Preparing for Graduate School: GPAs, GREs,
Admission Criteria, & Acceptance Rates
John C. Norcross, Ph.D., ABPP
Table 1. Course and Credit Admission Prerequisites for Master's-Only (N=861) and Doctoral (N=993) Programs in Psychology
Master's-only Doctoral All
Type of programs programs programs
Prerequisite % % %
Minimum # of psych credits only 4% 2% 3%
Specific psychology courses only 53% 50% 52%
Psychology major only 3% 4% 4%
Specific psychology courses and
minimum # of credits 32% 32% 32%
Psychology major and specific
psychology courses 6% 9% 7%
Psychology major and specific
courses and minimum credits 2% 3% 2%
Totals 100% 100% 100%
Source: Norcross, J. C., Hanych. J. M., & Terranova, R. D. (1996). Graduate study in psychology: 1992-1993. American Psychologist, 51, 631-643.
Table 2. Course Prerequisites for Graduate Programs (N=1,554) Requiring Specific Psychology Courses
Required Preferred Required or
Statistics 56.5% 28.7% 85.2%
Research Methods/Exper. Design 40.0% 26.0% 66.0%
Childhood/Developmental 11.2% 24.2% 35.9%
Abnormal/Psychopathology 15.6% 16.9% 32.5%
Learning 8.7% 19.6% 28.3%
Personality 12.0% 15.7% 27.7%
Physiological/Biopsychology 5.5% 18.9% 24.4%
Social 4.7% 18.7% 23.4%
Testing/Measurement 9.5% 8.0% 17.5%
History & Systems 4.9% 12.3% 17.2%
Cognitive 3.6% 9.0% 12.6%
Lab course 7.8% 3.8% 11.6%
Sensation & Perception 3.1% 7.8% 10.9%
Table 3. Importance of Criteria in Admissions Decisions
Master's Doctoral
Criteria M SD M SD
Letters of recommendation 2.74 .49 2.82 .42
Personal statement/goals 2.63 .55 2.81 .41
GPA 2.75 .43 2.74 .45
Interview 2.30 .76 2.62 .60
Research experience 2.04 .74 2.54 .65
GRE scores 2.36 .66 2.50 .55
Clinically related public service 1.94 .70 1.91 .69
Work experience 1.91 .65 1.87 .68
Extracurricular activity 1.46 .54 1.41 .55
Means are calculated on a coding scheme where 1 = low importance, 2 = medium importance, and 3 = high importance.
Source: Norcross, J. C., Kohout, J. L., & Wicherski, M. (2005). Graduate study in psychology: 1971 to 2004. American Psychologist, 60, 959-975.
Table 4. Final Selection Criteria for PhD Admission Decisions
Rank Mean
Criteria order score
Research experience, resulting in a publication credit in a
scholarly journal 1 4.45
Degree to which the applicant's skills and interests match those
of the program 2 4.41
Research experience, resulting in a paper presentation at a
professional meeting 3 4.24
Degree of interest expressed by faculty in working with applicant
as graduate student 4 4.16
Clarity and focus of applicant's statement of purpose 5 4.12
Research assistant experience 6 3.85
Writing skills as revealed in statement of purpose 7 3.75
Status and reputation of applicant's referees 8 3.75
A strong, supporting mentor actively involved in advocating an
applicant's candidacy 9 3.75
Underrepresented ethnic minority group membership 10 3.66
Degree of knowledge and expression of interest in your program 11 3.61
Number of statistics/research method courses taken as an undergraduate 12 3.48
Number of "harder science" courses taken as an undergraduate 13 3.41
Prestige and status of psychology faculty in applicant's undergraduate
department 14 3.35
Prestige of applicant's undergraduate institution 15 3.30
Potential for success as judged by interview or other contact 16 3.19
Honors or merit scholarships awarded by undergraduate school 17 3.03
Area of undergraduate major 18 2.98
Social/personality style as revealed through interview 19 2.80
Relevant field/volunteer experience in placement 20 2.75
Relevant paid work experience in area related to your program 21 2.62
Neatness and "professional look" of the application materials 22 2.48
Teaching assistant experience 23 2.41
Active participation in department activities 24 2.23
Student affiliate status in a relevant professional organization 25 1.81
Degree to which applicant would help to balance the sex ratio
within the program 26 1.81
Psi Chi membership 27 1.75
Multilingual fluency 28 1.64
Contribution to geographical diversity of program's students 29 1.61
Legacy status (i.e., close relation of applicant to graduate of
the program) 30 1.39
Source: Keith-Spiegel (1991). Adapted with permission of the author.
Table 5. Minimum Required and Actual Scores of First-Year Graduate Students in
Psychology
Minimum Required Actual Scores of Incoming
for Consideration Students
Measure Mean Mean
Doctoral departments
Graduate Record Examination
Verbal 529 571
Quantitative 538 626
Verbal + Quantitative 1066 1183
GRE Psychology Subject Test 552 633
Grade point average
Overall 3.11 3.54
Psychology 3.17 3.66
Last two years 3.16 3.67
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Master's departments
Graduate Record Examination
Verbal 449 504
Quantitative 453 549
Verbal + Quantitative 952 1055
GRE Psychology Subject Test 495 577
Grade point average
Overall 2.92 3.37
Psychology 3.05 3.48
Last two years 3.03 3.44
Source: Norcross, J. C., Kohout, J. L., & Wicherski, M. (2005). Graduate study in psychology: 1971 to 2004. American Psychologist, 60, 959-975.