General Instructions

Thank you for your interest in graduate study in psychology at The Ohio State University. By following the instructions on this page you will complete your Ohio State Graduate School Application for the Department of Psychology online. Please ensure that all of your application materials are received by the deadline for your application year for full consideration. You should anticipate typical delays in obtaining letters of recommendation, transcripts, and get an early start. Admission decisions are made only after all materials are received.

Please Note

• The Psychology Department ONLY Admits for Autumn Semester Each Year.
• The Psychology Department ONLY Admits Students Interested in Acquiring a Ph.D.

Completing an Ohio State University Graduate School Application

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You will need:

• Credit Card: (Fee: $60 domestic, $70 International)
• References: Names and email addresses of three professional references. Once your application is submitted, your recommenders will receive an email with instructions.  Recommendation letters will be submitted online through the Graduate School Application Portal. The people who submit these recommendations should have direct knowledge of your capacity for graduate work. Timeline and submission process for recommendation letters can be found on the Grad Admissions website.
• GRE Scores: The GRE is required for the Clinical Area, Developmental Area, Quantitative Area for the AU27 admissions cycle. Plan to test no later than six weeks prior to your application deadline to allow official test scores to arrive in time. Note: Scores are valid for five years after your test date. If you have taken the GRE and want to submit the Official General GRE Scores for the Recommended or Optional areas, send to Ohio State (1592).  If scores are submitted the Psychology Department will only review GRE scores in the verbal, quantitative, and analytical (written) categories. The GRE is administered nationally by the Educational Testing Service (Princeton, NJ) and may be taken at most universities and colleges. See your local registrar for further information.
• TOEFL and IELTS Scores: International Students MUST Submit official TOEFL or IELTS scores (do not send copies) if they have not graduated from an institution in a country on the exemption list. To be official, score results must be received directly from the testing agency (Duolingo English Test, ETS or IELTS) by your application deadline. Use ETS institution code 1592 if sending a TOEFL score.
• Program Area First Choice and Second Choice: Choose from the following: Behavioral Neuroscience, Clinical, Cognitive, Cognitive Neuroscience, Decision Science, Developmental, IDD, Quantitative, and Social. You will not be able to submit your application unless you list at least a first choice of area. You are not required to submit a second choice.
• Information on all Psychology Courses Taken: (Course, Instructor, Grade, and Credit Hrs.) There may not be enough room for all your courses, but please try to list them under the appropriate area (General, Developmental, Social/Counseling, Industrial/Applied, Quantitative). We will see your transcript so don't worry if they are not quite correct or don't fit into an area.
• Statement of Purpose: Required of all applicants. This statement is very important. Please describe why you wish to pursue graduate study, why you chose psychology as your major field of graduate study, and why you are interested in attending Ohio State. You only need to upload this document. It is not necessary to send copies. Your statement of purpose should be uploaded as either a PDF or DOC/DOCX file.
• Curriculum Vitae/Resume: Required of all applicants. You only need to upload this document. It is not necessary to send copies. Also, please do not include writing samples with your CV. Writing samples will be solicited by the area admissions chair to which you are applying if needed. Your CV should be uploaded as either a PDF or DOC/DOCX file.
• Transcripts: Please use the “Upload Transcript” button to send copies (front and back) of official transcripts from ALL institutions attended where college credit was earned – even if you attended while in high school. International Credentials should include certified educational records and degree certificates or diplomas in the original language with English translations.
  • Send an electronic copy of official transcripts issued by your institution’s Registrar or order electronic transcripts. Make sure to mark out all U.S. social security numbers before scanning. Ohio State will not accept web reports, advising reports, self-reported scores, or transfer credit on another school’s transcript.
  • If you are admitted to the university as a graduate student, you will be required to submit final official transcripts. Do not send the Graduate and Professional Admissions Office paper official transcripts unless specifically requested by our office. Transcripts take 2-4 weeks to process once received. Students are responsible for requesting official transcripts from their institutions in plenty of time to allow for OSU to process them prior to the deadline.
  • Include grade point average (GPA) and courses, and the quality of the undergraduate training you received. You must supply complete transcripts of all previous academic training, including the first semester or quarter of the senior year, if possible.
  • We require at least a 3.0 undergraduate GPA to be considered for admission. Very rarely are students admitted with undergraduate GPA < 3.0 but with other outstanding strengths (e.g., extensive research experience) are admitted provisionally. 

• One or More Admitting Faculty or Labs With Whom You Would Like to Work While at OSU: This field will be required so please take time to look over our website and faculty lab pages to see with whom you feel your interests are most similar. All faculty pages

   

Waiving Application Fees

You may be able to request a fee waiver on the application if you've previously enrolled in an Ohio State graduate or professional program, have limited financial resources, or participated in select diversity programs. Waiver requests may cause a delay in processing your application. It is recommended that you apply at least 10 days early to avoid missing your program’s deadline. 

**The Department of Psychology does not waive application fees.

Checking Application Status

Check Status of Your Graduate Application

After submitting an application, first-time applicants are sent an email from The Ohio State University’s Information Technology (IT) Service Desk, assigning an OSU ID and username (in a lastname.# format). The username is used to access the self-service page.

Applicants who have or had an affiliation with Ohio State DO NOT receive the above-mentioned email. They should already have an OSU ID and username. Current or former graduate students apply to a new graduate program by completing the Intra-Graduate Transfer (IGT) process. 

New applicants with no prior or current affiliation with Ohio State who know their OSU ID and username must activate their account on MY.OSU. For assistance with the activation process, please contact OCIO.

For assistance with the activation code request process, please contact:

IT Service Desk
Email: 8help@osu.edu
Phone: 614-688-4357
Web: 8help.osu.edu

Questions or Concerns

You can direct questions and/or concerns to the following:

Psychology Graduate Program Coordinator
Email: psygrad@osu.edu
Phone: 614-292-4112
Fax: 614-292-4537

OR

Ohio State Graduate Admissions Office
Email: gradadmissions@osu.edu
Phone: 614-292-9444
Graduate Admissions Website