Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Curriculum

Formal requirements for the M.A. degree in industrial/organizational psychology are the satisfactory completion of 36 points (at least 27 at New York University and at least 18 in the Psychology Department), and either a written comprehensive examination or, with special permission, a master's thesis.

In addition, (1) all core courses must be taken at NYU in the Psychology Department, and (2) students must earn a grade of at least B in all core courses.

All of the courses in the M.A. program are 3 points each, so 12 courses must be taken. Students may take anywhere between one and four courses each semester. The program is expected to take two years to complete in most cases, but can be completed a little sooner for full-time students (especially if some courses are taken during the summer session), or somewhat later for those working full-time. A student who has completed all course work, but must stay enrolled to take the comprehensive examination or complete a thesis, must pay a matriculation fee each semester until graduation. A maximum of five years from the date of first registration is allowed for completing the degree.

Basic course requirements (all of the following are required for all students, and must be completed within the first two semesters of the M.A. program):

Introductory Course: G89.2032 Intro to I/O Psychology. Only if a student has taken a very similar, graduate-level course at another institution can this requirement be waived.

Statistics: G89.2016 Intermediate Master's Statistics. In special cases, G89.1016 (Introductory) or a doctoral course may be substituted.

Research: G89.2067 Applied Research Methods. In special cases, another research course may be substituted.

Core Course requirements (two courses must be taken from each core):

The above requirements allow for five elective courses, which can be taken from the general program (e.g., Psychology of Social Behavior; Introduction to Psychological Testing), other divisions of NYU (e.g., graduate-level Economics; Stern School of Business-MBA program), or other universities (a limit of 9 credits can be transferred from graduate programs at other institutions). Courses taken outside of the psychology department must have some psychological content, and be approved by an adviser. Elective credits can also be taken in the form of non-classroom courses, such as Fieldwork, Independent Research, and MA Thesis Seminar. Although Fieldwork (generally, an unpaid internship in an HR department or consulting firm) is not required, it is strongly recommended for students who enter the program without relevant work experience.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM / M.A. THESIS REQUIREMENT

All students must either pass the comprehensive exam, or write an acceptable M.A. thesis.

The Comprehensive Exam: This is a three-hour written test that is given three times each year: October, February, and June. The questions are integrative in nature and are randomly selected from a large study list that is available to all students at any time. Except for rare exceptions, a student must have completed all of the basic and core requirements, as outlined above, before sitting for the exam.

MA Thesis: As an alternative to the comprehensive exam, a student may seek permission to write an M.A. thesis. To be eligible to write a thesis, a student must have passed all of the basic and core requirements with at least a B+ average, and have secured the sponsorship of a full-time faculty member (in consultation with the MA director). In general, an MA thesis does not require that the student perform original or independent research, but that the student make an original contribution to the research of his/her sponsor.

For a brochure on this program: MA I/O Brochure [Word Document] (If you are unable to open this file, you can download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free which will enable you to do so. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html )

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