Hello everyone,
I am a recently graduated Psychology major, wanting to attend graduate school to become a clinical psychologist. I initially applied to 10 Ph.D programs with the thought that I would get into at least one! ( I have a 3.84 GPA, decent GRE scores, worked in multiple research labs, but only assisted with "menial" tasks like data coding, literature searches...and so on) However, I realized I was quite naive and apparently under qualified - so, I am in preparation for round two of applications for the next year.
This is my current issue: I initially thought that an additional year would be enough to boost up my application if I were to volunteer in a research lab and work mostly full time as a research assistant and increase my GRE scores a bit. But, when I talked to my advising professor, I was told that in order to get into a top tier Ph.D program in clinical psychology, I must have at least a minimum of 2-3 years of substantial research experience (either a paid lab manager position, research assistant, publications...etc.) and that an additional year of research (especially if there are no publications) will not be enough to even make it to a so-so Ph.D program. I originally debated between applying to both Ph.D programs and Psy.D programs because my main interest was more into working as a clinician, rather than remaining in academia. However, I leaned toward a Ph.D, due to the fact that is is mostly funded, while Psy.D's are out of pocket and I also don't mind research work.
With that in mind, I'm not so sure if I can handle investing 2-3+ years of research/lab manager work, and IF I get into a Ph.D program 5+ years of research.
- Is it really true that I would need to prepare for 2-3 years (post graduation) as a research assistant in order to make it into a decent Ph.D program?
- Is there anything I can do within a year to boost up my application and get into a decent program?
- I am also thinking of applying to more Psy.D programs. Do they also require an extensive research/preparation period in order to get accepted? How would a Psy.D program differ in requirements/qualifications besides a good GPA, GRE, recommendation, and SOP?
Any advice would help me out immensely!!
Thank you!