Gaining Acceptance into professional careers

Even if you do not currently plan to seek further education beyond the bachelor’s degree, the Department of Psychology wants to be sure, before you graduate, that you would know how to proceed if you ever had to apply. You may, therefore, write a 10-15 page APA-style paper on graduate plans that includes: a) the advanced degree(s) necessary to pursue a career in a specific area of psychology or a psychology-related field of your choice; b) which departments at which universities offer the necessary degree(s); c) your criteria for narrowing the choice to your “top ten” and then to the three most likely departments for you; d) each of the three most likely department’s criteria for acceptance and how well your credentials match those criteria; e) the 2-3 specific faculty members in each of those three departments whose publications best match your interests (with a brief description of and reference list for those publications); f) the degree requirements in each of these departments (what courses/activities you will have to complete, how many years it will take, what percentage of entering students complete the program, etc.); and g) a fully worked out 2-3 page “statement of interest” that you would submit along with your application to your top department. These graduate plans will be accepted at any earlier time, but not beyond the deadline shown on the Tentative Calendar. Dr. Lord will grade each paper as pass or fail, based on how well you address each of these 7 sections. Failing papers cannot be revised.