Criteria for Admission
Students are admitted directly to the doctoral program. A combination of criteria are used in evaluating candidates for admission to graduate study in psychology.
- Undergraduate and/or graduate coursework and GPA
- Research experience
- Personal statement
- Letters of recommendation
- In some cases, a personal interview.
- OPTIONAL: Scores on the GRE (Graduate Record Examination)***
***Application process update: The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences is waiving the GRE requirement for our graduate program. If you wish to apply without a GRE score, please enter a future GRE exam date into the application. It need not be a legitimate exam date. Entering a future exam date causes the system to finish your application and send it on to our review committee where it will receive full consideration.
If you are a Clinical Science Concentration applicant, please note: the Psychology Subject GRE is not required and will not be used for evaluation purposes during the admission process. However, it is helpful for fulfilling Clinical Science program requirements, and students who enroll in our program may choose to take the test any time before the end of their first year.***
Foreign students whose language of education is not English must also arrange to have original TOEFL scores submitted; a minimum score of 100 on the IBT (600 on the paper-based test, or an equivalent IELTS score of 7.0) is required for admission. Foreign students who hold a university degree from an institution in an English-speaking country are not required to submit TOEFL scores. Foreign students whose native language in not English and who are awarded a teaching assistantship must successfully complete the University’s ITA program.
Those who meet these requirements are not guaranteed admission, nor are those who fail to meet the requirements necessarily precluded from admission, if they offer other appropriate strengths. Research experience is looked upon favorably. An undergraduate degree in psychology is not required for admission, but students may be required to make up deficiencies in their background by enrolling in appropriate courses.
All applications need to include a personal statement. In addition to discussing your areas of interest, career goals, and how this program will help you reach these goals, please be sure to include the following information in your statement:
- Research experience, when applicable: please indicate length of experience and type (non-human animals – specify species – or human participants)
- Advisor preference: please designate up to 3 potential primary faculty advisors, in order of preference
For more information regarding the criteria for admission please refer to the Graduate College website.
For more information regarding the Graduate College application process please refer to Applying to UD.
Deadline
The deadline for graduate applications is December 1. We admit students for fall admission only. We generally schedule campus visits and interviews in January.