Psychological Science Ph.D. Program

The department offers a Ph.D. in Psychological Science, with students specializing in one of 5 areas. Students are trained with a strong foundation in theory, research methods and advanced statistics, as well as in classic and contemporary issues relevant to their specific area.

Students collaborate with faculty on research from the very beginning of their graduate training and are encouraged to gain research experience with more than one faculty member. As student’s interests and skills develop, they pursue more independent research projects.

With 36 full-time faculty to serve as mentors for approximately 80 graduate students, our students enjoy the benefits of a program with an excellent faculty-to-student ratio and with a strong sense of community. Since students work closely with faculty throughout their graduate careers, they regularly have opportunities to co-author conference presentations, journal articles, and book chapters.

Ph.D. students select a primary (major) specialization in one of the following five core areas:

Specialty

​For an overview of the curriculum please visit our program information in the UCI catalogue. Please see below for application requirements and instructions for non-clinical areas.

Program Learning Outcomes

Develop Knowledge of the Discipline

Research Methods and Statistics

Pedagogy

Scholarly Communication

Professionalism

Independent Research

Application Requirements for the Ph.D. in Psychological Science

Application requirements and deadline for the Clinical area can be found here. The application deadline for the clinical area is December 1st.

Applications for all other areas (Developmental, Health, Social/Personality) are due December 1st. Psychological Science applicants will complete an online application via SLATE.

PLEASE NOTE - UCI has multiple psychology programs, be sure to select the correct program to avoid a delay in processing your application.
If you are interested in Cognitive Neuroscience, please visit the School of Social Sciences.

Statement of Purpose (essay format, 1200 words maximum)

In your statement of purpose, please describe your aptitude and motivation for graduate study in your area of specialization. We expect applicants to include:

Personal History Statement (essay format, 1200 words maximum)

In your personal history statement, please describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. A sample of topics you might address in your statement is below:

We expect applicants to include the following in the context of the above:

GRE Scores

Transcripts

Application Fee