The Master's-Level Clinician: Application and Admission to Doctoral Programs

Abstract

The effect of having a master's degree on doctoral program application and acceptance/nonacceptance remains unclear. All former master's-level clinicians (N = 89) in an MS psychology program for an 11-year period were sampled; 65 individuals responded. Of those who applied to doctoral programs (n = 28), 86% gained admission. Results indicated significant differences between this accept group (n = 24) and a noapply group (n = 37). The noapply group had significantly lower GRE Quantitative scores, took significantly more time to complete the master's degree, were significantly older, chose the master's degree beause at the time of master's application they did not want a doctorate, and had a higher percentage of women. Four primary implications of the data are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Albee

G. W.

(1971). Master's level education in psychology. In Master's level education in psychology: Report of a conference held November, 1970. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1–11.

Annis

L. V.

Tucker

G. H.

Baker

D. A.

(1978). What happens to PhD program applicants who have master's degrees? American Psychologist, 33, 703–705.

Howell

R. J.

Murdock

M. I.

(1972). The questionable value of a master's degree for a PhD-pursuing student. American Psychologist, 27, 647–651.

Korn

J. H.

(1984). New odds on acceptance into PhD programs in psychology. American Psychologist, 39, 179–180.

LeUnes

Bourgeois

Bond

Oppenheimer

(1982). The master's program in psychology: A 10-year follow-up study. American Psychologist, 37, 1060–1062.

Mealiea

W. L.

Jr. (1973). The unquestionable value of a master's degree for a PhD-pursuing student. American Psychologist, 28, 938–939.

Perlman

(in press). The master's degree in psychology. In Sumprer

G. F.

Walfish

Clinical, counseling and community psychology: A student guide to graduate training and professional practice. New York: Irvington.

Saccuzzo

D. P.

Schulte

R. H.

(1978). The value of a terminal master's degree for PhD-pursuing students in psychology. American Psychologist, 33, 862–864.

Tucker

G. H.

Annis

L. V.

(1981). The ideal function of the terminal master's degree program for a PhD-pursuing student. Professional Psychology, 12, 336–340.

10.

Ward

Ziegler

D. J.

(1973). On Howell and Murdock. American Psychologist, 28, 91.