UCLA offers Psychology Ph.D.s in eight areas; Behavioral Neuroscience, Clinical, Cognitive, Developmental, Health, Learning and Behavior, Quantitative and Social Psychology. Students apply directly into a specific area of study and remain with that area throughout their degree program, although there are opportunities to take classes and conduct research across areas. All students take core courses in statistics and research in the first two years of study before focusing on their major and minor areas of study. In addition to coursework, all students are required to serve as a teaching assistant in an undergraduate class for one quarter in their first year of the program. Students in the clinical program also complete a year-long supervised internship. New students may begin the program in Fall Quarter only and all students are expected to attend full-time.
UCLA Department of Psychology
1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563
Los Angeles, CA 90095
310-825-2961
psych.ucla.edu
UCSD offers Experimental Psychology Ph.D.s with five different emphases; Behavior Analysis, Neuroscience and Behavior, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Sensation and Perception, and Social Psychology. In keeping with the overall program focus on research, students start a research project in their first quarter in the program and must complete a paper and oral presentation on this research by the end of the first year. Students are also required to serve as a teaching assistant for at least one quarter in each of the first four years of the program. New students are admitted once a year in Fall Quarter.
University of California- San Diego
Department of Psychology
9500 Gilman Drive #0109
La Jolla, CA 92093
858-534-3000
psy.ucsd.edu/index.php
USC offers Ph.D.s in five emphases; Brain and Cognitive Science, Clinical Science, Developmental Psychology, Quantitative Methods, and Social Psychology. Within the Clinical Science program, students can choose to specialize in Aging, Child and Family, or General Adult. All students must complete coursework in three areas; statistics and research design, biological and cognitive/affective bases of behavior, and social bases of behavior and individual differences. Students complete a research project equivalent to the M.A. thesis in the first two years before beginning preparations for the dissertation requirement. In addition to coursework and research, students are expected to be actively assisting professors with their teaching duties. New students are admitted in only the Fall semester.
University of Southern California
Department of Psychology
SGM 501
3620 S. McClintock Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90089
213-740-2203
college.usc.edu/psyc/home/
UCSB offers an Experimental Psychology Ph.D. through the College of Letters and Science and a Ph.D. in Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology through the Gevirtz School of Education. In the Experimental Psychology program, students can specialize in Cognitive and Perceptual Sciences, Developmental and Evolutionary Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, and Social Psychology. Students in the Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology program receive training in all three areas, although they also choose one area in which to specialize. In addition, they complete a year-long internship in their area of specialization at the end of the program. Students in the Experimental Psychology program are required to attend teaching assistant training seminars throughout their first year along with required courses in statistics and their area of specialization. Both programs accept new students in only the Fall Quarter. Students applying to the Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology program are required to submit a research writing sample and interview with program faculty as part of the application process.
Graduate Division
University of California, Santa Barbara
3117 Cheadle Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
805-893-2277
graddiv.ucsb.edu/