Apply

Thank you for your interest in the UCLA Department of Psychology’s Health Psychology Graduate Program.

UCLA’s Psychology Department offers the Ph.D. degree, a five-year, full-time course of study. Students seeking a terminal M.A. degree, or limited or part-time status, are not considered. The degree is granted in eight specialty areas, one of which is Health Psychology. You may apply to only one area. The Fall 2024 deadline for Departmental applications and supporting materials (e.g., letters of recommendation, transcripts) is December 1, 2024 for Health Psychology applicants.

The following faculty are accepting new students for the 2025-2026 academic year: Julienne Bower, Theodore Robles, Jennifer Sumner, Janet Tomiyama, and Patrick Wilson.

The UCLA online Application for Graduate Admission needs to be completed in order to be considered for admission into the graduate program. The UCLA Application for Graduate Admission can be found here.

Candidates applying for Fall 2025 admission must submit the following material through the online Application for Graduate Admission:

• Three letters of recommendation (preferably from research psychologists).
• Unofficial transcripts from all colleges/universities you have attended.

Please note that if you are recommended for admission and decide to accept the offer, you must submit final, official copies of your transcripts for final approval of your admission by Graduate Division’s Graduate Admissions Office. Any discrepancies between the unofficial and official transcripts could lead to withdrawal of an offer of admission. International applicants must upload copies of original and translated international transcripts per the country- or educational system-specific guidelines here.

• A Statement of Purpose. The Health Psychology Area Admissions Committee is very interested in your research experience and what kind of research you want to conduct in your graduate training that is relevant to health psychology
• International students must also submit a TOEFL score and a Financial Statement. Official TOEFL scores must be received from ETS by the application deadline.

In light of challenges posed by COVID-19, both the GRE General Test and the Psychology Subject Test will be optional for students submitting applications to our program in 2025 (i.e., for entry in Fall 2025). That is, students who wish to apply for admission to our graduate program for the 2025-2026 academic year are not required to take the GRE or submit a GRE score report as part of their application. However, students may voluntarily submit GRE test scores and they will be reviewed as part of the holistic application consideration. The applications with GRE test scores will not be given greater weight than those that do not include scores.

Interviews are required for admission to the Health Psychology PhD program. More details about interviews will be forthcoming in early 2025.

Candidate evaluations are handled by Faculty Area Admission Committees. Over each of the past three years, Committees across the department reviewed 799 to 857 applicants to form incoming classes of 37 to 40. As with any graduate program, GPA is important. The average overall undergraduate GPA for the past three years’ incoming classes is 3.74. University policy holds that an applicant must have a minimum GPA of B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale)—or its equivalent if the letter grade system is not used—in undergraduate study or in graduate level study, if any.

Very careful consideration is also given to your Statement of Purpose, research experience, and letters of recommendation. An outstanding record in one of these areas—especially demonstrated achievement in research endeavors—may compensate for less outstanding performance in another. The Department seeks a diverse student body. The program gives special attention to applicants who may contribute to the social or cultural diversity of our student body.

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Emilia Ninova at gradadm@psych.ucla.edu.

For questions about the Health Psychology program, please contact Prof. Julie Bower (Health Area Chair) at jbower@ucla.edu or Prof. Jennifer Sumner (Health Area Admissions Chair) at jsumner@psych.ucla.edu. We look forward to receiving your application.