Note:  If you have already been admitted to a graduate program, click here for an alternative assignment.

    Deciding to attend graduate school, preparing for graduate school, and completing the applications comprise a process which should be started as early as possible. This exercise and information is ideal for students in their junior (or even earlier) year, but hopefully it can still be helpful to seniors. In the ideal situation, seniors would have already made the decision to attend graduate school and have prepared through course selection, hard work, and the establishment of contacts with mentors. As you begin to complete the exercise and read the recommended materials, you may decide that you are not ready for a doctoral program. Many students whose grades and academic preparation do not match those requested by the schools of their choice, may consider a master's program where they can improve their GPA, make up missing classes, and demonstrate their skills in relevant areas. Other students will discover that obtaining a master's degree in psychology or a related area is all that is needed for the career of their choice.

    The quiz about applying to graduate school, the readings in your texts, Majoring in Psych? and The Psychology Major, about applying to graduate school, should have prepared you for this project.  If you are seriously considering a competitive graduate program you should also check the material in Getting In and The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admssion (found in the Peer Advising Office).

    To complete the exercise it will be necessary to supplement these readings by consulting the book Graduate Study in Psychology published by the American Psychological Association as well as other listings of specialized graduate programs in areas like social work, criminal justice, law, etc. Some of these listings can be found on the Internet. The APA publication, Graduate Study in Psychology, is sold in the campus bookstore (though it is often sold out), is available in the library (on reserve), and also available in the peer advising offices in PSY 206.

Note:  If you are interested in law, medicine or other professonal fields, you may adapt this project.  To do that you need to submit a new outline for approval by 10/6 for Group 1 and by 10/20 for Group 2.  Do not omit sections because they are not relevant to your field.  To change this format, you must have prior approval.

STEPS INVOLVED IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL PROJECT

These questions should be answered in paragraphs not just words or brief sentences.  Tell a story and provide explanations.

150 points broken down as follows:

1.  (2 pts.)  Provide a cover page that includes your name, course number, the field of study,  the degree you are seeking, and the date.   It should appear as:
        Name:  Joan Esteban
        Course:  Psy 301
        Field of Interest: Clinical Psychology
        Degree sought:  Psy.D.
        Date:  March 28, 2002

2. (8  pts.total)--your interest area
    a) (3 pts.)  Identify your area of interest.

• How did your interest develop?
•  If you do not know your area of interest, for the purpose of this exercise select a hypothetical area and explain why you have picked it.

• Include a definition of the field and the type of tasks people in that field generally do.
• Indicate what you expect to do in the area. Be specific.
• This section should be at least two paragraphs.

3. ( 8 pts total.) Find schools offering programs in your area of interest

    a)  (1 pt.)  The number of schools.

• How many are there altogether throughout the country and/or how many can you find?
• Do not restrict your answer to the number in California.  Consider those throughout the country.

• You need to use at least three different types of sources.
•  Indicate what those sources are and why you selected them.
• If consulting faculty, give the names of the faculty consulted.
• If checking directories, give the names and dates of the directories.
• If looking through journals, indicate which journals.
• If checking the Internet, give the URLs of the websites you used.  See link on number 5 below  (Do not rely on gradschools.com.  It is not very complete and lists primarily schools paying for listings. Use of gradschools.com will not count as one of your three sources.)
• Do all of your sources provide the same information?

     c)  (4 pts.) Variation in sources.

• Based on your three sources, indicate the type of data you found in each?
• Which schools were included in all of your sources?
• How useful is the information?
• What else would you like to know?

4. (10 pts. total) Decide which factors related to graduate study are most important to you.
     Note at least five factors and explain in at least a paragraph each, why each is important (2 pts. per paragraph)

    Possibilities include

• size of program
•  prestige of program (for listing of prestige of various schools, see booklet in Peer Advising Office called Leading  Graduate Schools or check this link for ratings of psychology Ph.D. programs.)
• APA accreditation (if an applied doctoral program in clinical, counseling, or school psychology—not relevant for any other area of psychology or for master’s programs)
• quality of faculty (if this is important, indicate how you will learn this information)
• geographic location (if you are only interested in California schools, explain why you cannot move elsewhere even for a good program)
• availability of financial aid opportunities for individual experiences
• availability of child care, etc.

                    Sections 1 to 4 must be typed.

5. (30 pts total.) Narrow your choice of schools to at least five (and at least one of the five must be outside of California). Gather information about the schools and compare that information with the factors important to you.
         To do this:
            1) Consider schools recommended by faculty.
            2) Read the program descriptions in Graduate Study in Psychology, Insiders' Guide to Graduate Prorams in Clinical and Counseling Psychology, Guide to Selecting and Applying to Master of Social Work Programs, Directory of Graduate Programs in Applied Sport Psychology, Counselor Preparation, Graduate Training Programs in Industrial/Organization Psychology and Related Fields, or Criminal Justice guides, or Human Factors, Forensic Psychology and Health Psychology listings.
            3) Look through materials posted in peer advising office, catalogs in library or peer advising office, materials in binders on file by subject area (school listings in these are representative not exhaustive lists) in the peer advising office, and, of course, on the Internet.

    a) (25 pts.)Complete the front of the grad school grid (available in the plastic rack on the table in the Graduate Resources Room of  the Peer Advising office and on BeachBoard along with this assignment description) including all the data available about the schools. Include all information asked for on the grid.
    b) (10 pts.)  Complete the back of the grad school grid about  information on the additional factors you consider important. These should be the same factors your discussed in question 4 above.
    c) (2 pts.)   Be sure to  give the names of the directories you use along with the date of the directories in the space at the top of the grid. Also include the URLs of Internet sites ou visit.

6. (3 pts.) Include your own academic characteristics.
            Use the right hand column on the front of the grid to put in data about yourself so that you can compare your own characteristics with those requested by the schools.  Do not leave spaces blank.  Follow the instructions at the bottom of the grid for estimating GRE scores.

7. (20  pts. total) Your conclusions.

Sections a and b refer to your chances of being admitted to the schools and should not include any factors of whether the school appeals to you. View sections a nd b as if you were answering the question "Will I get in?"

    a) (1 pt.)  On the front of the grid near the bottom, indicate for each school whether you consider it:

•  a reach (very low likelihood of your admission due to the requested requirements or large number of applicants) by marking R. Schools that are very selective (less than 20% of applicants are admitted) should be classified as an R even if you exceed the stated requirements and match the requirements of those actually accepted.
• a possibility (if all goes well you could be admitted) by marking P.  To classify a school as a possibility, you should be at or above the stated requirements and at least a third of the applicants are accepted.
• or a safety school (you are quite likely to be admitted because you exceed the requirements, and many (a high proportion) are admitted) by marking S.  Do not mark any school an S unless you exceed all of the requirements and at least 75% of applicants are accepted.

     b)  (6 pts) .For each school explain why you classified your likelihood of admission (R, P or S) as you did. You should write a minimum of two sentences for each school.  Write these explanations on a separate sheet of paper.

Sections c and d should discuss whether you want to go to the schools, i.e. does the school offer the factors that are important to you?  You should view this section as "Do I want to go there assuming that I can get in?"

   c)  (1 pt.)  On the back of the grid, rank the schools from 1 to 5 according to your preference. (Rank means to put them in order of preference, not assign each a rating.  When ranking, 1 should be  your most preferred and 5 should be your least preferred).  By your preference we mean, how well does this school rank on the factors important to you?  Do not consider your likelihood of admission in making these rankings.  That means you should not list GRE scores, GPAs, number admitted, etc. as factors of importance to you.

    d) (6 pts.)   Then on a separate sheet of paper explain your rankings. You should write a minimum of two sentences for each school.

    e) Summary (: (6 pts.)

• How does your ranking of preferences compare with your likelihood of admission?
• Are your top choices of schools ones you are likely to be admitted to?
• What can you do to improve your chances of admission?

Section 7 must be typed (except for those portions of a and c written directly on the grid).

9. (10 pts.) Letters of recommendation.

a) (2 pts.) Identify and give descriptive information about three individuals whom you would hope to ask for letters of recommendation.
b) (2 pts.) Explain why you have chosen those individuals.
c) (1 pt.) Indicate how you will ask them.
d) (3 pts.) What materials will you give to them?  How will those materials help them to answer the typical questions asked of those writing letters?
e) (2 pts.)  Will you waive your right to see the letters?  Explain why.

    Review information from the link above, your texts, the Internet, as well as Getting In and Complete Guide to Graduate Study for tips.
(Note:  For the extra credit optional assignment worth 15 points, put together in a separate packet, the actual packet you would submit to one of the people who you have indicated you would ask for a letter of recommendation.  Follow the instructions in the link above for compiling that packet.)

10. (35 pts.) Write a statement of purpose for the school that seems most appropriate for you. Instructions for the statement of purpose are found on the generic application link in number 7 above.   Information on how to write a statement of purpose is available in Getting In and Complete Guide to Graduate Study, on the Internet, and there is a  handout (as well as a video) on writing a statement of purpose (available in the Peer Advising office) for guidance.  You may also look at (but not copy) the statements of purpose found in the Graduate and Professional Schools Success Stories of CSULB Psychology Students found in the Graduate Resources Room in the peer advising office.

   Sections  9 and 10 must be typed.  It is preferable to type section 8 also.

Summary of key points:
    1) No late projects are accepted.  The project must be submitted by the closing time at the Peer Advising office, just as an actual graduate school application must be submitted by the deadline in order to be considered for admission.
    2)  Be sure to attach a cover sheet following the format noted in section 1.
    3)  Type information wherever possible.  There will be a 15 pt. deduction for papers that are not typed.
    4)  The projects are rigorously graded.  If you have omitted sections or answered questions minimally, you can expect large point deductions.
    5) To see the grading guidelines for this project, look on the course documents section along with sections 2 through 7 of the model project.