Admission Requirements
To ensure adequate academic foundation of prospective students, applicants to our program must meet one of the following requirements to be considered for admission to the program (in additional to meeting the UNT TGS's admission requirements):
- 3.0 overall GPA on a bachelor's degree
- 3.5 GPA on the last 60 credits of a bachelor's degree
- 3.5 GPA in undergraduate psychology coursework
- 3.5 GPA on a completed master's degree in related fields
- Completed doctoral degree in another field
- First or 2nd author of an peer-reviewed professional journal article
Having an undergraduate Psychology major is preferred, but not required, for admission consideration. However, qualified applicants must have 24 semester credits of psychology coursework (12 hours advanced). Statistics is required and any three of the remaining courses listed here are preferred: research methods, learning, motivation, physiological psychology, psychological measurement, cognition, perception, and research thesis.
In addition to the previous academic degree and GPA, applicants are required to submit the following materials:
"Due to the inconvenience caused by the lasting COVID pandemic, applicants for the admission to the 2023 cohort of the Counseling Psychology Program are not required to include GRE scores in their application materials."
- GRE scores (completed within the recent 5 years) (not required for applying to the 2023 cohort)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Goal statements
- Three recommendation letters
- Preferred elective cluster(s)
- Potential research advisor(s)* (you may select up to 3 program core faculty members) whom you would like to work with.
* The following Counseling Psychology core faculty are accepting new advisees in this admission cycle: Drs. Hogge, Hook, Jones, Kaminski, Petrie, & Wang. Dr. Watkins does not plan to accept new students in this coming year.
In the goal statements, applicants are instructed to address the following topics and other information regarding your qualifications that you feel comfortable to share with program faculty.
(1) the reasons for seeking a Ph.D. degree in Counseling Psychology,
(2) research experiences/interests,
(3) professional and clinical experiences related to counseling psychology,
(4) career goal(s),
(5) potential research advisor(s) during doctoral studies and why,
(6) previous experiences of and commitment to working with individual/cultural differences and promoting equity, inclusion, and/or social justice,
(7) how they can enrich the diversity of the program/department.
The program employs a holistic approach in making admission decisions. That is, admission to the counseling psychology program is not determined by any single criterion or quantitative measure of achievement. Motivation, aptitude, individual and cultural self-awareness, potential contribution to the enrichment of the program and department's diversity, unique life experiences with other cultures, commitment to working with underrepresented populations, and interpersonal poise are all highly valued, as are skills in communication, research methods, and professional/scientific writing.
Online Application Submission
Please note that each applicant is required to submit TWO online Application, one to UNT Graduate School and another to Psychology Department.
Admission Procedures
Our program only admits new students once a year with December 1st as the application deadline to be considered for admission to the next academic year. The admission process involves two stages. The first is the application materials reviewing stage. The admission committee consists of four core program faculty on a rotation basis who review the applications received in a particular year. The goal of the first stage of the admission process is to identify those with top qualifications based on submitted application materials. The 2nd stage is campus interview day which is usually scheduled in late January or early February from 8 am to 5 pm on a day selected by the program faculty. The campus interview day activities include introductions of the program faculty & current students, multiple individual and group interviews, group activities, open lab hours, and/or campus tours.
The program faculty evaluate applicants' level of fit with the program's aims. Current students also help with various interview activities and provide their input to the program faculty. Based on the fit to the program aims and other critical factors including mentor-mentee match, cluster balance, and contribution to diversity, the program faculty make the admission decisions collectively. When being admitted into the program, each student is assigned with a particular core faculty member to be their primary advisor (research supervisor) and a particular elective cluster.
Our program strictly abides by the non-discrimination policy of the TGS and UNT, meaning we do not exclude or select any applicants solely based on age, gender, race/ ethnicity, able/disable body, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, etc.
** Admissions Timeline for 2022-2023 **
Students applying to the Counseling Psychology doctoral program to be admitted in Fall 2023 should adhere to the following dates:
1. Applications (two online applications submitted to separate web-portals) are due on December 1, 2022.
2. Applicants will be notified by January 1, 2023 whether they are invited to the next stage of the admission selection process--campus interview day.
3. Campus interview day is scheduled on February 3 (Friday), 2023 from 8 am to 5:30 pm CST via a virtual format. Applicants who are invited to our campus interview day will be expected to attend all interview day activities.
4. The first round of admission decision will be made by February 10, 2023.
5. Final acceptance notifications from applicants are due on April 15, 2023.
The campus interview day is a whole-day event that provides the opportunity for program faculty, current students, and applicants to learn about each other. It plays a critical role in our admission decisions. The program usually does not offer alternatives, except for some extremely unusual circumstances. If the Counseling Psychology Program at UNT is your top choice, please reserve the date and make every effort to attend the campus interviews should you be invited.