Application Process
You are encouraged to begin the application process well before the December 1st deadline.
Please bear in mind that we only accept students for the Fall term; applications that indicate a request for admission in Spring or Summer cannot be reviewed.
Please view the application guide for detailed instructions.
To ensure that your application is given full consideration, please be sure that all application materials are received by the application deadline. If application materials are late, we are not able to guarantee that your materials will be reviewed.
A complete application consists of:
1. The online Graduate Admissions application (opens in new tab), with the name of your prospective mentor(s) in the statement of intent.
2. Official transcripts from every college/university you have attended (sent to Grad Admissions), as well as unofficial transcripts uploaded into the online application.
3. Resume/CV (PDF attached to online Graduate Application)
4. Three letters of recommendation (submitted through the Online Application)
5. TOEFL or other language test scores (international students only)
GRE scores are not required for applications to the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida, and we will not consider them in the evaluation of your application (however, please note that international applicants may still be required to report a GRE score to immigration authorities when applying for a student visa)
Please be sure that your application is correct and complete prior to submitting your application. Changes CANNOT be made to your application after submitting.
After submitting your online application, you can set up a Gatorlink account (opens in new tab) and check your application status (opens in new tab). The application status tool will tell you what documents are missing/not yet arrived/not yet processed in regards to your application.
Please be aware that the Graduate Admissions Office processes thousands of applications for the entire university, so it may take several weeks at peak application time for them to process your documents and show them as “received” in the Application Status screen.
The Psychology Department cannot provide status updates, process your GRE scores/transcripts, contact Graduate Admissions on your behalf, etc. If you have questions regarding missing items in your application, please contact Graduate Admissions at 352-392-1365.
The UF Graduate School charges a $30 application fee. If you pay by credit card online, there is additional $1.75 processing fee. You may also mail a personal check or money order to pay your fee. Please note that cash is not accepted.
Check or money order fee payments should be accompanied by this memo (opens in new tab) to ensure that they are processed correctly.
Fees must be paid to UF Graduate Admissions, not to the Department of Psychology.
No. The UF Office of Admissions does not grant any fee waivers, and the Psychology Department is not permitted to admit any student who has not paid his/her application fee.
For Counseling Psychology, select “Counseling Psychology”. For other Psychology areas, select Psychology – Liberal Arts & Sciences, then type in your preferred area(s) of specialization. If you are choosing more than one area, please rank them: Example. 1) BA, 2) Social, etc.
The online Graduate Application is intended for use by programs all across campus, so its essay prompt is quite vague: “Explain your purpose for graduate study…” Here are some tips to help you write a clear, focused statement of intent. (Note: these tips are geared towards students applying for admission directly after finishing undergraduate studies, but we hope that Master’s graduates and non-traditional students will find them useful as well.)
– You should identify what area of psychology you are applying to, as well as any subfield or particular topic(s) within that area that you would like to focus on. You should also address which professor(s) you would be interested in working with, based on their research interests. For more information on our faculty members’ research interests, review our website. You can also mention any classes or special projects that initially piqued your interest in this area of study.
– Summarize what you have done as an undergraduate. What sort of research have you been involved in? Have you ever had any publications or presented at a conference? Did you have a leadership role in a Psychology club at your university? Did you complete an internship or participate in volunteer work related to your area of Psychology? Think about what sets you apart from other applicants.
– If there was a major issue that affected your grades (serious illness, death in family, etc.), you can mention it as an explanation for the temporary lapse in performance, but make sure to state it briefly and affirmatively.
– Remember that your statement of intent cannot be more than 4985 characters, so a successful essay must be succinct, clear, and organized. Please be aware that if you go over the character limit, your essay will be cut off.
Your UF ID will be assigned to you after you submit your online application. You should write down your UF ID and password and keep them in a safe place, as you will need them in order to set up your Gatorlink account and check on your application status.
If you have forgotten/misplaced your UF ID, please use this site for assistance: http://identity.it.ufl.edu/process/uf-identifier/ (opens in new tab)
The Graduate School explains requirements particular to international students here (opens in new tab).
Recommendations from faculty are usually ideal, as they are best-suited to evaluate your potential as a graduate student. You should request recommendations from faculty with whom you have taken upper-level classes or done research. At least 2 of your 3 letters of recommendation should come from faculty, if at all possible.
Other suitable recommenders include: supervisors at psychology-related work (including volunteer work or internship), professors for whom you have served as an undergraduate teaching assistant, or a faculty advisor who can speak to your participation in a Psychology club, such as Psi Chi.
Only you can evaluate who your references should be. Remember that the best letters of recommendation are those written by someone who can speak to your intellectual ability, skills, and overall suitability for the rigors of graduate coursework and research. Make sure to provide the recommender with additional information such as your transcript, your statement of purpose, and notes about any pertinent personal history.
Remember that ALL letters of recommendation must be submitted through the online Graduate School application system. This system will ask you to provide email addresses for your recommenders, and an automated email will instruct them further as to how to complete the recommendation letter. Hard copies of letters of recommendation submitted to the department will NOT be accepted.
Faculty will begin evaluating applications as soon as they are complete. Interviews will take place in January/February, and offers will be made shortly thereafter.
Our incoming class each year ranges from 10-25 students, out of an average of 350 applicants.
Requirements
Students who do not meet minimum qualifications will be considered only under special circumstances.
Students must have minimum combined internet TOEFL score of 80 for admission to the Graduate School, or an equivalent score on another English language assessment. A concordance chart of scores can be found here (opens in new tab) (minimum scores for each test are highlighted).
International students do not need to submit language testing scores if they are from an English-testing exempt country, or have attended one full academic year at a university in an English-testing exempt country.
Students who do not meet minimum qualifications will be considered only under special circumstances.
No. We cannot estimate your chances of admission because we do not know what the rest of the applicant pool looks like.
Absolutely! As long as you have completed/are in the process of completing course pre-requisites for our program, you are welcome to apply. More information on pre-requisite courses can be found here, under the bullet point “Undergraduate Preparation”.
Please email International Admissions, as the answer may vary depending on institution/country. We require that you have earned a university degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a recognized university or college. Please refer to the graduate admissions information (opens in new tab) that provides details on degree programs and contacts, assistantship/fellowship information and financial assistance. You can also check the accreditation status of your institution at the World Hire Education Database (opens in new tab). Please also ensure that you have completed/are in the process of completing course pre-requisites for our program. More information on pre-requisite courses can be found here, under the bullet point “Undergraduate Preparation”.
Access to undergraduate courses at the University of Florida is extremely limited, please review UF Graduate Admissions policies (opens in new tab) for more information on options.
Financial Information
There is no separate application process for these. Accepted students will all be offered graduate assistant appointments (either as a teaching or research assistant), and all eligible students will be considered for Fellowships administered by the department.
We encourage you to seek external funding as well, if you are eligible. Please review the financial support page for more details.
The University of Florida offers a high quality graduate program at a very reasonable cost (opens in new tab), and the Gainesville area is known for its low cost of living. To fully understand any offer from a graduate program, students should consider cost of living in relation to stipend levels. Cost of living calculators (opens in new tab) can be used to directly compare living expenses in different cities.
Compared to friends in larger cities and in other states, our graduate students report that it requires less income to live here in Gainesville because the cost of living is a lot less than in other places. Also, students have access to free public transportation, free gyms, free concerts, and inexpensive entertainment options through the university, student union, and local clubs and theatres. Plus, many graduate student courses do not require textbooks. Instead, students often split the cost of making copies of required articles for class or download articles free through university library resources. All of these factors keep costs lower for students here.
Program Information
Generally speaking: If a student enters with a bachelor’s degree, we expect them to complete the program in five years.
For Counseling students, the estimated time to completion is six years, since Counseling students are required to complete a one year internship as part of their studies.
Look at the different program areas described on our website to find out the focus of each program area in the department. To find out more about specific faculty, see the Graduate Faculty Directory and view faculty members’ individual web pages.
Review the Faculty listed on the People section of the area you are interested in. Choose a Faculty Mentor that has similar research interests to your own. You are also encouraged to contact the faculty that you are interested in working with, introduce yourself, tell them what you’re researching, and ask them if they are accepting mentors for next year.
No, we do not offer a terminal Master’s degree.
No.
Because our doctoral program is full-time, it is not possible to pursue full-time employment while in the program. However, you will be employed part-time by the department in exchange for tuition assistance and a living stipend – please see the financial support page for more details.
There is the possibility of part-time work outside the university during semesters without funding (i.e. some summer semesters), but this is decided on a case-by-case basis by students’ mentors.
Yes! For more details on this process, please read through Chapter III, Section G of our Graduate Student Handbook.
The University of Florida does have a Clinical & Health Psychology program, but it is not administered by this department. CHP is a separate department at the College of Public Health and Health Professions, and has its own guidelines for application. For more details, please visit their website (opens in new tab).
Exercise and Performance Psychology is housed at the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology at the College of Health and Human Performance. Information on their Doctoral Program in Biobehavioral Science can be found here (opens in new tab).
There is not currently a doctoral program available in Forensic Psychology or Psychiatry at the University of Florida. If you are interested in learning more about the career path of a trained Forensic Psychologist or Psychiatrist, you may contact one of the expert witnesses (opens in new tab) at the UF Forensic Institute for guidance.
To find a list of all Graduate Majors and Concentrations, please click here (opens in new tab).
More Information
These visits should not be confused with interviews, which are by invitation only during the application review period and usually include some funds to offset travel costs.
The Psychology Department does not publish a Graduate Admissions brochure. All of the pertinent information that you will need is on the website. Please take the time to read through the information available on the site before emailing or calling; it is likely that the answer to your question can be found on our webpage. If you have read through the site and still cannot find the answer to a question that you have regarding the application or admission process, please contact the Graduate Program Assistant.