I will be accepting a new PhD student in the Department of Psychology for School Psychology doctoral program starting Fall 2028. Here you will find information about the School Psychology admissions criteria, including important application deadlines.

When reviewing prospective students’ applications, I am most interested in the goodness of fit between (1) their interests, experiences, and goals, and (2) our lab’s mission, our research focus, and my own strengths (and lesser strengths!) as a mentor.

Overall, applicants who are “good fits” tend to...

• Demonstrate commitment to our InterBeing Lab mission (found here). This commitment to this mission may be demonstrated through your past experiences (both research and applied) and your personal statement.
• Want to pursue a career in community-engaged mindfulness-based intervention research
•  Have interest (or experience) working with young children and parents, specifically, families from racial/ethnic minoritized backgrounds
• Have accrued independent research experience (e.g., by leading a senior thesis, research project, and/or first-authored posters, talks, or papers).
• More specifically, applicants with the following interests may be good fits to our lab:
• Mindfulness-related experiences (e.g., prolonged personal mindfulness practice; certified to deliver a MBI, such as MBSR)
• Extensive experienced working with parents with young children (e.g., childcare settings)
• Community-partnered research to optimize culturally tailored MBIs mental health interventions for historically minoritized and underserved groups (e.g., racial/ethnic minority parents with young children) 

As a mentor, I feel best-prepared to support students who are interested in careers that involve applied, clinical, intervention, and/or implementation and dissemination research. These areas include a wide variety of career paths, including academic faculty positions, e.g. in departments of psychology, education, social work, or public health; combined clinical-research careers, e.g. in academic medical centers; and non-academic careers in applied research or health policy.

You GRE score is not the only indicator of assessing your graduate application. I review your application as a whole, which includes you CV (past experiences), personal statement, and letter of recommendations. Your GRE score provides additional information about you but it does not dedict my decision.

No. Many factors can influence one’s GPA, including competing commitments (e.g., working part-time while in school), family obligations, and health challenges. Academic achievement is very important, but context is, too. If you believe your GPA does not reflect your potential as a future scientist, please (1) ask one of your recommenders to share more about your circumstances to help me holistically assess your achievements, or (2) provide this information in your personal statement.

No. You work hard on your application materials. The least I can do is read them! (And I do read all applications from those who indicate that I am their preferred mentor). I often start reading your personal statement, focusing on sections where you describe your fit with the InterBeing Lab and the work we do.

Your decision to email me (or not) will have no impact on your odds of receiving an interview invitation or an offer of admission. I generally cannot respond to individual queries about the lab prior to the admissions deadline due to the high volume of messages I receive from applicants. Please do not have my non-response is not an indicator of your admission likelihood and will have no impact on my review of your application materials.

Additionally, in the interest of fairness to all applicants, I am not able to review any aspect of your applications nor am I available for individual meetings with any applicants prior to the admissions deadline. If you have specific questions that are not addressed in this document or the InterBeing Lab website, and that will determine your choice to apply to the PhD program, please feel free to ask via email and I will do my best to respond.

My research focus on ensuring mindfulness-based interventions are accessible to families who may need it most, including those who are childrearing under high-stress conditions and experiences multiple contextual risk factors, such as economic hardship, elevated parenting stress, and parent mental health problems. This focus and goal is possible through our research with community partners and ensuring any mindfulness programs are and will continue to meet the parents’ needs. If you want to study family factors in the context of community-engaged mindfulness intervention development, evaluation, outcomes, or implementation, the InterBeing lab may be a good fit. If you want to study family relationships more broadly, e.g. how these relationships influence child development and/or mental health, our lab is still a good fit.

I find it helpful when applicants include the following in their personal statements:

1.  A clear statement of your general research interests and how they relate to our lab’s mission and work
2.     A clear statement of why you are interested in the InterBeing Lab, in particular, versus other labs that study community-engaged MBIs research, parenting, and racial/ethnic mental health equity
3.  A statement about your career goals (even if they are approximate/might change, it is helpful to see your thinking!)
4. Discussions of your independent research experience(s) and what you learned from them. In these discussions, I suggest emphasizing (1) the skills you developed from working on each project (e.g., data collection in Qualtrics; coding/running analyses; interviewing children/families; writing certain sections of a paper; submitting/presenting a poster), and (2) what your “takeaways” were from the project—e.g., new research ideas or questions your work inspired.

I aim to recruit School Psychology PhD students seeking rigorous training in both family intervention research and clinical practice. Our program balances both research and clinical focuses equally as we view both skill-sets informing each other in critical ways.

No.

There is no inherent advantage to naming multiple mentors of interest on your application. I closely review all applications on which I am listed as a first-choice mentor. In many cases, applicants to our lab do not list multiple mentors of interest. Listing multiple potential mentors may be appropriate if your interests and goals clearly bridge two faculty members’ research programs (as described in your personal statement)—and in rare cases, co-mentorship by two faculty members in the clinical area is possible.  Applicants whose interests and goals primarily match the InterBeing Lab do not gain an advantage by listing other faculty mentors on their application.

Detailed information on my approach to mentoring and expectations for trainees at all levels is available in our Lab Manual.

Yes! In fact, I encourage you to connect with them because they are experts on what it is like to work in my lab and with me! Their contact information can be found on this page.

Please feel free to use our current graduate students’ CVs as templates/examples!

See also:

•       “Dr. Karen’s Rules on the Academic CV,” The Professor is In by Karen Kelsey
•       “How to Write a Strong CV,” Association of Psychological Science
•       Example CV for clinical psychology applicants, University of Nebraska—Lincoln
•       How to Write a CV; Cover Letter; Difference between a CV & Resume—by Swarthmore

Starting Fall 2026,  USC Graduate School will require an application fee, but please check the USC Graduate Admission website to confirm the rates and costs.

McNair Scholars: I completed the McNair Scholars Program at Penn State University in 2010. This allowed me to get my application fee waivers to majority of the graduate schools I applied to when those schools also have a McNair Scholars Program (e.g., University of Nebraska-Lincoln).

Please note that my process to obtain certified letters to waiver your application fees may be different than what you need to do since I completed the process in 2013 (over 10 years ago!). For me, I contacted my PSU McNair Scholars program Director to have them write me a letter for each school I was applying to and would accept the application waiver. I actually gave them my list of schools in an Excel sheet. Lastly, I contacted each graduate school admission person to learn how to submit my waiver letter, too.

If you are admitted to the program, you will be offered funding through a Teaching Assistantship. Your funding mechanism may change over time  if I have research grant money to fund for research assistantships. However, the fundings for research assistantships varies and is context dependent on your interests and how it aligns with the funded research projects. 

 Below you will find fellowship database that some individual or their lab compiled:

• • John Hopkins University Fellowship List
  • Eva Lefkowitz’s HDFS Fellowship List

 Where else can I find information and guidance for my application process?

I recommend the following (non-exhaustive) resources that may be helpful in the application process:

• Your Application Year, a step-by-step guide for applying to Psychology PhD programs school provided by the Building Roads to Inclusion and Diversity in Graduate Education (BRIDGE) Psychology Network
• Getting Into Psych Grad School, provided by the Council of University Directors in Clinical Psychology. Fantastic guide from Directors of Clinical Training at Clinical Psychology PhD programs across the country.
• Harvard Psychology’s PhD Resources and Online Tips Page (PRO-TiP): see video 3 for responses to frequently asked questions on general PhD applications:
• Books

○ A Field Guide to Graduate School by Jessica Calarco—I wish I had this book when I applied to graduate school. Dr. Calarco breaks down the “hidden curriculum” of higher education. For example, what is a literature review? What are the differences in graduate programs? I highly recommend undergraduates interested in graduate school, planning on applying, or were recently accepted into a program to read this book. 

○ The Professor is In book by Karen Kelsey

• General Resources for Applying to Grad School
• Resources from the Pine Lab
• Free programs to review your graduate applications (e.g., assign you a mentor for the application process).

○ NextGen Psych Scholars Program

○ Yale Sneak Peek Program: Providing mentorship to recent undergraduate and graduates who are interested in an advance degree in psychology

○ Duke’s Anti-Racism Community holds annual virtual office hours to anyone applying to any PhD psychology program. Contact pnarc@duke.edu to find out when their next virtual hour will be held.

○ University of Virginia, Department of Psychology holds virtual panel for a FAQ session for potential applicants interested in pursuing a PhD in any field of psychology.

○ Dr. Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez’s REACH Lab started an initiative to provide feedback for applicants to PhD or PsyD programs in psychology. Email reach@utrgv.edu for more information.

○ Application Statement Feedback Program (ASFP)- provides “fast, constructive feedback and editing support for research/personal statements for PhD applicants in psychology, with an emphasis on underrepresented minorities and/or those who are not ‘in the know.’”

• Example of Writing Statements: for graduate applications & federal fellowships (NIH/NSF)-- Científico Latino
• Resources for International Students entering Clinical Psychology Programs
•  Additional Resources 1
• Additional Resources 2

 John Hopkins University Fellowship List

• Eva Lefkowitz’s HDFS Fellowship List

I recommend the following (non-exhaustive) resources that may be helpful in the application process:

• Your Application Year, a step-by-step guide for applying to Psychology PhD programs school provided by the Building Roads to Inclusion and Diversity in Graduate Education (BRIDGE) Psychology Network
• Getting Into Psych Grad School, provided by the Council of University Directors in Clinical Psychology. Fantastic guide from Directors of Clinical Training at Clinical Psychology PhD programs across the country.
• Harvard Psychology’s PhD Resources and Online Tips Page (PRO-TiP): see video 3 for responses to frequently asked questions on general PhD applications:
• Books

○   A Field Guide to Graduate School by Jessica Calarco—I wish I had this book when I applied to graduate school. Dr. Calarco breaks down the “hidden curriculum” of higher education. For example, what is a literature review? What are the differences in graduate programs? I highly recommend undergraduates interested in graduate school, planning on applying, or were recently accepted into a program to read this book.

○   The Professor is In book by Karen Kelsey

• General Resources for Applying to Grad School
• Resources from the Pine Lab
• Free programs to review your graduate applications (e.g., assign you a mentor for the application process).

○ NextGen Psych Scholars Program

○ Yale Sneak Peek Program: Providing mentorship to recent undergraduate and graduates who are interested in an advance degree in psychology

○ Duke’s Anti-Racism Community holds annual virtual office hours to anyone applying to any PhD psychology program. Contact pnarc@duke.edu to find out when their next virtual hour will be held.

○ University of Virginia, Department of Psychology holds virtual panel for a FAQ session for potential applicants interested in pursuing a PhD in any field of psychology.

○  Dr. Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez’s REACH Lab started an initiative to provide feedback for applicants to PhD or PsyD programs in psychology. Email reach@utrgv.edu for more information.

○   Application Statement Feedback Program (ASFP)- provides “fast, constructive feedback and editing support for research/personal statements for PhD applicants in psychology, with an emphasis on underrepresented minorities and/or those who are not ‘in the know.’”

• Example of Writing Statements: for graduate applications & federal fellowships (NIH/NSF)-- Científico Latino
• Resources for International Students entering Clinical Psychology Programs
•  Additional Resources 1
• Additional Resources 2

One of hardest decisions I have to make is deciding which applicants to interview and make offers to each year. There are many exceptional applicants and the competition for these doctoral positions may result in many well-qualified applicants reapplying to graduate school for more than one application cycle. I want to normalize this reality because it is often unspoken when you read the information about the graduate application process. There are strong graduate students who thrive in higher education who had to apply 1-3 cycles in a row to get into their program. Thus, it is important to talk to existing graduate students or form a network with other applicants so you can build your support system as you go through the graduate application process.

To offer some perspective, I received two interviews out of the 14 graduate programs I applied to in 2013. However, one interview was for a M.S. program, which was not my first choice since I wanted to pursue my doctorate. Additionally, I would more likely be funded if I was a doctoral student versus a master’s student. This was my personal experience, and I am certain you will have a thriving future, and the field will be fortunate to have you!

The deadline for graduate applications typically closes in December of each year, but please check the USC Graduate Website to confirm before you start applying so you do not miss the deadline. The School Psychology concentration typically hold a virtual full-day interview with prospective students in January the following year.

Presenting your research at academic conferences is highly recommended and for some faculty, it is a requirement for their students. Attending academic conferences has other benefits, including networking with other graduate students and faculty, and pre-conference workshops. These connections can benefit you throughout your academic career because they can manifest into research collaborations and publications. That being said, research conferences are not cheap (e.g., registration fees, printing poster presentations, travels, food, and etc.). The Department of Psychology offers each graduate student $500 per academic year to use towards their conference travels. There are other fundings graduate students can apply to offset these costs. Some faculty may have funding to support this cost, especially if your presentation is based on their research data.

I will try to cover at least the conference registration for my students. As my career progresses, obtaining bigger grants with larger research fundings, my goal is to fully fund my students’ travels to conferences when they are presenting research the InterBeing Lab conducted. Until then, I will try my best to help to capitalize on existing graduate student fundings to support the dissemination of your scholarship at conferences.