I want to thank you all for being here today.
And you're in for a special treat.
I'm so pleased to welcome Carrie Perrin from University
of Washington.
And Carrie is the Academic Services Director
in the psychology department.
And she's going to talk about the requirements you need
by admission-- all that good stuff and answer questions
for you, OK?
The one thing I want to say is that Carrie
has to leave by 2:20.
So if you have questions, make sure you write it
down so that you can ask her.
And we need to get out of here by 2:20, OK?
So are we all set, ready to hear from the expert?
All right.
No pressure.
Hi, everyone.
I love that everyone's got the cookies in their mouth.
So I will say that I have handouts as well as business
cards.
And so if you think of a question
later that I didn't answer or we don't have time,
feel free to email me directly or give me a call
and I'm happy to talk with you later.
We also are always really happy to have students come visit us
in the psych department.
I know some departments don't have the capacity
to see prospective students.
But we definitely do.
And we'd love to see you as soon as you're thinking
that you want to be there.
UW does run, every Thursday, transfer
Thursdays in the afternoon.
And it's sort of a combination of hearing from admissions
and financial aid.
And then we have an individual psych session
every Thursday at 3:30 that kind of follows that directly.
So you're always welcome to come to that
or to make an individual appointment.
We're happy to see you any time.
So I have a bunch of things that I always try to cover.
So I'll be checking my little list now and then.
One thing I would say at the outset
is sometimes we end up veering a little bit into people
asking a lot of questions about getting into graduate school.
So I'd probably ask that just for the sake of time
that we just think mostly about undergraduate right now.
I'll a little bit on how our program prepares you
for different kinds of graduate programs.
But we'll go with this step for now.
But again, if you've got more questions
and you want to follow up with me, happy to do that.
So it's so gorgeous out today.
I think last year when I came, it was raining--
I'm pretty sure.
But it's just beautiful.
And I always joke that if I had a little powerboat,
I could be here like that.
Because if you look across the water to Vashon Island,
we're directly across here from Port Robinson.
And if you could get out of your little boat at Port Robinson
and walk a mile and a half up the road, that's where I live.
So I was looking at the MapQuest today
and because I always try to remember
which streets to turn on.
And it's like, OK, there's this point that I'm at,
there's this point I'm going to, and this is how you get that.
So it's always a fun little trip to come over.
So as I said I've been at the university
for a very long time, in the psych department
for a very long time.
So I'm going to cover some of the basics
about what our program's like, how it's set up,
and admission requirements to the major, the things
that you can be doing here at Highline when
you transfer to be as ready as possible to get into the major.
And definitely, I would say as we go along
if you have questions, just shout them out
or raise your hand or whatever works for you.
Just so we can make sure we to cover them.
So we are one of the largest majors on campus.
We have usually about 1,000 undergraduate majors
in psychology.
So we're a little bit behind biology.
But other than that, I think in the College
of Arts and Sciences, we're maybe second largest--
huge.
Wonderful faculty who are, most of them, doing current really
on the edge research.
And so you're having the opportunity
to take classes from them and also
to work with them as part of their research teams.
Almost all of our research labs will
take on undergraduate students to work with them for anywhere
from one to three or more quarters.
So it's a great way to get to see
the inner workings of a research lab
and look at how things are studied from that perspective.
And I think that's something that, as a huge research one
institution, that makes us unique.
And you get the big news, which is sometimes a downside.
But you also get a really huge range of opportunities
to get involved in and learn things
from different perspectives.
We do have faculty who are doing work in--
I'll try to remember all areas-- in animal behavior,
behavioral neuroscience, adult and child clinical psychology,
child development, cognition perception, social
and personality, a couple people in quantitative psychology.
And I feel like I'm missing one.
But I think that's mainly it.
So all of those areas are represented
in our undergraduate curriculum to one extent or another.
So there is a good opportunity to--
while we don't have specialized tracks within the major,
students often do end up kind of creating their own.
If they've got, let's say, a particular interest
in cognition perception, they're going
to take our core level course, move on
to more advanced upper division courses,
and perhaps do research or field work in the community related
to that.
What we do have in the way of tracks
is we offer both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science.
And I think people often hear the word science
and imagine chemistry and biology.
And our Bachelor of Science really
has a much heavier quantitative emphasis.
So you're going to do math through the calculus level.
You're going into a more in-depth two quarters
statistics series.
There'll be a requirement to do undergraduate research.
It's mainly the aim of that track is to prepare students
best who want to, perhaps, go onto research
oriented graduate programs in psychology.
So you get that stronger foundation
in data analysis and research.
Over the years, I'm sure if you look around in the community,
you look at the companies that are hiring
and what they're hiring and everything is very data driven.
And so we do nowadays certainly have a number of our students
who choose our Bachelor of Science track,
not so much because they want to go into a research
PhD in psych.
But because they want to get that stronger
foundation in quantitative and data analysis.
So that can be a reason to do that.
I would say a little bit fewer than a third of our students
do the Bachelor of Science, the others
are doing the Bachelor of Arts.
Both will prepare you very well for graduate programs,
in particular in applied psychology--
areas like social services, social work, counseling,
therapy.
So I think students hear very often blanket statements
when they get UW about if you want to go to graduate school,
you need to get a Bachelor of Science, not true.
So remember, you heard that here.
Is that true?
Not true, definitely not.
It's just that if you do want to go the research route,
the BS is probably a little bit stronger foundation.
There's about a 25 credit difference between those two
tracks.
And so a reason to perhaps choose
the Bachelor of Arts over the Bachelor of Science
is that it frees up 25 credits to spend in another way.
So you can spend that maybe with a second major, a minor,
by earning credit for field work or research, studying abroad.
So there are a lot of reasons to think carefully
about that choice.
And I think in particular, when you're coming in as a transfer
student and in most cases, you're
coming in at the start of your junior year.
So many people with like--
in those circumstances-- to only spend two years finishing
that undergraduate degree.
And so that means really careful thought about how to prepare.
Yes?
When you're applying to graduate school,
let's say and it's either or, is it more preferable?
Really, the label BA/BS itself isn't going to matter.
It's more if you're applying to a research focus graduate
program, what you want to present to that program
as the candidate is a really in-depth research experience.
And you want to be very strong in the quantitative areas.
To some extent, they'll look for that.
But more than that, our graduate students
all tell us the better you are at statistics and data
analysis, the more you hit the ground
running when you start your graduate program.
So it kind of just helps you.
Yes?
You also said that some of the classes
are going to require calculus.
I've never really focused on that.
Is it better to take those classes
at a community college like here and then they transfer?
Yes so I'll sort of move a little bit
into talking about our admissions and prerequisites
for our major.
So some students-- more and more students
now are transferring from Washington community colleges
ready to apply to our major.
Still the vast majority are not.
They still have one or two classes
that they still need to take.
But more and more, the community colleges
are starting to offer equivalents
to all of our site courses.
Highline's done that for quite some time.
So it has been leading edge on that.
Those prerequisites are intro psychology--
which, definitely, you have that here--
bio-psychology-- some schools call it physiological
psychology--
and psych research methods.
And I believe you still have all those here.
So if you're able to get all this done before you transfer
to UW, awesome.
If you're not, you're going to get into what you still
need in your first quarter.
We'll save spaces for you and get you in there.
So don't feel like if you just kind of missed out
on taking that class, it's not going
to impact your admission to UW.
it's not going to impact your ultimate admission
to the major.
So we'll just take a tiny bit longer.
So there are those three classes.
And then there's a math prerequisite.
And there are two ways you can go on this.
Admission to the major requires math either--
I'm looking at my little notes-- through--
I think it's your math, you call it Math 111?
Yeah, 111
Either Math 111 or the Math 141-142 combination.
And Math 111 transfers to UW as is our Math 111.
Math 141-142 transfers to UW as our Math 120,
which is precalculus.
And then you get another five credits of general math credit.
If you, before transferring, have a strong notion
that you're probably going to want
to pursue the Bachelor of Science in psych,
I would definitely suggest the 141-142 route.
Make sure you take both of them though.
Because to get into UW, 141 alone is fine
or 142 alone is fine-- if you tested it into it.
But to earn the credit that you need toward the major, the 120,
you actually have to take both of them.
And then to your question about calculus,
if you do want to go that Bachelor of Science route
and, therefore, are going to need calculus in order
to get into our statistics classes for the Bachelor
of Science, then moving on to your Math 151
here is the best thing to do, if possible.
So I feel, generally speaking, that any courses that
are in the sequences--
if you can take the entire sequence
at a single institution, it's advantageous usually.
Because there often is not real perfect
articulation from one institution to another.
So it may be a little bit bumpy, not impossible.
But where you can get entire series done,
try to do that, if possible.
The same in-- this is kind of an aside,
but the same holds true for foreign languages.
Foreign language requirement to be admitted to UW
is either two years of a high school language
or two quarters-- like 101-102 of a college language.
The requirement to get out of the University of Washington
to graduate is either three years of a single high school
language or three quarters through the third quarter
first year series of the college level language.
So if you're in a situation where you're thinking,
OK, I'm going to take through French 102.
And I'm good to go to get into UW, that's awesome, you are.
But then you're going to have to ultimately take
French 103 or Spanish 103 or whatever your language is
when you're there.
And that just kind of adds to the set in stone requirements
that you'd rather get done here, if possible.
So that you can sort of sample from a wider range of choices
and have more latitude in choosing your courses when
you get there.
If you are a native speaker of another language--
and UW defines that as a language that was spoken
in your home and that you were schooled in through
the equivalent of our 7th grade--
then that makes you a native speaker.
And that takes care of that requirement right there.
So if you have any questions about that, you can email me
or I can put you in touch with admission
if I don't know the answer.
So those are our prerequisites.
We do admit to the major every quarter, including summer.
And admission is competitive.
It's not like crazy wild competitive
like Foster School of Business and bioengineering
and places like that.
But it is competitive.
And what we're looking at very specifically
is the cumulative GPA for those three psych courses.
And we want that cumulative GPA to be about a 3.2 or higher.
We all know that people have rough quarters,
things go on in your life, hit some bumps along the way.
If you have a quarter when one of the three courses
just didn't really work out the way you would like,
you can retake that course.
Both grades are always part of your academic record,
but the retake, the higher grade, is what we will look at.
So we kind of give you a do over if you
need to retake that course.
I've had students retake two courses.
I've had students sometimes retake three courses.
That starts to get a little time consuming.
And you start to feel like there's the wall and your head.
And maybe you don't want to continue there.
And at that point, that's where a conversation with me
or one of my colleagues in psych advising would be,
is this really the route that you want to go?
But we do understand, certainly, that people having missteps
and need second chances to do things.
People will ask is there an essay.
Is there a statement of interest?
Are there letters of recommendation required?
No to all of those.
And on the one hand, it is a very cut
and dried admission process.
And on one hand, that's great because you know exactly what
you need to do to get in.
On the other hand, it kind of stinks sometimes
because you want to be able to explain things or talk
about your goals and have other things evaluated.
What I would say is I very much enjoy
working with transfer students.
I think that it's a group that brings
a tremendous amount of diversity to our university,
to our department--
and a diversity of experiences, really.
I have folks who I work with who are single parents, who
are older students, who are veterans, who
are international students who have been working in three
or four careers already.
And so people are bringing a real richness of experience.
And so I work--
one of my colleagues says too closely, but I don't think
that's true--
with our transfer students.
And I have a particular commitment to you
because I feel like if you've put in two years of effort,
you've done everything you can, you
got into UW, which is fantastic, I'm
going to do everything I can to help you continue along
that path toward your goal.
So I will sometimes, with our transfer students
in particular-- with everybody but in particular transfer
students--
I will sometimes take other things into consideration.
And so just know that there are humans working there
in my department.
And I try to be that very human face
when it comes to admissions and thinking about things.
You get there, maybe you still had to take a final course.
You're applying to the major in your second or even
third quarter at UW, I don't really
feel like that's the time to tell you to start over
with something else.
So I feel fairly confident that I'm
going to work well with you.
Yes?
So for Running Start students, I heard
that you have to apply as a freshman again.
And if that happens, what would happen to all of the credits
that I've earned here?
You still bring all the credits.
And so it's kind of funny.
You come in as a freshman and if I
look at somebody's transcript--
I was just looking at someone last week.
And we code them on the transcript.
They're a number one, if they're freshmen, two sophomore, three
junior, four senior.
And this was a Running Start student.
She brought 90 credits with her, all of which
were applying towards her ultimate credits
for the degree.
And in that first quarter she's a one.
In her second quarter, she's a three.
So you come in as a freshmen and then,
boom, you're a junior the next quarter.
But it is a different pool of applicants
that you're part of on the point of entry to UW.
So you get all the credits, definitely.
Other questions about that point of transfer
or of application or admission to the major?
Yes?
I just want to repeat so here at Highline,
we have all those math classes and we also have the Psychology
2, 022, 09 and basically I don't have to take anything.
I just first finish those and then talk about transferring.
Right, right.
So the more of those you can finish here at Highline,
the better.
If you're able to finish all those and you come to UW
and you're in your first quarter,
you're going to apply to the major
in that very first quarter.
So that's pretty cool.
Yeah, Michelle?
In case people don't know Psych 202, Bio-Psych, is only
given in fall quarter.
And our Psych 250, which is equivalent to UW's 209
is offered in the spring.
[INAUDIBLE]
So if you do miss out on one of those and you transfer in--
students come into UW in fall quarter
when the vast majority of students
transfer in or in winter quarter, not in spring.
And you also do have the option of applying for summer,
kind of summer slash fall.
For fall quarter, we typically see about 85 or 90 incoming UW
students who are planning to be psych majors.
And we work with our first year Programs Office
to sort of design specialized orientations for those students
so that they're getting orientation to the university.
But they're also getting a really in-depth orientation
to the psychology major, department.
You'll meet all the advisors.
You'll met some faculties, some alumni,
some peers who are just you're ahead of you in the process,
but who all came in as transfer students.
And so we try to help you from that first day.
That first orientation day, start to form some community
and then find your go to people and places.
Because that's, man-- it's you get there
and you really feel like you have
to hit the ground running because you didn't
have the freshman and sophomore year to sort of figure it
all out.
So we try to do what we can to make
that process more possible.
I also, in fall quarters, offer a two credit class
that is specifically for incoming transfer students.
This year, I have 70 students in the class.
So they're all in their first quarter at UW.
Most of them came from Washington community colleges.
And it allows them, in that first quarter,
to take a lighter academic load for one thing.
Because it's two credits and then
if they're taking two five credit academic classes,
they're there at the 12 credits they
need if they have financial aid or veteran's benefits
or are international students.
But also the main thing is that it
gives everybody in that class a really in-depth orientation
to the major, the department, resources
available to students.
We'll spend an entire day talking about getting involved
in research, an entire day getting involved in field work,
a day talking about study abroad,
a day about career development.
And through that, you're working in that class
with peer leaders who were in your seats
the year before and with fellow first quarter transfer
students.
So it really helps it in that first quarter when you're like,
oh my gosh.
They said it was going to be different.
And I didn't quite see how it was going to be this different.
But it is.
There's something about the feeling of the pace
and hugeness of the university and the overwhelming kind
of feeling of trying to navigate through all of this
and do it on your own.
So we try to give you an infrastructure
to help you land on your feet.
So those are possibilities.
We don't offer those things for people
coming in winter, at least at this time
because it's a much smaller group.
And so we just don't have the capacity to do that.
But we still, for incoming winter students,
will meet with students individually
and do individual advising sessions
as part of their orientation.
So they're still going to get a personal welcome from us.
Yeah?
Is getting into the psychology major
during fall quarter typically more competitive
than the other quarters?
Not really, not really.
We admit pretty equivalent numbers of students
in each of fall winter, spring.
We admit a much smaller group in the summer.
And so summer's actually our a super competitive quarter.
I mentioned before typically that cumulative GPA
for fall, winter, and spring is going to be about a 3.2.
In the summer, it's usually about a 3.6.
This past summer, it was a 3.8.
So we had just a huge number of people
with tremendously high GPAs applying that quarter and not
a lot of capacity.
So that was kind of horrible to write those e-mails and say,
oh gosh.
You have a 3.7, I'm sorry.
That's not quite good enough.
But they all got in this quarter.
So they're all they're good.
They're in.
They're happy.
So other things I need to make sure to cover.
Yeah?
For instances like that would to reapply?
Yeah we sort of for that situation specifically--
the summer to fall--
the email that we send students is oh gosh.
Once again, our summer admissions
were extremely competitive.
If you would like us to just sort of slide
your application into the fall virtual pile, let us know.
So you don't have to, as a student, do more legwork on it.
You just need to say yes please, move it on down the road.
So I'll talk a little bit more about some of the resources
available but we'll also stop and see
if folks have other questions at this time about any
of the logistics.
Yes?
So if someone were to not get in the major
the first time they tried, they can still take as many classes
any classes they want, right?
So like classes and psychology?
No, actually.
So classes in the major are kind of divided
into our gateway classes--
the 101, 202, 209 and a few other 200 level
electives that are open to all students.
And then everything else at the 300 and 400 level
is primarily majors only.
Some of them do open up.
In our registration, every quarter
is broken down into a couple of different portions.
And all of our upper enrichment courses
are initially every quarter open only two current majors.
And some of them in a later registration
open up to pre-majors But you can't do the major
without being in the major basically.
If you're not getting into the major,
you want to come and meet with me
and see kind of what the issues are.
Is it a pretty simple I need to retake bio-psych, do
a little bit better, and chances are great of that happening?
Or am I kind of again hitting my head against the same wall?
And that is probably a wall that you're
going to keep seeing in our classes before it goes away.
And so then it's just kind of a--
we're never going to say you cannot apply again.
But sometimes I'm going to say, you know,
this might not be the best choice.
So let's think about what your goals are
for your life and your career and future education.
And is there another pathway to do that?
And there pretty much always is another pathway
because we're not vocational technical majors.
So you don't come out with like the stamp that
says you are a this or that.
You're not licensed to be something with the degree
that we offer.
So there's almost always another way
to get there that sometimes might work better
for your learning style, the way you express yourself.
So once in a while, those conversations
end up with a different path.
But sometimes they end up with a plan of action
to continue on the path.
But there aren't a lot of psych courses
that you can take without being in the major.
So getting in is important.
Yes?
If that 3.7 student, for example,
doesn't get in because of a capacity issue
and they move over to the fall, would they typically
run through the same barrier or would they be admitted at that
point?
A 3.7 student-- the summer 3.7 is
for sure going to get in fall.
Yeah absolutely.
And it's not that we have arbitrarily set this 3.2.
And we actually don't have a GPA cut off that says 3.2.
We have a quota of students we can take each quarter.
And that, what we do in the summer is we look at OK,
we graduated 475 students last year.
We can take in maybe 500 students this coming year.
And we break it down by quarter.
So let's say in a given quarter the quota that we're looking at
is 150 students, perhaps.
We get the applications.
We sort them in our database by highest admissions
GPA to less high and go down.
And wherever that 150 is, that's going
to be that cut off for that quarter.
And it has very reliably settled into about a 3.2.
So that's where that comes.
From we feel like shooting for that, you're pretty safe.
And this GPA isn't the normal GPA.
It's the cumulative of the psychology classes
specifically, right?
Yes, of those three psychology classes specifically.
The math course that's the prerequisite
just needs to be at least a 2.0.
But it's not part of that equation, which for some people
that's like awesome.
And some people are like, I'm so good at math.
That's too bad.
So we do have a lot of our students making the BA
versus BS decision based on comfort level in math, very
honestly.
Yeah?
So for that deciding between the BA, BS
would you have to do that once you
get accepted into the psychology major or would
you do that once you apply for the psychology BS?
You apply to the major broadly.
And part of the application does ask if you
intend to do the BA or BA.
Just because we--
Can you change beforehand?
Well, we have to code you as one of the two
when you're admitted.
But you can change back and forth.
Like if you come in as a BA student
and then you decide you want to switch to BS,
you're not applying again.
We're just filling out a piece of paper.
Yeah.
And we do hope people change.
More often than not, they're changing
from the BS to the BA at some point
because they're feeling like they're running out of time
or have had a change of plans in their goals,
but sometimes the other direction.
Or other questions about grades or admission?
Well if no one has any other questions.
That's okay.
I just want to say because it's a little personalized for me.
So I don't want to in case anyone else has
any other questions.
But for me, I plan on I'm doing the bio right now because I
want to be a psychiatrist.
So I'm getting my psychology major
and then applying for pre-med before going to med school
and getting my prerequisites for med school
while I'm doing that.
So in my instance, which would be more preferable?
People would assume BS but no.
And so she's talking about she's going
to be doing pre-med coursework as well as a major.
The range of pre-med coursework is like doing another major.
It's pretty similar pre-nursing.
Pre-physical therapy is also pretty hefty,
pre-occupational therapy not quite as much.
But if you are planning to go into a health profession
ultimately in a graduate or professional program that's
health profession related, definitely
be working very closely with your advisors here.
Because you want to be able to start taking things.
You don't want to get to UW now say,
I need to start my whole pre-med sequence.
That will hurt.
If you study BS, didn't you say it's more credits?
So would I be able to fit the pre-rec classes?
Yeah and that's a question.
That becomes a deciding point, I think, for students a lot
of times.
Med schools don't care at all if you had a BA or a BS.
So it really doesn't matter.
It's just like better preparation
more likely because it's better to study science classes.
It's not really more.
It's more quantitative.
So it's honestly, if your aim is really going to med school,
BA versus BS doesn't matter.
So and it's the same kind of issue
if you want to do another major or if you want to spend
two quarters studying abroad.
It becomes choices.
And you can either stay at UW a little bit longer,
which costs a bit more, right?
And postpones the rest of life or you can really
think carefully about planning and prioritizing and making
decisions about the route that you want to take.
And we'll help you with that.
I mean that's a huge part of what we do.
We do a lot of the nuts and bolts
of what should I be signing up for next quarter?
And I need to apply to graduate and all of that.
But the much more interesting work
that we do and I think the work that
is more helpful for our students is working with you
individually to say, OK, these are my goals
or these are my interests.
How do I sort of put together a whole portfolio
that includes both my in-class academics and other experiences
so that I can get to that point?
And so that's where we're going to talk to you about getting
involved in research, getting involved volunteering
and interning in the community and trying things out
and finding out what you like, what you don't like,
opening doors and closing doors.
The closing the doors part is actually very valuable.
When doors get closed, they are, in my experience with students,
more often than not, being closed by the student and not
on the students.
So it's usually well, I thought that I really
wanted to do this.
I've tried it out.
And I like this part of it but not that other stuff.
So I'm going to go this way.
So it's fun for us.
And we can draw on the years of experience
we have working with students and the connections
we have in the community, hopefully,
to help you find the path that really works well for you.
I'm also a super big advocate--
I've mentioned a few times-- of studying abroad.
UW has a lot of different kinds of programs.
Is something that interests anybody?
A couple people.
Yeah and I think a lot of times, you get to UW
and you think, oh my gosh.
I've got two years here.
How can I possibly do that?
There are lots of ways to do it.
There are different kinds of programs all the way
from going abroad for an entire year to going abroad
for two or three weeks.
And so there's a program that usually
is going to meet your needs.
And we have a wonderful study abroad office.
I have great contacts there that I put students in touch with.
And I'm also the one who works with students
when they come back.
Here the courses I took at University of New South Wales.
How are they going to apply toward my degree program?
I'm the one who does those evaluations.
And I usually meet with students before they
go to think about the kind of course that they might take.
And then when they come back, to do those final evaluations.
And I'm super flexible.
Let's say it's a course--
we need to fulfill a particular group of core courses.
And it's not quite exactly like anything in that core group.
But it kind of fits the spirit of it,
I'm going to put it in that category for you
because you know I want you to be
able to have that experience.
I had the great fortune of being able to study abroad
when I was in college.
Back in those days if you went abroad,
you went for an entire year.
And you went in your junior year that was just how it happened.
And so that's what I did, and it was fantastic.
But I find with most of the students
I work with that leaving for a year is often not feasible.
A lot of people seem to have a lot more commitments
and responsibilities this year than I did.
So I was very lucky.
Yeah?
About those opportunities doing research
working out in the community, you
mentioned them for some majors like pre-nursing
for instance, getting into the project,
you would have to have a couple of hours
or a certain number of hours of volunteer work, for instance.
But for the psychology admission, would you need that?
No, no.
You don't need that for admission to the major.
That's just an addition that you could do while you're there.
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
But when you think about what you
want to do when you graduate from a four year school,
you probably want to go right into a career path
or you maybe want to go to a graduate or professional
school.
And all those experiences are the things
that are going to help you get there.
Not only do they help you sort of refine your interests
and know what the correct direction is
for you to be going, but they kind of
serve proofs to the program or the employer
of your background, your experience
your aptitude in that area, your dedication to the area.
So they're both a good way to sort of try things out and also
get the experience you need either to get a job
or to get into a graduate program.
So we don't require them.
They're not required to graduate with just
a bit of an exception, as they are for some programs.
Some programs require a hefty number of experiential hours.
And we don't.
But it's definitely recommended.
And for our students, it's rarely difficult
to find the time within your schedule
to do that because they are all credit bearing opportunities.
So you're earning credit if you're
volunteering in the community.
You're earning credit if you're doing research
with our faculty.
Your earning credit if you're doing peer teaching.
So it's a way to sort of fold it into the whole package
and have time to do it because I know most people are working
at least some hours a week.
And many people have families and other responsibilities.
So if we didn't give you the opportunity
to earn credit for these experiences, for many people
it's just not feasible to add it to an already very full
academic schedule and life.
Yeah?
How difficult is it to get into a research program
at UW for a psych major?
Well so UW-- the PhD program at UW
is probably one of the most competitive in the country.
And it is a strictly research focused program.
So even our clinical program, the aim of those programs
is to train clinical researchers-- so people who
are going to stay in academia.
They're going to become professors and researchers
at universities.
The aim is not to train people to go out into practice
and to be practicing psychologists and practicing
therapists.
The people in our clinical program
certainly are qualified to do that because that's part
of the training that they get.
But the aim of our program is to train researchers.
And so for any kind of research focus
graduate program, what that program is going to look for
is for your background experience and interest
to match well with what they actually do there.
So that becomes kind of a whole research project in itself
to figure out where you're going to apply.
To get into, let's say you're interested in one,
is it more like first come, first serve,
like whoever wants to comes up first
or what do they look at to check?
Because I know it's really a lot of people
want to do one research program.
They're really competitive.
They look at-- and I don't want to go into this too much.
But we can talk by email or phone afterwards certainly.
A research focused program is looking for candidates
who are going to be good fits for their program
and who have backgrounds that demonstrate that.
And it kind of varies from program to program.
Some programs, it's more like you're actually
applying to work with a particular person
than it is that you're applying to the program broadly.
That's what our university's like.
But other even research focus programs and other programs
at UW are not quite that way.
So it's a lot of exploring to do.
You have a question.
Yeah.
I don't know if this is getting too
off track because you say you didn't
want to get into it too much.
But I have heard that the research graduate schooling
is a little bit less likely to accept somebody who
got their bachelor's with them.
Is that right?
Yes.
So she's asking you know if you did an undergraduate degree
at an institution and then you applied
to their graduate program, do you
have a better or worse chance of getting in.
Our program, there's that thinking generally
that it's academically healthy or to go somewhere else
for your graduate work.
You get new perspectives.
You bring your perspective to a new institution.
But at least talking about our program, that being said--
so I've been in that department.
I'm in year 23 now.
And they typically-- for the whole of our psych
graduate programs-- get something
like 600 to 800 applicants for about what
ends up being about 15 spots.
And in every year that I've been there, at least one
of those spots has been someone who
got their undergraduate degree from us.
So the first answer is yes, generally, that's the thinking.
In practice, that's not always how it happens.
Carrie, so that you know, you have five minutes.
OK.
Oh my gosh.
Even if I don't stop you.
OK.
I'm going to put the glasses on to make sure
that I didn't forget anything.
So I guess I'll just finish by saying that myself--
as earlier I said I'm the Academic Services
Director so I'm in charge of the advising office.
But I'm also an advisor.
I see people every day.
I have two fabulous advisors who work for me Vicky and Psy.
And I always tell my colleagues at the university
because there's a lot of variability
in how well advising offices are staffed, how well they feel
supported by their department--
we are incredibly fortunate that we are,
I feel, sufficiently staffed, that we
can see all the students we need to see, that we can see
prospective students, that we can do things
like I get to run this class in fall for transfer students.
My colleague Vicky runs a class every fall
that's for students preparing to enter grad school.
My colleague Psy does, every quarter except for summer,
he teaches one of our field work classes.
So we get the opportunity to work with our students
in different contexts.
And to provide, I hope, the kind of support
that you really all deserve to have.
It's usually open doors when you come to our office.
Certain points in the quarter, it's a little crunchy.
You might have to wait a while but we're there
for seeing our students first.
So I hope that we support students in the way
that we set out to.
I generally do hear that students
are happy with our department and with the advising office
so I think we're doing it kind of OK.
So that's just to tell you that if you
come to UW either as a prospective student
to talk with us or as a prospective major
once you get there or new to the major,
we're going to be your home base.
And we're going to really help connect you with all the things
that you need on campus because that's half the battle.
You come to a huge place that's like a giant city.
And you don't even know where to turn.
So we'll try to send you to people instead of voice trees
or websites and put you in touch with the folks who can really
help you move along.
So I guess that's it.
OK well that's great information.
Thank you.
Thank you.
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