The following was excerpted from Preparing for Graduate Study in Psychology: 101 Questions and Answers, by William Buskist and Thomas R. Sherburne.

Q. How soon should I start preparing for my graduate training?

A. Because your overall GPA is a major factor that most graduate programs take into consideration in accepting students for graduate work, you really should preparing for graduate school during your freshman year. However, becoming involved in research projects and other relevant activities should begin to take place during the sophomore and junior years. It will be too late if you wait until your senior year, since you will begin the actual application process during the fall term of that year. A complete timetable of the preparation process in given in Appendix I.


Q. What undergraduate classes are the most important ones to take for doing graduate work in psychology?

A. Different graduate programs emphasize different aspects or concentrations within psychology. However, most graduate programs require students to complete a set of "core" classes, which are likely to include the following: history of psychology, research methods, statistics, neuroscience (or physiological psychology), learning, cognitive psychology, sensation and perception, developmental psychology, social psychology, abnormal psychology, and personality. Having done well in these courses at the undergraduate level will not only strengthen your application, it will also provide you with valuable background information for doing well in the corresponding graduate level courses.


Q. What does it mean for a clinical graduate program to be "APA accredited"?

A. To be "APA accredited" means that a particular program has met the minimum standards for clinical training established by the American Psychological Association. Among the requirements are criteria relating to faculty credentials, coursework, state licensure, research and clinical opportunities, and internships for clinical and counseling students. If you are working in an APA accredited clinical program, you will be more likely to be successful in competing for clinical internships than if you are working in a clinical program that is not APA accredited. Other organizations besides APA may accredit other kinds of programs. You may wish to check into this further by contacting those graduate programs in which you are interested.


Q. When should the GRE be taken?

A. You should take the GRE in the spring of your junior year so that your scores can be sent to the graduate programs to which you are applying by the application deadline, which is usually sometime in late January or early February. To allow sufficient time to retake the GRE, should you be dissatisfied with your scores, you should register to take the GRE no later than in the summer of your junior year. At the very latest, you should take or retake the GRE in October of your senior year. If you are in a rush to get your GRE results to accompany your application, you can take the computerized version of the GRE. Taking the computerized version will allow you to see your scores instantaneously, and report your scores to four schools or fellowships of your choice only 10 to 15 days after you take the test.


Q. If materials, such as my GRE scores or transcripts are sent to graduate schools before I apply to those schools, what will happen to them?

A. Arrival of GRE scores, transcripts, and letters of recommendation before the arrival of the actual application at graduate schools is very common and nothing to be concerned about. These materials are simply held until the application arrives. At that time, the application and materials that arrived early are placed together in the same folder.


Q. Will calling professors at the schools to which I have applied increase my chances of getting accepted?

A. Calling the psychology department to check on the status of your application (whether it is complete or not) is fine, but you should not call in the attempt to persuade faculty members to review your application favorably. Calling faculty, especially if you do so repeatedly, may be viewed as an annoyance and as being unprofessional. Remember that more than anything else, faculty are looking for graduate students who are not only bright, but who will represent their graduate program and their discipline in a professional style. However, you should not hesitate to call specific faculty members for professional reasons, such as learning more about their research program.


Q. When will graduate programs let me know if I have been accepted?

A. Most graduate programs extend offers to their top applicants by April 1 (APA requires that graduate programs in clinical psychology extend their offers by April 15). However, because several schools may extend an offer to the same applicant and since that applicant can only attend one graduate program, slots may continue to open during the remainder of the spring and in come cases into the summer. Occasionally, an accepted applicant decides not to go to graduate school at the last minute (i.e., just before the fall term begins) and a slot will open up then.

Graduate admissions committees usually divide their applicants, formally or informally, into three tiers; a set of top choice applicants, waiting list applicants. and applicants who will not be accepted. Since many schools do not get all of their top choices, they are often required to extend offers to those applicants at the top of the waiting list.


Q. What kinds of grades will I be expected to earn during my first year in graduate school?

A. Most graduate programs expect their students- regardless of how long they have been in graduate school- to earn "A"s in all of their courses. "B"s are acceptable so long as they are occasional. Receiving a "C" in a graduate course is tantamount to failing that course, and most likely you will have to repeat the course in the attempt to earn a "B" or better grade in it. Some graduate programs stipulate that if a student earns 2 or more "C"s in courses considered essential to the student's training, (sometimes these courses are called "core" courses), then the student is asked to leave the program. In other words, you should try your best to earn an "A" in your graduate courses.

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