House is not required for admission, applicants are strongly encouraged to attend and past applicants have reported it was very helpful in their decision making. The Open House is by invitation and more information will be sent when the invitations are made. For students applying for admission for the 2013-2014 academic year, the Open House will be held on February 13 and 14, 2013.

Student Characteristics

Students currently in the clinical curricular area of study are distributed as follows:

• Male: 26%
• Female: 74%   
• The average age of students when entering the program: 24
• Age range of students upon entering the program: 21 - 30
• Minority: 20%