Fast-Track MPhil in Psychology

Application

The application period is from 1 February to 15 May of each academic year. Applicants will be notified of their application outcome in June.

Those interested in applying for the FTMP MPhil programme are encouraged to identify and correspond with faculty members whose research interests closely match their own to serve as their master’s thesis advisor. Information on the research interests of Psychology faculty members can be obtained from here.

Apply

• Please click here on General Instructions for completing your Application.
  *Please submit follow-up supporting documents via softcopy to phd_psy@smu.edu.sg
• For Applicant's Self Service Guide, click here.
• For Applicant's Guide to Admissions, click here.
• For Applicant's Guide to Resetting Password, click here.

Faculty members that are involved in the Fast Track MPhil in Psychology Programme include:

David CHAN
CHENG Chi-Ying
Kimin EOM
Andree HARTANTO
Ivy LAU
Angela LEUNG
Norman LI
Jacinth TAN
Kenneth TAN
William TOV
TSAI Ming-Hong
YANG Hwajin
Lester SIM

Admission Requirements

• Year 4 SMU undergraduates who have declared a psychology major
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.4
• Minimum psychology GPA of 3.4
• Earn a B or higher in Research Methods I (PSYC110) and Research Methods II (PSYC208)
• Have taken at least 3 psychology electives other than RMI and RMII (and Introduction to Psychology)

Programme fees

For more information on Programme Fees, please click here.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Year 1 FTMP students receive a partial scholarship in which FTMP tuition fees are waived. However, students would still be responsible for paying their undergraduate tuition fees. Note that students who are receiving other scholarships are still eligible for the FTMP partial scholarship. However, they should contact the relevant funding agency to confirm that receipt of the partial scholarship does not violate the terms and conditions of any other scholarships they are receiving in their fourth year.

Year 2 FTMP students who have been conferred their bachelor’s degree are eligible for full scholarships. Subject to satisfactory progress, a scholarship holder will receive a waiver of registration fees and tuition fees in addition to a monthly living stipend for a maximum period of 12 months. Year-2 students may also receive additional funding through research assistantship (RA), teaching assistantship (TA) or industry grants.

^{^}Singapore Citizen will be provided with 17% CPF contribution.

The Fast-Track MPhil in Psychology Programme is a 2-year programme.

The curriculum consists of course units in:

• Foundation courses (6 course units)
• Elective courses (2 course units)
• Master Thesis (12 course units)

Students are required to complete a total of 20 course units (cus) to meet the graduation requirements. A maximum of 3 courses can be double-counted towards the undergraduate degree requirements.

Programme Schedule

* In addition to graduate-level psychology courses, FTMP students can concurrently take additional modules required for their Bachelor degree. However, three graduate-level psychology courses can be double-counted toward the Bachelor degree (see below).

Double-Counting Policy

FTMP students may double-count to 3 of the 4 FTMP (graduate psychology) courses required in the first year of the programme to fulfil either the Psychology Major Electives requirement or the Free Electives (FE) requirement. Students should take note that the Credit Transfer Policy (OASIS > Academic > Advisement & Curriculum > Credit Transfer Policy) apply to the cumulative credits transferred as exchange courses and/or graduate courses. This means that no more than 2 CUs of the FTMP courses can be transferred to the Psychology major electives requirement, and no more than 3 CUs of the FTMP courses can be transferred to the FE requirements.

For example, an FTMP student who needs 2 Psychology major electives and 3 FE courses to complete their BSocSc degree may transfer and double count up to 3 of the FTMP courses to reduce their undergraduate course load from 5 to 2 courses. The student may choose one of the options below:

1. Double-count 2 FTMP courses as Psychology major electives + 1 FTMP course as FE,
2. Double-count 1 FTMP course as a Psychology major elective + 2 FTMP courses as FE,
3. Double-count 3 FTMP courses to FE,

A student may not double count all 3 FTMP courses as Psychology major electives because this would exceed the maximum limits as stipulated in the Credit Transfer Policy.

Students must take into account any previous transfers of exchange courses when planning to transfer and double-count their FTMP courses. If in doubt, students may send their enquiries and degree progress report to undergrad_socsc@smu.edu.sg for review.

The Fast-Track MPhil in Psychology is a 2-year programme targeting Year 4 SMU undergraduates interested in developing research knowledge and skills—especially those who are considering a PhD in psychology. The FTMP would enable students to earn a master’s in psychology one year after graduating. It would provide a formal structure that addresses the challenges faced by graduated students seeking further studies in psychology: (1) their status as postgraduate students would grant them access to resources needed to conduct independent research; (2) the two-year period offers more time to develop larger research projects and collaborations. FTMP graduates would be highly competitive applicants for PhD programmes within Singapore as well as overseas.