Ethical issues in the treatment of applicants to APA-accredited Ph.D. programs.

This paper examines some of the ethical issues involved in the treatment of applicants to highly competitive APA-accredited clinical and counseling psychology Ph.D. programs. These issues are analyzed in terms of the 1992 APA Ethics Code as well as the basic ethical principles of nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity, and autonomy. Issues considered include the applicability of the 1992 APA Ethics Code to the selection process, the obligation to provide applicants accurate and complete information, dual relationships in the selection process, the treatment of rejected or wait-listed applicants, discrimination in the selection process, psychological assessment and research in the selection process, and legal resolutions which pertain to the selection process. In analyzing these issues, the paper calls attention to the need for psychologists functioning as admissions evaluators to be aware of and sensitive to the ethical issues relevant to the selection process.