DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAM

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Tel. No. 89282728 • psych.upd@up.edu.ph
www.psych.upd.edu.ph
Academic Year 2023-2024

Applying for an MA and Ph.D. in Psychology

The department’s graduate programs offer academic training towards both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in
Psychology.

The M.A. in Psychology program provides the necessary training to enable graduates to contribute
meaningfully to the discipline of Psychology. At this level, there are three distinct tracks that the student
may take:

1. General Psychology Track

2. Area of Concentration: Clinical Psychology
3. Area of Concentration: Industrial-Organizational Psychology

In the M.A. in Psychology (General Psychology Track), students follow a flexible curriculum that gives them
the option to take a variety of courses from different areas of Psychology or choose to focus on a specific
area of interest (i.e., Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology, Sikolohiyang Pilipino, and Personality
and Individual Differences). This gives the students an opportunity to explore different areas of
concentration in the field of psychology and higher level academic and research training.

In contrast to the General track, the MA in Psychology (Area of Concentration: Clinical Psychology) and
MA in Psychology (Area of Concentration: Industrial-Organizational Psychology) have more structured
curricula that provide the necessary training for practitioners in these fields.

The Ph.D. in Psychology program prepares students to assume leadership roles in further development of
Psychology in the country. With more rigorous training in a specific area in Psychology, students may
choose from the following areas of concentration:

1. Clinical Psychology
2. Developmental Psychology
3. Social Psychology
4. Personality and Individual Differences
5. Sikolohiyang Pilipino

Additional information on each area of concentration can be viewed here.

Anyone with a BA or BS degree from a CHED accredited college or university may apply for admission.
Applicants who hold a bachelor's degree in fields other than Psychology, or those who earned their
undergraduate degree in Psychology from schools other than the University of the Philippines Diliman may
be required to enroll in some undergraduate courses in Psychology. Applicants should note that our
graduate classes are typically scheduled from 5:30-8:30 P.M. on weekdays. Only a few classes are
scheduled on Saturdays (9:00-12:00 or 2:00-5:00). Working applicants who are accepted into the graduate
program should therefore be prepared to make adjustments in their work schedules.

1
UPDDP Graduate Program Application Procedure
 DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAM
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Tel. No. 89282728 • psych.upd@up.edu.ph
www.psych.upd.edu.ph
Academic Year 2023-2024

Application Procedure

To apply for admission to the program, please:

1. Accomplish the forms in the Application Package. The Application Package includes the following:
a. Online Application Procedure
b. Application Checklist
c. Application Form
d. Recommendation Form

You may fill in your name in the recommendation form/s before sending it to your recommenders.

2. Submit the completely filled-out application forms through this Google Form along with the
following documents:
a. Passport size photo 3.5cm x 4.5cm, white background (JPG and PNG File is accepted).
b. Transcript of records (PDF Format Only)
c. Certificate of GWA/GPA or equivalent (PDF Format Only)
d. For foreign applicants: TOEFL Score

Applicants who are only in their senior year for their undergraduate degree should submit a
transcript without their final semester’s grades. Note, however, that admission to the program will
ultimately depend on successful completion of the undergraduate degree.

Please submit all of your application documents in Portable Document Format (PDF), except for
your recommendation forms, which your recommenders will submit by themselves through a
separate form. We will email you to send the STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT once we receive your
complete requirements.

Kindly change the file names to SURNAME_INITIALS_*Document*

Example:
1. DELACRUZ_JPP_Checklist.pdf
2. DELACRUZ_JPP_ApplicationForm.pdf,
DELACRUZ_JPP_ASOP.pdf
3. DELACRUZ_JPP_IDPhoto.jpg
4. DELACRUZ_JPP_TOR.pdf
5. DELACRUZ_JPP_CGWA.pdf
6. DELACRUZ_JPP_TOEFL.pdf

3. Ask two professors and/or employers to submit their recommendations (using the recommendation
form included in the Application Package) directly to the Department through this link. If the link is
inaccessible, the recommender may send the recommendation directly to psych.upd@up.edu.ph
with the email subject Recommendation_Applicant Name (example: Recommendation_Dela
Cruz, Juan).

Note: APPLICANT MUST NOT SUBMIT THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THEIR

PROFESSOR/EMPLOYER OR IT WILL RENDER THE RECOMMENDATION INVALID.

4. Once we have confirmed your complete documents, we will send you an email with a Statement of
Account (SOA) to pay for the application fee.

For foreign applicants, the application fee is $25. For Filipino applicants, the application fee is P100.

2
UPDDP Graduate Program Application Procedure
 DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAM
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Tel. No. 89282728 • psych.upd@up.edu.ph
www.psych.upd.edu.ph
Academic Year 2023-2024

Application Flow

Submission

Applications are accepted on a YEARLY basis. For AY 2022-2023, applications are accepted from 29 November 2022,
Monday, to 17 February 2023, Friday. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, submissions will be purely online through
this Google Form. We will send a Statement of Account via email once we have received all the documents from
each applicant and recommendation forms from referees. Only complete applications with proof of payment will
be evaluated by the Admission Committee.

Acceptance

Applications are reviewed by the Graduate Admission Committees in the second quarter of the year. In some cases,
applicants may be asked to do an online interview and/or submit a research concept note during this period. Results
of the deliberations are sent out by the second week of June. All decisions regarding acceptance to the program
will be final. No appeals will be entertained. If you do not hear from the department by then, follow-up inquiries
should be made by phone or by email.

Those accepted into the program should let the Department know by the end of June whether they intend to enroll
in the next school year.

In case you get accepted in the program, these are the requirements you may prepare in advance for the admission
process:
1. Original and Photocopy of PSA Birth Certificate (or equivalent for foreign applicants)
2. Original and Photocopy of PSA Marriage Contract (for married women)
3. Original and Certified True Copy of Official Transcript of Records (OTR/TOR)
4. Transfer Credential/Honorable Dismissal (for non-UP graduates)
5. For applicants whose native language is not English and/or who come from an Institution where the medium
of instruction is not English: Certification of English language proficiency with TOEFL score of: Internet based
- 61 or better; Computer based - 173 or better and for Paper based - 500 or better; or IELTS score of 5.5
3
UPDDP Graduate Program Application Procedure
 DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAM
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Tel. No. 89282728 • psych.upd@up.edu.ph
www.psych.upd.edu.ph
Academic Year 2023-2024

Deferment

A student may choose to DEFER enrollment. A written request for such a deferment should be submitted to the
Chair, Department of Psychology. The deadline for receiving such requests will be the first day of classes for the first
semester. Failure to respond by this date will be taken as a sign of disinterest and acceptance/admission to the
program will be withdrawn. Deferments are valid for only a year. Failure to enroll after a year result in the student
being dropped from the list of accepted applicants. Should students decide to pursue graduate studies afterwards,
they would have to reapply to the Department and their applications will be evaluated together with those of the
current batch of applicants.

All further inquiries regarding the graduate program in Psychology should be addressed to:
Louella Barra Orillaza, Ph.D. (The Chairperson) through psych.upd@up.edu.ph.

4
UPDDP Graduate Program Application Procedure