How difficult is it to get into each of these schools, from LEAST difficult to MOST difficult??
List of schools:
USC
UCSD
UC Davis
UC Berkeley
CSUSF
SJSU
SDSU
No idea but I am sure it would depend on the graduate degree and department in question.
Depends on your major and your qualifications but most would agree that Berkeley is the most selective.
It sounds like “what’s the cheapest vehicle to buy?” Do you want a sedan? a coupe? an SUV? a pickup truck? an 18-wheeler? diesel? electric? hybrid?
What “graduate” degree? What field? PhD? MA/MS? Some offer PhD programs, some don’t. Some don’t offer terminal MA/MS for some majors.
It doesn’t matter if the school is easy to get into if it doesn’t offer what you want to study.
These are the schools that offer the specific Masters/PhD programs I want to get into. I/O psychology / applied psychology, by the way.
Quite frankly, this is the wrong question. It sounds like what you are looking for is acceptance rates, but those don’t necessarily tell you your likelihood of admission. One of the most competitive schools/programs might be an excellent fit for you, and you may have an easier time getting in there than a school with a higher acceptance rate but that is less of a good fit. Your own chances of admission depend upon your research interests, your credentials, and your fit with the department.
Also, for a PhD program, you shouldn’t be limiting yourself geographically to California. Your best fit advisor/program might be in Illinois or Georgia or New York or wherever.
Also, I’m not seeing where you see an I/O or applied psychology program for UCSD, UC-Davis, or UC-Berkeley. The only UC with a program like I/O is at UC-Irvine (organizational leadership). The Society for I/O Psychology has a list of programs: http://www.siop.org/ioprograms.aspx. SFSU maybe that’s what you meant by CSU-SF?), CSU-San Bernardino, CSU-Sacramento, and CSU-Long Beach all have programs, too.
To answer your direct question: ranked by difficulty of admission:
UC Berkeley
UCSD
USC
UC Davis
SDSU
SJSU
SF State
Of course, the Cal States don’t offer PhD if that is your objective.
I’m interested in Masters programs, specifically
Forgot to specify, but I’m interested in Berkeley’s business school for marketing (http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Phd/academics/marketing/index.html)
You’re right about UC Davis. But for UCSD…I saw this:
“California State University, San Diego/UC San Diego
(619) 594-5359 http://www.psychology.sdsu.edu/new-web/gradprograms.htm
PhD in Clinical Psychology
MA in Psychology, MS in Applied Psychology (Industrial/organizational and Program Evaluation)”
In this PDF: http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/undergraduate/psychology-major/undergraduate-forms/psychology-graduate-programs-ca
I guess the PDF is old?
I won’t be graduating until 2018, so these are just a few prospective schools. Obviously I’m not limiting myself to California, I just haven’t looked at other schools yet.
The PDF has an error in representation - or at least is written in a way that promotes misunderstanding. The PhD program in clinical psychology at SDSU is a joint program with UCSD. SDSU also has two separate master’s programs in psychology - an MA program geared at preparing students for PhD programs in psychology, and an MS program with an industrial/organizational track (and a program evaluation track). As far as I can tell from both universities’ websites, UCSD has nothing to do with those two programs - SDSU doesn’t mention UCSD on the master’s degree pages, and UCSD doesn’t mention them at all on their departmental website.
So SDSU has an I/O MS program, and UCSD doesn’t?
Regarding SDSU and doctoral programs, and the confusion regarding the SDSU/UCSD program – When California created the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960, they instituted some strong boundaries for the UC & CSU systems. Originally, only the UCs could award doctoral degrees, but a CSU could create a PhD program in conjunction with a UC or qualified private university. The two universities would then offer a joint degree for that particular program. This was only for PhD programs. CSUs could create their own Master’s degree programs, but the PhD programs had to be with a UC/private university. In the past ten or so years, as the demand for/prestige of some of the CSUs increased, the powers-that-be have allowed CSUs to offer a few PhD programs on their own.
SDSU currently has 20+ doctoral programs (both exclusively and with UCSD/other universities.) Four CSUs now offer PhD programs - SDSU, Fresno, SFSU, and Fullerton. SDSU has had these programs for many, many years, which is why they have been ranked as a US News & Report “National” university. In the last year or so, Fresno, Fullerton, and SFSU have been moved up to “National” universities in the same survey due to the addition of their doctoral programs. The rest of the CSUs are considered Regional Universities (West) by US News & Report.
Yes.