Do you require an undergraduate major in psychology or related field? We do not require a particular undergraduate major or particular coursework. We want students that will bring diverse perspectives to class and review the entirety of each applicant’s record of accomplishments in evaluating their likelihood for success in the program and beyond. Students who majored in or have significant work experience related to the following fields tend to be better prepared for success in the program: social sciences, statistics, and business-related fields. However, we have students from Engineering and IT backgrounds that are navigating the program effectively. We encourage applicants from all educational backgrounds. This enhances the diversity of thought in the classroom and the learning experience for all. I have not completed a psychology or a statistics course in several years. If I am accepted to the program, should I take any courses or read up on any topics? Yes. To best prepare you for success in the program, we recommend at least familiarizing yourself with introductory statistics and I/O Psychology principles and terminology. Specific resources will be recommended in your acceptance materials. Is there any particular kind of work experience that is more desirable or applicable than others? We strive for our students to bring diverse perspectives to class. Therefore, there isn’t a particular kind of work experience that is more desirable. Because this program is designed for working professionals, we want students to apply their learning to their jobs each week and share their challenges in class. Any type of professional, full-time job could meet this need. It often just depends on the degree of support from your employer or manager in enabling your learning. Please note that we prefer our students to have at least two consecutive years of full-time professional work experience prior to enrolling in the program. Less experienced applicants who demonstrate considerable potential for success in this field throughout the rest of their application materials are also given strong consideration. How do you review applications and decide on which applicants to accept into the program? We will review the entirety of each individual application to determine each applicant’s likelihood for success in the program and beyond as well as their propensity to contribute to the learning experience of others. While we will typically use undergraduate GPA and professional work experience to focus our initial review, other factors, such as the Statement of Purpose or performance in specific courses in the transcript, can compensate for deficits in these areas. There is not one particular criterion that will guarantee acceptance or denial of your application. What if I don’t have at least two consecutive years of full-time professional work experience? While two consecutive years of full-time professional work experience is certainly a plus for applicants to this program, we do make exceptions to this preference. As described in the answer to the previous question, we take a compensatory approach to evaluating your application materials. Therefore, strengths in academics, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, and your statement of purpose can compensate for a weakness in work experience. We do accept a handful of applicants with limited professional work experience in each of our cohorts.Those applicants typically have very strong grades, activities and other experiences that clearly display a passion for this field of work, and accomplishments that demonstrate the ability to work well with others and to adapt and grow quickly. We do a lot of group project work in our courses, and because we have many students who possess more than 10 years of professional work experience after college, it is critical that our younger students are able to collaborate effectively with these more experienced professionals. What if I don’t have any academic research or lab experience? Experience with conducting academic research is not required or even preferred. This program is intended to teach students the foundations of I-O Psychology so that the knowledge can be used in practice with real organizations to drive improvements via workforce management and development. We want our graduates to be practitioners. Therefore, we are more interested in your work experiences. If you have experience using data and analytics at work to diagnose, evaluate, or problem solve, then that is a plus. What is the typical undergraduate GPA for accepted applicants? The average cumulative undergraduate GPA for our last two cohorts of accepted applicants was 3.4. It's important to note though that the range of GPA's was from 2.5 to 4.0. This illustrates our compensatory approach to evaluating the applications. GPA is just one factor in the application, and those accepted with low undergraduate GPA's likely had solid GRE scores, strong work experience, strong letters of recommendation, and/or an impactful statement of purpose. What are the typical GRE scores for accepted applicants? The average GRE scores for our last two cohorts of accepted applicants were 156 Verbal, 152 Quant, and 308 total (ranging from 295 to 322). Applicants with scores falling below these averages were typically accepted because of strengths in other areas of their application, such as work experience, grades, letters of recommendation, and the statement of purpose. How many students do you admit each year? We typically admit around 20 students to each cohort, with a maximum of 25. When will I know if I have been accepted? You should receive a response from us within about three weeks after the application deadline. This gives us time to give every application a thorough review and opportunity at a spot in the next cohort. We do make a small number of early offers of acceptance on a rolling basis to very strong applicants who have fully complete applications in the system by March 1st. Applicants who complete their applications prior to March 1st and who do not receive an early offer are still given full consideration after the application deadline.
