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
start preparing for graduate school during your first year. Becoming
involved in research projects and other relevant activities should begin
to take place during the second and third years. It will be too late if
you wait until your fourth year, since you will begin the actual
application process during the fall term of that year.
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 programs require students to complete a set of
"core" courses, 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, licensure, research and clinical
opportunities, and internships for clinical and counseling students. If
you are working in an APA accredited clinical program in Canada, 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. Should I take
the Graduate Record Exam and, if so, when should take it?
A. The
Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is a standardized exam that many graduate
programs use to assess an applicant's preparation for advanced work in
psychology. There is both a "general" component testing verbal,
quantitative and analytic abilities, and an "advanced" component
that tests knowledge of psychology. Not all departments or programs in
Canada use the GRE, so you will need to check specific admissions
requirements of the university that interests you.
You should take the GRE in the spring of your third 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 third year. At the very latest, you
should take or retake the GRE in October of your fourth 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 file.
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 often 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 (or their equivalents) 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.
NB: Much of this
information comes from Preparing for Graduate Study in Psychology: 101
Questions and Answers by William Buskist and Thomas R. Sherburne.