Preparing for Graduate School

Psychology majors who have an interest in applying for an advanced degree should begin planning early. While a high G.P.A. is one obvious advantage, participating in faculty research, as well as having relevant field work experiences will make a difference in your application's acceptability. Explore applying for honor societies such as Psi Chi, join the American Psychological Association, attend annual psychology meetings, and participate in a campus psychology club. Each of these activities will show prospective schools that you are committed and interested in the profession. Start working on your resume early. Also, you will need faculty letters of recommendation. Be sure to cultivate relationships with several faculty members so that they can write honestly about you later on.

In the summer between your Junior and Senior years, begin studying for the GRE and MAT exams. Research prospective graduate schools and find out about their application process and deadlines.

Books at Tri-Campus libraries on Careers and Graduate Schools

Psychology Advanced Areas of Study

Social Psychology : Experimental approach to understanding the influence of others on the individual, emphasizing intra-individual processes, such as relationships, social interaction, and intergroup processes (e.g. intergroup conflict, ethnic prejudice, and stereotyping).

Behavioral Neuroscience: Electrophysiological and neurochemical analyses of sensory, motor, motivational and cognitive processes organized within the mammalian forebrain.

Clinical Psychology: Panic and other anxieties, psychological correlates of physical health, clinical/community psychology, neuropsychology, hypnosis and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, development of psychopathology and personality, and impact of race and culture on identify formation and development.

Experimental: Psychological mechanisms involved in spoken and written language, natural science, law-based approach to cognition, primarily interpreted as informational constraints on action, and mathematical modeling of learning strategies, analogical bases to abstract knowledge, and social cognition.

Developmental: Children's peer relations, language comprehension and computational models of cognitive development, parent-infant interactions, social and communicative behavior in infants, language acquisition across languages and cultures, lateralization of cognitive abilities and developmental disorders, and development of instinctive behavior in nonhuman organisms.

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