M.S. in Psychology (distance learning)

What Do I Have to Do to Transfer into the Ph. D. program?

The Distance Learning MS in Psychology program was developed in order to provide students who may have the ability to handle PhD-level work at PGSP with an opportunity to demonstrate that ability. It is our hope that every student who is admitted to the MS program will be successful in moving to the PhD.

There will be regular student reviews by the Distance Learning Committee (DLC). The DLC meets approximately two weeks after grades are in each quarter, to review the progress of Masters’ students, with the particular goal of identifying and providing guidance to any students who may be encountering problems.

Students will move automatically from the MS in Psychology program to the PhD, if they have:

1. Have met the initial prerequisites for the Master’s program. There are 4 required prerequisite courses: Abnormal (or Personality), Developmental, Statistics, and Physiological Psychology. Students are required to complete the appropriate prerequisites prior to the appropriate PGSP distance learning class. For example, students will take Child and Adolescent Development in the first quarter of the DL Master’s program. They need to have the prerequisite course taken before classes begin. They will take Neuropsychology in the winter quarter of the first year. They need to have the physiological psychology course taken by winter of the first year. The same reasoning applies for the second year of the program. Of course, the easiest solution for this is to have all four prerequisites taken before beginning the program. Documenting that the prerequisites have been fulfilled is the responsibility of the student. Students can request waivers by detailing the basis for the request. Those waiver requests should be submitted before the fact (i.e., before the related PGSP course is started) and sent to Dr. Froming.

The required prerequisite courses and their graduate "partners" are listed below.

2. Successfully completed at least six (at least 6 unit) quarters

3. Grades: a) No failing grades and b) No more than one B- and c) No more than one incomplete

4. Successfully completed the following sequences:

5. Passed the research comprehensive exam

All required course work will normally be completed by the end of the second spring quarter following matriculation. Any deviations from this timetable must be approved by the Distance Learning Committee and, if appropriate, the Student Evaluation Committee.

Master’s students have the same rules for taking the comprehensive exams as other students. However, they cannot start Practicum 2A or the Assessment sequence until being admitted to the Ph. D. program. Prior to starting clinical work in the Gronowski clinic (fall of the first year on campus) students must take two courses: Clinical Interviewing and Introduction to Psychotherapy. These are offered in the summer and requires students to move to Palo Alto by August 1 of that year.

Students in the distance learning program follow the same guidelines as students in the on campus program. In the event of academic or disciplinary problems, students may be dismissed from the program. These procedures are outlined in the current PGSP Student Handbook. Students failing courses will be referred to the Student Evaluation Committee.

In summary, there is a 3-step system for the Distance Learning MS students:

1. If a student cannot get through basic course work, s/he simply leaves the program during or at the end of the first two years.

2. If a student finishes required course work but chooses to stop there or is unable to pass the research comprehensive exam, s/he can receive the MS in Psychology as s/he leaves the program.

3. If a student completes the prerequisite undergraduate courses, passes the graduate course work and passes the research comprehensive exam, s/he goes into the Ph. D. program on campus. In that case the student is not awarded the MS in Psychology. After two years in the PhD program students will qualify for the MS in Clinical Psychology. Because the two degrees would be based on considerable overlap in coursework and the fact that the second MS degree would supersede the first MS, we don’t award the MS in Psychology to students who enter the PhD program.