Prospective Students

• Overview
• Admissions
• Financial Matters
• International Students
• FAQs

• Overview
• Important Dates
• Progress Reports
• First-year Project
• Second-year Project
• Master's Degree
• Doctorate
• Procedures for Testing Subjects

Students entering Rice without a master's degree in psychology or in a related field are required to complete a master's at Rice. Make sure you are aware of the required timeline for a master's degree.

Master's Committee

Towards the end of the first year, or no later than September 15 of the second year, the student should have selected an advisor for his or her Master’s-level research. The student and advisor will put together a committee composed of the advisor and two other faculty members from the Department. The main function of this committee will be to guide the student through his or her Master’s-level research, and to insure that the thesis meets the standard for the M. A. degree. Students should ask potential committee members to join the committee before April 15 of the second year of graduate study.

Admission to Master's Candidacy

Student are generally admitted to degree candidacy for the M. A. at some point during the second year. The requirements for candidacy are specified by the RIG.

Download the form for approval of master's candidacy

Master's Thesis

Students are required to submit a formal M. A. thesis proposal. The proposal must be approved by the thesis advisor before distributing it to other committee members. Students should allow ample time to permit their advisor to read and comment on their proposal for revisions. A complete draft of your thesis should be given to your advisor one month before it is given to the whole committee. The full version of the thesis (complete with all references, figures and tables) should be given to your committee at least 10 days prior to the scheduled defense.

The oral examination must be advertised at least one week ahead of time; the advertisement includes notifying all faculty in the department individually (i.e., by notices in their mailboxes or via e-mail). In addition, a hard copy of the announcement must be sent to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (MS 13)

Be sure to follow the graduate schools thesis procedures described in the following link: Thesis Procedures