The Joint Doctoral Degree in Marketing and Psychology is a program offered between the Marketing Department in Wharton and the Psychology Department in the School of Arts and Sciences, to engage students in study between the two departments. This program adds to the interdisciplinary nature of Penn and provides students a unique opportunity to get rigorous training in both disciplines along with a competitive advantage on the job market. For Marketing students, the joint degree offers systematic exposure to a basic discipline. For Psychology students, it offers training in consumer behavior research.
The Requirements to enter the Program
(1) Apply and be accepted to one of the doctoral programs (i.e., the “home” department (Psychology or Marketing)
(2) Once accepted into a home department, apply to the Joint Degree Program. In order to apply to the Joint Program, the following application materials need to be emailed to the Director of the Joint Program, currently Barbara Mellers (mellers@wharton.upenn.edu)
- CV
- Letter of Application expressing interest in the program, what you would like to study, and how the degree will help you.
- Transcripts
- Letter of good standing from home department. For new students (first year) from either program, this is not necessary. For students who have been in a program for one year or more, get a letter from the Director of Graduate Studies from your home department. For Psychology Students applying to the Joint Degree Program, please submit a letter of support and good standing from the Psychology program director.
Once students have been admitted into the Joint Degree Program, they will receive a Degree Requirements Checklist. Students will meet with their advisor annually to go over the Degree Requirement Checklist. A student who wishes to pursue the Joint Degree Program will have more requirements than a student in either department, but greater flexibility in the timing of courses and exams to manage those requirements.
The Joint Degree Program requires:
- 15 CUs for Marketing Students and
- 20 CUs for Psychology Students
Academic Requirements:
- 4.0 CUs (course units) of Marketing Courses
- MKTG 9400 (0.5 CU) – Measurement and Data Analysis in Marketing – Part A
- MKTG 9410 (0.5 CU) – Measurement and Data Analysis in Marketing – Part B
- MKTG 9420 (0.5 CU) – Research Methods in Marketing – Part A
- MKTG 9430 (0.5 CU) – Research Methods in Marketing – Part B
- MKTG 9500 (0.5 CU) – Judgment and Decision Making Perspectives on Consumer Behavior – Part A
- MKTG 9520 (0.5 CU) – Consumer Research Topics – Part A
- MKTG 9540 (0.5 CU) – Economic/OR Models of Marketing – Part A
- MKTG 9560 (0.5 CU) – Empirical Models in Marketing – Part A
- 3.0 CU Supervised Research in Psychology (PSYC 6990 – Individual Research for First-Year Graduate Students ) – taken in 2 consecutive semesters (1.0 CU in one semester and 2.0 CU in the other).
- 3.0 CU “Proseminars in General Psychology” (PSYC 6000) – distributed equally from Mind, Brain, and Individual/Group areas
- 2.0 CU of Statistics Courses – One must be PSYC 6120 (1.0 CU) – Introduction to Nonparametric Methods and Log-linear Models (which is also offered as STAT 5010) ,
- Economics Course – Students are required to take one of the following Economics Sequences:
- ECON 7010 (1.0 CU) and ECON 7110 (1.0 CU) – Microeconomic Theory I & II OR
- ECON 6100 (1.0 CU) – Microeconomic Theory and ECON 6110 (1.0 CU) – Game Theory and Applications, OR
- BEPP 9500 (1.0 CU) – Managerial Economics
- Marketing Qualifying Exam done in the year when most marketing courses are taken which is typically Year 1 or Year 2
- Psychology 6999 Research Paper – to be completed during the period that a student takes the three PSYC 6999 credit units.
- Psychology Qualifying Exam consisting of two research papers and an oral defense.
- 2 Research Papers for Marketing -The two Marketing research papers can also be used to fulfill the PSYC 6999 requirement and one of the Psychology Qualifying exam papers.
- Teaching Assistant responsibilities in accordance with the home departmental expectations – which differ for Marketing students and Psychology students.
- Dissertation The student must have two dissertation committee members from each department and the Advisor should be from the student’s home department. As a Joint Degree student approaches dissertation status, he or she should review dissertation formatting policies for both programs. Marketing students register for MKTG 9950 – Dissertation and Psychology students register for PSYC 9950 – Dissertation.
- 7 CUs Electives or Independent Studies (PSYC 9990 – Individual Study and Research) for Psychology Students only
- 2 CUs Electives or Independent Studies (MKTG 9990 – Independent Study) – for Marketing Students only
*Note: The University does not allow students to triple count courses for multiple degrees (i.e., you cannot count a course toward your Masters, course of study PhD, and joint course of study PhD). For Marketing home department students, questions can be sent to Gidget Murray, Wharton Doctoral Director, (gmurray@wharton.upenn.edu). For Psychology home department students, questions can be sent to Psychology Director of Graduate Studies (dgs@psych.upenn.edu), who currently is Russell Epstein.
