Master's and docotral programs still accepting applications for Fall 2011 matriculation

[HyacinthMacaw]

Hey folks,

I just figured it might be a good idea to start a thread to call attention to master's and doctoral programs in psychology that are still accepting applications for matriculation later this year. Chances are there are a lot of folks out there exploring alternative options, a "plan B." Let's hope this thread can highlight some of these opportunities.

If I received no offers to Ph.D. programs, my "plan B" was to apply to the M.Sc. program in Group Processes and Intergroup Relations at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. Its deadline is July 2011 if you intend to matriculate in September 2011 (the same goes for the PhD programs). For funding consideration, however, the deadline is a few months earlier: May 31st for this scholarship for MSc programs. Unfortunately, the deadline for research PhD scholarships seems to have passed.

Feel free to browse the site for more information: http://www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/why-pg.html

I was in correspondence with the admissions staff (psypgadmissions@kent.ac.uk) last year, and I'll relay their replies here verbatim:

"The New Route PhD takes an extra year and includes all the coursework you would take in one of our taught MSc programs in addition to the stats course, spread out over the first two years. The transferable skills training is a part of both the New Route and regular PhD. I believe you can specify that you are applying for the New Route when you apply for the PhD. My one caution is that I am not sure if all of our competitive studentship funding will cover all 4 years."

"GRE scores are not required. Assuming you are looking to start studies in September 2011, you may want to look for the announcements of our studentship competition which will be on the website in late December or early January; for that we will require that you apply early in the year. Apart from the studentships, you can apply for graduate study at any time up to 2 months from your start date.

"You are very welcome to provide more than two letters of recommendation if you think it will aid our decision-making. Our online application system asks for the email addresses of two referees but I will gladly accept the third or even fourth over email and attach to your file.

"As for our admission statistics, we have received 48 PhD application so far this year and have made offers to 25 applicants.

"We do advise applicants who do not qualify for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the British Psychological Society to request that their referees complete a proforma regarding applicants' statistical and methodological training. These are downloadable here: http://www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/forms/pro-formas.html. Your referees are welcome to fax (+44 1227 827030) or email them directly to me for ease."

I do feel it's a great program--Kent houses the research center that publishes the Group Processes and Intergroup Relations journal. Lots of well-known faculty there, too: Dominic Abrams, Richard Crisp, etc.

In addition to Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, the School of Psychology also offers M.Sc. degrees in cognitive psych/neuropsych, forensic psych, research methods, and social and applied psychology. They offer research degrees in a lot of the same areas: cognitive/neuropsych, social, forensic, health, and developmental.

I hope that helps!

Please feel free to share info about programs that are still accepting applications. All the best!

[HyacinthMacaw]

As a follow-up, I can add that the online application deadline for NYU's General Psych MA program is May 15th. They also do "on the spot" admissions if you apply after the deadline. You will need to gather standard application materials and submit them at an informal interview with the director of the the MA program, Barry Cohen. Feel free to contact him at bc2@nyu.edu for more info.

That said, I'll emphasize that this is a non-funded master's program, and tuition costs over $12,000 per semester. I found my entry into the MA program useful only to gain access into a great social psych lab and start designing my own research. I left the program after one semester so as to relieve myself of any additional financial burdens, but I had already secured a comfortable place working for and with a professor.

[HyacinthMacaw]

I'm sorry to seem like the only person posting on this thread--I'm hoping this info benefits someone!

It does seem like a lot of "taught programs", i.e. M.Sc. programs have late deadlines. Check out this link for more info on the MSc in Social Cognition at University College London: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate-study/degrees/pgt/TMSPSYSSCG01 Its latest deadline is August 27th.

All the best!