Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology - Clinical Psychology

The Stony Brook Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology began in 1966. Based on chair rankings in US News and World Report, it has been ranked among the very top clinical programs in the United States for the past several decades, and it has a long tradition of strong publication rates by both faculty and graduates (Mattson et al., 2005, Roy et al., 2006). In the 2020 US News and World Report rankings, the Stony Brook Clinical Psychology doctoral program was ranked 3rd in the country. The clinical program was among the first in the country to espouse the behavioral tradition in clinical psychology. Currently, the program retains its behavioral roots, but has evolved to encompass a broader set of perspectives that are oriented around an empirical approach to clinical psychology. Our goal is to graduate clinical scientists who approach psychological problems from an evidence-based perspective and who are also skilled clinicians. As such, students receive research and clinical training in a broad range of approaches. Our program is most suited to students who are interested in pursuing academic and research-related careers.

A. A bachelor’s degree with a major in psychology, or in a program providing adequate preparation for the intended area of study (ordinarily including statistics, research methodology, and/or psychology laboratory).

B. An average of 3.5 or better in all graded academic undergraduate coursework.

C. One official copy of all previous college transcripts, with certified English translations of any transcripts in a foreign language.

D. Letters of recommendation from three instructors or academic advisors.

E. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test is required by the Clinical, Cognitive Science, and Social and Health programs. The Integrative Neuroscience program does not consider GRE scores in making its admissions decisions. However, students who wish to be nominated for university fellowships should submit GRE scores. The subject GRE is not required by any program.

F. Students who do not meet the above requirements may also apply if they feel that special circumstances should be considered.

English Proficiency

IELTS: Overall score of 6.5, with no subsection recommended to be below 6; and TOEFL iBT: Overall score of 90 for doctoral applicants and 80 for master’s applicants.