PhD Clinical – Admissions

Program Admissions

The next application deadline is December 1st, 2026 for a start date in August 2027.

The UCF Psychology Department coordinates the admission process with the UCF Graduate Studies office. In order to enroll in graduate classes, students must have obtained a baccalaureate or higher degree, prior to the start of the term for which the student is admitted, from a regionally accredited institution or from a recognized foreign institution. Students without a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited institution (or equivalent) are not admitted to graduate degree programs, graduate certificate programs, or graduate nondegree status at UCF. If the baccalaureate (or higher) degree does not include a major/focus in Psychology, students must have completed at least 18 credit hours of Psychology courses at the undergraduate level or above. These courses must include Intro/General Psychology, Research Methods/Statistics, Abnormal Psychology/Psychopathology, and Personality Theory/Psychology. The following courses are strongly encouraged: Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Biological/Physiological Psychology, and Developmental Psychology.

Note for all applicants: Our program requires that History and Systems of Psychology is completed at the undergraduate level with a grade of at least a “B.” This can either be completed prior to starting our program or as an undergraduate course during our program.

The components of the application are as follows:

1. Educational history/grades
2. Letters of recommendation: Three letters written by people who can speak to your work ethic, range of professional interests, and what it is like to work with you. Some of these are ideally written by individuals who have supervised your research or clinical work.
3. Personal essay: An essay about your research and clinical interests, which includes names of one or two specific faculty members you are interested in working with on your research while enrolled in our program and why that is a good fit for your background and future career goals. There are no formatting or length requirements for this essay.
4. Content training: Information about career goals and research experiences should be highlighted on the CV and personal statement and are often described in an applicant’s letters of recommendation.

Note: The program is not requiring or considering GRE scores for the upcoming admissions cycle.

An applicant’s fit with our program goals and the research conducted by a program faculty member who is accepting students for that application round are a critical component of the application review. To be considered for admission, the program requires at least a year of hands-on research experience in an area directly relevant to psychology (typically as a research assistant/coordinator and/or thesis project), preferably in a topic area or research methodology which overlaps one of our faculty members who you would like to work with on research. In your essay, you need to highlight that experience in relation to your plan for research topics/methodology in our program, including how the faculty research supervisor(s) you list fit with that plan.

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For more information on the application process, please contact:

Dakota Fisher
Graduate Admissions Specialist I
Clinical Psychology PhD Program
dakota.fisher@ucf.edu
407-823-2157; Office: PSY 301L

Jeffrey Bedwell, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program
Director of Clinical Training
jeffrey.bedwell@ucf.edu