Frequently Asked Questions

Over the past 6 years, we have typically received 30-40 applications per year. (In the 2010s, the number was 40-50 per year.)

Our first-year cohort is typically 6-10 students.

Successful applicants must have a solid background in science and scientific thinking. This background can be in psychology, related behavioral sciences (e.g., economics, public health), the physical sciences, computer science, or statistics. Research experience is desirable (but not necessary), and people in mid-career who want to pivot to the science of human behavior are encouraged to apply. 

Some undergraduate coursework in Social Psychology, Personality Psychology, or Affective Science is expected (including as post-undergraduate enrollment) only to ensure that the applicant understands the state of the research for that field for graduate pursuit. Research assistant experience in some area of science is highly valued but not necessary--as we provide this experience within the program itself. In addition, we value a strong academic record in the last 2 years of your undergraduate degree and evidence of motivation to pursue scientific research. We also value creativity, initiative, and effective teamwork because our labs function as teams of researchers.

Depending on state budgets and the status of active grants, there are limited funds available to students in the form of monetary stipends. These stipends are awarded on a competitive basis and include teaching assistantships and research assistantships. Students are encouraged to apply for scholarships and/or financial aid to help offset the cost of graduate education. There are also scholarships at the University-wide level, the College-level, and the Department-level.

Our area uses a mentor model, which means that we ensure that each accepted student starts in a research lab with a faculty advisor on the first day of the Fall semester. Thus, it is beneficial for applicants to indicate in their application with whom they would like to work. Based in part on the applicant’s research interests, the admissions committee will review the applications and match accepted students with individual faculty mentors for their first semester. Click the links on the left side of this page to learn more about the SPA faculty.

Until a student is ready to complete the master’s thesis, the advising relationship may be changed. Once the thesis is solidified, then the student’s advisor becomes the Chair of the thesis committee.

Each of our faculty has an active research lab. Since students are placed into a research lab during their very first semester, we expect that students will become involved in their advisor’s research at whatever level is deemed appropriate by the advisor. 

Students can collaborate with other research labs and other students across all areas of the Department, but only if the collaboration is beneficial to the labs involved. In that connection, some of our (past and current) students collaborate with research labs in the Mind, Brain, and Behavior concentration--especially when projects call for expertise in cognitive and/or physiological methods.

When collaborations happen, transparency is key to good relationships, so students are expected to be clear with each research lab about which lab is their primary focus and which lab is their secondary focus in terms of volunteered time. 

Participation in a research lab is mandatory. Even while graduate courses in statistics and research methods provide students with valuable information, psychological science is best experienced in the act of doing it. Because we train students to eventually become independent researchers at a Ph.D.-granting institution or in the private sector (e.g., survey design companies, data analysis for social media websites), it is imperative that students have as much hands-on experience as possible designing studies, collecting data, and performing statistical analysis so that they know how to translate the conceptual knowledge that they have obtained through coursework into scientific inquiry.

You may receive a request to schedule a telephone or Zoom interview while your application for admission to graduate study is being evaluated, but an interview on the campus is not required. Nonetheless, you are welcome to visit the campus and get acquainted with both the faculty and current graduate students, either before or after you receive an offer of admission.

At the graduate level, a full course load is considered to be 3 courses (normally nine units). Also note that contributing to an active research lab is also a 10-hour per week commitment at minimum.

Yes. The Psychology Department at SFSU encourages all undergraduate psychology students to serve as research participants, and many courses have a research participation requirement or offer extra credit for research participation.

Limited funds are available to pay research assistants; most students volunteer their time in exchange for the invaluable knowledge provided by the experience.