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Admission
Applicants are selected for admission into our program by an individual faculty member or by an area group
(i.e. a group of faculty members associated with a major area of concentration) and not by the
department as a whole, nor by an Admissions Committee. Because these programs tend to be
small, they may not admit students in a particular year.
Applicants interested in a particular program or working with a particular faculty member may
check the website (http://psych.wisc.edu/gradstudies/trainers.html) or individual faculty to determine if admissions are likely for
that year.
Each faculty member and area group gives preference to applicants who have a high potential
for success in graduate school and who also share research interests with the prospective faculty
sponsor. You should consider carefully the description of our faculty research interests, read
several of their publications and consult with faculty and advisors at your undergraduate institution
before applying to our program. Whereas most of our applicants have majored in psychology,
we give full consideration to applicants with undergraduate majors in other
relevant areas.
Given our commitment to students, we take seriously our responsibility when admitting an
applicant. We consider every piece of information carefully. Students are selected on the basis
of their record of academic achievement, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, evidence of
motivation to do research, as well as, fit between faculty and student research
interests.
Minimum Requirements
Although individual faculty members and area groups decide who will be admitted, the
Psychology Department sets certain minimum standards that must be met by those admitted to
our graduate program. It is extremely rare for the Department of Psychology to offer admission to
those who do not meet our minimum standards for application.
- Undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) must be at least a 3.0 on a 4-point scale
- Verbal and quantitative scores on the General Test of the Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) must have a sum of at least 1200. Some area groups may set additional
standards. The Clinical Area Group has adopted the following minimum criteria:
- [(Undergraduate GPA) x (393.9)] + [(GRE verbal score) + (GRE quantitative score)] must
be equal to or greater than 2,600; and
- Commitment to a research career.
- TOEFL score of 550 (paper-based) and 213 (computer-based) for students
whose native language is not English.
Consideration for admission to our department is highly competitive. We receive approximately
350 applications each year and less than 10% of those are admitted to our program. Table 1
(below) provides information about students admitted into our graduate program in three different
years. If you fall below the minimum standards set by the department you may still be admitted where
there is clear justification; e.g., foreign students or minority group students whose GRE scores
may not be an indicator of potential for graduate work, or students who are below the minimum
requirement in one respect but well above it in other respects.
Table 1
Psychology Graduate Program Applicants 2004 - 2007
| |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
| |
Program |
Clinical |
Program |
Clinical |
Program |
Clinical |
Program |
Clinical |
| Number of Applicants |
364 |
179 |
366 |
161 |
360 |
172 |
361 |
176 |
| Number Admitted |
25 |
7 |
18 |
7 |
10 |
3 |
14 |
4 |
| Average GPA |
3.68 |
3.72 |
3.62 |
3.63 |
3.58 |
3.60 |
3.66 |
3.78 |
| Median GPA |
3.73 |
3.83 |
3.62 |
3.63 |
3.58 |
3.60 |
3.66 |
3.78 |
| Average GRE (V+Q) |
1310 |
1290 |
1328 |
1317 |
1317 |
1453 |
1404 |
1373 |
| Median GRE (V+Q) |
1330 |
1280 |
1355 |
1350 |
1345 |
1490 |
1420 |
1385 |
| Average GRE Verbal Score |
610 |
620 |
635 |
620 |
602 |
700 |
669 |
668 |
| Median GRE Verbal Score |
610 |
620 |
630 |
630 |
585 |
710 |
650 |
660 |
| Average GRE Quantitative Score |
702 |
670 |
693 |
697 |
715 |
753 |
735 |
705 |
| Median GRE Quantitative Score |
720 |
680 |
695 |
700 |
740 |
770 |
765 |
725 |
Summary information about students entering the Graduate Program in psychology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Application and Supporting Materials
- Graduate School Application and Admission Form
- Department Application Form
- Personal Statement
In addition to letters of recommendation, grades and graduate record examination scores,
the faculty also attend carefully to your personal statement. The personal statement is a
place for you to communicate your motives for attending graduate school, what your future
goals are and why you think the University of Wisconsin is the best place for the training
that will help you meet your goals. Be sure to tell us in your personal statement if you have
prior research experience, and tell us about your role in that research.
Undergraduate research experience is highly valued in an applicant to our program and
greatly enhances your chances of admission. Such research experience provides an opportunity
to discover whether research is of interest to you and provides evidence of your motivation
and ability to do research.
- Three Letters of Recommendation
A minimum of three letters of recommendation are required and are read very carefully. Good letters in favor of
the applicant are essential and should be provided by faculty who know you fairly well. These letters
should provide information that will help us evaluate your potential for graduate work beyond that
revealed by GPA and GRE scores. For example, a letter from a professor who writes about your
unique skills, research abilities and motivation is more influential than a letter from a professor who
says that you received an "A" in his/her class and were very pleasant. Thus, letters of recommendation
from faculty you have worked with on a research project or senior thesis carry more weight in making a
decision to admit a student.
The three letters of recommendation must be submitted electronically. Letters of Recommendation Instructions.
- Graduate Record Exam
The Department requires the general test of the GRE. To insure timely receipt of GRE scores, please
use the following code when completing the score report recipients section of the GRE registration form
(please note that a department code is not needed):
Institution Code: N/A
- Official Transcripts
The department requires TWO official sets of transcripts (DO NOT send any transcripts to the graduate school; they WILL NOT be forwarded to our department):
* from ALL colleges or universities you have attended as an undergraduate or graduate student
* each enclosed in a separate envelope, labeled as “University of [X], BS transcript #1”, “University of [X], BS transcript #2”, “University of [Y], MS transcript #1”, etc.
Suggestions
We strongly recommend that applicants take the Psychology Subject
Test of the GRE. Alternatively, applicants should take the subject test of the GRE most closely
related to the applicant's undergraduate major.
The SPEAK test is required for international students applying for a teaching
assistantship.
Deadlines
Decisions to admit applicants are made in Winter. We strongly urge you to have your complete
application, including transcripts, letters of recommendation and GRE scores,
to us by December 15, especially if you wish to be considered for fellowship, financial, or assistantship support. Most students admitted into
our program are supported by either a research or project assistantship, teaching
assistantship, or fellowship.
Department of Psychology, Graduate Studies
http://psych.wisc.edu/
Graduate Admissions
1202 West Johnson Street
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 262-1041
gradinfo@psych.wisc.edu
See the UW Resources page for other information
to aid you with your application to the Graduate program of the Department
of Psychology.
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