| Getting Into A Psychology Graduate Program |
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Page 6 of 8 Many programs require the applicant to submit a personal statement of some sort. This statement can be very important to the overall impression you send to schools. Here are some general tips: • Tailor each personal statement to the individual institution you are applying to. Trying to use a blanket statement can cause problems you’d never expect. o Example: When I applied to The University of Toledo, a behavioral sciences / cognitive program, my personal statement had 1 line in it that read:• Be mindful of space limits each school imposes on the statements. Some schools want 2 pages, some want a half a page. Create one ‘base’ personal statement that you’ll customize and look for things you could cut out if you needed to save space. • Have your personal statement read over by a faculty member. My faculty member was quite fond of using a red pen to bring to light any possible problem he saw. This was a bit discouraging to see, but in the end, a great asset. This further underscores the importance of making connections with faculty. • Read other’s personal statements to get ideas, search online for tips, and above all, present yourself professionally. In many ways, this is where a perspective school will get their fuel for interview questions. The Importance of Research & Senior Honors Projects 
When I was accepted to UA as an undergraduate, I immediately applied to the honors program. This program allowed me many benefits (priority registration, a faculty mentor) and required (comparatively) very little commitment from me to remain in it. I needed to keep above a 3.4 GPA and take 3 colloquium classes over 4 years. The big requirement was a senior honors project. This project, while deceptively appearing to be just another requirement, has actually been one of the best experiences I’ve had at UA. It’s also allowed me a great way to get my ‘foot in the door’ with graduate programs.Throughout my undergrad years, I participated and assisted in research with graduate students. This gave me some good real-world research experience; however it did not give me much to talk about during an interview for graduate school. My senior honors project, however, did. Because I had to research for the project, write proposals and collect data, I knew a lot about the subject of the project. In every interview I was in, the question always came up: “So tell me about your research interests”. There was no better way to show that I had actual research interests than to talk about my senior honors project. My interviewers enjoyed hearing about it and asking questions. For the programs I was applying to, this real-world research was a big key to getting in. |
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