PRO: Getting Involved

Graduate school programs in psychology prefer their prospective students to have research experience. Research involvement enables undergraduate students to work closely with faculty and graduate students, to learn the fundamental skills of obtaining psychological data, and to develop the kinds of experience and presentations that enhance grad school applications and academic resumés.

• How to Find Research Opportunities
  • Approach professors (particularly those with whom you’ve taken classes) and ask if they have openings for research assistants
  • Visit PRO to ask about research opportunities
  • Explore faculty research areas

• What Might You Do As a Research Assistant?
  • Data collection
  • Data encoding
  • Data analysis
  • Literature reviews

• How Would You Benefit from Research?
  • Provides you an opportunity to better understand the field of psychology and how knowledge is acquired
  • Allows you a chance to see if research is enjoyable, which is important in deciding if a research-based graduate program is the right choice for you
  • Provides you an opportunity to meet other dedicated students and network
  • Helps you facilitate a stronger relationship with a faculty member, resulting in personal advising and support in applying to grad school
  • Possible authorship on conference presentations (or publications) adding to your background experience as an undergraduate student
• Criteria for Qualifying to Be a Research Assistant
  • Faculty look for students who show:
    • Enthusiasm for Learning
    • Reliability and Willingness to make a time commitment
    • Punctuality
    • Honesty and Integrity
  • Most faculty expect their Research Assistants to have completed:
    • PSY 110 (Introductory Statistics)
    • PSY 220 (Research Methods)
  • Some faculty also look for:
    • Advances statistic courses like PSY 310 (Intermediate Statistics), PSY 411 (Statistical Design) and/or PSY 412 (Multivariate Stats)
    • Completion of several upper-division (300 – 400 level) psychology courses, including one in the faculty member’s research area

The Psychology Student Association (PSA) and Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, work in tandem at CSULB. Both PSA and Psi Chi have a shared goal to unite Psychology students towards success. General meetings are hosted throughout the school year to educate students more about the psychology field.

• How to Join PSA
  • To become a member of PSA, simply attend general meetings to join PSA. There are no formal membership requirements. Psychology majors, minors, and non-Psychology students are all welcome! Meeting info is provided on the PSA/Psi Chi website below.
• How to Join Psi Chi
  • To become a member of Psi Chi, a formal application must be filled out. Application due dates vary each academic year; check social media and the PSA/Psi Chi website to verify the application due date.
  • Requirements to be accepted into Psi Chi
    • You must be a declared psychology major or minor
    • You must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
    • You must have a Psychology GPA of 3.4 or higher
    • You must have completed least 12 semester units in psychology
  • PSA/Psi Chi general meetings are every other Wednesday from 5:00 – 6:00 PM. For more information, please visit the PSA/Psi Chi web page

PRO Tip: Want some leadership experience to enhance your grad school application or your resume? PSA/Psi Chi have board elections towards the beginning of each semester. Attend the meetings, if you are interested in becoming a board member. This is be a great opportunity to become more involved on campus and within the psychology department!

The Psychology Resource Office (PRO), located in PSY room 206, provides resources for psychology majors to explore and plan for their professional “lives after graduation,” whether that be directly into a career or on to graduate school. We have many resources for you to explore, including books, binders, and informational handouts about planning to get the most out of your undergraduate experience, career possibilities in psychology and other popular fields, finding graduate schools in a wide variety of interest areas, as well as internship and volunteer opportunities. Beyond all that, our most important resource are the PRO Guides themselves, who are psychology majors trained as career and graduate school “experts” to assist you with all your professional “life after graduation” planning needs!

• How Can Being a PRO Guide Help You?
  • You will earn course credit towards your degree
  • You will develop professional skills, including mentoring, public speaking, and teamwork
  • You will develop expertise in the PRO resources, allowing you to proactively plan your professional future and assist your fellow students to do the same
  • You will develop a network with other students and faculty and play a leadership role in the psychology department
  • You can develop supportive relationships with fellow PRO Guides and faculty
  • You will work closely with faculty, allowing you to earn a letter of recommendation for graduate school or a future job
• How to You Become a PRO Guide?
  • Students must apply to be a PRO Guide. There is an application due just after mid-semester each Fall and Spring. Check out the web page below for more information about PRO application requirements and due dates.
    • Apply to be a PRO guide

• How are Internships Helpful?
  • You can develop professional skills, explore career options, network with professionals in their field, make connections between classroom theories and concepts, and gain real-world experiences that look great on a future resume.
  • An internship requires a serious time commitment from you. On average, students work approximately 6 hours per week during a 15-week semester (90 hours total).
• Where Can I Find Internships?
  • CSULB’s Career Development Center (CDC)
    • The CDC has many resources and personnel to assist you in finding an internship that is right for you
    • Additionally, the CDC provides individual consultation and workshops to help you prepare for internships and future jobs, including:
      • Writing Resumes and Cover Letters,
      • Interviewing practice, and much more!
  • CSULB'S CareerLink
    • This is a self-service resource offered by the Career Development Center (CDC)
    • It is a digital job board exclusively for CSULB students and alumni to assist with their job searches
    • All CSULB students have access to CareerLink for one year after graduation
    • Over 13,000 full-time, part-time, internship positions, and volunteer opportunities are posted on CareerLink annually
    • Allows you to connect with employers that post exclusively to CSULB
    • How It Works: You can upload your resume as well as your job interests and preferences, and you can browse numerous opportunities directed to CSULB students
    • This service is available via the CareerLink chiclet on your CSULB Single Sign-On
• Get Credit Towards your BA Degree By Taking an Internship Course
  • PSY 405: Fieldwork in Psychology
    • Internship can be more Psychology focused, or you can find your own internship and get PSY course credit towards your Psychology degree.
    • 3 units of PSY course credit
    • Credit/No Credit
    • Class Meetup weekly. See current class schedule for exact day
    • Prerequisites:  PSY major, completed at least 12 upper division PSY units, and minimum 3.0 GPA in both PSY and overall
    • Application is Required
  • CLA 492: Internship in Liberal Arts
    • The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at CSULB also offers a 3-unit internship course.
    • Depending on the semester, there could be a preassigned internship, but you do not need to find an internship on your own before you register for the course. Assistance for finding an internship will be provided. Or, if you already have found an internship on your own, you can still register to this course to earn credit toward your degree.
    • No prerequisites are required.
• Finally, for more information about internship resources on the CSULB campus, visit: CLA Internship Program