|
Psychology
Graduate Information
The mission of the
graduate program in psychology at CSU San Marcos is to provide graduate
education of the highest caliber to qualified students from the local community
and beyond, leading to the Master of Arts (MA) degree. Our objective is to
prepare students for the following: continued study at the doctoral level; a
variety of positions in business, industry, and the public sector; and/or
academic careers at the two-year college level. It is our belief that excellent
graduate education is best accomplished in an atmosphere in which graduate
students are treated collegially, and are closely mentored by the faculty. We
are committed to the study of psychology as a scientific enterprise, and our
program will encourage the development of skills that are consonant with the
scientific spirit of inquiry and the critical thinking, articulate verbal
expression, quantitative reasoning, and healthy skepticism of graduate-level
study. In keeping with the mission of CSU San Marcos, we offer our students a
curriculum that includes opportunities to enhance professional development and
to contribute to the community at large. In addition, our program seeks to
recognize the value of multicultural perspectives and to be sensitive to
diversity concerns.
Our Master of Arts degree
is designed to accommodate students with a wide range of goals. The active
research programs of our faculty, and our recognition of psychology as a
scientific enterprise, provide graduate students with the intensive research
training and course work in primary content areas that are central to
preparation for more advanced graduate work. Likewise, students who have
aspirations for careers in community college teaching, community service, or
business and industry, benefit from our program's emphasis on critical thinking,
research methods, and advanced course work. Individual career goals are served
by allowing choice in the content of the thesis research and by providing a
curriculum that provides options in course content areas.
Many students undertake
graduate work in psychology in order to pursue careers in clinical psychology or
psychological counseling. Training specifically geared to those seeking
licensure in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) is not currently available within
the CSU San Marcos program. However, the program will prepare students
to better compete for admission to doctoral programs in clinical or counseling
psychology. Students with interests in clinical or counseling psychology
will find opportunities to pursue course work and thesis topics at CSU San
Marcos that are related to their interests.
APPLYING TO THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN PSYCHOLOGY
Please follow these steps as you consider applying
for admission to our program.
1. Before
you do anything else, read the FAQ page very carefully. It will help
you determine if our program is right for you, and if you are right for
our program.
2. If, based on
the FAQ answers, you think our program is a good fit for you, look
carefully at the “Faculty and Staff” page (linked to the left, above).
Can you identify one or more faculty (from the tenure-track list, not
the lecturer list) with whom you would like to do research? Acceptance
to our program requires a “match” between you and one or more of our
faculty.
3.
Consider sending an email to the faculty member(s) you have identified
to introduce yourself and ask about her/his plans for accepting graduate
students in the next cycle.
4. If you choose to apply, prepare you
department application carefully and neatly. Your statement of purpose
will be critical in helping us decide whether or not to admit you, so
make it count!
5.
Use
the check-list on the back page of the department application to be sure
you have done everything you need to do to make your application
complete.
6. Follow up with Soheyla Mohseni (smohseni@csusm.edu)
to make sure all of your application materials (letters of
recommendation, transcripts, etc.) have arrived in our office.
Deadline
for Applications: February 1, 2010
Important Links for MA program:
|
