The department offers five subplans: behavioral genetics, behavioral neuroscience, clinical, cognitive, and social psychology. When completing the online application you must select one of these sub plans on the first page of the application. All students are admitted with the expectation that they will work toward a PhD degree. Many students fulfill the requirements for and receive a master of arts degree in the course of working toward the PhD. To state the requirements for the PhD in terms of credit hours would be misleading, since the degree is not conferred merely upon the satisfactory completion of a course of study, however faithfully pursued. Students who receive this degree must demonstrate that they are proficient in some broad subject of learning and that they can critically evaluate work in this field; furthermore, they must have shown the ability to work independently in their chosen field and must have made an original contribution of significance to the advancement of knowledge. In the first year of graduate study, all psychology graduate students typically enroll in graduate statistics courses. In addition, there is a first-year research requirement that can be fulfilled in several ways, but that requires the student to begin an active program of research. Typically the student must also enroll in a sequence of proseminars designed to give the student exposure to various research topics and methods. Before admission to candidacy for the PhD degree the student must pass a comprehensive examination in the field of concentration and related fields. This examination is written (with additional oral parts, at the option of the faculty) and tests the student’s mastery of a broad field of knowledge, not merely the formal course work completed.

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