mielle0930

I was also accepted to both USC and UCLA, and I called USC to ask for an extension to respond about my decision. They simply gave me two more weeks to decide and I was able to extend it again as much as I needed. As far as I know, I believe graduate schools are not able to mandate that you reply before April 15 (the national deadline) and even if you do, you are able to retract your decision. https://grad.ucla.edu/asis/entsup/resolution.pdf

I know that UCLA offers student assistantships, which waives tuition and also gives a stipend. It just says to contact the department for more information though... https://grad.ucla.edu/asis/entsup/ta-rashp.htm Does anyone have information about assistantships/financial aid?

Congrats to all of those who were accepted! I also got my acceptance letter this afternoon, but it seemed like the "official" decision is not posted on the status website yet. Has anyone heard back from their financial aid office or received a merit scholarship??

Hi jmo890, I also applied to USC's MSW program by the early decision and was accepted on 1/29. Hopefully you have heard back from them by now! Good luck

Currently, I want to be involved with clinical work. I've heard many grad students end up changing their minds during their Ph.D. and becoming more open to research, but I'm not sure how likely that will happen for me. The main reason I chose to pursue a Ph.D was due to funding, but if my lack of research experience is deferring me from getting into a Ph.D program, I was just wondering if I would be better off by applying to Psy.D's even though they are costly. I have had a semester of experience as an intern for a local mental health center - mostly observing/ co-facilitating therapy groups, taking patient notes, discharge paperwork...etc. I'm wondering if that will be acceptable enough for Psy.D programs. Since my ultimate goal is becoming a clinician, I'm wavering in the fact of whether I should invest more time to work as a lab manager/assistant and research, or rather maybe look for clinical opportunities in mental health centers and just apply again for the fall of 2015.

Thank you all for your advice! It has been quite a struggle for me to decide whether I really need to defer applying to 2-3 years later vs. applying next season. Because I have already applied previously, I really want to be thorough in strengthening my application. I've heard mixed opinions about applying to a Master's program because apparently Ph.D programs do not necessarily see it as benefit - rather professors would want someone who they are able to work with all 5-6years. QASP and Realities - Thanks for the hopeful advice. I will probably continue to work as a volunteer with a PI at my university and look for lab manager positions as they are available. As for applying to Psy.D programs - basically, they are not anymore "easier" than Ph.D programs (especially if they are well regarded)? So, It would take similar preparation for the applications, right?

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!