National Survey of Applicant Expectations in Psychology (NSAEP)

The popularity of psychology as a major and as a profession continues to grow.  This increased popularity increases the number of applicants into graduate programs which places greater demand on undergraduates to “do more” to compete for spots in these programs. Even as program admission becomes more competitive, the rising cost of tuition requires students to commit more time to work while they are undergraduates.  With so many areas of development to focus on and the rising external demands, some students are left feeling overwhelmed and wondering which areas of their application they may be forced to compromise in order to pursue a career in professional psychology.

The objective of the National Survey of Application Expectations in Psychology (NSAEP) is to develop empirically based guidelines for students seeking positions in graduate programs in psychology in the United States.   The survey was emailed in March 2014 to psychology faculty in all types of higher education institutions across the United States.  The major objectives of the NSAEP are:

1. Collect responses from faculty members involved in graduate admissions (both from faculty making the decisions and faculty advising students on how to prepare to compete for graduate positions) across the country regarding important variables in the application process to graduate programs.
   
2. Create summaries of the responses that emphasize general recommendations and area of emphasis (e.g. clinical, experimental) specific recommendations.
3. Develop an online tool to disseminate this information to prospective graduate students and academic advisers.
   

Data collection for the NSAEP is currently underway.  Once data is collected and analyzed, final reports as well as summaries of the results will be made available on this website.

The research team working on the NSAEP includes:

• Danielle Umland (graduate assistant)
• Selene Cortez (undergraduate research assistant)
• Haylie Hoffman (undergraduate research assistant)
• Shawn R. Charlton, Ph.D. (Faculty sponsor)
• Bill Lammers, Ph.D. (Faculty sponsor)

Questions and/or comments regarding the survey can be sent to: NSAEP@socialdecisions.org

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A 2013 Thelma Hunt Research Grant from Psi Chi, the National Honors Society in Psychology, provided the financial support for the National Survey of Applicant Expectations in Psychology (NSAEP).  Danielle Umland, doctoral candidate int he University of Central Arkansas Counseling Psychology program, was the recipient of the grant.