Applying to the Clinical Program

The Clinical Psychology PhD program will not require students to submit GRE (General Test of the Graduate Record Exam) scores for the Fall 2024 admissions cycle.  Applicants who have taken or are planning to take the GRE may submit their scores if they choose. However, admissions decisions will not be based on whether or not an applicant has submitted their GRE scores. Applications will be evaluated based on all available materials provided as part of a holistic review process.

The deadline for submission of applications to the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program is 11:59 PM, EST on December 1^st. The application and all required credentials must be received by the graduate school by this deadline. Applications must be submitted online (please see the GRS admissions website for the online application), and must include a personal statement, at least 3 letters of recommendation, GRE scores (see note above) and transcripts. Please note that you must enter the program name (Clinical) under specialization in the online application.

Given the large number of applications we receive and the expense you incur by applying to multiple programs, we offer what guidance we can as to how you might assess your “fit” with the program and your general chances of acceptance.

From 2016 to 2020, we received an average of approximately 560 applications per year and have accepted an average of 7 students per year. In this competitive process, virtually all the accepted students met a number of criteria. The successful applicants in those years had a combined average Verbal and Quantitative score of 324, and an undergraduate GPA averaging 3.6. Most of the successful applicants had scores and grades within a small range around these numbers.

The Boston University program largely works on a mentorship model. The most important criterion for entry is that your interests and experience fit closely with a mentor who is able to accept a student in the upcoming year. Unfortunately, it is difficult for us to predict which mentors will have funding for a student at the time that you apply to the program. However, of the faculty members listed in the department, only a core group are clinical “mentors”. The mentors listed below with an asterisk (*) will NOT be taking a student for the 2024-2025 class.

Clinical “mentors” are:

• Tim Brown*
• Alice Cronin-Golomb*
• Todd Farchione
• Dan Fulford
• Qimin Liu
• Kristin Long
• Michael Otto*
• Tibor Palfai
• Donna Pincus
• Mark Richardson*
• Amelia Stanton
• Martha Tompson*

You should locate and carefully read their published materials and website profiles and assess whether you have experience in their area of study. Successful applicants typically have actual working experience in research in a closely related field. You should indicate which mentors you are qualified to work with, and therefore you would like to consider your application, in your personal statement.

Of course, we welcome all qualified applications. Our students cannot be described as fitting into any particular mold; we are extremely interested in applications from students from all ethnic/racial backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, and nationalities. We hope this information will help you in the challenging process of selecting programs and submitting applications and that the experience will prove successful and satisfying.