Application Procedure

The Psychology Department Online Application process will be available October 1, 2012. Please read the following instructions carefully and remember that you must apply (1) to the University and (2) to the department.

Before you apply:

• Make sure you satisfy both the San Diego State University and the Psychology Department requirements as outlined on the Admission Requirements page.
• The deadline for the departmental application is December 15th.
• The deadline for the online University application ( http://www.csumentor.com/ ) is December 15th.

Application to the Psychology Department Master’s Program is a 3-step process:

Step 1:  Take the GRE by November.

Request official test scores from www.ets.org  (SDSU Institution Code is 4682 and the Psychology Department Code is 2016).

CONTACT INFORMATION

ETS: Educational Testing Services http://www.ets.org

GRE: Graduate Records Examinations http://www.gre.org

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language http://www.toefl.org

IELTS: International English Language Testing System http://www.ielts.org

Step 2:  Apply to the University by December 15th.

You are required to submit the CSU application form and application fee to the SDSU office of Graduate Admissions.  The preferred method of application and fee payment is on-line, at: CSUMentor (http://www.csumentor.edu/AdmissionApp/).

One complete set of official transcripts needs to be sent to Enrollment services by the applicant.

Students applying to both the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) and the Master’s program are required to file only one CSU application and pay only one fee, which will cover both programs.  However, you must file a department application for the JDP and another for the Master’s program.

APPLICANTS WITH INTERNATIONAL COURSEWORK (Disregard this section if all course work was completed in USA)

International transcripts will be evaluated internally.

Applicants must mail official copies of their academic transcripts to the address shown below:

Enrollment Services
Graduate Admissions Document Processing Unit
San Diego State University
San Diego , CA 92182-7416

SDSU will use the international evaluation services report to determine admission eligibility. On the portal, the evaluation report will be identified as EVLS (acronym) – Evaluation Services Report.

If an applicant completed study abroad course work as part of an undergraduate degree in the US, SDSU will not require an evaluation report. In most cases, international course work will be included on the undergraduate transcript and SDSU will use this information to complete the evaluation/GPA calculation.

In summary, by December 15th one complete set of official transcripts needs to be sent to Enrollment services by the applicant.

Step 3:  Departmental Application - Apply by December 15

The Psychology Department is now using an online application.

Tips for Successful Completion of the Electronic Application:

• You will need to have access to a scanner to upload your university transcripts.
• You will be asked to create a password; the system generates a PIN for you. Write them down. You can save and log out at any time. If you select “Save and continue” you are advanced to the next page. You can save your application and return to it multiple times before you submit it. You can also make changes to your application before you submit
• There are three downloadable forms that you will need to complete and upload:

1. Prerequisites
2. Psychology Master’s Coursework Form (courses in progress that do not appear on any transcript)
3. Assistantship Form

1. Scanned Transcripts for Every College-Level Institution you have ever Attended (unofficial OK).  You may upload official or unofficial transcripts. Scan your transcripts to a PDF. When scanning your documents, keep the size of document as small as possible by selecting black and white (not color) and a medium resolution (not the highest or best resolution.)  Please ensure that your transcript is readable. If you choose to upload an unofficial transcript, keep in mind that copying and pasting your transcript information from a university website may yield an unformatted, illegible transcript. In that case you will need to upload an official transcript.  If your transcript is not legible, your application may not be considered.
2. Your Statement of Purpose.  This is a good opportunity to tell us about yourself and why you think you would be a successful student in our graduate program. Please include information about your background relevant to your planned graduate study, your reasons for wanting to pursue graduate study in psychology, areas of discipline that are of particular interest to you, why you are specifically interested in San Diego State University’s program, your long-term professional goals, and any other information that you think is relevant. In addition, we request that you provide additional information about faculty mentor preferences, specifically in terms of how their research program fits with your interests. (3 double-spaced pages or less).
3. Your Resume or CV.

You can check your progress on the application by clicking on the tab called “Check your Application.” It will indicate those items that are incomplete. The system will not allow you to submit the application if you’ve omitted items; it will bounce back to the items that need attention.

Letters of Recommendation

We have completely eliminated the use of the paper letters of recommendation. As part of the electronic application, you will be asked to indicate the names, titles, institution, mailing addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of three recommenders. After you provide their information, our system will then email your recommenders saying that you have named him/her as a recommender to our program. Recommenders will be asked to complete an online rating form and then upload a letter of recommendation as a pdf file.

To check whether your recommenders have submitted their letters, log in and view your application. You will see the three recommenders’ names that you provided. If the person has not yet submitted a letter, the status will say “NOTIFIED” next to the name. After the recommender submits his/her letter, the status changes to “SUBMITTED” and you will also receive e-mail notification that a letter has been uploaded to your electronic application package.

We admit students for fall semester only. The departmental application deadline is December 15th.

For information on the application for the Joint Doctoral Program, click here.