Come June of every summer, I start getting emails from individuals that wanted to go to graduate school in psychology, but didn’t get any offers. The exact questions may be different, but the theme is the same:
Why didn’t I get into graduate school, and what can I do better?
Although I cannot read everyone’s applications and give them specific advice, I know enough from my years as a program director and having read hundreds of applications, that a vast majority of applicants don’t need an individual admission counselor. They need someone to give them a roadmap about getting into graduate school, and how to break the process down into clear, logical, and manageable steps.
So, this year, my colleagues at the Psych Learning Curve and I are going to do that.
This blog will be the first of many designed to help you get through all the big steps of getting into graduate school:
- Which programs and degrees are the best fit for you;
- Putting together a strong application;
- Preparing for interviews and program visits;
- And figuring out the real costs of going to graduate school and picking the right place!
Why Go to Graduate School in Psychology?
First, you have to KNOW what you want from your education in psychology. In general, I hear from prospective graduate students that they are interested in psychology graduate education and training for one of three reasons.
Which of the statements below sounds most like why you want to go to graduate school?
(1) I’m interested in researching and understanding what causes behavior, and the relationship between the brain, mind and behavior. I want to do experiments, answer questions, and help establish the knowledge base that is psychology.
(2) I’m interested in helping individuals (like patients) and groups of people (like businesses) in understanding behavior and applying psychological knowledge in professional settings, such as a private practice, a hospital, at a business or in a school setting. I want to help people solve problems and help people understand psychology’s impact on health, learning, business, and policy.
(3) I’m interested in doing both of the above: I want to engage in research that improves our understanding of behavior or refines existing approaches to improving health, learning, and performance and is able to apply these principles in professional settings.
From Why to How: Matching your Career Goals to Program Types and Degrees
These questions are important because some graduate programs in psychology primarily train students to do #1; others primarily train students for #2, and some train students to do both, or #3. You need to make sure that your interests fit with the type of training the program provides.
Once you know why you want to go to graduate school, you start to ask questions that help you target which programs will meet your career goals and educational needs. Start with these:
- read the program description carefully, paying close attention to the requirements for graduating
- ask where the program’s graduates go,
- and think about how that program will help you achieve what it is you want.
Finally, at this early stage, you need to do some thinking about the type of degree and accreditation. Our FAQs on graduate school provide an in-depth discussion regarding master’s, PhD and PsyDs, and APA accreditation. Read those FAQs soon, but here is a quick summary for now:
- Most individuals apply to master’s programs to acquire skills and knowledge for advancing in a specific career or job, or as a stepping-stone to a doctoral program.
- Most individuals apply to a doctoral program (PsyD or PhD) because they want to have a deeper knowledge within a specific subfield of psychology, and need a doctoral degree for specific career paths, such as a licensed psychologist or being a research faculty member at a college or university.
- Finally, APA accreditation only applies to doctoral programs that prepare people for licensure for professional practice in health service psychology (clinical, counseling, or school psychology).
Putting it All Together Now….
Let’s look at how, training goals, the subfields within the discipline and profession, degree types and APA accreditation all link up.
Loosely speaking (meaning, you will find exceptions to these statements), here is a table that breaks-down the primary training focus, degrees offered, examples of subfields, and whether or not the APA offers accreditation for those subfields or degrees.
Before actually picking the exact list of programs you will submit applications to (which we will cover in the next blog – so come back in about a month!) you really need to have a solid idea of what you want to accomplish while in graduate school, and an idea of what you plan to do with that education and degree you will have worked so hard to get!
Helpful Additional Resources:
APA’s Applying to Graduate School: This is your one-stop-shop for learning more about graduate study in psychology, researching your options, developing a plan for getting in, and actually applying!
APA’s Preparing and Applying for Graduate School in Psychology: This is a series of 12 videos that take you through the preparation, application, interview and admission process.
APA’s Frequently Asked Questions about Graduate School: This list of questions covers everything from what it means to study psychology at the graduate level, to defining and explaining APA accreditation, and much more!
The Psychology Student Network: An e-newsletter for individuals, primarily undergraduates, interested in learning more about careers, training, and succeeding in psychology. Check out the Four Questions to Ask for Applying to Graduate School article.
American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) roadmap infographic on getting into graduate school.
Graduate Study in Psychology, 2020 is a guide with admissions information for more than 1,500 masters and doctoral programs at over 500 schools and departments of psychology in the United States and Canada. This resource allows you to review and compare each program’s applications and enrollments, financial assistance, and support provided, type of training offered and other relevant information to assist with your decision making. Preview the online resource here.
PSYCAS, APA’s centralized application service. PSYCAS is a service for graduate programs and applicants. Students create a single account to manage all their application materials, submit letters of reference, and keep track of all the deadlines and materials for each program. Check out the current list of participating programs!
Graduate Education Webinars and Events Calendar – learn about the upcoming webinars and events hosted by APA’s Office of Graduate and Postgraduate Education & Training.
