PROSPECTIVE MINORITY-STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF APPLICATION PACKETS FOR PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAMS - A QUALITATIVE STUDY

This article reports the results of a qualitative study designed to de termine issues salient in Black and Hispanic American students' review and evaluation of program-application packets in professional psychol ogy. The study served as an extension to the Yoshida et al. (1989) qua ntitative investigation. Students interested in pursuing doctoral stud ies in counseling or school psychology (N = 22) served as the sample. The qualitative methodology incorporated a think-aloud procedure and s emistructured interviews. A theme analysis of transcribed interviews i dentified both major and minor themes central to participants' evaluat ion of the packets. Major themes included financial aid, program requi rements and course descriptions, demography of the student body, and t he quality and clarity of application material. Specific suggestions o n developing an application packet to send to inquiring prospective st udents are put forth. It is recommended that such a packet could serve as a cost-effective minority-recruitment strategy.