How to Obtain a Master's Degree in Psychology

The first step to how to obtain a master's degree in psychology is to review your credentials, or gather missing application elements. For the most part, accredited colleges and universities will require you submit an application with supporting documents such as the following:

Official transcripts from every college and university attended. Most schools want to see every credit earned, even if it was during high school. Usually, these must be sent directly from each college. Unaccredited schools and some foreign credits may require further evaluation; whether a formal evaluation is required depends upon the country and university selected. In most cases, a four-year bachelor's degree is required. However, colleges may accept accredited three-year degrees from countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Letters of recommendation, preferably from professors. If it has been a long time since you left college, consider contacting your old professors anyway. The author of this article has been able to get letters of recommendation from professors she had 10 or more years ago. Some colleges will accept employer recommendation letters, but many will not.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are almost always required for admission to master's degree programs in the United States. Many foreign universities, such as those in the United Kingdom, Hungary, Australia, and New Zealand do not require the GRE. However, some Canadian colleges expect GRE scores. You may also need to take the GRE subject test in psychology; this depends upon your prospective school.

An admissions essay. Colleges almost always require a personal statement for post grad applicants. This helps you too; defining why you want to invest the time, emotional effort, and money into your mission of how to obtain a master's degree in psychology is important to your future plans. An essay also enables you to "sell" yourself as a truly motivated student, especially if your transcripts might have a few "black marks" or you've been out of college for a while.While you wait for an admissions decision or are still unclear about the work involved in a graduate degree program, the next step toward how to obtain a master's degree in psychology is to understand the basic requirements.

Most degrees in North America require coursework and a thesis. Universities in the United Kingdom, Australia, Hungary, and New Zealand may not require much, if any, coursework. These are considered "research" degrees and may be ideal if you already know a lot about psychology and are interested in just diving into a substantial thesis project.

As you actually travel the path of how to obtain a master's degree in psychology, you may experience a combination of coursework and a thesis. Writing a thesis requires you to apply original thought as well as evaluation of existing academic literature and studies on a select topic.

Usually, you'll have an adviser who will help you balance coursework, research, and any other commitments such as your work-study job. However, staying motivated without a "push" is key to your master's degree survival. Graduate programs usually require far more initiative and independent thinking than undergraduate programs. The good news is you can use this experience to start a career in academia, research, or writing.

With only a few exceptions, actually completing an objective of how to obtain master's degree in psychology requires two years of full-time study. Some of the research-only degrees, usually those in nations other than the United States, require a year of full-time graduated-level work.

References:

"Central European University." http://www.ceu.hu/
"Harvard University Extension School." http://www.extension.harvard.edu
"Northumbria University." http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/
"The University of Auckland." http://www.auckland.ac.nz
"The University of Canterbury." http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/
"The University of Sydney." http://www.usyd.edu.au/
"Yorkville University." http://www.yorkvilleu.ca/