<p>I had planned on trying to get into some kind of doctoral program in psychology next year. I wasn't planning on applying to my current university, since i really don't want to go there any more. However, today i was looking at their acceptance rates for all doctoral programs at the school, just out of curiosity, and the number of applicants rejected was at 94% last year. That is only 22 students who were accepted into all psychology doctoral programs at a large public university. My grades are high but i don't think i am in the top 6% of possible doctoral applicants. </p>
<p>I have heard that private universities are easier to get into when it comes to doctoral programs. What kind of acceptance rate would i expect at a place like Capella or Argosy University?</p>
<p>No, actually every doctoral program at my university for psychology, not just clinical, has between a 6-8% acceptance. While clinical does drag it down a little bit, the rest are pretty much the same. Cognitive psychology is like that, Industrial Organizational is like that, Neurological is like that. Put all of the programs togeather and 22 out of 300 were accepted.</p>
<p>Here is a quote from the psychology graduate school's website</p>
<p>"22 students admitted in 2004... to provide an idea of likelihood of admission, we normally receive approximately 300 applications for admission."</p>
<p>For both Social Psychology and I/O psycholgoy</p>
<p>"Typically, the Social & I/O area receives 40 to 50 applications and seeks to admit 4-5 applicants each year."</p>
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I have heard that private universities are easier to get into when it comes to doctoral programs.
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<p>I think that's crazy talk. It's more accurate to say that the top say 50 programs, irrelevant of their status as public or private, are more difficult to get into. </p>
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What kind of acceptance rate would i expect at a place like Capella or Argosy University?
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<p>Well, as far as I know neither of these "universities" offers a Ph.D - they seem to offer a PsyD. I think these "universities" accept anybody, but I may be wrong. </p>
<p>I don't necessarily care about getting a doctorate in clinical psychology but i am concerned by the next to impossible odds of getting into ANY psychology program. </p>
<p>However, if Capella or Argosy are easy to get into but accredited, then what does it matter? Then again, we still haven't confirmed that either of those universities are in fact easy to get into. Really, the only thing i can go on right now is my current university's situation when it come to psychology, so i can't tell if their 94% rejection rate is normal or if they are highly exclusive there.</p>
<p>I think it's probably pretty normal. Psych is a very tough field. But understand that many of those people who got rejected got into places the other people didn't. Pretty much everyone can get in somewhere.</p>
<p>jack, it is extremely difficult to get into a psych doctorate program. as you mentioned, most places (besides the diploma mills like argosy that take everybody) accept around 5% of applicants. it is a very long, complex, and draining process.
i recommend you go to the following forum
forums.studentdoctor.net and click on the psychology page, where you will find much more information that CC could ever provide.</p>
<p>Hi Jack. I usually just lurk and about these forums occasionally, however, I felt compelled to register and post in response to your question. I was in your shoes exactly one year ago. I thought it would be impossible to get into any highly ranked programs, and was considering applying primarily to lesser known schools. Now, I am at a high ranked doctoral program in psychology, which I never thought I would get into.</p>
<p>I must tell you, in my opinion, the difficulty of getting into these programs is exaggerated. Yes, while the acceptance rates are low, there is also a lack of quality applicants (this is what my undergraduate adviser told me). I didn't believe him at the time, but I do now. Therefore, the true competitiveness of this process is inflated. Furthermore, if you apply to 2 highly ranked programs, maybe 6 average ranked programs, and 3 lower ranked programs, I can almost guarantee you will get into at least one of them.</p>
<p>What is most important at this point is to email the professors you want to work with and ask if they have openings. Also, tailor all of your personal statements to each program you apply to. Assuming you have strong GPA, GRE, and letters of rec, I don't think it's nearly as difficult to gain acceptance to some very good public and private universities as some may indicate. Take it from someone in your shoes last year who never thought she'd end up where she is now!</p>