Getting Into Graduate School

Graduate admissions committees do not consider laboratory-based courses in departments outside of psychology (e.g., natural or biological sciences) as helpful to your undergraduate training in psychological methods and theory.

false

Graduate admissions committees primarily consider only psychology (major) coursework when analyzing your transcripts during the application process.

false

Most graduate programs readily provide information on where their students go on internships and postdoctoral training as well as where they are employed.

false

Because of their potential for educational benefits, most graduate programs rate community service and extracurricular activities highly when evaluating graduate school applicants

false

Given that students actually accepted to graduate programs have quite high GPAs, if you are planning to apply to graduate school, it is a good strategy to take a few "fluff" courses to raise your own GPA.

false

To ensure you find a doctoral program that fits your interests, it is appropriate to ask programs the percentages of your training that will be devoted to practice versus research.

false

Quality of your graduate application materials counts. Fill out a practice application form and never hand-write your application.

true

Which of the following are good pieces of advice for selecting a potential faculty mentor? (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)

- choose professors who generally work with students - choose among the professors you've had for classes - choose professors who regularly have students presenting at conferences

If you have mediocre grades, having excellent qualifications in other areas may compensate to make you competitive for admission to graduate programs. The best compensations are to have all of which of the following? (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)

- having solid letters of recommendation - doing well on the interview - obtaining high GRE scores - carefully writing and revising your personal statement

which of the following are good ways to prepare for GRE?

- many hours over many months - take practice tests - consider obtaining at least one of the study guides - review the test taking tips from ETS

Regardless of the specialty you are applying for (e.g., clinical, school, I/O, health, etc.), all graduate programs prefer applicants have which TWO of the following undergraduate courses? (CHECK TWO BELOW)

- research methods - statistics

For students interested in clinical and counseling graduate programs, you might want to seek out opportunities for gaining part-time paid experience in human services fields while you are still an undergraduate. Begin your search for meaningful experience by deciding on what kinds of ______ and _______ interest you. (CHECK TWO BELOW)

- work settings - populations

220; 211

According to 2014 data, the combined GRE General Test scores averaged ____ for doctoral programs and ____ for master's programs of students actually admitted into the programs.

3.0

Although most psychology clubs do not have requirements for membership, honor societies do. The minimum GPA needed for induction into Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology, is:

is in a less desirable location

Although this should not be the deciding factor on selecting graduate programs, a better chance at admission to graduate school can be found with a school that:

Your text provides a detailed four-year timeframe of suggested activities for preparing for graduate school. Which of the following correctly reflects a suggestion contained on the detailed timeframe?

Completing the research foundation coursework should occur in your second year.

November and December

Consistently over time, research experience enjoys a place at the top in terms of its importance of determining which students are admitted to graduate programs. If you intend to obtain research experience as an undergraduate, beware of doing so too late. Research takes time and most (doctoral) applications are due in _____ for admission the following Fall semester.

private; professional

Experts warn students developing graduate application materials to not misinterpret the "personal" nature of required statements of purpose. They recommend that personal should not in any way be construed as ____, rather it should instead be defined as your ____ statement of purpose.

tuition reduction based on income

Financial assistance takes many forms in graduate programs. The typical forms of financial assistance include all of the following EXCEPT:

4.0

For clinical psychology PhD programs, the overall average GPA for those applicants actually admitted to the program is close to:

structured and supervised

For internships, field practica, and psychology related work experiences to carry weight in graduate school admissions, your experiences must be:

significantly lower

For those of you interested in clinical, counseling, or school psychology, you need to get licensed after completing a doctorate. The data show that students from PsyD programs with higher acceptance rates have _______ scores on the tests necessary for licensure compared with PhD graduates.

50; 35

Freestanding PsyD programs (i.e., those not affiliated with a university, although they - misleadingly - use university in their name) accept approximately ___ percent of their applicants, while university-based PsyD programs accept approximately ___ percent of their applicants.

more generalist nature than specialized in specific areas

In reality, many graduate programs prefer that undergraduates complete coursework that is:

4 - 6 weeks

In terms of organizing your letters of recommendation, you will want to allow your recommenders at least ________ to write the letters.

3.54 for doctoral and 3.37 for master's programs

It is important for graduate school applicants to understand that, even though programs often publish minimum requirements for qualifications, like GPA, the students who are actually admitted into the program usually far exceed the minimums in admissions criteria. For example, a 2003-2004 study found that, although the average minimums required for overall GPA was 3.11 for doctoral programs and 2.92 for masters' programs, the actual overall GPAs for student accepted were:

a psychology professor with whom you have taken multiple upper-division courses and done well, and who knows your academic work

Letters of recommendation are one of the MOST important criteria used by graduate school admissions committees to evaluate candidates. Part of your success with letters of recommendation is your responsibility to ask the right people for letters. Of the following, the best choice for letters of recommendation is:

assist a psychology professor with his or her own research

Most graduate programs in psychology want you to have already demonstrated your promise as a scientist before you apply for admission. The most common way to do this as an undergraduate is to:

14

On average, most clinical PhD programs with equal emphasis on practice and research accept approximately ___ percent of their applicants.

72

One benefit to completing graduate school training is employment status and prospects. A survey of recent doctorate recipients (Michalski, Kohout, Wicherski, & Hart, 2011) found that _____ percent of respondents indicated that the employment position they currently held was their first choice.

being a coauthor on a publication and/or presenting the work at a professional conference

One study investigated how graduate programs view different kinds of undergraduate research experiences (Kaiser, Kaiser, Richardson, & Fox, 2007). This study found that graduate programs do not value all research experiences equally. In particular, their survey found that the most important undergraduate research experience involves

large; lower

Practice-oriented (e.g., clinical) PhD programs have a ____ number of applications and ____ acceptance rates.

math

Psychology graduate admissions committees look favorably upon a variety of courses like those in ______, because these kinds of courses signal your willingness and ability to engage in scientific pursuits.

on the APA website

Regarding clinical, counseling, and school graduate programs, you will only be able to get licensed in many states if you graduate from an APA-accredited program. Information on how long a program has been accredited can be found:

all three from psychology professors, at least two with whom you've done research

Regarding letters of recommendation for graduate applications, it is preferred to have:

exceed

Regarding the graduate programs to which you actually decide to apply, your text recommends that half of your applications should be to programs where you ____ the statistics of their recent admissions.

All But Dissertation

Some students remain in a state of limbo for years regarding graduate school. This state, often referred to as ABD, is the abbreviation for:

$80,000

Students can be blinded by their desire to attend graduate school - at any cost. It is normal to have educational debt when you leave graduate school, but be aware of the potential amount and carefully consider if you want to afford it. For instance, 2011 data report that graduates in the practice-oriented subfields had a median debt of:

see where students tend to pass the EPPP on the first try

Students completing clinical, counseling and school doctoral programs will need to pass the national exam (the EPPP) to be licensed. To evaluate graduate programs based on their students' success for licensure, it is best to:

research experience for master's candidates

Table 4.1 shows the importance of various criteria in admissions decisions for master's and doctoral programs. Which of the following criteria was most clearly rated as having medium importance?

97; 80

The General Test of the GRE (which includes Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing) is required by ___ percent of doctoral programs and ___ percent of masters programs for admission.

preprofessional

The _______ view of your bachelor's degree in psychology has the primary goal of gaining admission to graduate school.

65

The majority of students obtaining a bachelor's degree in psychology do NOT go on to graduate school. The application process is no easy task, and neither is graduate school itself. Data from 2008 show that ten years after starting graduate school, _____ percent of students have actually completed their graduate degrees.

4 - 5; 5 - 6

Time to complete doctoral programs varies with an average of ____ years for research-oriented programs and ____ years for practice-oriented programs.

There are real-life and data interpretation questions.

Which of the following is true of the new GRE test format?

You should ensure that all information requested by the program from recommenders is covered across the combination of your letters.

Which of the following should be your primary goal regarding the information contained in your letters of recommendation for graduate school applications?

ability to remove ambiguity from complex ideas

Why go to graduate school? One reason is that you will learn a great deal more in graduate school than just the specialized information in your discipline. Salazar and Frincke (2005) note 15 skills that are improved in graduate school, regardless of the field of study. Which of the following is NOT one of those skills?

20 - 25; 5 - 10

Your text recommends that, when considering graduate programs, you should review as many as ______ and plan on applying to ______ programs.

93

___ percent of clinical and counseling psychology graduate programs require some type of interview prior to an offer of admission.

In a doctoral program, you are primarily associated with one specific professor. This is the professor who accepted you into the doctoral program, with whom you will establish a mentoring relationship and for whom you will contribute actively to their research program, and who will supervise your dissertation (your doctoral research). Your text refers to this professor as your:

advisor

Extracurricular activities are most important as _____________ that will enable you to enhance your attractiveness as a graduate school applicant.

an avenue for acquiring information and contacts

When applying to graduate school programs, you should not apply to a program unless you meet all admissions criteria, because graduate admission committees do not consider your strengths as compensation for your weaknesses (e.g., having strong research experience will not offset low GRE scores).

false

When you "retake" a course for a higher grade, only the grade you receive the second time is included in your GPA (i.e., the original grade does NOT affect your GPA any longer).

false

Perhaps the best advice regarding graduate school interviews is to:

go, if you're invited

GRE offered:

look in the APA

One of the benefits of belonging to a professional association is the opportunity to network with students and professors at other universities.

true

PhD, PsyD, and EdD

the doctoral degrees in psychology include:

An excellent resource for students investigating different graduate school programs is Graduate Study in Psychology, published annually by the APA.

true

If you are interested in academe, seeking teaching experience in graduate school will impress potential employers, whether you were the instructor of record or a teaching assistant.

true

Many graduate programs give more weight to your academic performance in the second half of your undergraduate career, rather than just your overall GPA.

true