Criteria used for Admission Decisions

The PhD in Psychology program is designed for full-time students who show outstanding academic potential as demonstrated by excellent undergraduate achievement, prior research experience and engagement in other professional development experiences relevant to the area of research emphasis the applicant is seeking.

Students are admitted to the doctoral program to work with a specific faculty mentor. Faculty mentors provide guidance in professional development and ensure that students are actively engaged in research from the beginning of their graduate school careers. Therefore, the fit between student interests and the faculty they select in application is a critical point of consideration.

It is preferred but not required that applicants have baccalaureate degrees in Psychology. At a minimum, applicants are required to have had one course in research methods in the behavioral or social sciences and one course in statistical methods. For the clinical program, applicants must have had a minimum of 24 quarter credit hours or 16 semester credit hours in non-introductory psychology courses, including the research methods and statistics courses mentioned above. Applicants without an undergraduate degree in Psychology are strongly encouraged to consider how their academic experience could translate to research and practice in the field of Psychology.

Psychologists are required by professional ethical codes to work in accordance with the best empirical evidence and to develop competence in understanding how cultural factors affect research, teaching, and clinical work. In keeping with these professional standards, our program’s research, teaching, and clinical training activities require that students engage effectively with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, especially those in the local community surrounding UC. Consequently, we seek a cohort that demonstrates strong critical insight and a readiness to engage with varied experiences and perspectives. This approach is essential for meeting several of our programmatic needs, including establishing community partnerships for collaborative research, building trust with research participants and collaborators from different backgrounds, designing studies that address significant individual and societal challenges, enhancing the generalizability of our research findings, communicating results to multiple stakeholders, developing teaching practices that respect varied cultural contexts, and providing evidence-based clinical services that are responsive to cultural factors. In reviewing candidates’ personal statements, we consider their insights and experiences with engaging a broad array of cultural perspectives and how these contributions can support our program’s goals outlined above.