Clinical Psychology Graduate Program
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Q: To what graduate degree does this program lead? Q: How long does it take to complete this program? Q: How many students are admitted per year? Q: How many students are graduated per year? Q: Is this a full-time program? Can this program be done part-time? Q: What is the goal/emphasis of this program? Q: What is the orientation of this program? Q: How are internships obtained? Q: What is the student/faculty ratio, and how much supervsion do the
students receive? Q: Are there opportunities for doing research? Q: What is the final completion requirement? Q: When is the application due? Q: Are late applications accepted? Q: What if my application is incomplete on the due date? Q: How do I obtain an applicaiton? Q: Do I need to take the GRE? What parts of the GRE? Q: Do my GRE scores need to be in my application on the date the
application is due? Q: How much do the GRE scores count in admissions? Are there cut-off
scores? Q: Is there a minimum grade point average for admission? Q: How much do grades count in admissions? Q: Is a bachelor's degree in psychology a requirement for admission? Q: What are the prerequisite course requirements for this program? Q: Who should I ask to write letters of recommendation for my
applications? Q: Can I submit more than three letters of recommendation with my
application? Q: How much does related experience count for admission? Q: How much related experience do I need? What kind of experience is
useful? Q: Why does this program require an autobiographical statement for
admission? Q: What should I emphasize in the autobiographical statement? How long
should it be? Q: How are all the different parts of the application considered? Are
some parts more important than others? Q: How are the applications evaluated? Does this program require
interviews? Q: What professional license am I eligible for after completing this
program? Q: What requirements for the LMFT are not offered by this program? How can I obtain these
requirements? Q: What are the post-master's requirements for the LMFT? How long does it
take to complete these requirements? Q: Does San Francisco State University have a doctoral program in clinical
psychology? Q: Why do people choose to enter a master's program instead of a doctoral
program? Q: How many of the graduates of this master's program have continued on
to doctoral
programs? Q: Do doctoral programs give credit for work done in the master's
program?
Questions
about the Program
A: Master of Science in Psychology; Concentration in Clinical Psychology.
A: Two years.
A: 12 students per year.
A: 12 students per year.
A: This is a full-time program. Students enter the program and go through it
in two, consecutive years. You cannot participate in the program
part-time. Some students work part-time while in the program. However, work
hours need to be flexible and arranged around program requirements.
A: To produce well trained,
theoretically grounded, ethically competent psychotherapists.
A: The theroretical orientation
is psychodynamic, with emphases in family and community systems.
A: The first-year pracitcum is provided
through the program. The second-year internship is obtained through
applying to internship sites and going through the screening and interviewing process
of the internship site. With rare exceptions, second-year students win
placement in desirable internships.
A: All first- and second-year seminars have approximately a 12:1 student,
faculty ratio. All first-year students receive 1 hour of individual supervision weekly
from a faculty member, as well as additional weekly individual supervision
from adjunct faculty associated with the students' practicum. Second-year
students receive at least 1 hour of weekly supervision from professionals
associated with their internship. Second-year students receive individual
tutorials with a faculty member while working on their master's project.
A: The program's primary emphasis is on clinical training. Students who
wish to participate in research can do so, but research participation
is done outside of and in addition to the full-time requirements of the
program.
A: The Master's Written
Comprehensive Examination. This is satisfied by successfully completing a
Master's Paper, which is a demonstration of theoretical and clinical
integration around a specified topic. Second-year students work individually with a
faculty member to complete this requirement.
Requirements for
Admission
A: Generally, applications are
due on March 1. The specific due date is in the department application
materials.
A: No. Applicants should make every effort
to see that their application is in the department and complete by the due
date. After the due date, applications are sent out to the clinical faculty
for review. Late applications are at a severe disadvantage.
A: The applicant is strongly encouraged to make sure their application
is complete by the due date. This means personally checking with the
department before the due date to see what parts of the application have
arrived. Common slip-ups are transcripts and letters of
recommendation not being sent. Incomplete or late applications
are at a severe disadvantage because faculty review happens
quickly after the due date.
A: Write or call the Graduate Secretary,
Department of Psychology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway
Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132. Phone: 415-338-2398; Email:
clinical@sfsu.edu; Online Application: (http://www.sfsu.edu/~psych/clincal.htm).
A: All applicants,
without exception, must take the GRE. Only the general portion of the GRE
is required.
A: Yes. Applications without GRE scores are considered incomplete.
Applicants must time their taking of the GRE so that the scores are in
their application materials by March 1 or the specified due date.
A: GRE scores are evaluated as part of the applicant's academic
record. GRE score are considered together with grades, grade point average,
course work completed and letters of recommendation. The program does not
have absolute cut-off scores for the GRE.
A: The University
requires a XX grade point average for admission. Successful applicants to
the program generally present much higher grades and a higher grade
point average.
A: Grades are considered together with grade point average, course work,
letters of recommendation, and GRE scores as the applicant's academic
qualifications. This academic portion of the application
generally counts at least 1/3 to 1/2 when applications are evaluated.
A: No.
Many applicants to the program do have bachelor's degrees in psychology.
The program requires the applicant to have a bachelor's degree, but it does
not have to be in psychology.
A: At a minimum, applicants are required to have upper-division course work in
statistics, personality theory, and abnormal psychology. Most applicants
have more undergraduate psychology course work than the minimum. Recommended
courses, in addition to the required courses, are upper-division courses in some
or all of the following: developmental psychology, models of psychotherapy,
introduction to clinical psychology, psychology of the family, community
psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and behavior problems in children.
A: Letters of recommendation should be from professionals who
are familiar with your recent academic and experiential qualifications.
It is best that your letters of recommendation be spread across your
experience, for example, one letter from a professor who
knows your course work, one letter from a professional who supervised your work
at a community agency, and one letter from a professor with whom you did research or
teaching assistance.
A: Yes.
A: Related experience is any experience, paid or unpaid, that is related to the skills
needed to be a psychotherapist. Examples are volunteer experience in suicide or
crisis intervention, volunteer experience with AIDS organizations, and
career/employment as a teacher or in group homes. There are many and varied
forms of related experience. The program highly values related experience.
The applicant's background in related experience counts at least 1/3 in the
overall evaluation for admission.
A: The program does not have a minimum requirement. However, most
applicants have at least one year or more of different forms of related
experience. While the applicant should list all the forms of related
experience in his or her background, related experience that is more
directly relevant to the practice of clinical psychology is generally most
useful.
A: The program emphasizes training in becoming a competent
psychotherapist. An autobiographical statement offers the applicant the
opportunity to demonstrate that they have insight and perspective on their
own development as a person, qualities that the program feels are essential in
psychotherapy training.
A: The applicant should emphasize those aspects of his or her
development that they feel were particularly significant in forming their
character and personality and in creating their motivation to become a
psychotherapist. Three to six typewritten, double-spaced pages is the usual length.
A: The application is considered in three
parts: (a) academic qualifications, consisting of grades, grade point
average, course work, GRE's and letters of recommendation; (b) related experience,
as evidenced by quality and range of experience and by related letters of
recommendation; and (c) personal qualifications as seen in the
autobiographical statement and as reported in letters of recommendation.
The three parts are equally important.
A: After March 1 or the specified due date all applications are distributed to the
program faculty. Each faculty member works with a team of current clinical
psychology graduate students. Applications are divided between the faculty/student
teams. After faculty/student teams evaluate the applications, a subset of the
strongest applications are chosen. Individual interviews are scheduled
with these applicants. From the interviewing process, 12 applicants are selected and
invited into the program. Several more applicants are selected for the
waiting list. Generally, this process takes about 6 weeks.
Questions about
Obtaining a Professional License
A: The Marriage Family Therapist license (LMFT) license (Previously named Marriage,
Family, Child Counselor (MFCC) license).
A: The program provides all of the pre-master's academic componentes and
clinical hours required for the LMFT with two exceptions: The Child Abuse
Reporting and Human Sexualtiy requirements. These are readily obtained
as weekend education seminars, which are offered by a variety of institutions
A: After graduating from the program. XXX supervised hours of experience
must be obtained. It generally takes 1 full-time year or 2-3 years part-time
years to obtain these hours. LMFT regulations require that the entire
pre- and post-master's gathering of
experience not exceed 6 years.
Questions about
Doctoral Degrees and Programs
A: No.
A: Generally, people choose to complete a master's degree when they want to
obtain their LMFT license and make a career as a practicing psychotherapist. People who
enter doctoral programs or go into a doctoral program after obtaining their
master's degree often want to include research and teaching in their career.
A: Over the past 20 years, about half of the graduates of the Clinical
Psychology Master's Program have continued on to doctoral programs, either
directly after obtaining the master's degree or after 1 or more years.
A: A common experience
is to have up to one year's doctoral coursework credited from work done
in the master's
program.
San Francisco State University
Last
modified
06.24.00