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Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (CCSP)
Before You Apply: What You Need to Know about the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Because of the large number of inquiries we receive each year, please read the information below and then look through the CCSP website to find answers before contacting us. If you still have questions after that, we can be reached at ccspapp@education.ucsb.edu
We offer the following degrees: A combined Ph.D. in Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology with a specializiation in one of those areas. We also offer a M.Ed. in School Psychology/PPS (Pupil Personnel Service Credential). The doctoral students in the school specialization also complete the California PPS credential. The goals of the Ph.D. program are to prepare graduates to work as scholars in academic and research positions and to prepare psychological service providers who will, in addition to providing direct service to their clientele, exercise influence on professional psychology through teaching, research, and leadership. The primary goal of the M.Ed. program is to train credentialed school psychologists to provide comprehensive support services (consultation, preventive mental health services, assessment, and evaluation) for children, staff, and parents in K-12 grades.
Most students enter after having completed a B.A./B.S. degree with a major in psychology, but this is not a requirement. Regardless of undergraduate major, newly admitted students who have not taken introductory undergraduate or graduate courses in human development, psychological measurement, and statistics in the past five years are required to take graduate-level courses in these areas during their first year in the program. Taking these classes before applying would make someone a more competitive applicant.
A GPA of 3.0 is required to be considered for admission, without an exception from the University Graduate Division; however, we recommend that applicants have a GPA of 3.5-3.7 or above as well as GRE scores in the 1100-1200 range or above in order to be competitive.
Research experience, paid or unpaid work in clinical settings, as well as excellent letters of recommendation, and publications or presentations are important. These items would make an applicant more competitive.
Our faculty admit students who have similar research interests. When applying to our program, it’s important that you review our faculty research and academic interests and note in your statement of purpose which faculty you’d like to work with, the area (counseling, clinical, or school) that best fits with your professional goals, and how your research interests align. Applicants applying to our program are admitted by the faculty according to their research interests (i.e., faculty with counseling as their specialty will bring in a student with counseling as their emphasis).
The best way to gain more information about our program is to attend one of our information meetings. Dates and locations for our information meetings can be found on-line.
Our information meetings will have at least one faculty and one current student in the program to help answer any questions you may have about the program. You are welcome to come to our department office and the Graduate Program Assistants will be happy to answer your questions, but it wouldn't be as beneficial as going to one of our information meetings. All our program information is on our website and that's the information we'd provide to you if you came here in person. Our information meetings give prospective students an opportunity to ask questions of our current students and some faculty (which you would not get if you came to meet with one of us in the department office).
If you choose to attend, please RSVP by emailing Terri Bisson at tbisson@education.ucsb.edu
Directions can be found on the UCSB website.
We're located in room 2103 of the new Education Building.
For UCSB campus tours, please contact the UCSB Visitor's Center.
****THE DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS IS NOVEMBER 2013*****
Application materials for Fall 2014 admission will be available mid-August 2013.
**Regarding the GRE — we are aware there will be a delay in institutions receiving scores this Fall because of a new test. We have stated on our website that the GRE must have a test date no later than November 1, 2013, to meet the November 2013, deadline and to be considered for Fall 2014 admission.
The date of your GRE scores must be within 5 years from the day you submit your E-app to Graduate Division. For Example: If an exam was taken on Nov 1, 2006, it could be submitted no later than Nov 1, 2011 for Fall 2012 admission. We require only the general GRE, which includes quantitative, verbal, and analytical writing sections; all three are required by Graduate Division. GRE scores must be sent electronically through ETS. Please use UCSB’s Institution Code: 4835. A Department code is not required.
If you have any questions about the required application material please refer to the requirements on-line. We also feature a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on this website.
For questions send a message utilizing the envelope icon in the top right corner of your online application. Our Staff will answer this message as soon as possible. Questions sent via the online application message system are prioritized over phone/personal e-mail correspondence. We try to respond to all emails within one week, or in 24-hours if you ask a question in the last week prior to the application deadline.
