SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

At the University of Texas

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does one do with an undergraduate degree in psychology?

A: With an undergraduate degree in psychology in general, you can get an entry-level job in just about any field. Based on recent surveys, starting salaries of psychology majors are competitive with most other undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts or business.

Q: What kind of jobs are available to people who get a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Texas?

A: Check out Graduate Student page to get a sense of what has happened to recent graduates from our program. Most go into academics -- with teaching and research. Others have high powered research-related jobs in the private sector or government.

Q: How many graduate students do you take each year in the social program?

A: We generally try to take on 2-4 new students each year.

Q: What makes your program different from other top social psychology graduate programs?

A: Ours is a general apprenticeship model where you would generally work with several of the faculty members during the time you are here. The faculty all share a belief that social psychology should be theoretically rich with an eye towards the real world. In fact, if you would like to get a sense of some of our basic values, check out a recent article by Paul Rozin (2001, Personality and Social Psychology Review).

Q: I'm a hard working student with no sense of humor. I want to devote my life to subtle distinctions between what was found by someone in your department 12 years ago with something someone else found 18 year ago. Is UT the place for me?

A: No. You lost us when you said you had no sense of humor.

Q: How long will it take to graduate? Is a master's degree required?

A: Ideally, we would like you to be finished in 4 years. Many people take 5. We only accept people into our Ph.D. program -- which means there is no masters program per se. The masters degree is entirely optional.

Q: Do you have stipends or scholarships for graduate school?

A: Although we can't make any promises about the future, we have always been able to support all of our graduate students for at least 4 years. This aid comes through teaching assistantships, research assistantships through faculty grants, or student fellowships through the National Science Foundation or other agency. For more information, click on the Graduate Admissions on the left of the page.

Q: How do I apply? How can I get in on this amazing offer?

A: Click on the Graduate Admissions button to get the details about the admission procedure.