Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (PsyD)
Application Requirements

An applicant must have completed a master's degree in mental health counseling, psychology, social work, psychiatric/mental health nursing, counseling, school psychology, family therapy or pastoral counseling from a regionally accredited institution, with a 3.3 GPA or better.

Applicants with master's degrees in other specialty areas will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

An applicant's undergraduate transcripts are used to evaluate the exposure the candidate has had to formal course work in psychology from a regionally accredited institution. An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better is required.

In order to ensure that the program courses be taught at the highest possible level, applicants must have completed the following courses prior to admissions:

• Statistics/Research
• Abnormal Psychology or Psychopathology
• Theories of Personality
• Developmental Psychology

The PCOM School of Professional and Applied Psychology offers online courses in Theories of Personality and Developmental Psychology that fulfill these requirements.  Other prerequisite courses may also be offered.  Courses are typically offered in the spring term.  Please contact registrar@pcom.edu for details. Completion of these courses through PCOM does not guarantee admission to the program.

The Admissions Committee evaluates applicants on a number of factors. These include: past academic performance, letters of recommendation and the corresponding PCOM recommendation forms, the content and writing style of autobiographical essays, prior work history and volunteer experiences, research activities and publications, presentations at workshops or conferences in psychology or a related field, membership in professional organizations, and personal and professional presentation in the interview. Intellectual ability, academic potential, strong writing skills, emotional stability, maturity, integrity, motivation and high ethical standards are necessary for successful program completion and acceptance into the professional community.

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) participates in PsyCAS, the centralized application service for graduate study in psychology.

Beginning in September, prospective graduate and doctoral students in psychology may submit their application through a secure web server, PsyCAS. Be advised that your full PsyCAS application must be e-submitted, completed and verified to be considered for admission to PCOM.  Note that official college transcripts from all colleges/universities schools attended must be sent directly to:

PSYCAS
P.O. Box 9138
Watertown, MA 02471

Letters of Recommendation can be sent through the evaluator portal on PsyCAS or directly to PCOM Admissions in .pdf format to recommend@pcom.edu. 

Instructions on how to use PsyCAS can be found here.

Once your application has been downloaded from PsyCAS, you will be contacted via email with a confirmation of its receipt including reminders of the appropriate steps to complete the application process.  Note that there is no institutional application fee to PCOM.

Your application will be processed and assessed by the Faculty Committee on Admissions only after the receipt of:

• Three letters of reference (if not already submitted through PsyCAS)
• A general autobiographical statement explaining you interest in this academic program as it relates to your career goals (in 500 words or less) sent via email to admissions@pcom.edu.  
• Graded writing sample or professional report or evaluation

The PsyD in Clinical Psychology program utilizes a rolling admissions policy. Thus applications will be considered throughout the year as they are received and all required materials have been submitted. However, the Faculty Committee on Admissions will use three priority deadlines to evaluate completed applications. The deadlines are December 30, 2018, March 30, 2019 and June 30, 2019. New students will be accepted into the program until the desired class size is achieved.  It is therefore recommended for candidates to submit applications early. Classes begin in the fall term (early August).

The Admissions Committee screens the applications, invites some applicants for an interview and to submit a writing sample, evaluates the applicants and selects the new students. Following the completion of the admissions process, each applicant is notified of the Admission Committee's decision in writing, including any conditions that must be satisfied prior to or following enrollment.

As an applicant to PCOM's Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program you are responsible for ensuring that all admissions materials are completed accurately and submitted in a timely manner.

In effort to foster the safety and well-being of the entire campus community, as well as to ensure that students accepted to PCOM will be permitted to perform clerkships/internships required to successfully complete their degree requirements, PCOM requires all first year students to complete a criminal background check prior to matriculation. All students must have their criminal background checks processed through a PCOM vendor of choice. The Admissions Office will send notification of the process after confirmation of enrollment and must have this information on file prior to orientation; students will not be allowed to start classes without this information.

Prior to enrollment, all candidates are required to complete the College's Technical Standards for Admission and Matriculation.

Respecialization candidates who have already completed a doctoral degree in psychology may apply for admission using the same criteria as listed above using PSYCAS. The timeline to complete the degree program will be determined upon a full application review.

Should you have any questions, please contact us via email at admissions@pcom.edu.

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