Publisher:  American Psychological Association

Every year thousands of students decide to pursue a career in psychology. Graduate schools throughout the United States and Canada receive many more applicants than they can accommodate. Managed care has reduced the demand for psychologists in some settings. If you are considering a career in psychology, then you should consider a book published regularly by the American Psychological Association called Graduate Study in Psychology.

The version of Graduate Study in Psychology that I reviewed was published in 1998 and then revised in 1999. All graduate schools in North America were invited to contribute if they were regionally accredited. Most graduate schools participated and provided information. The American Psychological Association has been publishing this book for over 30 years. I can recall in 1976 using this book as the starting point to explore graduate programs.

Graduate Study in Psychology is indispensable for those who are considering graduate school. In no other place can you find all of this information for this many schools assembled side by side. This book allows you to view statistics on programs and degrees offered, application information, student information, degree requirements, admission requirements, tuition, housing and day care, financial assistance, and other relevant information from almost every school in North America. By getting this broad overview, you will be able to narrow in on those schools in you are most interested in area. You can then write for more information, or visit the program's website if it has one.

This book depends on information submitted by the various schools. For this reason you should also talk to students who attend the programs you are most interested in to get a sense of how they like their program. This book excels as a way to compare different programs. Once you have narrowed your options you can write to the programs that interest you the most.

Graduate Study in Psychology is extremely well-organized. The 1999 supplement information is at the beginning of the book. This is a good arrangement, in my opinion. The latest information comes first, and then you're able to a to view the 1998 information which is more comprehensive. Many such updates appear only at the end of books, and many readers never get to the updates. By presenting the new information up front Graduate Study in Psychology allows you to see what changes have taken place in the last year.

It appears that the authors to a good job of correcting a few typos in this new section. I looked at an entry for a program that I'm associated with, at the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, and found that a small error listing the schools participating in the program had been corrected.

Graduate school is a huge investment of time and energy. Buying this book as you get started is a very small investment that is likely to pay off in the future. I strongly recommend Graduate Study in Psychology for any college student who is considering graduate school in psychology.

Leonard Holmes, Ph.D., your Guide for Mental Health Resources