We receive approximately 250 applications per year. Typically, we will accept 4-7 students into the Clinical Program. Thus, less than 5% of applicants are accepted every year.
We are interested in an applicant's "fit" with the clinical program. Specifically, we seek to recruit applicants who have a driving interest in clinical science and who wish to pursue active research throughout their doctoral training. Beyond this broad scientific orientation, we are interested in whether or not an applicant's particular research interests match with the interests of our faculty. Prior experience in research and clinical settings is highly informative in reviewing applicants. Students who have developed research skills and had the opportunity to display their maturity, interest, commitment, and talent for clinical science will be those who fit best with our program and faculty. Most of our successful applicants have participated in research either as undergraduate students (e.g., completing an honors thesis, working in a faculty member's lab) or, following their undergraduate training, have worked as full-time research assistants in productive research labs. Letters of recommendation and statements of a student's interests and goals are critical in our evaluations of applicants. Of course, we also weigh an individual's academic ability and potential as reflected by the undergraduate GPA and GRE scores.
No. All applications are reviewed by at least one faculty member regardless of how low or high you score on the GRE or your GPA. However, the Clinical Program at Maryland is highly competitive. The typical applicant considered for acceptance will have GRE scores in excess of 600 on the Verbal and Quantitative subtests of the GRE (Verbal + Quantititive > 1200). Similarly, GPA's of entering students are usually a minimum of 3.5 (on a 4-point scale).
Yes. All students enrolled in the clinical doctoral program will follow the same curriculum and will be expected to take similar courses whether or not they have received Master's degrees previously. Students without Master's degrees will earn a Master's en route to the doctorate.
Transfer credits are dealt with once an applicant is accepted and enrolls as a student. A Master's degree from another program may qualify for some of the requirements of our Ph.D. program. However, there is no guarantee that the courses taken at another college or university will transfer and a thesis completed elsewhere may not meet Maryland's requirements for a research project. Should courses transfer or a thesis count towards our degree requirement, a student will be asked to take substitute courses to complement his/her experiences at Maryland. Therefore, it is unlikely that successfully transferred courses will reduce a student's time in the program below the 4-year minimum duration. Of course, such prior experiences will facilitate a student's transition to the Ph.D. program and students coming in with a Master's degree may find that their progress in our program is eased by their prior training.
Yes. On a Saturday in late February or early March we invite approximately 15-30 of our top applicants to visit campus. Interviews are held with individual faculty and current students. This meeting allows applicants to better understand our program and provides the faculty with a final opportunity to evaluate student interests and goals to determine match with our program at Maryland.
Unfortunately, due to the volume of prospective applicants who wish to meet individually with clinical faculty members, we are unable to accommodate such requests. Interested students are welcome to e-mail faculty members whose research is of interest to them.
The department provides 5 years of funding to all students in good academic standing. This support includes an annual stipend as well as a full tuition waiver. The majority of the funding is either teaching fellowships or research assistantships. There are university sponsored scholarships and training grant awards as well.
No. The program at Maryland has a primary focus on clinical science, involving the integration of clinical research and practice. Students not interested in active research involvement and who wish to pursue careers in practice would not fit with this program and should apply elsewhere.
An undergraduate degree in psychology is preferred but not required. However, it is expected that nonpsychology degrees will be in related areas (e.g., Human Development, Biology), have a minor in psychology, or include a number of undergraduate psychology courses. We do not have a set list of prerequisite courses but courses in Introductory Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Research Methods and Statistics for psychology or the behavioral sciences are important.
No. Our students do earn a Master's degree around the second or third year as part of their doctoral work, but we do not offer a "terminal" Master's degree. If you are interested in a two-year Master's program you should apply elsewhere.
The Clinical program is arranged to allow a student to complete the Ph.D. within 5 years; however, the number of years to completion varies from class to class and the average time to degree is between 6 and 7 years.
No. The doctoral program at Maryland is a full-time 12-month program. The course work, research, and clinical training involved requires a full-time commitment.
Clinical Psychology Program • Department of Psychology • University
of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742-4411 • phone: 301-405-5890 • fax:
301-314-9566 • email: jcoldren@psyc.umd.edu
