General Master's Degree

Individuals who:

• wish to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology but
  • lack formal training in their area of interest
  • need to strengthen their credentials to be competitive for doctoral programs (e.g., limited research experience)

• have a long-range plan to obtain a doctoral degree, but are not ready to commit to doctoral studies

30 credit hours:

• 1 graduate statistics courses (PSY 608 or PSY 607, 3 credits)

• One distribution course from each of our four areas (12 credits)
  • Behavioral Neuroscience ( 513 Biological Bases of Behavior, 634 Animal Behavior)
  • Clinical ( 618 Developmental Psychopathology, 624 Psychopathology, 625 Community Psychology)
  • Cognitive ( 627 Perception, 639 Cognitive, Processes, 642 Psycholinguistics, 728 Memory)
  • Social – Personality ( 680 Advanced Social Psychology, 725 Attitudes and Social Cognition)

• Electives (15 credits)
  • 3 graduate credits may be taken outside of the Psychology Department with prior department approval

• No more than 6 credits of PSY 600/799.  MA students are not eligible to enroll in PSY 699 or PSY 700 and cannot use these courses towards their degree.

• Students must obtain
  • a grade of B- or higher in statistics courses and the four distribution courses
  • at least a B average across all courses (overall GPA of 3.0 or higher)

Mentored MA project:

• An MA project is a well-organized and thoroughly documented scholarly paper with an identifiable research question. The project can take several forms depending on the needs of the student, including but not limited to, an original empirical study, a critical review paper, or a paper reporting meta-analysis.

• Time to completion is typically 4 semesters

• Applications to the MA mentored research track are accepted based on the recommendation of individual faculty. Only those applicants whose research interests match those of a specific faculty member who is willing to serve as the student's mentor will be accepted.

• Faculty members accepting MA students for the Fall 2013 semester are listed in the table below. You must list at least one of these faculty members on your online application in the Enrollment Information Section under "Faculty Member(s) you would like as a mentor". You should list at least one faculty member from the area of research interest that you have indicated on your online application.

• Applications to the MA mentored research program are accepted based on the recommendation of individual faculty. Only those applicants whose research interests match those of a specific faculty member who is willing to serve as the student's mentor will be accepted.
• Faculty members accepting MA students for the Fall 2013 semester are listed in the table below. You must list at least one of these faculty members on your online application in the Enrollment Information Section under "Faculty Member(s) you would like as a mentor". You should list at least one faculty member from the area of research interest that you have indicated on your online application

• Application is through online form only.

• For instructions on how to complete the online application form click here.

• Note: Applications for Fall 2013 are now open.  M.A. Applications and all materials are due no later than March 1, 2013.

• Competitive applicants have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher and GRE Verbal and Quantitative Scores in the 50th percentile or higher.
  • Low GRE scores or low grades aren't necessarily a problem if there are other strong credentials (e.g., lots of research experience or great letters of recommendation).  Please see our "Other Info and FAQ" page for more information regarding acceptable GPA and GRE scores.

Faculty Mentors Accepting New MA Students for Fall 2013

*An updated list of Faculty accepting new students for Fall 2014 will be available in August 2013.

Behavioral Neuroscience

        Dr. Derek Daniels
        Dr. Micheal Dent
        Dr. Mark Kristal
        Dr. Roh-Yu Shen
        Dr. Alexis Thompson
       

Clinical

        Dr. Ralph Benedict

        Dr. Rebecca Houston
        Dr. John Roberts
        Dr. David Shucard

Cognitive

        Dr. Micheal Dent

        Dr. Paul Luce
        Dr. David Shucard

        Dr. Gail Mauner

Health

        Dr. Janice Hastrup

Social-Personality

        Dr. Shira Gabriel

        Dr. Sandra Murray
        Dr. Mark Seery

Funding for the Mentored Research Program is limited, but may be available:

• University at Buffalo Graduate School Financial Aid
• Funding from a sponsoring faculty person's research grant
• Some MA students secure funding upon arrival, through university-affiliated employment
• The Schomburg Fellowship Program does fund exceptional Master's students. This fellowship offers support for historically underrepresented students in graduate programs across the university. For more information on the Schomburg Fellowship click here. If you are eligible and would like to be considered, please include with your application a 500 word statement describing how you will contribute to the diversity of the student body in the psychology graduate program, including how you have overcome a disadvantage or other impediment to success in higher education.