This page is designed to answer some basic questions about the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. It is not meant to replace the information included in the graduate application packet available from the department (see "How do I get an application?" below), and in cases of disagreement between this document and other departmental publications, your best bet is to call the Clinical Graduate Secretary at (303) 492-8805 and ask.
Read the Department Guidelines and the Graduate School Guidelines and then apply online.
December 15.
Some leniency is allowed for late arrival of GRE scores and letters of recommendation. However, the admissions committee starts reviewing applications immediately after the deadline, and you may hurt your chances of being accepted if all of your application materials are not available for the committee to evaluate.
The minimum GPA required to be considered for admission is 3.3 (on a 4.0 scale), and it helps if your GPA for your psychology classes is significantly higher. Practically speaking, you need at least a 3.5 to be considered competitive, unless your other qualifications (e.g., GRE scores, background experience) are strong enough to compensate for a less-than-stellar GPA.
Minimum verbal and quantitative scores are 600 each or a combined total of 1200. However to be competitive, you need a combined verbal and quantitative score of at least 1300.
Yes. We do not require a minimum score on the subject exam but to be competitive a score of ~700 is needed.
We require a bachelor's degree or equivalent (30-45 semester hours) in psychology. What that means is that if you have a degree in nursing, social work, or some other related field which requires a fair number of psychology courses, you have a chance of being accepted, depending on your other qualifications. If your undergraduate degree was in business, and the only psychology class you took was the basic introductory course, you're not going to be seriously considered. We do not have a set list of prerequisite courses.
Approximately 200.
5-6, depending on availability of funding.
Possibly, but not necessarily. The students who might be most helped by pursuing a terminal Master's degree before applying to a Ph.D. program are those whose undergraduate qualifications are good, but not strong enough to get into a Ph.D. program straight out of college. In those cases, a Master's degree would at the least show a dedication to the field and the ability to successfully complete graduate-level work. It might also provide the student with the opportunity to gain needed experience in both research and clinical work.
It is not necessary to submit a separate application for financial aid. We provide all of our students with a stipend (generally funded by teaching assistantships) and a tuition waiver for the first three years of the program. During the fourth year, students are paid through community placements, and the fifth year is generally when students participate in a year-long internship off-campus.
An interview weekend is held in late February or early March. The top 15-20 applicants are invited to come to Boulder at that time to meet with the faculty, staff, and students in the Clinical Ph.D. program. An in-person interview is mandatory for acceptance into the program. If an invited applicant is unable to come to the interview weekend, he or she must make arrangements to come to Boulder to interview at another time in order to be considered for admission.
No. Our students do earn a Master's degree around the second or third year as part of their doctoral work, but we do not offer a "terminal" Master's degree. If you apply to our program, you are applying to the Ph.D. program, and we expect you to stick it out to the end.
The minimum time needed to complete the program is five years, broken down as follows:
Transfer credit is evaluated on a case-by-case basis after you have been admitted to the program. To expedite this process, make sure you hang on to the syllabi from any courses you'd like to have evaluated. The program director will not approve a course based on the title alone, and it is very unlikely that the catalog description will contain enough information.
The model by which we train our students is a scientist/practitioner or "Boulder Model." The primary objective of our training program is to produce scholar/clinicians -- psychologists who integrate information from a variety of theoretical, clinical, and research sources and who are committed to creating knowledge that will improve the quality of life.
Below are brief descriptions of each faculty member's research interests. For more information, try a citation search at your local library.
Starting in the second year of training, students see clients in the Raimy Clinic, located in the Muenzinger Psychology Building.
Most definitely, and we strongly encourage students to do so. At the very least, the APA requires Clinical Ph.D. students to take one course each in the cognitive-affective bases of behavior, the biological bases of behavior, and the social bases of behavior. It is also possible to expand one's research experience by working with a faculty member in another area.
If private practice is your sole goal, this is not the program for you. We are looking for students interested in pursuing a career in academic/research clinical work. If you have little interest in teaching or research, you might want to consider another school.
Due to the huge number of requests we receive of this nature, the faculty have decided not to grant individual interviews with potential applicants. The Clinical Graduate Secretary would be happy to answer any questions you have about the program. The Clinical program office is located in room D334 of the Muenzinger Psychology Building. Business hours are 9-5, and the phone number is (303) 492-8805. Appointments are available, but not necessary.
Adams State College (719) 989-7626
Colorado State University (970) 491-6363
Naropa Institute (303) 444-0202
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (719) 593-3227 (Dr. Lee Becker) or (719) 593-3476 (Andrea Williams)
University of Colorado, Denver (303) 556-8565
University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center (303) 270-5248
University of Denver (303) 871-3873
University of Northern Colorado (970) 351-2731
Clinical Psychology FAQ / University of Colorado, Boulder / Revised August 2007