Texas A&M University

Student life as an Aggie means Midnight Yells the night before every home football game, placing pennies on a campus statue for good luck and making friends among a diverse student body of almost 60,000 – and, of course, working hard and preparing for the future through one of Texas A&M University’s over 130 degree programs. From the four-day, student-run freshman orientation camp known as Fish Camp to the Elephant Walk, a symbolic procession of graduating seniors walking together around campus, a student’s four (or more) years in Aggieland can be full of life-changing experiences.

Texas A&M University is the oldest university in the state. Founded in 1876, the university is located on a campus of over 5,000 acres in College Station, Texas. Today, Texas A&M is one of the nation’s largest universities, and is ranked by the U.S. News and World Report among the top 100 universities in the country. Among the schools many highly respected programs, the departments of psychology and educational psychology are noteworthy for their variety of specialization tracks and their numerous opportunities for student research.

Texas A&M University Accreditation Details

Texas A&M University has been fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to bestow degrees at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels.

The American Psychological Association has accredited the Department of Psychology’s clinical psychology program and the Department of Educational Psychology’s counseling psychology and school psychology programs.

Texas A&M Application Requirements

Be sure to check with a Texas A&M admissions officer or visit the university’s admissions home page for up-to-date deadlines and requirements. Here’s what you’ll need to apply for admission:
Undergraduate

• Freshman applicants need to submit official high school transcripts, SAT or ACT scores and two essays on assigned topics.
• Transfer students need to submit official college transcripts and an essay on an assigned topic. 24 credits of transferable college coursework and a cumulative GPA of 2.5 are considered the minimum requirements for transfer admission.
• Apply early. Freshman applicants in particular should start planning application about a year prior to their intended start date. For incoming freshmen, Texas A&M begins reviewing applications for fall admission in August of the preceding year, and stops accepting applications that December. Transfer applicants have from January to March of the same year to apply for fall admission.
• Texas A&M suggests that interested students visit campus and attend an informational session before applying.

Graduate

• It is important to note that Texas A&M’s psychology programs do not offer terminal master’s degrees. Graduate students in the psychology programs must be seeking a Ph.D in order to be admitted.
• Graduate degree candidates should apply online using the ApplyTexas electronic application, and will also need to furnish GRE scores and official transcripts from every college previously attended.
• Letters of recommendation, statements of purpose and curricula vitae should be sent directly to the applicant’s intended department.
• For admission into Texas A&M’s doctoral psychology programs, a GPA of 3.5 and a GRE score of 1200 are considered minimum requirements. All applications to the psychology department’s graduate programs are due by December 1.
• For the Department of Educational Psychology’s school psychology and counseling psychology programs, completed application materials must be submitted by December 1. Admission to either of these programs requires an interview. The typical GPA of admitted students is a 3.0.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Undergraduate
The total yearly cost of attendance for an in-state, undergraduate student studying full-time at Texas A&M University is approximately $27,272 as of 2016. This includes tuition and fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books, travel and personal necessities.

Over 70 percent of Texas A&M students receive some type of financial aid. This may come in the form of loans, grants, work-study, waivers or scholarships. For Texas residents with a family income below $60,000 per year who meet eligibility requirements, Texas A&M has pledged to provide enough scholarships and grants to cover tuition costs (not including fees) through the Aggie Assurance program.

Graduate
As of the 2016-2017 academic year, Texas residents pay $6,918 in tuition and fees for full-time study at Texas A&M. Non-residents are charged $14,544.

Texas residents pursuing graduate study at Texas A&M are eligible for the need-based Texas Aggie Graduate Grant, an award of up to $1,500 per semester. Graduate students can also apply for graduate assistantships to help offset educational expenses. These generally require about 20 hours of work per week, and earnings are paid directly to the student rather than being counted toward financial aid packages.

All graduate students admitted into the Department of Psychology are awarded a assistantship or fellowship providing a monthly salary.

Psychology and Counseling Degrees at Texas A&M University

Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology
Undergraduate psychology students elect to complete either a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science degree. The psychology coursework requirements are the same for either, with the differences between the two residing in foreign language and physical/biological science requirements.

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Psychology majors start with a core of classes including elementary statistics and experimental psychology. On this foundation, students continue to build their own curricula by choosing courses from specified topic clusters, with options including abnormal, developmental or social psychology and psychology of learning or sensation and perception. A diversity credit, selected from classes like cross-cultural psychology, human sexuality or the psychology of stereotypes and prejudices rounds out the psychology major’s education. Texas A&M’s also psychology department encourages students to participate in undergraduate research, and provides ample opportunity to do so.

Department of Psychology Graduate Programs

Texas A&M’s Department of Psychology awards Ph.Ds in six areas of specialization: Behavioral and Cellular Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology, Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Social and Personality Psychology. Graduate students work with faculty in their area of specialization in conducting research. The student/faculty ratio for graduate studies is roughly 3:1.

Department of Educational Psychology Graduate Programs
The Department of Educational Psychology offers two doctoral psychology programs, one in counseling psychology and one in school psychology.

The Counseling Psychology program is designed to train counseling psychologists as scientist-practitioners who promote the health and well-being of their clients and their communities through theoretically based, empirically supported strategies and services. Doctoral candidates entering the program with a bachelor’s degree typically take about 5 to 6 years to complete all coursework before beginning their required one-year internship.

The School Psychology program prepares graduates to work with children and adolescents in a variety of private and institutional settings, including public schools, universities and community-based educational organizations. Degree candidates begin field experiences in public schools from their very first year of study, and all candidates are expected to join research teams with faculty mentors. Areas of educational psychology research at Texas A&M University include language and literacy acquisition, developmental disabilities and peer relationships among children.