Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet general graduate admission requirements  in addition to the following program-specific requirements:

• A minimum of 6 courses in psychology, or a closely related social science field, including a course in statistics.
• Highly qualified applicants who have a demonstrated commitment to a career serving the needs of minority and urban populations will be given priority. In keeping with the mission of the university and the particular emphases in the program, individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and minority backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.
• An important criterion for admission to the clinical psychology program is the fit between student research interests and the research interests of the program’s faculty. We require each applicant to list up to three faculty research mentors, based on shared research and clinical interests. The research mentor works closely with the student, helping to plan course work and select practicum opportunities as well as guiding the student’s research training.
• Please provide an essay of about 1,000 words. The primary purpose of this essay is to introduce yourself, your passions, your interests, and your career objectives. In addition, the essay should:
  • Describe your personal, academic, and professional experiences and strengths that have prepared you for the challenges of graduate school and a career in clinical psychology.
  • Describe your interest in clinical psychology and how the UMass Boston Clinical Psychology Program, specifically, will contribute to advancing your academic, career, and personal goals.
  • Describe the research that you are interested in pursuing as a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Program at UMass Boston.
• The following supplemental information should be included in your resume document as a separate, continuous list. Please do not split items or lists across pages:
  • A list of up to three faculty members with whom you would like to work and a sentence or two describing your interest and match for each faculty member listed. Visit our faculty mentors page for an updated list of faculty mentors and their interests.
  • A two to three sentence summary of your research and clinical interests.
  • A list of all undergraduate courses you took in the last 60 semester hours (i.e., the last half, or last two full-time equivalent years) of your bachelor’s degree. Include grades for each course and compute a grade point average.
  • A list of all undergraduate psychology courses you have taken at any time, the institutions at which you took them, and the grades you received for each course. Please also compute a grade point average for these psychology courses (and only these courses).
  • A list of all graduate psychology courses you have taken at any time, the institutions at which you took them, and the grades you received for each course. Please also compute a grade point average for these graduate psychology courses (and only these courses).
  • A list of all special honors or awards you have received for academic achievement and explain why they were awarded.
  • Any notes or comments to the committee to expand or explain any aspect of your application that needs clarification.

Interview policy

The Clinical Psychology Program receives approximately 350 applications a year. From this applicant pool, we undertake an extensive review of applications and invite approximately 40 finalists for a day-long campus visit and interviews.

The Admissions Committee schedules interviews for all finalists once all applications have been reviewed. Interviews are an important part of the application process. Interviews are usually held in February, and applicants are notified of an invitation to interview in late January or early February.