Graduate school is the place at which a post-baccalaureate education is pursued by people who are interested in attaining a masters or doctoral degree. These degrees are offered in a variety of areas, such as fine arts, genetics, linguistics, philosophy, physics, etc. Graduate degrees are the primary way to inquire more deeply or specialize in a field. Generally, people who complete graduate school work in either academia or the private sector. For the most part, a Òprofessional schoolÓ is where potential physicians, lawyers and business administrators complete their education before entering the private sector. Some professional schools offer a doctor of psychology (Psy.D.) terminal degrees, which will be discussed in the next section.

There are many types of degrees that are offered from graduate psychology programs: master's (M.A., M.S.), doctor of psychology (Psy.D.), and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.). Some graduate programs admit you into their doctoral degree programs (Ph.D., Psy.D.), while others will admit you to their terminal masterÕs degree programs. MasterÕs degree programs are usually one to two years, and are geared towards a specialty area of psychology. If you are interested in training beyond a master's degree, you can apply to Ph.D. programs at that time. Other programs expect you to stay until completion of the Ph.D. Psy.D. programs are professional programs that train you to do applied work in psychology. One notable difference between the Psy.D. and Ph.D. is that there is no dissertation requirement for a Psy.D. Spend time investigating the pros and cons of each type of training, so that you can decide which terminal degree is best for you.

It is our hope that the information contained in this package will be helpful to students at many stages of the process of applying to graduate school in psychology. However, we have geared this information towards undergraduates who are considering applying to graduate school directly from undergraduate school. But, if this is not the case, much of the information contained here may still be helpful. In that event, items such as the timeline included on page 30 will need to be adjusted.

The BSPA at The University of Michigan is a graduate student organization which began in 1968. Our primary role has been organizing and supporting other African American graduate students in psychology at The University of Michigan. More recently, we have made conscious efforts to reach out to other students of color to help them gain admission into graduate psychology programs. BSPA is committed to increasing the number of historically underrepresented academicians in psychology. This information package is one of the tools that we are using to achieve this goal.