One of the first things you need to know about applying to graduate school in psychology might come as a surprise. When you apply to graduate school in psychology, you do not apply to a psychology department. Instead, you apply to the sub-specialization area within a psychology department. For example, if you have decided to pursue graduate study in cognitive psychology, you would apply to the cognitive psychology program (also referred to as an "area group"), not to the psychology department itself. The specialty area groups each handle their own applications and admissions decisions (though perhaps after an initial screening — for test scores, grades, etc. — by the graduate school administration). Thus, when you are checking out graduate schools, look at the strength of the area group, not the overall strength of the department. Even highly prestigious schools (e.g., Harvard, University of Michigan, University of California-Berkeley) that are highly ranked in psychology may be very uneven when it comes to specific areas. A school might have top programs in such areas as cognitive psychology and biopsychology, but be weak in other areas, such as clinical or social. Similarly, a less prestigious school may have an area where they are recognized as extremely strong. There is some advantage to going (other things being equal) to a school that is generally prestigious, but it is very important to look at the strength of the area group, not the department as a whole.
With this in mind, the different types of graduate programs one could pursue in psychology are described below. This section may be useful even if you already know which specialty area of psychology you wish to pursue.