Application Deadline
All application materials must be received by December 1, 2026 for consideration. Students are admitted for the following Fall semester and on a full-time basis only.
It is anticipated that all interviews will be conducted on Zoom on Monday, January 25, 2027 and Wednesday, January 27, 2027. In order to facilitate equal consideration of all applicants, no in-person visits for any applicants will be available, nor will Zoom interviews be conducted on any other dates.
Please see the Applicant Brochure for full details on our PhD program in Clinical Psychology and application instructions - Applicant Brochure 
Program data with Tables reporting Time to Completion, Program Costs, Internship Data, Student Attrition and Licensure rate are available here - Program Data
Application Requirements
Applicants must submit all materials through the UM-St. Louis online application system. To apply, go to Applications. This application begins your official record to which all of your supporting materials are added.
You will need ready access to the following information while completing the application: permanent address, attendance and graduation dates of previous colleges, and emergency contact information, and Psychology undergraduate GPA, if applicable.
As part of the application, you will name between 1 and 3 clinical faculty whose research interests are a good match to yours. Within your personal statement, you should also indicate the names of those clinical faculty members (up to 3) whose areas of research interest overlap you’re your own interests and why.
Write a statement of purpose that provides a statement of your career objectives and interests in clinical psychology, including a description of the experiences that have prepared you specifically for doctoral level work. In addition, the UM-St. Louis is committed to supporting the diversity of the graduate student body and promoting access and opportunity in higher education. You may include educational, cultural, social, familial, geographical, and economic opportunities and disadvantages that you may have experienced, and ways those experiences have affected the development of your career plans and graduate school goals. You may also include ways that you have initiated or participated in outreach and services designed to further educational, cultural and/or economic equity. Within your personal statement, you should also indicate the names of those clinical faculty members (up to 3) whose areas of research interest overlap you’re your own interests and why. Past statements of purpose have been between 1-3 pages.
Applicants are encouraged to consult with their faculty advisors/mentors in the preparation of a CV.
Applicants are required to submit a sample of written work with their application. This could include a paper for an undergraduate or graduate course, or a peer-reviewed manuscript in which you are listed as a first author. Publications in which you are a co-author are very much valued; however, they will not be considered as satisfying this application requirement.
In addition to submitting an official transcript to UM-St. Louis (see below), we ask that applicants upload unofficial copies to begin processing of applications more quickly.
You will need 3 letters of recommendation from professors and other research and clinical supervisors who can comment in detail about your qualifications for graduate study in clinical psychology and who have agreed to serve as professional references. You will input their name, title, organization, and contact information into the portal. Once submitted, notification requests for recommendations will be sent directly to the letter writers. Note: Requests for recommendations are independent of submitting the application and can be entered before the application is finalized.
The Graduate School requires transcripts from every college or university you have attended for undergraduate or graduate work. Official transcripts must be sent electronically via eScript-Safe, Parchment, or Clearing House to gradadm@umsl.edu. For a transcript to be considered official it must be transmitted directly from the issuing institution to UMSL. If your college/university does not offer an electronic option, please use the mailing addresses listed in the admissions brochure.
Our program has made the GRE General Test optional. You are NOT required to submit GRE scores, and applications without GRE scores will be given full consideration. Please know that we do not view the lack of GRE scores negatively. No application will be dinged in the review process by not including GRE scores. However, if an applicant has taken the GRE and feels their inclusion would enhance their application, they may choose to submit them, and they will be considered by the application.
International applicants need all documents required for domestic applicants listed above. In addition, please see the applicant brochure for specific instructions around submitting transcripts for undergraduate degrees completed outside of the United States, and for whether you need to submit an official TOEFL or IELTS score. See International Admissions for more details.
The application fee for domestic applicants is $50 and $40 for international applicants. If you have previously applied for graduate study at UMSL, you do not need to pay the application fee again. All applicants are automatically considered for graduate assistantships and fellowships without any separate forms.
