The Department of Psychology offers several degree options for graduate students: Master's-level students may pursue an MA in General Psychology. Doctoral-level students may pursue a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Psychology or Social-Personality Psychology.
All applications are reviewed soon after the deadline. Most applicants will be notified via email of the final outcome of their application. PhD decisions are generally made by March 1 and MA decisions by May 1.
As the MA and PhD programs are research-based, applicants with clear and focused research interests and goals, along with prior research experience, tend to have stronger applications. However, different program areas may be looking for different qualities in applicants. Applicants may contact the respective area head of the degree program of interest to discuss any additional specific criteria.
The department will review applications missing certain application materials, such as one letter of recommendation. However, applications missing all letters of recommendation, undergraduate transcripts or GRE scores (if required by the particular program) will not receive full consideration. Note: GRE scores are required for Clinical PhD, Social-Personality PhD, and MA program applicants; GRE scores are not required for Behavioral Neuroscience or Cognitive PhD applicants.
After an application has been submitted for formal review, applicants can view their application along with their supporting documents online by logging back into their application. For questions regarding how to access your online application, please visit the Graduate School.
Our graduate programs have slightly different admissions requirements. Specifically, GRE scores are required for Clinical PhD, Social-Personality PhD, and MA program applicants. GRE scores are not required for Behavioral Neuroscience PhD or Cognitive PhD applicants. Please review program-specific admissions requirements below.
Applicants may apply to only one degree at a time within the same department. Applicants will not be able to apply for both the MA program and a PhD program, nor can they apply to two PhD programs, during the same admissions cycle.
Students who wish to pursue an MA or PhD degree in the Department of Psychology must create an account and submit an online application via our online application system:
All applicants are accepted based on the recommendation of individual faculty. In your application, please list faculty members whose research interests provide the best fit to your own interests.
UB requires international applicants to take the TOEFL or IELTS exam. In addition to the above application materials, international applicants must also submit the following:
The TOEFL/IELTS are waived for students who are citizens of, and who claim to be, native speakers of English, and who were educated in the English medium. Citizens of Singapore who completed their education in an English medium environment and who obtained a grade of D or better on the Singapore O-level examination and can provide a copy of their scores can waive the TOEFL/IELTS. TOEFL/IELTS scores are waived for current UB students. Also, students currently attending another U.S. institution with less than a one-year break in study AND who can provide a photocopy of their expired score report may qualify if the original score meets UB’s minimum score requirement.
The graduate application fee is $75 U.S. (payable online or by check or money order made payable to the University at Buffalo). After you formally submit your application, you will receive an email with additional instructions for submitting your payment. Currently, UB accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover.
Application fee waivers are only available to students in the Ronald E. McNair Scholars program (anywhere in the United States), Educational Opportunity Program in New York State (EOP), Higher Education Opportunity Program in New York State (HEOP), Percy E. Sutton SEEK Program in New York State (SEEK), TRIO, Upward Bound, GRE Fee Waivers, AmeriCorps Program, certain categories of sponsored, university recognized and approved exchange programs applicants, or applicants with that have an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of $0 on their Fee Application for Federal Student Financial Aid (FAFSA). If you fall into one of these categories, please contact us to request an application fee waiver to be submitted on your behalf. In all cases, you will need to provide official supporting documentation.
Applicants interested in taking graduate level courses without applying to one of our degree-granting programs should contact us directly at psych@buffalo.edu for instructions on how to access the application. Non-matriculated applicants must have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0, Verbal and Quantitative GRE scores in the 50th percentile or higher, and written instructor permission to take at least one course on the upcoming course schedule to be eligible for consideration. Accepted non-matriculated students can earn no more than 12.0 credit hours total per University policy.
Please contact us with any questions about the application process.
