Applicant Info

Thinking about applying here for graduate school? We are particularly strong in the areas of stereotyping, prejudice, emotion, morality, cultural psychology, positive psychology, affective forecasting, counterfactual thinking, implicit cognition and social cognition more generally. Here are some reasons to go ahead and apply:

• Our area is known for being extremely collegial and supportive. Graduate students are all fully funded, and are encouraged to collaborate with two or more faculty members during their time here.
• Our whole department is strong, and students are also encouraged to work with faculty members in other areas.
• We have a large participant pool, and a large pool of very talented undergraduate research assistants, making it easy for graduate students to be highly productive.
• The University of Virginia is consistently ranked (or tied) as the best public university in the United States. It is an intellectually vibrant and architecturally uplifting place, founded by Thomas Jefferson. (He takes no responsibility for the appearance of Gilmer Hall.)
• Charlottesville is a lovely place to live and work. As a college town it has far more amenities than its size would lead you to expect. We are blessed with an ample supply of live music, used book stores, and excellent restaurants. We are 20 minutes away from the Blue Ridge mountains, with some of the best hiking and most spectacular views east of the Rocky Mountains. And we are just two hours drive South of Washington, DC.

In each admissions cycle we usually receive 40-60 applications and offer admission to 6-8 people. Successful applicants usually have excellent grades, excellent GRE scores, outstanding letters of recommendation, and undergraduate research experience. However we evaluate each applicant on an individual basis, and we encourage students with unusual backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from minorities and other underrepresented groups.

We accept students only for the Ph.D. program, not for a master's degree. We train students to become independent researchers, and most of our students go on to hold research positions in academe, government, or private industry.

To get application materials and apply online click here.