UW Clinical Psychology: Graduate Student Application Review and Interview Process
Application Deadline: Dec 1 - Apply today
Application Review
Given the volume of materials received in a very short period of time, it is not
possible to notify applicants of the status of their application.
Applications are evaluated based on the applicants' academic qualifications (e.g.,
undergraduate GPA) and interests. Particular attention is paid to the goodness of
fit between the applicant's expressed interests and the particular strengths and offerings
of our program.
Our program does not employ a set of formal "cut-offs" with regard to any of the quantitative
application elements (e.g., undergraduate/graduate GPA). Often a strong record in
one area may make up for a weakness in another area. Applicants interested in information
on the qualifications of admitted students should consult the student summary data
(www.uwyo.edu/psychology). This page also details the program's internship application
success and graduation outcomes.
Applicants who are no longer being considered for admission typically receive letters
informing them of their status by mid-February.
Faculty Mentor Review
Each clinical faculty member who is interested in taking a new student selects 1 to
4 candidates to invite to our annual Graduate Student Visiting Days. Some faculty
use phone or Skype interviews of short-listed candidates to select their interview
pool. Approximately 20 candidates attend Graduate Student Visiting Days, which are
typically scheduled on a Sunday through Tuesday in mid to late February.
Applicant Interviews
Applicants identified as strong matches for the program are invited to interview and
are strongly encouraged to attend the Graduate Student Visiting Days. However, those
who cannot attend receive telephone interviews and are considered equally with those
who come to campus.
The Graduate Student Visiting Days provide applicants with an opportunity to experience
the atmosphere of the university, department, and program first-hand and to become
familiar with our students and faculty, training goals and expectations. Applicants
who visit the program have the opportunity to meet the program faculty and students
at a dinner reception and are individually interviewed by program faculty and students.
At the same time our faculty and students assess the likely scholarly, research, and
clinical promise of the applications so that the best admission decisions can be made.
Final Decisions
Shortly after all potential applicants have been interviewed, all clinical faculty
members meet and consider the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate and decide
the order of applicants to whom offers will be extended. Telephone calls and formal
letters of acceptance follow shortly thereafter.
Policy Regarding Admissions Offers and Acceptances
The Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP) has adopted a set
of procedures designed to facilitate the Graduate Admissions process by outlining
expectations of both applicants and programs. Our program adheres to these CUDCP-adopted
guidelines.
Council of University Directors Clinical Psychology (CUDCP) Guidelines for Graduate
School Offers and Acceptances
The Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP) adopted a policy
on 3/9/93 regarding graduate school offers and is now reaffirming those basic principles
with a few modifications. Abiding by these principles has become even more important
in recent years as the competition for positions has intensified and electronic communication
has made much information about the process highly public. These principles are designed
to facilitate the matching process, protecting some students from inappropriate pressure
to respond and protecting other students from not receiving offers in a timely manner
due to some students’ holding multiple offers.
These CUDCP policies support but go beyond the policies already established by the
Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) which were renewed October 2009 (http://www.cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution).
Institutions that have signed onto the CGS resolution are listed on the CGS website.
The CGS policy only holds for offers of financial support, not offers of admission.
If an applicant finds that a program violates this policy, that institution should
be reported to the CGS. The Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP)
endorsed this resolution (February 2008). Neither APA or COA have responsibility to
enforce these guidelines but support the principle herein. APA’s Graduate Study in
Psychology limits entry into that directory to those programs and departments that
adhere to the April 15 date. A program listed there that violates this policy should
be reported to the Board of Educational Affairs of APA.
The CUDCP policy holds for all offers of admission to its member programs. Violations
of this policy should be reported to the CUDCP (http://cudcp.us/contact.html).
- The policies listed here should be sent to all students applying to CUDCP-member graduate
programs (or other graduate programs that have adopted these guidelines). Whenever
possible, undergraduate advisors for students seeking admission into graduate programs
of clinical psychology should familiarize the students with these guidelines, emphasizing
the importance of adhering to the guidelines for the benefit of other students.
- To facilitate decision making for students, training programs should inform students
as soon as possible that they have been excluded from consideration for admission.
- A student can expect to receive offers of admission to programs over a considerable
period of time. The timing of offers to students largely is determined by the University’s
review schedule, which is a strictly internal matter. Regardless of when the offer
is made, students are not required to respond to the offer before the decision date
of April 15 (by 11:59pm Eastern, or by this time on the first Monday after April 15,
if April 15 falls on a weekend), except as specified in Section 6 below.
- Offers usually are made in writing prior to April 1st. Between April 1st and the decision
date, universities may choose to facilitate the process by making offers to students
over the phone or by email when a position comes up. These offers are official, but
should be followed up by a written confirmation within 48 hours.
- Offers, once made, cannot be withdrawn by the university until after the decision
date and then can be withdrawn only if the student fails to respond to the offer by
the decision date.
- A program may make an offer after the April 15th decision date if it still has one
or more open slots. Offers made after the decision date should clearly state how long
the student has to decide on the offer. The student should be given sufficient time
(at least a week) to visit a program before making a decision.
- Offers with funding are treated like any other offer. There should be no stipulation
by the University that the offer carries funding only if the student accepts by a
specific date that precedes the decision date described above.
- The Director of Clinical Training or the designated person in charge of graduate admissions
should make every effort to inform students on the alternate list of their status
as soon as possible.
- The procedure of designating all students who have not been offered immediate admissions
as alternates is inappropriate. The University Training Program should have a procedure
for identifying those students who clearly will not be offered admissions.
- A reasonable designation of the student’s position on the alternate list is encouraged,
if applicable (e.g., high, middle, or low on the alternate list). If such a designation
is used, the operational definition of "high on the alternate list" is that, in a
normal year, the student would receive an offer of admission (but not necessarily
funding) prior to the April 15 decision date.
- Once the class has been filled, students on the alternate list should be informed
that they are no longer under consideration for admission. Students who were designated
"high on the alternate list" should be informed by phone or email.
- A student should not hold more than two offers for more than one week unless there
is specific information (e.g. a visit is scheduled, funding decisions, advisor decisions)
they are waiting to receive from the program. Difficulty making up one’s mind is not
considered an adequate excuse to limit the options available to other applicants.
Holding multiple offers ties up slots, preventing programs from making offers to other
students. This is a complex principle operationalized in the points below.
- It is legitimate for students to want to visit a program, if they have not done so
already, before making decisions among offers. Such visits should be scheduled as
soon as practical after the offer of admission is received. If after a visit to a
program the student decides that the program is rated lower than a program that the
student has already been offered admission to, the student should inform the lower
rank program that they will be declining their offer.
- Whenever possible, the student applicant should inform training programs by phone
or email of a decision, following up within 24 hours with a written confirmation of
that decision.
- Once a student has accepted an offer of admission to a Graduate Training Program,
the student should inform all programs in which they are currently under consideration
that they are either declining outstanding offers of admission or no longer wish to
be considered for admission. Students should contact by phone or email those programs
that have offered them admission.
- It is the responsibility of the Director of Clinical Training or the designated person
in charge of graduate admissions to keep students informed of changes in their status.
Ideally, the student should be informed immediately by phone or email. Offers of admission
or offers of funding for students already offered admission should be made over the
phone or email with a follow-up letter mailed within 24 hours.
- The current policy statement of the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology
allows students to resign offers they previously accepted up to the April 15th decision
date by submitting the resignation in writing (preferably by email immediately followed
up by a letter). The purpose of this policy is to avoid pressure on students to accept
offers before they have heard from other schools. Although withdrawing an acceptance
is legitimate, it is not good form and is very strongly discouraged. A much better
approach is to accept a position only if you intend to follow through on your commitment.
Students have the right to hold offers as described above if a preferable offer is
still possible. Except in very unusual situations (e.g., serious illness or major
personal problems), a student who accepts an offer of admission is expected to start
the graduate program the following fall. Upon request, programs may grant a deferral,
but they are not obligated to do so. Training lines are severely limited, and failing
to use a line once it has been offered prevents other qualified students from obtaining
training.
