Admissions
After a century of excellence in teaching, research and service, The Ohio State University is recognized as a
leader among the nation's centers of higher learning. Ohio State sponsors a wide variety of graduate and professional
programs.
History
The study of psychology is part of a long and distinguished tradition at Ohio State.
The first psychology course was offered in 1879, and in 1907 an independent Department of Psychology was formed.
The first Master of Arts degree in Psychology was awarded in 1915; the first Ph.D. in 1917. Since that time,
about 2,800 master's degrees and 2,000 doctorates have been conferred.
Department graduates hold respected teaching, research and professional positions across the United States and many
practice in other countries. In fact, there is at least one Ohio State graduate on the psychology faculty of almost
every major university in America.
Faculty
About 60 professors make up the Psychology Department faculty at the Columbus campus. Many are recognized both nationally
and internationally for their contributions to their fields, and many hold joint appointments, which means they are also
members of other department faculties at Ohio State.
Our faculty members, as well as a number of our alumni, are the recipients of the discipline's highest awards for professional
and scientific achievement. Many serve as editors of major journals and several are president's of professional societies.
They understand that they are role models and that they have a responsibility to help graduate students develop their sense
of professional identity and commitment. Click here to access a list of faculty awards and here to access
faculty editorships.
Colleagues
As a graduate student at Ohio State University, you will find that faculty consider you a colleague. You will have every
opportunity to develop the research and professional skills you need to become a well-qualified psychologist in the specialty
area you choose. With the faculty's help, you will develop an individualized study and research program and you will study in
an invigorating, research-oriented environment, one you should find both challenging and intellectually stimulating. Our
overriding goal is to train scholars who, through independent research, are capable of making substantive contributions to the
body of knowledge in the field of psychology.
Areas of Study
The Department of Psychology awards the Ph.D. in seven programs, each covering a wide range of research topics, as described below.
The main areas of emphasis: systematic research on clinically-relevant problems; assessment and treatment of problematic
behavior. There are three subspecialties: adult, child, and health.
Faculty emphasizes behavioral, cultural, developmental, and social perspectives. Faculty research interests include health
psychology, i.e. cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, cancer, psychoneuro-immunology, women's health and related topics.
In the adult and child specialties, the areas of interest include personality, assessment and training of social skills,
clinical/social judgment, sexuality, childhood psychopathology and anxiety disorders. The program is accredited by the
American Psychological Association.
The department's Psychological Services Center and other cooperating mental health facilities are the sites for clinical training.
Main areas of emphasis: cognition/memory/learning; human performance; and perception. Faculty research includes:
perceptual-motor coordination, psychophysics, categorization, decision-making, human factors, electrophysiological
correlates of human cognition and information processing, language processing and psycholinguistics, auditory and
visual perception, and music perception/cognition.
The Counseling Psychology Program is no longer accepting applicants because the program is being phased out by the department.
Main areas of emphasis: social and personality development; cognitive development; and comparative cognition. The orientation
of the program is on studying psychological processes from a developmental perspective. All phases of the life span are
represented--infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Faculty research includes; sociomoral development and antisocial
behavior; parenting and adolescent behavior; cultural influences on development; language and cognition; children's
understanding of psychological and emotional processes; and chimpanzee cognitive capacities.
Main areas of emphasis depend on student's area of specialization in MR/DD Psychology. The MR/DD-Developmental track deals
with issues such as normal and abnormal life span development, early intervention, and habilitation; the MR/DD-Clinical
track focuses on psychopathology in mental retardation, which includes issues of classification, assessment, treatment,
and prevention of behavior problems and psychiatric disorders.
Current faculty research interests in developmental disabilities include epidemiology, classification, behavior management,
and psychopharmacotherapy of severe aberrant behaviors (antisocial behavior, stereotypy and self-injurious behavior) and
psychiatric disorders (Including autism, specific reading disorders, depression, anxiety, fear, panic); psychotherapy
research; psychological and cognitive correlates of psychiatric disorders; applied behavior analysis and ecobehavioral
analysis; development of diagnostic tests and assessment instruments for adaptive and maladaptive behavior; socio-emotional
development; health promotion.
Main areas of emphasis: behavioral neuroscience, behavioral endocrinology, and psychophysiology. Research focuses on the
neurological and neurochemical mechanisms of behavior and development; species-specific behaviors; early experiential
factors in behavioral development; the ontogeny of learning and memory; psychophysiological factors underlying affects
and emotions; autonomic nervous system; animal models of neurodegenerative diseases; behavioral pharmacology.
Various methods for the assessment of sensory, perceptual, associative and cognitive functions are practiced, including
classical and operant conditioning. Research methods include electrophysiological, neurosurgical, neuropharma-cological
and psychophysiological approaches.
There are three areas of specialization within the quantitative program: (1) traditional quantitative methods, including
multivariate quantitative methods and models, measurement theory, and model selection; (2) judgment and decision making,
including modeling and experimental studies of human judgment and decision processes; (3) mathematical psychology, including
development and application of mathematical models of psychlogical processes. Students can focus their studies in one area,
or a combination. The program helps students develop and expand their mathematical, statistical, and computer skills, and
encourages them to apply those skills to substantive areas in psychology. There is considerable flexibility to accommodate
students with a variety of interests.
Faculty research includes quantitative methods such as covariance structure models, factor analysis, categorical data analysis,
models of multilevel data, clustering, and multidimensional scaling; mathematical modeling of human judgment and decision processes,
including axiomatic, algebraic, connectionist and stochastic approaches; and model selection methods.
Students, faculty, and prominent visiting scholars interact in weekly seminars. The area supports several microcomputer
laboratories, including a judgment and decision making laboratory.
Main areas of emphasis: attitudes and persuasion, social cognition, attribution, political pyschology, intergroup relations
and personality processes and individual differences. Applied opportunities and training are also available in consumer
psychology and health psychology.
The program emphasizes the acquisition of research and conceptual skills. Current research and theory are evaluated in weekly
seminars, many of which are conducted by outstanding visiting scholars. Laboratory space and equipment, including
computer-based attitudes and social cognition laboratories, closed-circuit audio/video facilities and one-way observation
rooms, permit the study of the full range of social processes.
Departmental Facilities
You will complete your study and research in facilities considered among the best in the nation. The Psychology Department
is housed primarily in two adjacent buildings. The Psychology Building and Lazenby Hall, which contain extensive laboratory and
computing facilities, as well as faculty, staff, and student offices and classrooms.
The large and experienced Psychology Department staff includes programmers as well as electronics and audio/visual technicians.
Departmental researchers have access to the Departmental subject pool, wherein students in introductory psychology courses contribute more
than 35,000 hours of participation each year.
Ohio State's library system is the largest in Ohio and among the largest in the nation. It has more than 5.2 million volumes
and receives more than 36,000 periodicals. More than 600 of these periodicals are journal titles cited in Psychological
Abstracts. It has PsycLiT on CD-ROM, which provides access to all contents of Psychological Abstracts from 1974 to the
present. It was the first automated library system and it remains the most advanced library and circulation system in the
country.
Admission is Selective
The Department of Psychology invites applications for its graduate program. Your application will be evaluated by the
department's Admissions Committee and by the faculty in the area of study in which you intend to concentrate. We are eager
to receive applications from members of disadvantaged groups.
Only students who intend to pursue the Ph.D. are admitted. To apply, you should have a minimum of 20 quarter hours-or 14
semester hours-of study in psychology at the undergraduate level. You need not have an undergraduate psychology degree.
Transfer credit is considered on a case-by-case basis, as is advanced standing based on graduate work done elsewhere.
Credit decisions are based on how closely the previous work matches that which is required by the area in which you
intend to concentrate.
In considering your application for admission, we will pay close attention to the following:
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Your undergraduate transcript, including grade point average and courses, and the quality of the undergraduate training you received. You must supply complete transcripts of all previous academic training, including the first semester or quarter of the senior year, if possible. We normally require at least a 3.2 average for admission, but an average higher than 3.2 will not guarantee admission.
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Graduate Record Examination (New GRE) scores in the verbal, quantitative, and analytical (Written) categories. The GRE is administered nationally by the Educational Testing Service (Princeton, NJ) and may be taken at most universities and colleges. See your local registrar for further information. You are strongly encouraged to take the GRE in October (or earlier).
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Electronic letters of recommendation You should submit at least three letters of recommendation. The people who submit these recommendations should have direct knowledge of your capacity for graduate work. Electronic recommendations are provided with the university application form.
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Your autobiographical statement and resume
When you apply, indicate on the completed application form the area of specialization in which you intend to concentrate.
Your application must be complete on or before December 15 (DOMESTIC APPLICANTS).
International applicant deadline is December 1, 2008 if you wish to be considered for acceptance in the
following Autumn quarter.
Fellowship and other stipend decisions are made in early Winter quarter for students who will begin graduate study the
following Autumn quarter. If you wish to be considered for an award, your application must be on file with us on or before December 15 (DOMESTIC) December 1 (International applicants).
Online Applications
M.A. and Ph.D. Requirements
Graduate students are expected to pursue full-time study. Advanced degrees are awarded to candidates who demonstrate both a
personal excellence in their area of specialization and a general understanding of the various methodologies and contents of
psychology.
You may complete a master's degree as you pursue your doctorate. The master's thesis, generally based on empirical research, must be completed before you can receive the M.A. degree.
The Ph.D. program can be completed in five years. The final one to two years of work are heavily concentrated on research
leading to the dissertation. In certain areas, a one-year predoctoral internship is required. While the department cannot
guarantee an internship, our students are successful in finding placement.
Specific programs of study are largely determined by your interests and the requirements of the specialty area. All areas
emphasize research competence. You can expect to take courses in history and systems of psychology, statistics, and research
methodology. You also are urged to attend colloquia outside your area of specialization.
Other study requirements include: credit-hour standards, written and oral examinations, and a thesis or dissertation. No
foreign language proficiency is required, but graduates must be able to communicate fluently and precisely in English.
Financial Support
Many graduate students work to finance their study. Limited, first-year stipends are available, but part-time work, related
to the area of psychology, is considered an important addition to your professional preparation.
Teaching associateships-Half- time appointments have a 2008-2009 salary range of $11,430-$14,490 for nine months'
work and include full waiver of academic fees including summer quarter. Duties vary from assisting a professor in preparation
and grading of exams to teaching an introductory course. You should expect to begin work at the lower end of the salary scale.
Although few incoming students are appointed, you should indicate your interest on the general application blank.
Research associateships-Half- time appointments are available. The 2008-2009 nine-month salary range begins at $11,430.
Specific salaries depend on the funding source and your academic level. Academic fees are waived. Indicate your interest on the
general application blank.
University Fellowships-If you demonstrate outstanding academic achievement, you may be eligible for one of the limited
number of University Fellowships.
Graduate Enrichment Fellowships-If you are a minority student who wants to pursue a doctoral degree, you may be
eligible for a Dean's Fellowship.
Fellowship stipends for 2007-2008 are $15,072 for 12 months, beginning in October and ending in September. Academic fees are waived.
American Psychological Association (APA) Minority Fellowships- Through a cooperative arrangement with APA, the department
awards three-year fellowships. The total stipend is comparable to other Ohio State fellowships, and academic fees are waived.
For an application form write: APA Minority Fellowship Program; 1200 17th Street N.W.; Washington, DC 20036.
Veterans Affairs Internships in Clinical and Counseling Psychology- One-year, predoctoral internships are available to you as
a third or fourth-year Ph.D. student. No fee waivers are granted. Application is made directly to the Veterans facility in
which you would like to train.
Predoctoral Fellowships- Apply in early Autumn quarter of your senior year for a predoctoral fellowship from either
the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Danforth Foundation, the Ford Foundation, or the U.S. Public Health Service. For details,
dates, and procedures, see the financial awards office of your college or university.
Housing
Several housing options are available to graduate students at Ohio State. The University maintains three coeducational graduate dormitories.
The University also maintains student housing for families in Buckeye Village, an apartment complex on campus. Off-campus housing of all kinds is available at reasonable rates.
