Our Students

Each year the Program receives several hundred completed applications. After a rigorous admissions process and review, a final class of approximately 15 students is selected. While some students enter the Program directly from undergraduate institutions, the majority of students are admitted after spending time in the field either doing graduate work at the Master's level or working in a mental health and/or psychology community for several years. Others enter the program following a career change, having completed additional preparatory work in psychology prior to acceptance. All applicants are expected to have worked in research and clinical settings in addition to completing required coursework and exams. The Program and University are committed to meeting all students' needs, including those with different abilities.

Students in the Program come from a broad spectrum of undergraduate institutions many of which are among the finest institutions in the country. Over the past years, students accepted into the program have scored well above the 75^th percentile on the verbal and quantitative sections of the General and Psychology Graduate Record Examinations. However, test scores alone are not sufficient to gain admission as many applicants have research and clinical experience that is noteworthy. An applicant's visit and discussion with faculty is essential for acceptance into the Program.

The Ph.D. Program has cultural and individual diversity as one of its core values. To that end the Program encourages aspiring minority scholars to apply.

Each entering class of students is trained by a core group of full-time Ph.D. faculty and clinical adjuncts. The faculty to serve as academic advisors, clinical supervisors and research mentors in an atmosphere of stimulating intellectual dialogues about both clinical and research phenomena. The diversity of the student body at the Brooklyn Campus and the Ph.D. Program's collaborative relationships with a variety of New York area training facilities enable students to develop their skills in a diverse multicultural learning environment. The Ph.D. Program prides itself on the attention given to its doctoral students and the supportive, intellectual challenging atmosphere that the Program is known for.

Students in the Ph.D. Program find the intellectual environment of the clinical and research training provided by the doctoral faculty to be supportive, exciting and challenging. Classes bond together in a healthy atmosphere of striving for excellence, and support for each student's attainment of excellence.

Students from the first and second year of training have offered the following comments about the Program:

“Students can expect support, direction, and leadership from core faculty at LIU Brooklyn.  Faculty time and attention is the rule for each doctoral student, not the exception.  Students often work with many advisors and have individual research, academic, and clinical supervisors from the core faculty, and are invited to work with any additional faculty with whom they share interests. They report that LIU provides a comprehensive curriculum emphasizing clinical experience as well as research development.  Faculty work well together to support students while providing training using a variety of therapeutic tools and representing an eclectic approach.  As a result, LIU graduates are well respected in the clinical field, displaying extensive knowledge in testing, therapy, as well as research."

"From (my visit) I felt the students were very open and intelligent, clinical training was exemplary and well-regarded. It was an accurate impression. I applied because of good impressions from (the visit), good location, great clinical opportunities, interesting cross-cultural research"

"I decided to apply because I started asking other clinicians about the program and went back to the website, looked again at the program definition and faculty bios and affiliations, and saw the descriptions about special support to minorities, and I realized this was the only program I had come across that gave substantial aid to minority students which to me reflected a true commitment"

"Decided I wanted to come here because of the visit - felt like the "right fit". Then I found out someone who I knew and respected was one year above me—which really confirmed the uniqueness of the program. Experience is consistently amazing and rewarding. Zero regrets or afterthoughts."

Inquiries about the program can be directed to individual faculty. However, a student is accepted into the Program in general. By the end of the first year, a student will begin working with a specific faculty member on research.

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