Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt provides a context for graduate training that is intense, collegial, and cooperative. Graduate students can apply for admission through any one of the major specialty programs:

• Clinical Science
• Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Science
• Neuroscience
• Quantitative Methods and Evaluation

 Admission to the graduate program in Psychological Sciences is highly selective. Several hundred students apply each year. In a typical year, we admit approximately 15-20 students. Applicants who are admitted have very strong qualifications. In recent years, the combined (verbal plus quantitative) GRE scores average over 1300. In recent years, applicants who received offers of admission had an average GPA of 3.52 and combined GRE-Verbal and GRE-Quantitative scores of 1342. If you took the new GRE format, which started in summer 2011, use the concordance to look up the new scale equivalent of the thresholds you need to meet for admission to the program. A variety of factors are taken into account in admissions including undergraduate GPA, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, prior research experience, and degree of fit with the research interests of potential faculty mentors. Overall, we admit students whose record indicates the potential and commitment to make significant scientific contributions.

GRE Concordance Table

Applicants' three letters of recommendation are strong and point to specific evidence of research potential. In their personal statements, applicants describe experiences, accomplishments, and goals that indicate their fit with our program and their fit with particular faculty members. They also emphasize their potential for succeeding in our program, pointing out research experience, work experience, and educational experience.

Because faculty in Psychological Sciences come from two different departments (Department of Psychology and Department of Psychology and Human Development), prospective doctoral students apply to Psychological Sciences in general, not to a particular department. If accepted, students will be admitted to the college in which their major professor has his or her primary appointment.

Only full-time students are admitted to the Ph.D. program. The deadline for submitting an application is December 15 of each year, and new students are admitted at the beginning of the fall semester.