Psy.D. in
School-Community Psychology

Admission Requirements

BEGINNING LEVEL

Students admitted with a bachelor's degree will be required to meet the following admission criteria:

1. Successful completion of the baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution.
2. Scores on the Verbal Section of the Graduate Record Examination of no less than 500 and on the Quantitative Section of no less than 500.
3. Score of no less than the 65th percentile on the Graduate Record Examination, Psychology Section.
4. A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better in the following psychology courses, which must be completed prior to admission:
   • Human Development
   • Elementary Statistics
   • Experimental Design or Research Methods
   • Note: History and Systems of Psychology and Physiological Psychology are recommended but not required.
5. Three letters of recommendation
6. A personal statement
7. A personal interview

ADVANCED LEVEL

Students admitted at the advanced level, who already possess a master's degree in psychology, are required to meet the following admission criteria:

1. Successful completion of a master's degree in psychology, from an accredited institution.
2. Scores on the Verbal Section of the Graduate Record Examination of no less than 500 and on the Quantitative Section of no less than 500.
3. Score of no less than the 65th percentile on the Graduate Record Examination, Psychology Section.
4. Three letters of recommendation.
5. A personal interview.

Over 100 applications are reviewed each year from which 10 candidates are admitted. Entering students have a mean combined Verbal and Quantitative GRE Scores of 1170. The mean score on the Psychology section of the GRE of 620; mean Verbal GRE of 552; mean Quantitative GRE of 618 and mean undergraduate GPA of 3.8. Applicants who have completed Admission Requirements (1) through (6) and whose applications are completed by January 15 are interviewed by a faculty member and by a currently enrolled doctoral candidate. The interview permits applicants to obtain a realistic view of the required academic and professional work, and the costs of the program.

The median time to complete the program is five years and the mean is six years, including the oral defense of their doctoral dissertation. The mean and median time to completion of the program are applicable to those who enter with a baccalaureate degree and also to those who enter with advanced degrees. A number of students (38%) have completed the program in four years. We carefully select motivated and capable students and, as such, our graduation rate exceeds 96 percent.

Attrition: From the period of 2000 to 2007 we have had 101 students enter the Psy.D. program. Four students did not complete the program during that time period (4%). The attrition of these four students is also applicable to the time since our last accreditation in 2003, so that from 2003 through 2007 the attrition was four students out of an enrollment of 68 during that period (6%).