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Ph.D. Clinical Psychology Admission Criteria

Application Deadline

All application materials must be received by December 1, 2024. Students are admitted for the Fall semester and on a full-time basis only.

It is anticipated that all interviews will be conducted online via Zoom on 1/24/2025 and 1/27/2025. In order to facilitate equal consideration of all applicants, no in-person visits for any applicants will be available, nor will Zoom interviews be conducted on any other dates other than 1/24 and 1/27.

Applicant Brochure PDF

Our 2025 Applicant Brochure can be found here.

Program Data PDF

Tables regarding Time to Completion, Program Costs, Internship Data, and Student Attrition can be found here.


Degree Program

  • Coursework: A minimum of 80 semester credit hours of graduate coursework is required.
  • Qualifying Examination: After completing 24 credit hours or two years in the program, students take a written comprehensive examination in the form of the clinical specialty paper or oral defense.
  • Clinical: Three years of practice are required in the Psychology Department's community clinic. In addition, students are required to complete a one-year, 20-hour-per-week clerkship during the third or fourth year. During their fifth year, students complete a full-time, one-year internship in a program accredited by the American Psychological Association.
  • Dissertation: All students must defend orally a written dissertation proposal to their dissertation committee. A dissertation embodying the results of original research must be accepted by the Department of Psychology and the Graduate School.

Application Requirements

  1. Application
  2. UMSL Clinical Psychology Cover Sheet
  3. Official transcripts
    • Applicants must have at least a baccalaureate degree with above-average performance in psychology courses.
  4. Entrance examinations
    • International students are required to document English proficiency by providing scores from an internationally accepted standardized examination before a decision is made on admission.
  5. Grade Point Average
    • Minimum of 3.0 on 4.0 scale (3.0 in psychology coursework)
  6. Personal statement (see Clinical Applicant Brochure)
    • Write a statement of purpose that provides a statement of your career objectives and interests in clinical psychology. Please read the section entitled "Philosophy of Research Training" in the Clinical Psychology Applicant brochure before preparing your personal statement.
  7. CV (see Clinical Applicant Brochure)
  8. Writing Sample (see Clinical Applicant Brochure)
  9. Three letters of recommendation (see Clinical Applicant Brochure)
    • The references should be from professors and other research and clinical supervisors who can comment in detail about your qualifications for graduate study in clinical psychology and who have agreed to serve as professional references.  

Application Fee

$50 for domestic applicants; $40 for international applicants

Assistantships

All students accepted to the program are provided assistantships currently funded at a minimum of $18,000 and tuition scholarships for educational fees for two years. Subsequently, other options are available.