Clinical Psychology Admissions

All applications to the Ph.D. program must be submitted via the VCU admissions portal.

Please note that there is not a separate application for the program or department. General information about graduate study at VCU can be obtained from the Graduate School. For questions related to admissions please contact the clinical psychology program at clin-psy@vcu.edu.

The deadline for applications is December 1.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the general admission requirements of the VCU Graduate School, there are minimum acceptable standards for admission into the doctoral clinical program.

• Minimum standards for the behavioral medicine concentration
• Minimum standards for the clinical child concentration

Although a master's degree is awarded in progress toward the doctoral degree, this is not a terminal master's degree and only students who are seeking the Ph.D. are considered for admission. At the present time, the clinical program is admitting five to nine new graduate students per year. Because of the large number of qualified applicants, the standards for admission are high and competitive.

When reviewing applications, admitting faculty consider academic history and strengths in research, productivity and relevant experience. The clinical program is committed to increasing the number of students and faculty from underrepresented groups, including ethnic and sexual minorities. 

Each application is reviewed by a committee of clinical faculty members, then is reviewed by the faculty member(s) whose work is most closely aligned with the applicant's self-described research and clinical interests. A central consideration during admissions decisions is the degree of fit between an applicant's research and clinical interests and those of a particular clinical faculty member, thus it is vital to state your research interests and proposed program track clearly in your personal statement. The final phase of admission entails in-person interviews with appropriate faculty and current graduate students.

Graduate Student Support

In recent years, all of our students have received tuition waivers and assistantships or fellowships for at least the first four years of training. Some students also receive funding from their community clinical placements in their fourth or fifth years of study. Visit our Financial Support page for more information.

Annual job placement of students is the responsibility of the department's graduate committee, which attempts to enhance each student's career development as well as meet their financial needs.

Additional Admissions Information