Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology

Admission Requirements

Students are admitted to the Clinical Psychology Program to work toward the Ph.D. degree only; the program does not offer a terminal master's degree. Applications are due in the Graduate Admission Office of the University, by December 1, for enrollment the following September. Approximately 10-14 full-time students will be admitted to the program each fall. There are no spring semester admissions in this program.

The Psychology Department does not have an Open House for prospective applicants (like other graduate programs at Suffolk).

Students wishing to apply for admission must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and must complete the Suffolk University Graduate Admission Application Form. Please note that you may now submit your application online at the following website: https://app.applyyourself.com/?id=suffolk-g. A downloadable PDF is also available from Graduate Admissions. If you choose to submit your application via paper, you must include the additional updated Psychology Ph.D. supplement form. We strongly encourage applicants to use the online application.

Students must submit official scores on the general aptitude (verbal, quantitative, and analytic or analytical writing) sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE); the advanced psychology subject test is not required, but is recommended for applicants who do not hold an undergraduate degree in psychology. The Suffolk University GRE code is 3771. There is no separate GRE code for the Psychology Department; please code all scores with 3771.

NOTE: Students who score less than the 50th percentile on either the GRE verbal or the GRE quantitative sections have little chance of admission in the absence of compelling compensating factors. In addition, a GRE writing score of 4.0 or higher is typically a prerequisite for admission. In addition, most of our admitted applicants carry a psychology GPA of at least 3.5.

Special attention should be paid to the personal statement, which should include all relevant background experience (in both research and clinical settings), academic interests, professional goals, and potential mentors. Applicants should specifically identify and describe those portions of their experience and professional goals that they believe make them well-suited to this program and the faculty with whom they would like to work. In addition, the program is dedicated to training clinical psychologists who will have competency working with diverse populations. We encourage applicants to address any interest and/or experiences they have with regard to this issue.

Two letters of recommendations are required for all applicants. Recommendations can be submitted electronically through the online application process or directly to Suffolk University (please see the application for more details). The recommender should use institutional letterhead when available. Recommendation letters will not be accepted by any third party agencies. Recommenders should include their full name, title and a phone number where we can contact them if necessary. Applicants first and last names should be included in the letter.

Applicants must have completed a minimum of five courses in psychology, preferably including courses in both statistics and research methods. Though not required, the program values the additional evidence of maturity, competence, and capacity for responsibility that comes from a broad range of work and life experiences. Thus, many students admitted to the program have engaged, after college, in both supervised psychological research and some type of supervised work in a clinical setting.

Please note that while sealed materials (transcripts, recommendation letters, etc.) will be accepted with application materials, they must remain unopened. This method is strongly encouraged. These materials can certainly be sent directly to Suffolk University; however, it does create the potential for your credentials to be lost in the mail or otherwise not collected into your application package. The occurrence of this is rare, but it does happen, and may delay your application materials from being received by the deadline.

International students must also take the TOEFL and provide a statement of financial resources. Additional requirements for international applicants may be found online.

The Ph.D. program receives approximately 300 applications each year. We thoroughly review these and invite 75-80 candidates to Suffolk University for an interview weekend. Interview Weekend 2013 will take place on Friday, March 1st and Saturday, March 2nd.  All applicants invited to interview are strongly encouraged to attend in person at that time. Due to the size of the applicant pool, department faculty will generally not conduct interviews with applicants who have not been invited to interview. However, the department holds two information sessions during the fall semester to meet applicants and address questions.

Final decisions will be made by April 15th.

On acceptance, each student will be assigned a program advisor. This advisor will guide the student over the course of his or her graduate education, helping to plan course work as well as discuss research and clinical opportunities.

For information on transferring credits, see here.

Applicants interested in further information on the qualifications of admitted students should consult the full disclosure data page. This page also details the program's graduation outcomes and student internship application success.

To request additional information and application materials, contact the Office of Graduate Admission via e-mail, or phone (617) 573-8302.

Beginning in 2004, the President of Suffolk University authorized the Psychology Department to award two, full-tuition fellowships based on both student economic need and commitment to study and treat people from culturally diverse and under-served populations. Please see the OUTREACH Fellowship page for more information.