Going to Graduate School

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You may be considering graduate training in psychology. Generally, people with graduate degrees can be more directly involved in the fields of psychological science and mental health. There are several different degree options, and each one prepares you for a different type of career.

It’s important to keep in mind there’s not one “best” degree. The optimal degree for you is the one that most effectively prepares you for your chosen career.

Before thinking about the type of graduate school you should attend, carefully consider your career goals. Do you want to be a therapist? Do you want to advocate for people from under-represented groups? Do you want to be a professor and run a research lab? Do you want to prescribe medication for people suffering from mental illness? Do you want to work in the K- 12 education system? Do you like the idea of working in an organization and optimizing employee performance?

Each of these careers requires a very different type of graduate training.

Click here to learn about the type of graduate school you’ll need to attend in order to pursue different careers in psychology and mental health.

Click here to learn about degree options for people wanting to become therapists.

In general, a Master’s degree is a practitioner’s degree – the best choice if you want to work with clients, providing talk therapy and using a variety of other techniques. You can get a Master’s in Counseling, Social Work, or Clinical Psychology. In each case, you’ll take a licensing exam at the end of your Master’s program.

If you wish to work as a licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP) in K – 12 education settings, you’ll need a Master’s in School Psychology.

A doctorate (Ph.D.) is the right degree to pursue if you want to heavily focus on conducting research during your graduate training and career. People with Ph.D.s spend a lot of time designing scientific studies, carrying them out in the laboratory, and writing up their results for publication. There are doctoral programs available in many different areas of psychology – you'll need to choose the specialization that best matches your interests. Specializations include clinical psychology, counseling psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, personality psychology, lifespan development, etc.).

A Ph.D. is also required to teach at the college level. If you would like to be researcher and a clinician (trained in therapy), you should aim for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

It’s quite rare for students to start a psychology Ph.D. program immediately after earning the Bachelor’s degree. This is true even for students who worked in a research lab at the undergraduate level. Instead, most Ph.D. programs are looking for students who have spent 2 – 3 years after the Bachelor’s degree in a research setting. More information on this process is here.

A medical degree (M.D.) is the right choice if you’d like to become a psychiatrist, prescribing medication to people with mental illness.

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Admission to Graduate School

Applying to graduate school can feel overwhelming, but there are certain steps you can take to facilitate the process.

Once you’ve determined the type of graduate training you need for your chosen career, begin by researching programs and visiting university websites. That way, you can discover which programs are the best fit for you. In general, our department recommends that students pursue in-person graduate programs, not online ones. Online learning presents its own challenges. Also, many online programs are not licensed or accredited.

Master’s Programs

If you are a Texas resident, it’s best to look at Master’s programs at in-state public universities to ensure quality and minimize debt.

Make sure that you are applying to a reputable program in Counseling, Social Work, or Clinical Psychology that is accredited. This designation means the program has met the quality standards of a well-known accrediting agency. You must attend an accredited program to sit for the licensing exam at the end of your Master’s. Many Counseling programs are accredited by CACREP. Social Work programs are accredited by CSWE.

It’s also wise to pay attention to the various opportunities and faculty in each Master’s program. Each program has a slightly different “flavor,” based on courses offered, faculty research interests, and program values. Some programs may offer a unique internship that excites you – other programs may have faculty members researching a topic you enjoy. No two programs are the same, and your goal is to find the ones that fit you best.

Ph.D. Programs

Unlike your undergraduate degree, in most highly ranked Ph.D. programs in psychology, admitted students have their tuition paid for by the university or their research advisor. Ph.D. students are also provided with financial support in the form of teaching or research assistant jobs to help support their costs of living. Levels of financial support vary by institution. Some programs will fund you for 5 – 6 years, and others fund you for 4. Some programs cover your tuition, but require you to pay fees of $5000 or more. Do your research carefully about how much financial support is available.

Do not attend a Ph.D. program that charges you money. These programs are often less reputable and overly expensive.

Ph.D. programs in psychology admit a very small number of students each year. Therefore, these programs are extremely competitive. Even highly outstanding applicants must often apply to 15 Ph.D. programs or more.

Another unique aspect of applying to Ph.D. programs is that you’re actually applying to work with 1 or 2 specific professors in the program. Therefore, before you apply, you’ll need to search for professors at various universities whose research you find really intriguing. These are the people who will be your mentors for the next several years, so it’s important to apply only to schools where faculty are doing research that you love.

Furthermore, before you apply to the Ph.D. program, you’ll need to verify that your potential faculty mentor is accepting students into their lab during the year you plan to start the program. You can do this by checking out the faculty member’s website or by sending them an email to inquire. You could be the most exceptionally qualified applicant on Earth – if your potential mentor is not accepting students for academic year you wish to start, you will not get into the program.

For students applying to Ph.D. programs in psychology, this page offers excellent instructions about how to plan out all parts of your application process.

Once you have your list of professors who are doing research you really admire, you can begin to check admissions requirements and details for each of those Ph.D. programs. As an example, you can see requirements for UT Ph.D. programs here.

Components of your Admissions Packet

Most Ph.D. and Master’s programs will have the following application requirements:

transcripts

GRE scores (no longer required at all programs, but still very common)

resume/cv

letters of recommendation

personal statement/statement of purpose

statement of research objectives (Ph.D. programs only)

additional requirements specific to each program

Follow the steps below during your time at UT to increase the chances of being admitted into a graduate program.

Keep your grades high

If necessary, take the GRE during a less busy time so you can focus on studying a lot and maximizing your score

Get as much research experience as possible – necessary for Ph.D. programs and very beneficial for Master’s programs

Maximize statistics and research opportunities, such as PSY 458 or the departmental Honors program

Find client-facing volunteering or internship opportunities in the field of mental health – necessary for Master’s programs only

Build relationships with faculty members for recommendations and mentoring.

Consider joining UT psychology organizations like Psi Chi, Texas Student Psychological Association, and Women in Psychology to connect with like-minded students and to get mentoring.

Begin your program research and corresponding with potential supervisors well ahead of time.

Share the list of programs where you attend to apply with one of your professors so they can give you feedback on the quality of each program. They may be able to point you in the direction of reputable programs and steer you away from lower-quality ones.

Admissions Deadlines

Ph.D. program deadlines range from November 15 to January 15, with the planned start date the following fall.

Master’s program deadlines can range from November 15 to April 15. While most Master’s programs admit students for fall only, a small number admits students for fall and spring.

It’s best to keep careful track of deadlines for each of your programs by using a spreadsheet.

Information Resources

Use the websites of the governing professional organizations that govern your chosen area:

For psychology, you can begin with the American Psychological Association (APA).

For counseling areas, you can begin with the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

For social work, you can begin with the Council on Social Work Education.

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Financial Assistance and Funding

Master’s Programs

In almost all cases, you’ll need to pay to attend a Master’s program.

Even if you are highly qualified for admission, you will find that the financial support from different schools will vary. Most Master’s programs offer very limited financial assistance beyond loans – this is why it’s wise to choose an in-state public university to minimize cost. Some students choose to attend Master’s programs close to their hometowns, so they can live at home and commute to school to keep costs low.

Sometimes Master’s programs will offer their students part-time TA positions. Support varies from school to school. Each university should be able to provide you with a list of scholarship, fellowship, or grant opportunities you may apply for to reduce the cost of your education.

Ph.D. Programs

Do not attend a Ph.D. program that charges you money. These programs are often less reputable and overly expensive.

Psy.D. Programs

A Psy.D. is a doctoral program that prepares a person to work as a clinical psychologist. It generally is 4 – 5 years long. Rather than having a research focus like a Ph.D. program would, a Psy.D. has a much stronger focus on training people to be clinicians. Compared to a Master’s degree, a longer program like a Psy.D. can mean more classes, more clinical experience, and more time to specialize.

Psy.D. programs are offered mainly at private schools, with tuition rates of up to $50,000 per year or more. Room, board, and other cost of living expenses are extra. A recent APA survey found that students pursuing Psy.D.s have on average $162,000 of debt or more, not including debt from their undergraduate studies. Psy.D. programs often don’t offer much funding in the way of scholarships, grants, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships. Psy.D. programs often vary widely in quality, so it’s important to be very careful when looking into these programs. These programs are generally not very competitive, and they are extremely expensive. Students in Psy.D. programs are often admitted into APA-accredited pre-doctoral internships at considerably lower rates than students in Ph.D. programs.

Baylor’s funded (free) Psy.D. program is an example of one of the few funded (free) Psy.D. programs in the country. The program is about as competitive as top Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology, with a 1% acceptance rate.

A master’s degree in counseling, social work, or clinical psychology at an in-state public university is a far more practical and cost-effective path for people wishing to pursue careers as therapists.