Tips for Applying to Industrial and Organizational Psychology Graduate School

Applying to graduate programs in industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology is an intimidating and arduous process requiring at least one semester’s worth of diligent work and careful planning. There are over 140 master’s-level programs in I-O psychology, and over 100 at the doctoral level; all have their own approaches to admitting students. Every applicant, to every program, thus requires some degree—indeed, often a great deal—of instruction and support.

The purpose of the following discussion on this topic is therefore (a) to provide advice for prospective students in a condensed format, as well as (b) to give educators, researchers, and practitioners a resource to keep on hand. The authors are PhD students at varying levels of program completion, each hailing from a different graduate program either specializing ...