The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission: Psychology, Counseling, and Related Professions (Complete Guide to Graduate School Admissission Psychology, Counseling, and Related Professions) [Hardcover]

Patricia Keith-Spiegel (Author), Michael W. Wiederman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0805831207 | ISBN-13: 978-0805831207 | Edition: 2

Should I go to graduate school? How do I choose where to apply? Are my grades and accomplishments good enough to get in? Who should I ask to write recommendation letters for me, and how should I approach these people? How do I write my "personal statement?" When will I hear my fate, and how should I make my final decision? These are just a few of the many questions to which this well-researched, thorough, and extremely user-friendly book offers answers. Students who are contemplating graduate training in psychology, counseling, and related fields are often apprehensive and confused about applying to graduate school, but this book takes the guesswork and anxiety out of the process.

The tone and features (such as the Q&A format, timeline for application-related tasks and activities, and special advice for special populations) that made the first edition so successful, eliciting hundreds of thank-you notes and e-mail messages to the author, are just as evident in this new edition. The book has been thoroughly updated to include coverage of new topics such as use of the internet and e-mail, as well as changing trends in the professions. The most obvious difference is that the book is now significantly shorter as a result of meticulous rewriting, making it even easier to use.

There have been attempts since the publication of the first edition to copy the format of this book, but none of the others have successfully duplicated the depth of research-based advice and the supportive style that make this book the guide of choice for thousands of graduate-school bound students and their advisors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is...a classic for students and faculty....I give the second edition...an unqualified "thumbs up" on several counts: organization, readability, content, and usefulness. This revision...definitely in step with graduate training in the 21st century...you will find this book to be thorough, accurate, and directly on target. Use it with the complete confidence that you and your students will benefit immensely."
—Contemporary Psychology

"Successfully maneuvering through the graduate school application process is one of the most daunting exercises many students will encounter. This book has been a sanity-saver both for perplexed students and their advisers since it was first published. In this new edition, the authors have streamlined the presentation of the material and added critical new information. The coverage of undergraduate preparation for graduate school, choosing candidate programs to consider, screening programs for their appropriateness for the individual's needs, and dealing effectively with the host of nuts-and-bolts issues entailed in applying to graduate school, is still excellent. The advice here might very well mean the difference between acceptance and rejection, making this book an absolute must for students who have any inkling that they might want to go on to graduate school--no matter what the stage of their academic careers, freshman to senior year--and for any faculty members who advise such students. Buy it; study it; use it. Quite literally, with no exaggeration whatsoever, this book has the potential to change lives."

—Patrick Cabe, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Pembroke

"I wish I could have had this book when I was thinking about applying to graduate school. The fear and anxiety that derive from not knowing what you need to do in order to apply to, and be accepted by, a graduate school are relieved by the practical, straightforward, positively stated advice and information offered by the authors. It should be required reading for any undergraduate psychology major who is contemplating graduate study. We owe it to our students to make certain that they know about this book and what it offers them."
—Jeff Bryson, Ph.D.
San Diego State University

"For the past 10 years I have been giving lectures across the country on getting into and succeeding in graduate school. I have found this book indispensable in that endeavor. This is a practical guide to both the student and the faculty advisor. The authors answer all of the relevant questions pertaining to graduate school (and, perhaps just as important, they ask questions many of us have never thought of). Students anywhere in the application process will benefit greatly from this prized revision."
—Joe Horvat, Ph.D.
Weber State University

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Psychology Press; 2 edition (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805831207
• ISBN-13: 978-0805831207
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,466,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia Keith-Spiegel, Ph.D., specializes in organizational integrity, decision-making, and resolution of ethical conflicts. Her work on social justice, professional ethics, dishonesty, moral hazards, and irresponsible behavior in organizations has resulted in three federally-funded grant projects from the Office of Research Integrity, the National Institutes of Health, and the Fund for Improvement in Postsecondary Education. Other sponsors for her work include the Kellogg Foundation (Excellence in Leadership Award), the 21st Century Foundation, and the George and Frances Ball Foundation. She served two terms as Chair of the Ethics Committee of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Keith-Spiegel regularly taught professional ethics and ethical leadership classes in her 35 years as a university professor and as the Director of the Center for Teaching Integrity at Ball State University, where she is the Voran Honored Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Emerita). She also taught at California State University, Northridge, where she was awarded the California State Trustee's Award for Outstanding Professor across all state university campuses and disciplines. She is also a recipient of the Distinguished Professor Award from the American Psychological Foundation. She was a visiting Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Visiting Professor and Senior Research Associate at Simmons College.

Keith-Spiegel served as President of the Western Psychological Association and as President of the Division of Teaching Psychology of the American Psychological Association. In 1994, she received the APA Distinguished Teaching Award (American Psychological Foundation).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good start, June 8, 2005

By 

Nicole Stettler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission: Psychology, Counseling, and Related Professions (Paperback)

This is definitely a book worth looking at, especially if you are just starting to look at the grad school application process. The Q&A format makes it easy to read, and the sections on timelines, personal statements, and C.V.s were pretty helpful.

Overall, though, I found it lacking in more specific, in-depth information. The APA's Getting In: A Step-By-Step Plan for Gaining Admission to Graduate School in Psychology is a much better source, especially if you are considering many highly competitive programs.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful, July 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission: Psychology, Counseling, and Related Professions (Paperback)

This book was a great help in telling you all the little things you need to consider when applying for graduate school. It also tells you how to go about the application process, from example letters requesting application materials, to how to write up your C. V. This book gave me the answers when no one else seemed to know and went over the niceties concerning the application process (how to decline an offer, should you visit, the importance of the appearance of your application). I know a lot of these things may appear to be insignificant, but when you're so stressed about getting in, why not do the most you can to improve your chances? You never know, and this book helped me through it. And I DID get in to my number one choice.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource that will answer all your questions, March 6, 2007

By 

Russell T. Warne - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission: Psychology, Counseling, and Related Professions (Paperback)

If you are like I was about a year and a half ago, you want to go to graduate school because it's the next logical step for a psychology major, but you don't know how to prepare yourself or what is important to have on a resume/vita. Moreover, you need a resource that has all the information you'll need in one place.

That resource is "The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission." For every step of the process, from getting research experience to accepting an offer from a school, this book will guide you along and prevent you from making catastrophic mistakes out of inexperience. I kept this book around for a year and a half, and referred to it often. As a result, I have been accepted into my top graduate schools, and have received a generous offer of financial aid.

Anyone interested in graduate school in psychology and its related fields of study will find this book useful, but the reader will reap the full range of its benefits by first being exposed to its material as a junior or sophomore in an undergraduate program.