How To Prepare for Entering a Doctoral Program in Psychology
1. Apply to the program, not to the location.
Many students make the mistake of considering location first in determining where to apply for graduate school. This is a a common mistake (one that I made my first time applying to graduate school) every program within a geographic area will is not a good fit for your interests or career goals. It may be your lifelong dream to attend XYZ Prestigious University, but do they have a graduate program in the area of psychology you want to study? Do any of their faculty members study your topic of interest? If not, start your grad school search over again, considering the importance of faculty-student fit first. (As an aside: I moved from Florida to Michigan for grad school because of the fit of the program. It was definitely worth the cross-country move – snow boots, scarves, and all.)
2. Identify which topic you want to study.
You will be admitted to a Ph.D. program to work with a particular faculty member. How do you know which faculty member is a good fit? Start by assessing your research interests. Think about which topics interests you most in your psychology classes. Find out who is publishing articles on your topics of interest. Use the Internet to find out more about their current and past research — then look at other faculty members within the same department. Are there other faculty members who could serve as potential mentors? If so, then you’ve just found a great program you should definitely apply to!
3. Establish contact with your future faculty mentor.
It’s a great idea to establish contact with faculty you’re interested in working with before you apply to grad school. Why? You want to confirm that their current research direction is a good professional fit. Also email to find out if professors are accepting new grad students in the upcoming academic year. Save yourself a wasted $100 in application fees if the professor is working towards retirement or already has too many students.
4. Sign up for a research assistantship or Senior thesis.
Research experience gained through an assistantship or working on an honors thesis will be one of the most important factors in getting into a Ph.D. program. Not only will research experience give you a competitive edge, but it will introduce you to the caliber of work expected in graduate school. You want to use this experience to evaluate: Do I want to invest 5-6 years in studying this topic? Are there similar or related areas that I may also be interested in? (If you work on an eyewitness testimony study and decide it’s the most boring topic ever, your research experience is still a transferrable skill that will look great on your academic resume!)
However, on a practical note, working closely with an university professor will enable them to write an amazing letter of recommendation on your behalf! Get in good with the professor and you may be able to ask questions about which graduate programs to apply to and pointed advice on how to get into grad school.
Without a doubt, applicants who are getting accepted to doctoral program in psychology have these baseline experiences. Follow these four tips and you too will become competitive for getting into the Ph.D. program of your choice!
