Graduate Program: Information for Applicants

The Psychology Graduate Group offers a full-time Ph.D. program with curricular and research opportunities in a broad range of areas, including: sensation and perception, learning, memory, language, motivation, psychopathology, positive psychology, judgments and decisions, and social processes. The Department has an APA accredited clinical program, the purpose of which is to train research investigators (rather than training practicing clinicians). In all of our areas of study, students are prepared for scientific research and teaching. Please note that we do not offer a terminal master's degree.

For Fall 2009 admission, the application deadline is December 15, 2008. We strongly encourage the use of the University's web-based application system. Paper applications require extra work and lead to delays. Use paper for materials (such as transcripts) only if you must. All parts (Verbal, Quantitative, Writing) of the GRE (General Test of the Graduate Record Examination) are required. We have a relatively small program, which can accommodate about 10 new students each year. For students enrolled for Fall 2008, the median score for the Verbal GRE was 700, the median score for the Quantitative GRE was 770, and the median score for the Writing GRE was 5.0. The median GPA was 3.89. Non-native English speakers must take the TOEFL, unless they graduated from an English-speaking university.

You may send any paper materials (transcripts, letters, supplementary papers) to:

The Graduate Division of Arts and Sciences
3401 Walnut St., Suite 322A
Philadelphia, PA 19104

For questions about the program please contact Dr. Michael Kahana, Director of Graduate Studies (dgs@psych.upenn.edu)

Contents

Overview
Interdisciplinary Opportunities
Financial Support
Details of the Graduate Program
Application Procedure
Graduate Student Profile
Affirmative Action

Additional Information:
Frequently Asked Questions
Life in Philadelphia

Online Application

The Psychology Department and Graduate Group function as a unit. Students are admitted into the graduate program as a whole, not into specific subfields. Students and faculty are free to define their fields of interest. These fields often combine two or more of the traditional subfields of psychology, or a subfield of psychology and some other discipline. We have strong connections with other disciplines at the University. Our members play pivotal roles in two of the most important interdisciplinary areas on campus, the cognitive sciences and the neurosciences.

Faculty join together from different subdisciplines for teaching and research purposes so that students become conversant with issues in a number of different areas. Graduate students and faculty attend Departmental colloquia several times each semester. A high level of interaction between students and faculty helps generate both a shared set of interests in the theoretical, historical, and philosophical foundations of psychology and active collaboration in research projects.

The twin emphases of scholarship and research accomplishment pervade the graduate program. The first-year program is divided between courses that introduce various areas of psychology and a focused research experience. A deep involvement in research continues throughout the graduate program, and is supplemented by participation in seminars, teaching, and general intellectual give-and-take.

Although there are no formal divisions between research areas, research training can be grouped into two broad domains: (1) Brain, Cognitive, and Decision Sciences, and (2) Clinical, Positive, and Social Psychology.

Students admitted in Fall 2009 are guaranteed support for five years. The support covers full tuition and a stipend of at least $24,500 per year (including summer research and teaching). Every year a serious effort is made to increase the stipend; students admitted prior to Fall 2009, however, are only guaranteed the duration and level of support specified in their admissions offer letter.

Overview of the Graduate Program

The Graduate School requires a total of 20 course units (one semester course equivalent) for the Ph.D. Degree. Up to 11 of the 20 course units may be research.

The Department does not have a Master's program and does not give any special recognition to a Master's Degree from other institutions. It will not admit a student who wants only a Master's Degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

The First-Year Program. The required courses for all first-year graduate students are:

• Proseminars
• Statistics
• Individual Research
• One Elective Course

The Proseminars consist of about 12 half and full-semester courses covering a wide range of psychological studies. The student must take five units (semesters) of proseminars normally including three in the first year. The Statistics requirement can be met either by completion of Stat 611 or a more advanced course. This requirement must be completed by the end of the second year. Additional statistics courses are offered.

The individual research course is intended to get each student involved in research immediately upon enrollment in the program. Under the guidance of a faculty member, a student plans the research, learns the necessary techniques, and writes a report on whatever has been accomplished by the end of the first year. This project is expected to occupy about half of a student's time in the first year.

Clinical students are expected to take the Clinical Seminar during their first year as well as during the subsequent years. For other students, the elective consists of a graduate course anywhere in the University.

After the First Year. A committee of three faculty members, including the student's advisor, is chosen to guide each student's education after the first year.

Second-year students typically take two further units of proseminars, having taken three in their first year. Students are required to include among their five proseminars, one from each of the following three broad areas of Psychology: Cognition (including Psycholinguistics, Perception, Animal Learning, Thinking and Deciding, among others), the Brain (including Behavioral Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroscience, among others) and the Individual and Groups (including Cultural, Personality, Psychopathology, and Social, among others).

Otherwise, a student's primary activity is scholarship and research in his or her chosen area of specialization, supplemented by a selection of advanced seminars and courses in other departments or schools, colloquium attendance, and undergraduate teaching. Students in the clinical program also take a clinical practicum and a year of assessment. Many students studying Brain, Cognitive, and Decision Sciences take neuroscience courses in the Institute of Neurological Sciences.

In the second half of their third year, students take a Doctoral Qualifying Examination. Students continue with research and teaching in the third and fourth year. Special arrangements are possible for students who must go elsewhere to do their research, e.g., those who must observe animals in the field.

Research through the fourth year leads to a dissertation. Although the program can be completed in four years, the majority of students complete their dissertation in the fifth year.

Examinations and Evaluations

First Year. Performance in the proseminars, in the first-year research project, and in the statistics course must be satisfactory for a student to remain in the program. This is evaluated by the faculty at the end of the first year.

Qualifying Examination. Graduate students must pass an oral and written examination based on their area of special competence. The student's advisory committee in consultation with the student determines the form and content of the examination. This examination is normally taken by the end of the third year.

Dissertation. A dissertation is required, and must be approved by a committee consisting of the dissertation advisor and two other Graduate Group members.

Students are selected for admission who show evidence of a high level of intellectual talent, and a commitment to scholarship and research. We can accommodate about ten new graduate students each year. Admission decisions take into account many factors, including the clarity of the candidate's statement of interest, its appropriateness to this program, evidence of research experience and accomplishment, letters of recommendation, test scores, grades, and selection of course work that is relevant to the student's plans. An outstanding record in one of these areas may compensate for poorer performance in another area. In general, we look for students who are likely to become passionately committed to some intellectual or scientific problem or problems.

Most entering graduate students have some background in science, mathematics, and statistics, as well as some research experience and course work in experimental psychology. Although undergraduate exposure to psychology is desirable, it is not necessary. In particular, students with interdisciplinary interests might have a stronger background in the other field than in psychology. Students are admitted on the assumption that they will be able to meet all requirements for the Ph.D. Degree.

Affirmative Action

The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds. The University of Pennsylvania does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or status as a Vietnam Era Veteran or disabled veteran in the administration of educational policies, programs of activities, admission policies, scholarship and loan awards, athletic, or other University administered programs or employment. Questions or complaints regarding this policy should be directed to the Executive Director, Office of Affirmative Action & Equal Opportunities Programs, Suite 228, 3600 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6016 or (215) 898-6993 (Voice) or (215) 898-7803 (TDD)