What does it take to get into a psychology program in Grad school?

Question

Has anyone gone to grad school for psychology? what type of grades did you get? is it possible to get in with mostly B's and C's but great GRE scores?

Answer 1

Many graduate schools (not the psych departments) establish a minimum GPA of 3.0 for applicants. To be competitive for psych programs, you generally need to be higher than that (especially for top-ranked programs). Still, there are other factors that are considered important beyond grades and test scores. Research experience or practical experience (for clinical/counseling) are very important and will help make you competitive even with lower grades. Getting great recommendation letters is also very important, especially if the letters can vouch for both your academic and research/applied abilities.

Keep in mind that even with an excellent record, there is a fair amount of subjectivity with grad admissions. Because the training is so focused, it is important that there is a good fit between the interests of the student and those of the faculty in a particular program. Even then, nothing is certain. At one school's recruiting weekend, I met another recruit who was accepted by a school that rejected me, but was rejected by another that accepted me. We were even interested in the same research area (we would have worked with the same professor had we attended the same school). I also had the experience of getting into my top choices, but getting rejected by my "back-up" schools.

While many psych programs are intended to lead to the Ph.D. or Psy.D., there are plenty of terminal Master's programs where it may be easier to get accepted. You may want to apply to both types of programs to see where you can get in (unless of course, you don't want a Ph.D in the first place). Rejection is a natural experience in the application process, no matter how good your record is (I had a very high GPA, good scores, and research experience, and still got rejected by several schools), but the key is to not lose hope. If you don't get into any programs you want the first time around, then take a year off to take some extra courses and get more experience. Several of my fellow students have done this, and the following year when they applied, had many more good choices to pick from.

Answer 2

Clinical psychology - unlikely with those grades. General psychology, it will vary according to program. You can call any admission office and ask for stats from last year's incoming class. This will give you a sense of whether you will be competitive.

Answer 3

you're rather going to have a time of it getting your GPA as much as the point mandatory to get into Davis. in case you anticipate to strengthen your GPA severe adequate to get right into a real psych software, each and every grade you earn from this factor on will would desire to be an A. in case you have the means to try this, your GPA will nevertheless in basic terms be a three.6. initiate analyzing now for the GRE; you'll want a severe score. you should additionally see if the colleges you would be pondering will settle for the Miller Analogies attempt (MAT), instead of the GRE; it has some distance fewer math-based questions. interior the interim, examine into the CSU psych classes, as one in each and every of them may be your in basic terms desire. sturdy luck.