Admissions Criteria for Ranking Master's-Level Applicants to Clinical Doctoral Programs

Abstract

All APA-approved doctoral programs in clinical psychology were surveyed to determine their admissions and credit transfer policies for students from master's-level programs. The results indicated that Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, recommendations, and research involvement were consistently rated as most important in ranking applicants for admission. The doctoral programs varied in the weights assigned to graduate versus undergraduate grade point averages (GPAs). Most programs indicated that students with a master's degree could reduce the time needed to complete their doctoral requirements by about a year. However, about one third of the schools indicated that little or no reduction in time was possible.