yoosirname

Thanks, all.

Thanks, earl.palamino & JungWild&Free! Have any more thoughts on new developments below? PsychGirl1, Stony Brook is 1 year, but you take courses over two summer sessions as well (one in the start, and one at the end). You can do a thesis there too, which I plan to. All the mentors have also said that I could be involved starting in the summer, and could either do my own project, or collaborate with senior graduate students (depends on what's viable given the time and type of study I'd like to do). I was also accepted to U Buffalo's MA too, which is strictly mentor-based and a 2 year program. I spoke with the mentor, and his research is perfectly in line with what I want to study. He basically treats his MA students like PhD students. Both Stony Brook and U Buffalo have accepted PhD students from their MA program, but there is no guarantee, which is perfectly understandable as it depends on funding, applicant pool, etc. In the event that this professor doesn't get back to me, I think I'd go for SBU or U Buffalo, my question is now: Which one do you think is more attractive? Both programs offer a collaborative environment, lab meetings, brown bags, honors theses/independent work, advisement from faculty, teaching from faculty, classes with PhD students (class size 5-25) & have accepted MA students to their PhD programs in the past. SBU Pros: 3 potential advisors/labs Exposure/training in methods/designs that I have no experience with yet that could be useful for future research (e.g., fMRI, EEG, longitudinal) 1 year (2 semesters, 2 summer sessions) Ranked #11 Clin Psy PhD program PhD program follows the clinical science model (which is the type that I'd like to get training in because you have training in both research and applied practice) Very responsive and helpful advisor (also a full-time faculty member) SBU Cons: Larger labs, so I might not see an advisor every week (one told me it's every 2 weeks), and might work more closely with post docs or senior PhD students U Buffalo Pros: Follows mentorship model The faculty member I would be working with will only has 2 MA students and 3-4 PhD students. He meets with students weekly and treats them the same in discussing ideas/analyses. Potential for MA defense. Faculty has tons of articles with students as first authors. U Buffalo Cons: Only 1 faculty whose research I am interested in. 2 year PhD program ranked #42, and is not clinical science model, so I would most likely not want to go into this PhD program Phone conversation with professor, and e-mail exchange with one of his MA students was pretty awkward. I just feel like we didn't click that well in terms of personality, but this might not really be that important since our research interests align. I'm waiting to hear from that professor in England as well... Any perspective you can offer is greatly appreciated. You've all been so helpful. Thank you so much!

Thank you so much, everyone, for the informative responses! I actually have reached out to students and faculty at NYU and Columbia. I have received mixed feedback about NYU so far, and will be speaking with someone from Columbia tomorrow. I have received consistent feedback that you make the most of your experiences by being proactive and that the most important experiences provided by the NYU MA are the research experiences (e.g., working in labs, connections to other faculty/labs outside the university). I just received an offer from Stony Brook as well, and I think this program might fit better with the experience that I am looking for (plus it's a bonus that it's ranked among top clin psy programs in the nation). Admissions told me that the four faculty that I am interested in working with are all open to working with me, they are accepting 15 incoming students (as compared to over 100 in the cases of NYU and Columbia), and all the classes are taught by full-time faculty members and are the same courses offered to Ph.D. students. I am waiting to hear back about a student that I can talk to about SBU's MA in psy. The other option I am considering is taking another year off to work in a lab with a professor here at the University of Exeter in England (not well known in the states, I believe. I haven't heard of it!) who is a prominent researcher in rumination (what I'm most passionate about). Psychgirl1, I think you are right about working with someone who has similar research interests and that's well-known in the field instead of just going for prestige of school name. I've heard this from multiple people (current and former Ph.D. grads) in the field of psychology. If you all were me, would you choose to do the 1yr SBU MA program (with potential to work with multiple faculty whose work I find pretty interesting) or work with the University of Exeter rumination guy (very very excited about this research) for a year before re-applying to Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology? I have a background in psy. GPA 3.83 from top 50 school, over 2 years research experience in behavioral sciences (mostly social psychology, though), undergrad thesis (in political psychology) published in competitive undergrad journal, one presentation. Currently volunteering in emotions and development lab at University College London. Thank you again!

Have people found this program useful for preparing them for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at top 20 universities? I have heard bad things about this program, and was accepted as well. I would like eventually to be a professor and see a couple clients on the side. I would like to apply again next round to clinical science programs, but I don't know if it makes more sense financially to just continue working in a lab and perhaps take a couple graduate level courses.

Hi, I ultimately want to get into a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology that follows the clinical science model. I did a BA in psy from a top 50 school. I applied to 10 clinical psychology PhD programs this time around, but only got 1 interview at a top 15 program and am now wait listed. I've been accepted to both NYU and Teacher's College Columbia's MA programs in psychology, and am also waiting to hear back from BU, SBU, and U Buffalo as well. I am writing to ask this: I have read some negative things posted on Student Doctor Network Forum about NYU and TC MA as programs where MA students receive little attention from faculty, that the programs are disorganized, and that they are basically ploys to generate money to fund PhD students. This is disconcerting to me because I want to do an MA in Psy to bolster my research experience. Preferably, I'd like to get faculty advisement, do a thesis that gets published in a well-respected journal, and complete rigorous coursework (esp. in research methods & stats) as well as have access to a community of serious researchers that can help me to hone my research ideas. Anyone have experience with these programs? Would I be able to get the aforementioned from them, or do they really suck at making people more competitive for clin psy PhD programs? Thanks.

Hi, I'm not in this field, but my hunch is that if you were accepted, it would be explicitly said. It's a good sign, though, that this faculty member is reaching out to you. Seems sort of like an e-mail interview!

Is getting an MA in Psy more beneficial for helping someone to refine research interests (e.g., because of structured curriculum, and connections to graduate students & faculty)? OR Would it be more cost-effective and equally beneficial to volunteer in labs and do independent review of literature? My background is in social psychology academically (e.g., did an honors thesis that was published in an ivy league undergraduate review journal). It's been about 4 years since my undergrad. Recently, I gained experience in victim advocacy and crisis intervention, and came to the conclusion that clin psy would be the best fit for me given that I enjoy research and working with people. I just applied to clin psy PhD programs, but only interviewed at 1. I feel it was a terrible interview, partly because my research interests are not really that well defined and my POI kept asking me what study I would want to conduct if I were accepted. I really think doing more research and refining my interests as well as hopefully publishing and presenting at a conference would strengthen my clinical psychology Ph.D. app. The MA programs say that they can help to make your application "more competitive" / "refine research interests." On the other hand, other people have suggested that you can just work on research for another year (independently or work in a lab) and apply again the following year. Which option would be better given that I tend to work better having someone to bounce ideas off of, and work better with mentor guidance/a bit of structure?

Thank you so much for your response! I am relieved that you think I am not an error as some of the other applicants that I had spoken to at the interview at WashU. had mentioned that they had multiple interviews/offers. I think I should definitely try to get some publications and presentations in clinical psychology. As an undergrad, I did research in social psychology, but only presented and published my thesis among undergraduates. Do you feel that the aforementioned would be better to focus on as compared to me GRE scores? My verbal was 98%, but my quant was only 68%. I know the quant was weak, but when I looked at the scores of people who were admitted to programs, this percentile was very close to or at the median.

Hi, I applied to 10 schools for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology below: BU UC Berkeley Duke Emory Yale Columbia Rutgers U Buffalo Stony Brook WashU I had one in-person interview at WashU. a couple weeks ago. I've been reading that people who get interviews often get multiple ones. Since I only had one, does that mean that their inviting me to WashU. was an error? Schools that were ranked below WashU. didn't invite me, so I don't know what to think of this, although I know that whether people are accepting candidates or not depends on a variety of factors (e.g., funding). I was really thinking I had slim chances of getting an interview in clin psy at all because my background is in social psychology and I've been out of school for 4 year (e.g., I did an honors thesis at NYU in political psychology, that was published in the Yale Review of Undergraduate Research in Psychology. After graduating, I worked as a psy lab manager at NYU, then an english teacher, and most recently victim advocate). I decided clin psy combines my interests in research and working with people in a clinical setting. I feel like my background is not what programs are working for... Was it weird that I only got 1 interview? I feel this indicates that my application is weak. How can I improve my chances next round? I have been accepted to the MA in psychology at NYU and am waiting to hear back from Columbia (2yr MA), Stony Brook (1 yr MA), BU (1 yr MA) and U Buffalo (2yr MA). Would doing an MA improve my chances of getting into a Ph.D. in clinical psy if I refine my research interests, try to get updated academic recs, and try to do some independent research? Please help, and thank you so much! I have no one to help me through this.