The Master's-Level Clinician: Application and Admission to Doctoral Programs

Abstract

The effect of having a master's degree on doctoral program application and acceptance/nonacceptance remains unclear. All former master's-level clinicians (N = 89) in an MS psychology program for an 11-year period were sampled; 65 individuals responded. Of those who applied to doctoral programs (n = 28), 86% gained admission. Results indicated significant differences between this accept group (n = 24) and a noapply group (n = 37). The noapply group had significantly lower GRE Quantitative scores, took significantly more time to complete the master's degree, were significantly older, chose the master's degree beause at the time of master's application they did not want a doctorate, and had a higher percentage of women. Four primary implications of the data are discussed.