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Graduate School Applications
The list below is a very general set of criteria for admission to graduate programs.
Scores on the Graduate Record Exam
Psychology GPA
Research Experience
Last 2 years cumulative GPA
Letters of recommendation
Statement of Purpose
(practical experience for Psy.D. and other applied programs)
Preparing for the GRE (Graduate Record Exam)
The General test contains math, verbal, and analytical components, and there are several study guides and study courses to prepare you for the test.
The math section of the general test emphasizes algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, so you must review in order to perform well under speeded conditions.
GRE help books are available for checkout in the Psychology Department office.
Some programs also require the Psychology subject test of the GRE, which tests your memory for basic areas in psychology (cognitive, biological, developmental, social, personality, clinical).
We suggest that you prepare by studying a tough introductory textbook.
Review class notes from core psychology classes.
The schedule for the paper version of the subject tests in different from the one for the general test.
Check early with Counseling and Career Services.
The GRE Web site is: www.gre.org.
A good site for general advice about graduate applications and programs is www.psychgrad.org
[See Preparing for the GRE for advice about the GRE from a student's perspective.]
Choosing the Programs
By the summer before your senior year, start to select the programs to which you will apply.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Talk to the professor(s) in your chosen area for advice.
- If you are applying to Ph.D. programs, you will apply to work with a particular scholar at each institution.
Therefore, you should begin to think about programs in terms of working with people whose work you admire.
- Buy the APA Graduate Studies in Psychology (or check out ours through the main office) to get the statistics, guidelines, and focus of the schools in your area of interest.
- If possible, talk to current students or graduates of the programs that interest you and to other professionals in the area.
- Use the Citation Indices (SSCI and SCI) to check out the research published by the faculty in the program.
- Look at the school's web site.
Also, www.socialpsychology.org/ranking.htm is a site that has the National Research Council's rating of various graduate programs and links to those programs.
Web sites for related fields with graduate school information are:
- Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs: andp.org
- Society for Neuroscience: www.sfn.org
- During the summer before or early fall of your senior year, you should request application packets and descriptive materials from the programs on your list.
Writing your statement of purpose
During the fall semester of your senior year you will be writing your "statement of purpose" or "letter of intention."
This is an important document in applying to graduate school.
In this statement, you should describe evidence showing your dedication to graduate work (research experience, thesis, conference presentations or manuscripts submitted for publication, practicum or other human services experience), your dedication in your classes, your statistical and computer skills (very important skills to research institutions), and anything else that makes you unique.
Avoid descriptions of your desire to help people or your unusual intuitive grasp of others' problems.
Ask a faculty member to read and react to what you have written.
Arranging for letters of recommendation
Contact faculty whom you think will provide good letters of recommendation for you and ask them if they would write a letter on your behalf.
Here are some suggestions:
- Ask only those professors or professionals who have taught you or supervised your work in a setting relevant to your application.
A letter from a professor in your specific area of interest is very important.
Do not ask your minister, family friends, or high school teachers.
- Ask the individual, straight out, if he or she can write a strong letter.
You can usually count on an honest reply.
For example, you might be told that the writer will say that you performed well in a particular class and that you seem to have aptitude, but that the letter will be short because the writer does not have sufficient experience with you to write more.
- Give each letter writer plenty of time to prepare the materials.
Keep in mind that you are not the only student who needs this service.
Do not assume that Trinity will FedEx everything for you at the last minute.
- Prepare your section of the recommendation forms carefully.
Do not expect the letter writer to fill out your section.
Type them!
Make sure that you sign either the waiver of your right to see the letter or the refusal to waive this right.
Be aware that refusing to waive the right may lead some professors not to write for you or some graduate schools not to take their letters as seriously.
In general, it is probably better to choose letter writers very carefully and then to waive your rights, but the option is clearly yours.
- Check to make sure whether the letters should be returned to you in some form of officially sealed envelope or mailed directly by the letter writer.
Make sure the appropriate envelopes are supplied.
If the letter is to be mailed by the letter writer, you should provide a stamped envelope with a typed application address.
Type the letter writer's return address, not your own!
Do not expect the department secretaries to type these envelopes.
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