Ph.D. FAQ's
For the Behavioral Neuroscience, Social and General Experimental Tracks, students are expected to take coursework, participate in seminars, assist faculty in on-going research, develop independent research skills and gain teaching experience and expertise.
For the Clinical Track, students are expected to take coursework, participate in seminars and clinical practicum, assist faculty in on-going research, develop independent research skills and gain teaching experience and expertise.
The Behavioral Neuroscience, Social and General Experimental Tracks are designed so that the requirements can be completed in four years, though some students may take five years or longer to complete their individual program of study.
The Clinical Track is designed to be completed in six years. Students are on-campus for five years and complete an APA-accredited internship in their sixth year.
For the Behavioral Neuroscience, Social and General Experimental Tracks, the program is designed to concentrate coursework during the first three years of study, leading to the qualifying exam. Upon successfully passing the qualifying exam, students are admitted to doctoral candidacy, where course demands are minimal.
For the Clinical Track, the program is designed to concentrate coursework during the initial four years of study, with minimal course demands in years five and six.
For the Behavioral Neuroscience, Social and General Experimental Tracks many students spend their first year in the program initiating independent research. This research is designed to lead to a Master of Arts (MA) degree during the student's second year, following their thesis research and a successful thesis defense. Completion of a Master's degree is not required but strongly encouraged. Upon successful completion of required coursework, third-year students are eligible to apply for doctoral candidacy.
For the Clinical Track, students begin conducting research in their mentor’s lab in Year One and they continue this work in the lab throughout the duration of the program. In Year One, students also help complete intakes in the Baylor Psychology Clinic and serve as a course TA. Students begin the multi-step Comprehensive Examination in the Year One and complete it in the Year Three. In Years Two and Three, students complete an external practicum placement. They earn their Master’s degree in the Year Three of the program and are expected to propose their doctoral dissertation by September 1st of Year Five in the program. Students complete an APA-accredited internship in the Year Six of the program.
For the Behavioral Neuroscience, Social and General Experimental Tracks the program has 30 full-time students, and we expect future enrollment to increase. There are 18 core and 11 auxiliary faculty from Psychology, Biomedical Studies, Neuroscience, Nursing, Medicine and Statistics.
The Clinical Track is new and will be admitting two students to begin in the 2027-2028 academic year. As the new track scales up, the program anticipates admitting six students per year in each incoming cohort.
Research interests vary widely. For the Behavioral Neuroscience, Social and General Experimental Tracks, many of the faculty have behavioral interests, including animal learning, personality and impulsive/aggressive behavior, substance use and memory and cognition. Others have interests in the more molecular aspects of neuroscience, such as psychopharmacology, electroencephalography and teratology. For the Clinical Track, faculty have interests in anxiety, health behaviors, temperament development, parent mental health, pediatric psychology, sports psychology, sleep, mind-body medicine, and virtue development. Many faculty have overlapping interests and collaborative research among different faculty laboratories is common.
Though admission decisions and funding decisions are considered separately, most students receive full support (see financial support page for specific details). This funding support is granted for one year, with no guarantee of future funding (continued funding is based on availability of resources and academic standing). However, a student in good standing can reasonably expect full funding support for the duration of a reasonable (e.g., five year) term of study. However, a student in good standing can reasonably expect full funding support for the duration of the program (up to five years).
The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience has been a leader on the Baylor University campus with respect to capitalizing on new teaching technologies. Therefore, our classrooms are equipped with state of the art multimedia teaching resources. Continuing our commitment to quality resources, Baylor University completed the construction of a new science building, valued in excess of $100 million dollars, in June of 2004. This facility has state of the art classrooms, laboratories, and animal care facilities. Our commitment to outstanding pedagogical skills is also reflected by the fact that a substantial part of the Ph.D. Program in Psychology at Baylor University is built around exploiting these new teaching resources through formal instruction and hands-on teaching.
Students seeking a terminal Master's Degree are not admitted as our program only admits students who are intent on pursuing the Ph.D. However, as previously stated, for the Behavioral Neuroscience, Social and General Experimental Tracks, students are encouraged to earn their Master of Arts (MA) degree in Psychology by proposing, completing and defending a Thesis, usually in their second or third year of study. For the Clinical Track, students earn a Master’s degree in their third year in the program. Occasionally students admitted to the Doctoral Program leave before completing all of the work required for the Ph.D. In those exceptional cases, students may be given the opportunity to complete a Terminal MA in Psychology, which may or may not require completing and defending a Thesis.
The successful applicant will have a Bachelor degree or equivalent; minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale; three letters of recommendation; a personal statement of interest; and an expressed area of academic/research interest that is compatible with those of faculty. For the Clinical Track, applicants are also required to complete at minimum 12 hours of Psychology coursework prior to application. The application deadline is December 1 (11:59 p.m. ET) each year. LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE REVIEWED, although the Baylor Graduate School allows late submissions.