Calculus needed?

[yiasouyianni]

How much do (PhD) clinical psych programs value calculus in an undergraduate applicant? Would not having it place you at a significant disadvantage? I understand the variability between programs but I'm trying to get a feel for the expectation grad schools have for non-stats math courses. Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[OneNeuroDoctor]

May help. I've known of students with a pre med curriculum with numerous science courses often gain admissions to doctoral clinical psychology programs. Undergraduate psychology curriculum is becoming more rigorous and dependent upon the reputation of the institution where you obtain your undergraduate degree, may have greater value than having higher mathematical aptitude.

Strange, but many who go onto Law School have a psychology BS degree.


Posted using SDN Mobile

 

[erg923]

How much do (PhD) clinical psych programs value calculus in an undergraduate applicant? Would not having it place you at a significant disadvantage? I understand the variability between programs but I'm trying to get a feel for the expectation grad schools have for non-stats math courses. Thanks!

An aptitude for quantitative reasoning/understanding, and skill is valued. Thus, advanced mathematics course such as calculus would "look good" I suppose (its not the calculus itself). Not no, this is never going to be a deal breaker either way.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

You won't be at a significant disadvantage, no. Part of it depends on how "under the hood" you want to get with advanced stats once you're in grad school (e.g., multivariate stats use things like matrix algebra), but you don't necessarily need to know all that to run the analyses.

Edit: From personal experience, I took calc I and II in college, and I don't remember it being mentioned at all in my interviews. Although there's always the possibility that it factored in to decisions to which I was not privy. Also, I took those classes during my Freshman year, so by the time I'd finally gotten to the grad school stage, I remembered pretty much nothing. Sigh.

 

[CheetahGirl]

This may be too far advance for you to consider at this stage, but if you favor the research component in clinical psychology, are interested in academics, and are interested in being a Statistics Teaching Assistant/future stats professor in a clinical psych program, then (as others above stated) having this analytic, quantitative understanding will only help you personally. Also (as others stated), it will not be a deal breaker but may make some of your unique abilities stand out. Also, it is always an advantage in a balanced clinical/research program to have stats be one of your strong points...makes things like coming up with research ideas 'more fun' because you will most likely not shy away from difficult stats (like say Structural Equation Modeling) that may serve your unique research ideas best.

Good luck!