Please note this is not considered a terminal degree and students are not admitted for the M.A. program only.
Admission Requirements
The department accepts as graduate students only those who show definite promise for completing the requirements for advanced degrees. Meeting the minimum admission standards or having extensive undergraduate course work in psychology does not guarantee acceptance, since the number of applicants who can be admitted is limited. Preference is given to those applicants who have a well-balanced background of psychology courses and some background in science and mathematics. Students who do not have an undergraduate major in psychology but who otherwise satisfy these requirements may apply.
For consideration for admission, the applicant must have the following:
- Bachelor’s degree (official transcript(s) required to verify degree).
- Satisfactory undergraduate scholastic average
- Minimum of 32 quarter hours (24 semester hours) in psychology. This total should include a three semester hour (four quarter hour) elementary statistics course as well as a course in experimental psychology. A course in History and Systems is also desirable.
- The departmental graduate admission committee will determine, on the basis of a consideration of each student’s proposed program of study, whether the minimum 32 quarter hours in psychology is sufficient for advanced study.
- Official Graduate Record Examination results of the Verbal and Quantitative tests. It is highly recommended that you also submit
scores from the Subject Test in Psychology, although it is not required.
- Three letters of recommendation from academic sources.
- Vita/Resume
Students considering application to the M.A.–Ph.D. program in Industrial/Organizational Psychology should be aware of the following:
Each year, this program can accept three to four new students. Approximately 100 students apply for these entrance spaces. The I/O faculty wishes applicants to know that all application materials are carefully evaluated, with emphasis on the following criteria.
Completeness of credentials
Applicant files that are not complete by the January 5th deadline cannot be evaluated, and thus those applicants must be rejected. GRE scores and grade point average: While numerical standards are not followed rigidly, doctoral applicants are expected to have an undergraduate GPA well above 3.4 as well as strong GRE scores.
Preparation
Students are expected to have had courses in statistics, experimental psychology, and other core areas of psychology. While an undergraduate class in I/O psychology is not required, such a class (or one in business or management) is helpful. The department considers students with prior graduate study in I/O psychology or closely related fields, but most of our students enter the program without other advanced degrees. Transfer credit for prior graduate work is severely limited.
Interests
Successful applicants in the past have been those whose personal statements reflect an understanding of the nature and content of the field of I/O psychology, and goals which are compatible with that field. We accept only those applicants who intend to work toward the doctoral degree. Students who desire a terminal master’s degree are not admitted.
Diversity
The I/O faculty strongly encourages applications from minority students.