Letter of Intent Guidelines

The application must include a detailed letter of intent describing the applicant’s interest and purpose in studying Clinical-Community Psychology, including the reasons why a Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology is sought at this point in the applicant’s professional development. 

As a second part of the Letter of Intent, please answer the following questions on separate paper. Be sure to put your name on all pages. Number your responses to correspond with the questions and please type your responses single-spaced. Limit your responses for each question to the number of pages indicated below. 

NOTEUploaded your Letter of Intent directly within your Online Application portal.

  1. Clinical and/or Community Psychology experience (maximum of one page) Please describe your professional and paraprofessional Clinical or Community Psychology experiences. For clinical experience, for example, describe time spent providing individual or group psychotherapy, volunteer or practicum experience in a mental health setting, or prior training experience. For community experience, for example, describe time spent working in community agencies (volunteer or paid), community organizing experience, or prior training experience. For each experience, indicate how much time was involved and whether it was paid or volunteer. Describe the nature and frequency of the supervision you received. If you have no experience, please explain your interest(s).
  2. Research experience (maximum of one page) Please describe your research experience, indicating the following: 1) settings in which it occurred; 2) primary populations studied; 3) your responsibilities (e.g., data collection, observation, coding, design and planning, instrument development, data analysis, report preparation); 4) length of time involved in each research project; 5) nature and frequency of supervision; and 6) description of presentations or publications that may have resulted from the research. You are encouraged to submit abstracts or preprints/reprints of publications and presentations. If you have no research experience, please explain your interest(s). In addition, please indicate two faculty members listed on the program website as Core Faculty as individuals you would be interested in working with or being mentored by and why.
  3. Indigenous and Rural Psychology Emphasis (maximum of two pages) This Ph.D. program has an emphasis on Indigenous and Rural Psychology. Please describe how this emphasis meets your professional and personal interests and how this emphasis will help advance your professional goals. Include a description of your goals.  Describe your current understanding of the ways in which this emphasis is relevant to the practice and science of Psychology.
  4. Personal Statement (maximum of two pages) Please write a personal statement in which you tell us the significant life experiences and people that have shaped your career choice, the impact of your clinical and community experiences thus far, your special interests, and your personal goals as a psychologist (as both practitioner and scholar), including your desired location of practice. In addition, feel free to tell us anything that you would want us to know about you that may assist us in making admission decisions.