ADP Prospective Students

Education

Applicants must have at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and a “B” average, or 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

GREs

We neither require nor will consider GRE General Test scores. The GRE Subject Test in Psychology is not required. However, we will accept and consider the GRE Subject Test score if the applicant falls into one of two situations:

1) the applicant does not have a degree in Psychology, or

2) the applicant’s GPA for the psychology degree is less than 3.20.

Submission of the Subject Test is not required in these situations but rather is an optional way the applicant may demonstrate preparedness to begin study in a doctoral program of Psychology.

Letters of Recommendation

In considering whom to ask for letters of reference, it is important that the reviewers address your potential for being successful in our program. Therefore, you should seek letters from people who can talk about you as a student (preferably a psychology student) or a researcher. Letters from people for whom you have worked when that work is unrelated to psychology will not be as heavily weighted.

• Three letters of recommendation (LORs) are required of all applicants.
• If an application is incomplete due to fewer than three LORs, the applicant will be notified of this by the Graduate Application software.

Personal Statement

As you write your personal statement, we ask that you consider and address the following items:

• Vocational Goals: Please describe your vocational goals after you receive your Ph.D. and how the Applied Developmental Psychology (ADP) program will help you achieve them.
• Prior Relevant Experiences: Please describe the research and professional experiences you have had that make you a good candidate for our program.
• Choice of Mentor(s): We use a mentor/mentee model in which incoming students work closely with an identified faculty member. Please list the ADP faculty members you would like to work with in order of preference (most listed first) and discuss your reasons for selecting them. If you have no preference or rank ordering, please state that.
• Other information: If you believe you have other pertinent information about yourself that you would like to share with us, please do so in this section.

The deadline for applications is December 1st, 2026 for Fall 2027. All original application documents must be sent directly to the UMBC Graduate School. Please do not send application materials to the Psychology Department as they will not be considered.

• For the current tuition rates for graduate students at UMBC, visit the Tuition and Expenses page on the Student Business Services website.
• For the current stipend levels for Graduate Assistants, visit the Stipend Levels page on the Graduate School website.
• We adhere to the Council of Graduate Schools April 15th Resolution. Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution.
• Student loan information is available through UMBC’s Office of Financial Aid.

College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Dean’s First-Year Fellowship.

For both the 2025 and 2026 incoming classes, the ADP program will select one incoming student to receive a special fellowship from the Dean’s office which will include a 12-month stipend (First-Year). All admitted students will be considered for this fellowship, which will be awarded on the basis of information provided in the admissions application and interview process.

Graduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (G-RISE)

The ADP program participates in UMBC G-RISE, which offers fellowship support and supplemental academic and professional development opportunities for highly qualified applicants. G-RISE is funded through a training grant from the National Institutes of Health and aims to prepare a diverse pool of scientists for careers in the biomedical research workforce.

Full-time enrollment is the standard in the Applied Developmental Psychology program. On rare occasions, students who already have a master’s degree in a related field will be accepted on a part-time basis.

December 1st, 2026 for Fall 2027 consideration.

We rarely, if ever, admit part-time students. We have found that such students do not have sufficient time to devote to their studies. Although some of our classes are offered in the evenings, many are offered during the early or late afternoon.

In addition, being successful in the program requires more than completing courses. Students must have sufficient time to be involved in research, which is quite time-consuming.

The GRE is not required for the current admission cycle.

Yes, although most of our students were psychology majors as undergraduates, we do admit students who did not major in psychology. Admission decisions are based on the applicant’s background, interests, and qualifications.

In some cases, applicants who do not have sufficient background in psychology are admitted provisionally, contingent upon successfully completing a specific course or two. Often such students are required to take an advanced undergraduate course in research design and analysis.

Possibly. When making decisions about whom to admit, one of the criteria we use is a match between a faculty member and the applicant’s area of interest. At times, we do not admit applicants who are highly qualified because there is no one on the ADP faculty whose interests are sufficiently similar to that of the applicant.

Apply online on the UMBC Graduate School‘s website.

• CV or Resumé
• Personal Statement
• Writing Sample (Optional)
• Transcripts of all prior coursework and degrees.
• Select up to two faculty members who will serve as the faculty mentor. Please see ADP Faculty to learn more about each faculty member’s research interests.
• 3 Letters of recommendation

Contact the Graduate Program Director, Dr. John Borrero at jborrero@umbc.edu.

If you have questions about a specific faculty member’s interests, contact that faculty member. Email addresses for individual faculty are available on the ADP Faculty website.