What kind of program does Harvard offer?

Can I get training in clinical psychology at Harvard?

Where can I find out about graduate school admission in general?

How do I get information about Harvard doctoral program admissions?

How long does the program take?

Can I go part time? Is there a correspondence program?

What if I want to take some courses, but don't want a degree?

What if I want a master's degree?

What if I already have a master's degree?

What about test scores?

Is there financial aid available?

Are there other programs related to psychology at Harvard?
 
 

What kind of program does Harvard offer?

The Harvard Psychology Department offers Ph.D. degrees in several specialty areas. It is strictly a research-oriented program. Graduates of the program usually seek positions as research psychologists, typically in an academic setting. A smaller number of graduates get positions in government, consulting firms, hospitals, or social service agencies.

We offer training in the following sub-fields of psychology:

• Social Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Experimental Psychopathology and Personality
• Cognition, Brain, and Behavior, which includes the fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, perception, and behavioral psychology.

Can I get training in clinical psychology at Harvard?

Beginning in the fall of 2000, we will admit applicants for the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology as well as in Experimental Psychopathology.  Clinical training is integral to the Clinical Psychology track.  Neither program, however, is appropriate for those planning careers as practicing psychotherapists.  Both the Clinical Psychology and Experimental
Psychopathology tracks are geared to training people for research careers. Applicants seeking professional training for the purposes of private practice are advised to apply elsewhere.

Although the Clinical Psychology program fulfills APA requirements, it must be in operation for several years before APA accreditation can be obtained.  Hence, the program is not yet APA-approved.

Where can I find out about graduate school admission in general?

There is lots of information out there. Speak to psychology professors in your college and get their recommendations. If you have a well-focused research interest, read lots of current literature in the area. This will not only inform you about your field, but will give you an idea of who the principle researchers are in that field. It makes sense to apply to schools where those researchers are on the faculty.

Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has a web-based publication entitled "APPLYING TO GRADUATE SCHOOL: A GUIDE TO THE EARLY STEPS ON THE PATH TO ACADEME".

The APA publishes two books that may be helpful: Getting In: A Step-by-Step Plan for Gaining Admission to Graduate School in Psychology and Graduate Study in Psychology.

A useful site run by a mathemetician, but which contains helpful information for all fields, is http://www.phds.org/about/

How do I get information about Harvard doctoral program admissions?

This brochure describing the Psychology graduate program covers prerequisites and information about the curriculum.

Prospective applicants will want to read carefully the Faculty Research Interests to decide whether this department is a good match. "Fit" of interests is an important criteria when the Department makes admissions decisions.

Information about current students in the doctoral program may be useful in figuring out if this department would provide a good fit for you.

Admissions information from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences answers questions about applying to the program. It includes information about financial aid, GRE and TOEFL requirements, deadlines, and an e-mail application request.

To request an application, fill out the admissions office on-line form at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~gsas/request/ or call 617/495-5315.

How long does the program take?

The faculty ideal is for students to finish in four years. However, many students find that five years is a more reasonable time to expect, and six years is not unusual.

Can I go part time? Is there a correspondence program?

This is a full-time program, and we do not admit applicants who want a part-time program. In unusual circumstances, the Department may grant permission for an enrolled student to temporarily register for a part-time schedule. It is required that students be in residence for at least two years in the program, and the vast majority of students are in residence for the entire program. It is possible to receive permission to be a "traveling scholar" and do research or writing away from Cambridge, but this is most typical for students at an advanced stage of the program who have finished data collection. There is no correspondence program or other long-distance program.

What if I want to take some courses, but don't want a degree?

The only way to take Harvard Arts and Sciences courses, unless you are enrolled in another Harvard graduate program or MIT, is to be admitted as a Special Student, which allows you to take between one and four courses a semester. Foreign nationals have to take a full-time load in order to get a student visa. Students are issued a transcript, but no degree or certificate, for their work in the Special Student program.

Applications are available from the Graduate School; call 617/495-5392. Applications are reviewed by the Graduate School and then by a subset of the Psychology Department admissions committee.

Admitted applicants should be aware that the Department does not have the resources to provide the same support, academic and otherwise, to Special Students as it does to Ph.D. students. Special Students are not assigned advisers, office space, research space, research funds, financial aid, library keys, or computer lab accounts. They are restricted from taking the Department's proseminar (PSY 2010), and other courses at the discretion of the instructor. Admission to independent reading and research (PSY 3010) courses under the supervision of a faculty member is also at the discretion of the faculty member, and is in no way guaranteed or even likely.

Many Special Students hope eventually to enroll in a psychology graduate program; some plan to apply to Harvard's Ph.D. program. However, applicants should consider the Special Student year an opportunity to take courses, rather than a way to get an early start on the Ph.D. program. While Special Students are certainly eligible to apply, potential applicants should be aware that admission as a Special Student in no way guarantees, or necessarily enhances, one's chances of being admitted to the Ph.D. program. Should a Special Student later be admitted to the doctoral program, academic and financial credit would be given for appropriate graduate-level courses taken during the Special Student term(s).

What if I want a master's degree?

The Psychology Department does not offer a terminal master's degree program. Students in the Ph.D. program can pick up a master's degree en route. Admission to the doctoral program does not require a master's degree, and the majority of candidates are accepted with only a bachelor's degree. The Graduate School of Education does offer terminal master's degrees in psychology-related fields. The Extension School, Harvard's evening program, offers an A.L.M., a Master's of Liberal Arts, and one can concentrate in psychology.

What if I already have a master's degree?

Some of our applicants are admitted with a master's degree from another institution. These students can petition, after a semester of satisfactory work in the Department, to receive credit for up to eight relevant half-courses, the equivalent of a year's worth of work. However, many students in the program don't bother to apply for this credit, for the following reasons: it is exceedingly rare for a student to be exempted, by virtue of prior work, from any courses required by the department. In addition, the bulk of time in the doctoral program is spent on research projects, and the department very rarely exempts students from these. Even students coming in with a master's degree take between 4-6 years to complete the program, though an incoming student with more education may naturally be more focused at an earlier point in their program. By the time a student has finished all requirements for the doctorate, including research requirements, s/he will have many more than the required minimum number of credits.

How hard is it to get into Harvard's doctoral program?

Admission to this department is quite selective; we receive many more applications than we have places. To be competitive, applicants should have excellent grades, GRE scores, recommendations, and must have research interests that are compatible with those of faculty members. While we do not require an undergraduate concentration in psychology, some social science coursework is helpful. Because the program is heavily quantitatively oriented, college-level math and statistics are helpful. Research experience is extremely helpful: successful applicants have often worked for professors, done research projects as part of college courses, written an undergraduate thesis, or volunteered in a psychology research lab.

What about test scores?

GRE scores are an important part of the application, but equal or greater weight is given to other components, such as grades and letters of recommendation. While the average admitted applicant has a combined verbal and quantitative GRE score of 1350 or higher, candidates with lower scores will be given serious consideration if other parts of the application are extraordinary . We have admitted applicants with scores as low as 1200. We do not require the GRE subject test, although many schools do, as well as some of the national fellowship competitions. The GRE must have been taken within the last five years. We do not accept substitutes, such as the MAT, in lieu of the GRE.

Foreign applicants who do not have a degree from an English-language institution must take the TOEFL exam. Harvard requires a score of 550 or higher.

Is there financial aid available?

Funding is available, and can be merit-based or need-based. Financial aid is in the form of grants in the early years and teaching or research fellowships in later years. Both foreign and U.S. applicants are eligible for financial aid. Because funds are quite limited, applicants are urged to apply for any outside fellowships they may be eligible for. NSF graduate fellowships and those from the Department of Defense are examples of national fellowship competitions open to U.S. citizens. We may admit an applicant without funding if the Graduate School's analysis of financial resources determines that the candidate can support him or herself without aid. Qualified members of underrepresented minorities (African Americans, Native Americans, Native Pacific Islanders, Puerto Ricans, and Mexican-Americans) may be eligible for fellowships from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Are there other programs related to psychology at Harvard?

The Graduate School of Education offers developmental psychology in its Human Development and Psychology Program

Applicants interested in neuroscience may wish to explore the Neuroscience Program offered by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Division of Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School.

Harvard does not offer a traditional industrial/organizational program to train people to work as consultants to industry. There is a research-oriented program in Organizational Behavior which is a joint offering of the Harvard Business School and either the Psychology or Sociology Department. Graduates of this program expect to be placed in academic positions in schools of arts and sciences or in management schools.