After you have decided which degree you want and what area you want it in, you still need to narrow down the list of possible schools. How you proceed here should be highly individualized, and your mentor can be very helpful. To decide which programs are best for you, you should be asking questions, including: Is there a professor whose research interests closely match yours in the program? What is the particular emphasis and reputation of the program? The APA publishes a book called Graduate Study in Psychology that lists all graduate programs in the U.S. Come to the advising office to look at the department's copy.

Other ways to find schools for your application:

- Find journal articles or books on your area of interest. Who wrote those articles and what is their college affiliation?

- Look up colleges' psychology departments and look for information on faculty and their research interests as well as graduate applications. Most websites will have a place to request more information. Early in the fall, it is a good idea to email professors you are interested in working with, introduce yourself briefly, and ask about their research and if they will be taking graduate students in the coming year. There are not always openings in programs, and if none of the researchers you are interested in working with are taking new students, it is probably not worth applying there.

- Ask UNL professors to recommend graduate programs and professors to work with, as well as the reputation of the program, department, and university.

For more information and factors to consider, check the following websites:

http://careerservices.rutgers.edu/grad_choose.html

http://careerservices.class.umn.edu/students/gradprofessionalschool/choose.html

http://www.quintcareers.com/graduate_school_criteria.html

 

Once you have found programs to which you would like to apply...

Find out what their average admitee looks like in terms of scores and experience, and then realistically compare yourself to those standards. How likely do you think it is that you'll get in? To maximize your chances, apply to several "safety schools." This is a misnomer, since admission is tough in general to graduate school. Still, for example, you should consider applying to a couple terminal masters programs even if your aim is for a Ph.D., since terminal masters programs tend to have slighly lower standards in comparison. You should apply to some schools that you are not sure whether or not you will get in, and you should also apply to a couple schools that are a bit of a reach for you (that is, they tend to admit students with much higher scores, for example). Information about application timelines and materials are available here.