Our Program
Our MS in Applied Psychology program is divided into two tracks, both based on the scientist-practitioner model. In this training model, students engage in rigorous quantitative research in psychology and apply scientific knowledge to problems in organizational settings.
Both tracks require 38 units of coursework, a 300-hour internship, and an independent research thesis. These requirements typically take 2 years of full-time work to complete.
Industrial-Organizational Psychology Track
The Industrial-Organizational Psychology track covers core topics in industrial-organizational psychology, such as job analysis, performance appraisal, selection, training, motivation, leadership, stress, job attitudes, and occupational health.
Quantitative Methods Track
The Quantitative Methods track covers core topics in univariate and multivariate statistics in psychological research, including multilevel modeling. Students to choose electives to further tailor their education to match their specific career interests/goals. Electives outside of psychology that fit with this track include linguistics (programming), big data analytics, or statistics.
We accept both recent graduates and individuals who have been in the workforce for a number of years. Some elements of our program that make us stand out:
- We are a full-time program, so students are making a serious commitment to their graduate training
Financial support, in the form of assistantships (e.g., being a TA), is typically available, so that students can give their full attention to their graduate studies
Our internships give students the opportunity to apply classroom learning and acquire new skills in an organizational setting
- Students apply to work with faculty mentors who align with their research interests.
- Upon acceptance into the program, students are matched with a faculty mentor with whom they will work with on their thesis and other research projects
We have four full-time, tenured, research-active faculty who have graduated from prestigious I-O psychology doctoral programs
Faculty Research Labs
Faculty Research Labs
Both tracks in the MS program have a mentorship match model for thesis requirement. Students work directly with a faculty mentor to complete a research project and assist with other research projects in the laboratory. Before applying to the program, learn more about each faculty member’s focus of research and typical projects by reviewing lab websites and past research publications to see if there is a good match. Be sure to mention how your research interests match specific faculty members in your personal statement. Some helpful advice on choosing a mentor in the quant methods track can be found here.

Larissa (Lacie) K. Barber
B.A. University of Missouri, St. Louis; M.S., Ph.D., Saint Louis University.
Research Interests: Sleep and employee behavior, sleep and employee stress/well-being, work-life balance and technology use, stress and employee behaviors (counterproductive work behaviors and organizational citizenship behaviors), positive psychology in the workplace.
Lab: OHS Lab, Currently accepting new students

Jeffrey M. Conte
B.A., University of Virginia; M.S., Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University.
Research Interests: Personnel assessment & selection, personality, psychological testing & measurement, stress, type A behavior pattern, temporal issues, time management, safety factors at work
Lab: Personality Measurement Lab, Currently accepting new students

Kate Hattrup
B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara; M.A., Ph.D., Michigan State University
Research Interests: Cross-cultural I/O Psychology, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, employee well-being, sexual harassment in the workplace, human resource management
Lab: BEST Lab, Not currently accepting new students

Jon Helm
B.S., M.S., Ph.D., University of California, Davis.
Research Interests: Develops and refines statistical models that (1) measure psychological constructs, and (2) analyze longitudinal data. Uses both frequentist and Bayesian approaches to estimate novel multilevel and structural equation models designed to either separate psychological constructs from a variety of method effects, or summarize how psychological constructs unfold over time.
Lab: STATs Lab (Statistical Techniques Applied to Social Science lab), Currently accepting new students

Lisa M. Kath
B.S. University of California, Berkeley; M.A., Ph.D., University of Connecticut
Research Interests: Training motivation and effectiveness, self-efficacy, organizational climate and change, women and minorities in the workplace.
Lab: POWER Lab, Currently accepting new students

Georg (Jörg) Matt
Dipl. Psych., Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat, Freiburg, Germany; Ph.D., Northwestern University
Research Interests: Tobacco smoke pollution and exposure, secondhand smoke, thirdhand smoke, tobacco control policies; quantitative research methods, quasi-experimentation, field research, evaluation research, meta-analysis, generalizability; measurement, fuzzy set theory, cognitive models of self-reports, fuzzy set models of magnitude estimates.
Lab: Measurement and Evaluation Research Group (MERG), Currently accepting new students

Scott C. Roesch
B.S., University of California, Davis; M.A., California State University, Long Beach; Ph.D., University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Research Interests: Trait-state models of stress and coping; coping with physical illness, and particularly cancer; cultural, ethnic, and acculturation differences in stress and coping; cross-ethnic measurement equivalence; structural equation modeling, meta-analysis.
Lab: Stress and Coping, Not currently accepting new students

David Marx
B.A., U.C. Berkeley; M.A., Ph.D., Harvard University
Research Interests: Research focuses on several aspects of social cognition including stereotypes, social comparison, and attention. One primary line of research centers on defining and refining stereotype threat.
Lab: Stereotyping, Education, and Person Perception (STEPP) Lab, Currently accepting new students
Alumni
Our alumni get jobs at a variety of public and private sector organizations. Here are some companies that have employed our alumni:

- Visa
- Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District
- Amazon
- Spotify
- Activision/Blizzard
- APTMetrics
- Center for Creative Leadership
- San Diego City College
- Sutter Health
- Dell
- Aptima
- Petco
- FEMA
- General Atomics
- Electronic Arts
- SHL
- Intuit
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Cedars-Sinai