Clinical Psychology Degree Programs and Education Path Tips

A strong college preparatory high school education is a good start for your clinical psychology degree program. Courses in science, math, English, history, social studies and a foreign language are important. Science and math are especially critical because they provide the necessary skills for research and analysis in college psychology courses.

Be sure to take a course in psychology if your high school offers one, because it can give you a general overview of what the field is about.

Most undergraduate programs require a blend of science and liberal arts courses for a bachelor's degree in psychology. Typically, you will be ready to take electives in psychology by the time you are a college junior.

Your junior year of college is the best time to start making graduate school plans if you know for sure this is the field you would like to pursue. As long as you take the basic electives in psychology, you don't always need to have a bachelor’s in psychology to get into a graduate program in clinical psychology.

Undergraduate course requirements for a master's degree are relatively few:

• Background in introductory or general psychology
• Experimental psychology with a laboratory course
• Statistics
• Undergraduate grade point average (GPA)

Course work at the master’s level often includes study in ethics, assessment, program evaluation, as well as personality-related topics. Some of the popular types of online and campus-based master's degrees in clinical psychology are listed below.

• Master of Arts (MA) in Clinical Psychology
• Master of Science (MS) in Clinical Psychology - Thesis Track
• Master of Science (MS) in Clinical Psychology - Practitioner Track
• Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology - Marriage and Family Therapy Emphasis
• Master of Science (MS) in Psychology

Some doctoral programs require applicants to have a master's degree in psychology. More commonly, students can enter the doctoral programs with a bachelor's degree and work directly on a doctoral degree. Earning a doctoral degree typically requires at least 4 years, with the average time to degree being closer to 7 years of study after the bachelor's degree.

Early in the graduate program, you can expect to do the following:

• Take course work in the core areas of psychology
• Work with a professor to learn how to do research
• Study how psychological research is applied to life situations

Once you have completed all course work, you must pass a comprehensive exam and write and defend a dissertation or other scholarly product. To become a professional clinical psychologist, you will also have to complete a 1-year internship in your area of practice.