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Department of Psychological Sciences
210 McAlester Hall
Columbia, MO 65211-2500
phone: 573-882-6860
fax: 573-882-7710
email: SkylesB@missouri.edu
Graduate Program: 573-882-0838 or gradpsych@missouri.edu		 MU Department of Psychological Sciences

Graduate Program Overview

The Department of Psychological Sciences offers a doctoral program with emphasis in Clinical Psychology, Cognition and Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, Quantitative Psychology, and Social/Personality Psychology. The department also offers a dual program in Child Clinical and Developmental Psychology. All emphasis areas offer broad empirical and theoretical training with a research emphasis. The Clinical Psychology emphasis area is accredited by the American Psychological Association.

The PhD program is research-oriented and calls for three to four years of full-time study. Thus, the program requires that all admitted applicants be full-time students. Students enter the program only in the Fall semester.

Students earn their MA degree in their progression to the PhD. A terminal MA degree is not offered. After admission to the program, students who have completed a master's degree (with thesis) from another university may request review of their thesis and coursework for possible waiver of the MA requirement.

Dual Emphasis Option
Graduate students who wish to pursue a graduate degree with training in both clinical and developmental psychology may do so through the Dual Emphasis option. To be admitted to the Dual Emphasis, the applicant must be accepted by both the Clinical and Developmental emphasis areas.

Statistics Minor
In conjunction with the Statistics Department, the Department of Psychological Sciences offers a diploma-designated minor in psychological statistics and methods. Students will receive thorough training in advanced quantitative methodologies such as meta-analysis, structural and latent variable modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, and mathematical modeling in psychology.

Prerequisites
While the undergraduate major of most applicants is psychology, there are no specific undergraduate course or major requirements. Applicants should be prepared to indicate any experience with empirical research and/or report writing.

First Steps Toward Applying to the MU Psychological Sciences Program

1. Identify a Research Area.
Explore the areas. Graduate training is divided into five training areas: clinical, cognition & neuroscience, developmental, quantitative, and social & personality. Although graduate students take courses across areas, each student is affiliated with an area and each area may have individual course requirements.

2. Identify Potental Faculty Mentors.
Explore the faculty. The Department of Psychological Sciences follows a mentorship model: graduate students work with specific faculty in specific labs. Explore the various research areas and faculty research interests. Look for a good fit between your research goals and department research capabilities and interests. A careful selection of potential faculty mentors is an important part of the application process.

3. Explore the Program.
Please read about the program of study, financial support, graduate student life, and, if applicable, information for minority and international students.

4. Prepare to Apply.
Read about the admissions process including chances of admission and important dates and deadlines.

5. Apply to the Program.
Ready to apply? Read the instructions and fill out the online forms. If you are an MU undergraduate applying to our program, you will need to follow these alternative instructions: Application instructions for MU undergraduates.

DEADLINE: Applicants seeking admissions in Fall 2009 should submit their application, transcripts and letters of reference to the Graduate School by December 5, 2008 and ensure that all other application materials are received by the department before the December 15, 2008 deadline.

If you have additional questions, please see our Frequently Asked Questions, and/or contact the Graduate Student Services office by phone at 573-882-0838, or email gradpsych@missouri.edu.

 Graduate Program