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Strong research experience, clinical experience (for those applying for
clinical psychology), good letters of recommendation from those you know
well, solid GPA, solid GRE scores.
During the summer before you apply, purchase study guides for the GRE (BARONS
or equivalent) and use them to review mathematical principles you have
forgotten and to take practice tests. Take the GRE in the fall before
you apply.
Think about what area of Psychology you want to apply to in graduate school
(developmental, clinical, social, cognitive, physiological).Talk to
professors at the university to get their ideas about what schools might be
best to apply to, given your interests.
Write to schools you are interested in applying to and request their application
materials. Write away to more schools than you are anticipating applying to.
As you begin to narrow-down the schools that best fit your interests, begin
to look at specific faculty members who might be possible advisors. Read some
of their recent work and begin to correspond with them.
Fill out the applications for graduate school. The earliest due date for
such applications is typically December 15th, with most of them being due
after the first of the year. Applications include a personal statement of
your career interests, past scholarly accomplishments, etc., and possible
essays directed toward some other related topics. Each application is
different, unfortunately, so don't expect to be able to do these in one night.
Think about those individuals who you will list as references. Sometime during
fall semester check with them to be sure that they will write a letter of
recommendation for you. Give them a list of schools, addresses, and due dates for
the letters approximately a month in advance (do not expect professor's letters to
be on time if you only give them a week).
You will be notified if you are accepted by March 15th, although the trend is to
receive a phone call from interested schools sometime before the acceptance date.
Some schools may request that you interview before they make a decision regarding
acceptance, others may encourage you to visit after accepting you. You are obligated
to decide and accept an offer by April 15th.
STIPEND/TUITION. Stipend comes from teaching assistantship versus research assistantship.
If teaching, how often and what kind of responsibilities? How long are students funded for?
What is the guarantee of funding, if you are in good standing?
Are they a Mentor/Mentee situation? Are you admitted with respect to working with a specific professor?
What are the requirements? What are typical hours? How flexible is the department in allowing
joint concentrations of research (e.g.: Developmental-Clincal)?
What are the deadlines? What are some of the requirements for masters degree? What are
you looking for in a dissertation?
Can I afford to live on the stipend or is housing available? Ask about personal
life-style issues (rural nightlife, commuting from off-campus, hobbies, crime,
and cultural events).
Are they happy? How is it to work with the professor you have in mind to be your
advisor? Are they Successful (e.g.: publications, national conferences, jobs-academic)
and Likable? Do they seem friendly (e.g.: welcome to discussions over lunch)? |
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