Top Psychology Graduate Schools - University of California-Berkeley

By Sheridan Salter

When seeking a graduate school, most students are searching for programs with great reputation that directly corresponds to the student's academic major or concentration. Across the nation, the best schools are competing for the best students, and students are competing for the best schools.

Where can you find the best graduate psychology programs in the country?

One of the top Ph.D. programs in the field of Psychology is University of California at Berkeley, located in California, approximately 45 minutes from San Francisco. According to World News Reports, their program is currently listed at number one in the nation. Berkeley has a long standing history of being ranked in the nation's top ten schools for Ph.D. programs in Psychology, offering the doctorate in the following areas:

* Behavioral Neuroscience

* Change, Plasticity, and Development

* Clinical Science

* Cognition, Brain, & Behavior

* Social-Personality

Why Choose A Top Graduate School in Psychology?

One of the things that makes a top ten school so unique is the fact that they usually hire faculty members who have had time to become prominent in their own major area of study, making them more capable of offering their students a more practical and applicable education. Another element that sets the best schools in our country apart from the rest are the opportunities for the students to network on higher and more powerful levels. This gives the students better chances at getting internships in their field, and increases the possibility of getting a job upon graduation.

Because of all of the perks associated with going to a top school like UC-Berkeley, the application process is rigorous, and usually highly competitive. If you are hoping to attend this school or one like it, make sure your application is immaculate and that your grades are the absolute best they can be. The average GPA of students who get accepted to UC-Berkeley is a 3.8, and their doctoral program in Clinical Science (their answer to Clinical Psychology) is among the country's most competitive programs, so reach high, gather excellent letters of recommendation and write an effective graduate personal statement, and you may be among the number pursuing their Ph.D. in psychology at Berkeley.

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College Professor and Clinical Psychologist Among List of Top Careers in America

By Sheridan Salter

There is more good news for grad school applicants - and this time its related to employment prospects! According to Money and Payscale's recently published list of "Best Jobs in America 2009," earning a Ph.D. degree in psychology may lead you directly down a career path towards one of the best jobs in America! Among the top jobs in America, ranking at #3 and #16 respectively are college professor and clinical psychologist. This should be great news for those who remain undecided about going back to grad school to earn a doctoral degree in psychology.

College professor ranks at #3 on the Money and Payscale rankings. Many college professors, especially those on the tenure track in research positions, split their job responsibilities between teaching, grading papers, conducting research and publishing peer-reviewed journal articles. Many college professors in psychology have also gone on to author best-selling books offering new insights to how we understand the human brain and behavior. Among the reasons cited about why the quality of life is tops for college professors, these include flexibility in scheduling, time off for holidays, and reduced workload during summer months. While most people tend to think first about using a Ph.D. in psychology towards counseling and private practice, there are a number of specializations that offer the ability to become a college professor instead.

Let's shift gears and talk about the #23 ranked best job in America: Clinical Psychologists. In comparison to college professors, many clinical psychologists do indeed specialize in counseling, private practice, and psychotherapy. Their job responsibilities including diagnosis and evaluation of mental and emotional disorders. This is accomplished through clinical observation, interviews, and psychological tests. Clinical psychologists work hard with clients to help their experience relief through treatment of psychological disorders.

Each of these jobs appearing on the list were ranked for a combination of high pay, job growth, quality of life. One of the standouts on the list for great quality of life is the college professor career track where 59.2% of respondents rated their job as low stress. Additionally 76% of Clinical Psychologists rated their job as contributing a great deal in benefits to society, believing that their jobs help make the world a better place. These are all great reasons to start getting your application together to go back to grad school and gain a career that is satisfying and offers a high quality of life.

Visit Get into grad school for tips and strategies to get into top ranked doctoral programs in psychology, including drafting personal statements to stand out from the competition and scoring in the 95th percentile on the GRE!

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Know What You're Getting Into When You Go For Your PhD!

By Sheridan Salter

Before any student spends the time and effort applying to grad schools in psychology, some soul-searching needs to be done to determine if they're pursuing the right degree in the first place. Many students think they know -- but have no idea -- about the level of scholastic work that is required throughout grad school. Graduate school is not Undergrad 2.0. And for a lot of reasons, it is really not a good idea to apply to grad school because you cannot find employment or have no other idea what to do with your life.

Ph.D. programs are research-intensive. The goal of graduate study is not to simply consume knowledge, but to create it. Therefore, Ph.D. students spend quite a lot of time reading tons of academic journal articles, discussing journal articles, and critiquing journal articles in preparation for designing research that will eventually be featured in journal articles. Did I forget to mention the importance of journal articles?

You won't only just be reading, but you'll be doing a heck of a lot of statistical analysis. Hand in hand with creating original research is statistical analysis. Gotta find out those stunning results, right? You might not ever get to the point of loving statistics, but you must definitely master stats. (And I assure you, there are indeed more than your fair share of statistical geeks in psychology.) You and SPSS will become good friends over the course of 5-6 years of graduate study. Even if you plan on enrolling in a Ph.D program in Clinical Psychology, you will have to become a stats guru. (Or at least master the particular statistical method you will be using).

The very first step to get into a doctoral program in psychology is to figure out if this is indeed the right educational path for you. If the mere thought of a career dealing with the ins and outs statistics sounds like a nightmare, then I urge you to reconsider applying to Ph.D. programs in the first place. If psychology is still your intended career, there are definitely other career paths than the research-intensive doctoral program route. But if you're pretty good with stats, then you're already on the fast track to getting into a top ranked Ph.D. program in psychology.

If this has been helpful and you'd like to learn more, please visit: Get into grad school.

Visit the definitive source on information on applying to Ph.D. programs in psychology: Applying to graduate school

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What's My Next Step? Masters Or PhD?

By Sheridan Salter

Throughout my years of advising, counseling, and teaching undergraduates, I have noticed that many students are confused about the next step to take in their education. They know that they would like to go to graduate school, but are unsure about what degree they should be seeking. Should I apply to a masters or Ph.D. program?

Generally speaking, it isn't necessary to go to a masters degree program before starting a doctoral program. The structure of a Ph.D. program is designed to include necessary coursework, teaching and research experience, all of which spans approximately 5 years. You will earn a masters degree along the way to earning a doctorate. So if you graduate with your Bachelors at age 21, it is very possible to achieve a Ph.D. by 26.

However, students that are typically admitted straight out of undergrad share a few commonalities. They are usually very strong candidates with what I like to call the total package -- excellent transcript, high GRE scores, research experience, laudatory letters of recommendation, and a well-written personal statement. There's no way of getting around this.

Now let's talk strategy. If you are missing some of the key components, this is where a Masters degree comes into play (assuming that you're interesting in obtaining a Ph.D. in the first place). Let's say you're missing research experience. Your best bet may be to enroll in a masters degree program to get the experience. Of course, you can also take a year off and apply to work as a research assistant to get this accomplished as well. But the masters degree program also comes along with taking more advanced, specialized coursework, and may include teaching experience, even presenting at a conference or two! All of these experiences will look incredible on your academic resume when applying to Ph.D. programs.

And I've mentioned before in my life story that I was clueless about how to get into grad school, right? When I finished undergrad, I hadn't the slightest idea that I needed research experience as a prerequisite for grad school. So even though I applied with the same "great grades and GRE scores," I didn't gain admission to a single Ph.D. program that first go-round. Pretty crushing blow to the ego, huh? So I retooled my strategy and worked on a masters. Those two years worth of research experience - and having a clear idea of what kind of research I wanted to explore - ended up being the key elements that helped me to get into a doctoral program.

At any rate, high-quality masters level work demonstrates to the admissions committee that you have what it takes to make it in a Ph.D. program. Enrolling in a masters degree program is also a great strategy for someone who doesn't have an undergraduate background in a particular field. Coincidentally, one of my classmates enrolled in the masters program with me had a background in Journalism. She has since earned a doctorate in Psychology.

But be forewarned, while some of your credits may transfer to your Ph.D. program, it is also possible that they may not. (Hey, just warning you!).

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