Why Go to Graduate School
Why Not Go
to Graduate School
Master's vs.
Doctoral Degree Programs in Psychology
Graduate Record Examination
Curriculum Vitae
Letters of Recommendation
Personal Statement
Research Experience
Undergraduate Timetable
Specific Areas of Graduate Study in Psychology
Why Go to Graduate
School
In graduate school, students
focus on one specific area of psychology
that interests them (e.g., clinical, cognitive,
developmental, industrial-organizational,
school, social, etc.). Students receive
specialized training in research and/or practice
in the chosen area and, depending
on the program, students may be qualified
to practice, teach, or continue conducting
research in this area of interest.
Why
Not Go to Graduate School
It is generally not a good idea for
students to pursue graduate school simply
because they have nothing else
to do after completing their undergraduate
degree. Graduate school requires a strong
commitment and students, who are not
committed, perform poorly.
It is also not a good idea to go to
graduate school simply to avoid employment.
Most successful graduate students work
on their degree for more than 40 hours
per week. Graduate school involves
intensive study of a specific area of
psychology. Therefore, having only a
vague interest in psychology is usually
not enough motivation for students to
complete a graduate degree.
Master's
vs. Doctoral Degree Programs in Psychology
The choice of graduate programs to
apply to depends on many factors
including students' area of interest,
career goals, time commitment to graduate
school, grades, and amount of research
experience. There are several important
differences between master's and doctoral
programs. Master's programs typically
require about two years to complete.
Some master's programs (e.g., counseling)
allow students to become licensed when
they have completed the degree (usually
by passing a test or logging a certain
number of practice hours). Master's
programs usually require students to
write and defend a thesis or pass a
comprehensives exam. There are many
careers in practice or industry that
require only a master's degree.
Doctoral programs can take as many
as five or six years to complete, require
a dissertation research project, and
are often focused on a specific area
of psychology (master's programs may
or may not have an area of focus). Becoming
an academic (e.g., professor) in psychology
generally requires completion of a PhD,
but many other careers in psychology
do not require a PhD. Certain master's
programs may also help raise students'
grade point average or provide more
research experience if students do not
have the minimum requirements for a
doctoral program. Most master's
and doctoral programs require a good
background in research methods and statistics
for acceptance. Students should consider
applying to programs of varying competitiveness
to give themselves a range of possibilities
for acceptance into either master's
or a doctoral programs.
Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) programs
can be very different from the programs
described above. PsyD programs are
often located in a professional school
of psychology, such as
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology,
and lead to a career as a licensed,
practicing psychologist.
Graduate
Record Examination
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
is an exam for entrance to general graduate
programs (like psychology). GRE scores
will be requested for most master's
and doctoral program applications in
psychology. There are two types of exams.
The General exam is very similar to
the SAT and ACT and has quantitative,
verbal, and writing components. The
quantitative and verbal components are
worth 800 points and the writing component
is scored from 0-6 points. Some graduate
programs may have minimum scores on
each component or a minimum combined
score for acceptance into the graduate
program. It is often a good idea to
take the GRE early in case students
want to re-take it to improve their
score before graduate school applications
are due.
The other exam that may be required
for graduate school applications is
the Psychology Subject GRE. This exam
tests students on general knowledge
of the field of psychology with an emphasis
on the areas of statistics and research
methods, history and systems, learning,
cognition, physiological psychology,
perception, development, personality,
and social psychology. If the graduate
program requires
the Subject exam, students should
take as many courses as possible in
these specific areas to prepare for
the exam. At ISU, these courses would
include: PSY 111, 138, 231, 301, 320,
331, 334, 340, 350, 360, 361, 363, 365,
and 366. Students should also review
an introductory psychology textbook
for the Subject exam. Students can
find mean GRE scores for some graduate
programs listed in the APA guide
Graduate
Study in Psychology.
This information may also be available
on the Web sites for the individual
graduate programs.
The Educational Testing Service
administers the GRE and maintains the
GRE
Web site which provides more information
about the exams, dates and locations
where the exam can be taken (be sure
to check this information well in advance),
and resources for helping you study
for the exam. Students can also find
GRE prep books at most bookstores.
The GRE can be taken multiple times.
However, it is not just the highest
scores that are reported to graduate
schools. Instead, all of students' scores
are reported. Therefore, students should
make their first attempt their best
attempt. Don't
take the GRE the first time hoping for
the best score and then decide to study
to obtain a higher
score on a second test.
Curriculum
Vitae
The curriculum vitae (CV) is the academic
version of a resume. It includes students
contact information, a list and description
of their educational history and experiences
relevant to graduate school, presentations
(e.g., undergraduate research symposium)
and publications, honors and awards,
and names and addresses of their references.
Review the
sample
CV for a suggested format.
Most department faculty have a copy
of their vitae posted on their Web sites;
look at faculty CVs as examples to
follow. When developing a CV include
only the sections that reflect personal
experiences (e.g., if there are no publications
yet do not include this section). Even
if it is not required for a graduate
school application, it is generally a
good idea to include a CV.
Letters
of Recommendation
Most graduate school applications require
three or more letters of recommendation.
Students should ask for letters from
people who know them well, such as faculty
and supervisors for psychology-related
work. It is fair to ask someone if they
would be able to write a good letter
of recommendation before asking them
to do so. Many faculty will be willing
to write a letter if they know
students from their class, but these
letters are likely to be less detailed
than letters from faculty who know students
better (e.g., students worked in faculty
research labs for a semester or more).
The people who agree to write
letters for students are also known
as their references and can be listed
on students' CV. Letters of recommendation
should speak to students ability to
perform well in graduate school. If
there are specific qualities that students
want to have highlighted, be sure to
ask individual references to include
these qualities in their letter. Students
also want to be sure to ask for letters
in plenty of time so that people can
plan ahead to write them before the
graduate school deadline. At least a
month before graduate school applications
are due is usually enough time. Students
should provide their references with
information about students' academic
achievements (e.g., GPA), their CV,
the programs students are applying to,
future goals, due dates for the
applications, and students' contact
information.
Check the instructions in the graduate
school application materials to see
if letters should be mailed directly
to the school from students' references
or if students need to include the letters
in their application packet. Some graduate
school require letters of recommendation
be sent in sealed envelopes with signatures
across the flap. Students should provide
their references with addressed, stamped
envelopes for their letters if the letters
should be mailed separately from the
application. If there is a form in the
application, it will likely have a section
that allows students to indicate if
they waive the right to view the letters.
It is usually a good idea to waive this
right, as some people may be unwilling
to write letters if students do not
waive the right to view the letter.
See Letters
of Recommendation
for more information.
Personal
Statement
The personal statement is your opportunity
to inform the graduate school admissions
committee why you want to be accepted
and in what way you are qualified to
be a graduate student. Your personal
statement may vary depending on the
application instructions for each program.
Some applications may ask you to respond
to specific questions, while others
may ask for a general personal statement.
It is a good idea to reflect on your
personal statement before you write
it, thinking about why you are applying
to the type of program you have chosen
and what experiences or qualities you
have that may help persuade the admissions
committee to admit you into their program.
It is important to discuss activities
such as research experience, leadership
responsibilities, community service,
and honors activities or awards.
It is also important to show that you
have challenged yourself academically
by taking some of the more difficult
classes or being a member of an honors
program.
You should explain why you have chosen
the program that you are applying
to. If you are aware of one or two faculty
members at the school you wish to work
with, identify them in your personal
statement to make it clear that you
are familiar with the program and that
you have interests that match the faculty
who are there. Depending on the type
of program, it may even be appropriate
to contact the faculty you wish to work
with ahead of time, so they are familiar
with your name before your application
is submitted. For research-oriented
graduate programs, this is strongly
recommended. It is generally a bad idea
to make excuses for your weaknesses
in your personal statement. Let your
references do that for you.
The personal statement also gives the
admissions committee a chance to see
how well you write, so make sure you
spend time working on your statement
in terms of the writing quality. It
is a good idea to have someone (perhaps
a faculty member)
read your personal statement before
you include it in your application.
Make sure you carefully proofread your
statement. Minor errors can put your
application in the “reject” pile.
Research
Experience
As mentioned above, many graduate programs
require a good background in research
methods and statistics. Besides taking
classes in these areas, the best way
to make yourself a more desirable applicant
is to gain research experience working
in a faculty member’s lab. There
are several ways to do this at ISU
and many can earn you course credit.
PSY 287, 290, and 390 are
available as courses you can take that
involve research experiences. See Faculty
Research Interests.
You can also find a listing of Web sites
of faculty with lab opportunities for
students at
Out-of-Class
Experiences with Faculty.
You might also find that faculty have
more detailed descriptions of their
research projects on their personal
Web sites. It is a good idea to identify
a few faculty that do research you are
interested in and contact those people
either by e-mail or dropping by during
their office hours.
Taking both PSY 290
and PSY 390 with the same faculty member
can fulfill your capstone experience
requirement for the PSY major and provide
you with valuable research experience
needed for graduate school. PSY 287
gives you course credit for completing
an independent study (where you work
as the primary researcher on a project
with a faculty mentor) and will give
you research experience with more responsibility.
If you are an honors student, you can
complete IDS 285, 286, and 395.03 for
research experience and honors course
credit.
Working in a faculty member’s
lab is a good way to get to know
the psychology faculty better and find
potential references who know you to
write letters of recommendation for
your applications. Depending on your
goals, you may want to spend a year
or more working in one faculty member’s
lab or spend time working in labs with
a few different faculty. It is best
to start on your research experiences
as early as possible (e.g., your sophomore
year) to allow yourself more opportunities
to gain the kind of experiences you
want and more time for faculty to get
to know you.
Undergraduate
Timetable
The following table provides a suggested
time line for completing certain activities
related to gaining acceptance to a
graduate program:
Freshman Year
Consider which areas of psychology are most interesting
by taking PSY 111 and other courses in topic areas
Sophomore Year
Take PSY 138 and 231 to begin training
in research methods and statistics
Identify faculty with research that interests
you and contact them
Take classes in topic areas of psychology
Junior Year
Take classes in topic areas of psychology
Begin working in faculty member’s
lab, if you haven’t started already
Research graduate programs to
identify which ones you want to apply to
Start working on your CV and personal
statement
Consider who to ask for letters of recommendation
Take the GRE near the end of your junior year
Write to graduate schools for application
materials
Senior Year
Ask faculty to write you letters of
recommendation
Re-take GRE, if needed
Submit applications (usually due Dec-Mar
of your senior year)
This timetable is just a suggestion.
If you decide in your junior or senior
year to apply to graduate school, it
is not too late, but you may have to
work hard to catch up on completing
everything that you need to do.
Specific
Areas of Graduate Study in Psychology
The following links will provide more
information about graduate study in different
areas of psychology:
Clinical-Counseling Psychology
Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Quantitative Psychology
School Psychology
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