Contacting Masters Programs

[Rose Tyler]

I've been contacting POIs for the past week, but only for doctoral programs. I'm also looking at masters programs and I'm not sure how to approach those. Most of the ones I'm looking at don't seem to be as strict as doctoral programs in mentorship and research match.

 

Should I contact the professors that I'm a match for and ask them if they're accepting students into their lab (if that information isn't available on their website, of course)? Should I contact the grad secretary and ask if a program works under a strict mentorship model if the website isn't clear?

[PsychGirl1]

Master's programs vary widely- some are mentor-based, and some are less so (or it is general admissions and you pick a mentor once you arrive). You can probably get a vibe from the program website, and also reach out to the department admin for clarification. That being said, even if acceptances aren't mentor-based, you can still email your POI, tell them you're applying to the master's program, you're really interested in their research, and you were wondering if they mentor master's students, etc.

[Psychonomix]

I know for a fact that Wake Forest admits program-wide and does not require people to name specific professors.  It's good to give a general idea of what you're interested just because they want to make sure they aren't admitting 13 cognitive people when they only have a couple cognitive faculty members, but you don't have to be too specific with that either.  

 

Source: I went there and this is what the DGS told me.