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Organizational Behavior PhD (Business Department) vs. I/O Psychology PhD (Psychology Department)


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Posted

I did not get accepted into either of the PhD Programs in I/O Psychology that I applied for, but did get accepted into two Master's Programs for I/O Psych. I have also been accepted to an Organizational Behavior PhD (PhD of Business Admin) at a school that has an I/O Psychology PhD Program and the two programs work closely together. The Org Behavior Program is offering a full tuition waiver and a large annual stipend. 

Are there any inherent cons to going this route, as opposed to I/O Psychology? My contact has told me that they research almost the exact same things, work very closely together, and even take a lot of the same classes. If I reject this offer and stay in the I/O Psychology track, I will have to go to a Master's Program, re-take the GRE, and re-apply to a Doctoral Program. Right now, I am leaning toward accepting this offer, but wanted to post in here to see if anyone has any perspective on the matter or any thoughts on the pros vs. cons of each!

Thanks! 

Posted

What would be the actual difference, other than supervisor (probably)? Are there any concerns you have regarding the requirements of the OB program? Any skills or approaches you have concerns about? If so, I'd address them with the program and see if it fits. Most likely you'll be able to be in touch with people from both programs. Could you come up with any big objections?

As for after the PhD - you'll be hunting in the same job market (OB people end up at psych departments and the other way around - if you want to go out of academics, a OB degree maybe even better), so in that regard, there is unlikely to be a huge downside to pick one over the other. Additionally, the skills are indeed very comparable. 

I'd personally take it if they're nearly the same - there shouldn't be that many differences especially the programs work closely together and classes overlap a lot. 

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