Accelerated Masters: Psychological Science MA (Thesis)

(32 credits)

Department of Psychology – Accelerated 4+1 Master’s Degree

The Department of Psychology offers an accelerated Master’s degree in Psychological Science. This program allows you to combine your undergraduate degree in psychology with an M.A. in Psychological Sciences and to complete a Master’s degree in 5 years. Indiana State’s master’s program in Psychological Science combines a strong foundation in general psychology with extensive research experience in various areas of experimental psychology. Indiana State’s Master program in Psychological Science is designed primarily for students who intend to enter a doctoral program in one of psychology’s many experimental fields but are not yet prepared for that step. Consistent with this aim, our program emphasizes basic and experimental psychology and research experience in areas such as cognition, development, social psychology, and biopsychology. The program allows flexible tailoring of individual courses of study to meet the needs and career aspirations of students. The program is open to U.S. and international applicants who satisfy admission requirements.

The program’s main objectives are:

• To provide students with a strong foundation in the core areas of general psychology that will prepare them for entry into specialized doctoral programs; and
• To provide students with research experience in experimental psychology that will support their entry into careers utilizing research and statistical methods.

As a graduate student in psychology, your coursework will include study in core areas of general psychology combined with research in areas such as cognition, development, social psychology, and biopsychology. You will have the option of taking additional courses in such areas as liking and loving, evolutionary psychology, psychology of women and gender, cultural psychology, and ontogeny. A supervised research project or thesis is required. The program typically requires two years of study. Our program does not provide training for people interested in counseling or clinical psychology.

 

You would begin your senior year at ISU with dual enrollment in the undergraduate program and the Master’s Program. All applicants to Accelerated Graduate Programs are subject to usual graduate admissions procedures.

To be admitted, students must have completed at least 80% of the total credits needed to earn their undergraduate degree (e.g., 96 credit hours out of a 120-credit hour degree) by the start of their fourth year.

Students may be dual enrolled (undergraduate & graduate) for the last two semesters of their undergraduate degree. You must complete a dual enrollment agreement to be admitted during your senior year. Graduate Assistantships (GA, RA, TA, etc.) are not available to dual-enrolled students; to be a Graduate Assistant, students must have been awarded an undergraduate degree. While dual enrolled, student status will be undergraduate for the purposes of financial aid and registration and records.

Degree Requirements

As a senior you will have provisional graduate admission until the Bachelor’s degree is awarded with a final cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above.

The Master’s degree in Psychological Science requires a total of 32 credit hours. You may count up to 9 hours of 500-level courses in your first year toward both the undergraduate and graduate degrees. 500-level courses will be recorded on your undergraduate transcript and then transferred to the graduate transcript once the B.A./B.S. is awarded.

You will also be allowed to take up to 6 credit hours of 600-level courses during your senior year of undergraduate study. 600-level credits while dual enrolled will count only toward the graduate degree and will be recorded only on the graduate transcript.

Contact your academic advisor during your junior year if you are interested in the accelerated program. After you are accepted to the accelerated program, meet with your undergraduate and graduate advisors to plan your program of study for the Master’s degree.

1. Accelerated Graduate Programs require a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 at the time of admission.
2. To be admitted, students must have completed at least 80% of the total credits needed to earn their undergraduate degree (e.g., 96 credit hours out of a 120-credit hour degree) by the start of their fourth year.
3. Students must have completed at least 12 credit hours in psychology, including PSY 101: General Psychology and at least one other cognate course. They must also be on track to complete PSY 375: Statistics in Psychology and PSY 376: Psychological Research and Writing during their junior year.
4. Other admission requirements are the same for graduate admission to our program. These include:
   1. Two letters of recommendation are required. A third letter is allowable, but optional.
   2. Transcripts from all universities attended
   3. Personal statement
   4. If accepted, you must confirm your intent to continue at ISU.

See the following link for information on applying to the Master’s of Arts Program in Psychological Science: https://indianastate.edu/academics/academic-program-finder/psychology-general-ma-ms

Advantages of an Accelerated Master’s Program in Psychological Science

An accelerated Master’s Program will allow you to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in just five years. This not only saves you time to complete a graduate degree, but also money.

Having a Master’s degree increases your job opportunities after graduation. In addition, you will be able to begin your career sooner after completing the accelerated program than you would have otherwise.

 

See Graduate Catalog for more program information