VentureIntoNothingness

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It is a very very very good field. In academia, available positions often exceed graduates, which is completely unheard of in other disciplines. Industry pays very well and I think you just need to pick up some SQL skills and you will be good. It will be absolutely worth it but I think it is important to realize that programs have a broad range from being applied to theoretical. To some extent, I think it is more adjacent to biostatistics/statistics than psychology. I think it would be awesome if you have some coursework in math/stat especially matrix algebra, differential equations, probability. It would also help if you are interested in learning more about programming! IMO, this is the best subfield in psychology... but I may be biased haha.

I don't think so. Depending on the program, it can be a plus to express interests in evidence-based approaches, e.g., CBT/DBT/ACT. It may help if you can figure out the practicum opportunities and what are predominantly used in these available practicums or by the practicum supervisors (for example, if you say you want exposure to everything but the program only does CBT, then they may (mis)perceive you as a bad fit since they don't have the training opportunities that would meet your needs.) In applying to graduate school, I think it would be unreasonable to demand applicants know all the potential theoretical orientations or treatment modalities (TBH, I am not sure I feel confident about all this as an internship applicant). If they do ask about it, you can always just give some prepared answers... CBT would be a safe bet. In no ways are you bound by your answers throughout graduate school or throughout your career... P.s. this is my first time hearing of "object reaction theorist"...

I wonder if you want to post this on Student Doctor Network Psychology [Psy.D/Ph.D] forum.

I am unaware of a comprehensive database but I am not in developmental psych.... I wonder if it would be a more efficient strategy to look at the research you have done/you are interested in. Find papers on the topics and look up where those authors are and perhaps you can apply to the programs that those authors are affiliated with and you can name those people as potential advisors.

All good points! One extra piece to consider is visa issues (I am assuming that you will be an international student?). I am unaware of (paid) RA positions in the US that comes with visa sponsorship. So perhaps applying straight to PhD programs would be "easier" from the immigration perspective.

I doubt that this would be a dealbreaker unless that is the only research experience that you have. Also if you don't make explicit mentioning of it, I doubt that they would ask too much about it. ?

I totally agree. If you already know the area of research that you would like to work on or better yet the persons of interests you would like to work with in a PhD program, I would look up their google scholar and identify their collaborators/advisors/past students. Then I would see if the institutions of your POIs or their collaborators/advisors/past students have masters programs that could allow you establish relationship with and hopefully conduct research with these people.

Congratulations on the recovery! I think conventionally self-disclosure in the personal statement is frowned upon. Recent movement has encouraged individuals in the mental health field to leverage their lived experiences with mental health issues as strength and motivation. In turn, some advocates self-disclosure as an effort to destigmatize mental health issues. As an applicant, I worry such self-disclosure may raise questions, especially for those with more stigmatizing lenses as you have pointed out in your post, on whether you can successfully complete the program. I think you have a great frame for this self-disclosure and that is to really highlight how this experience makes you perhaps more motivated and committed than others. Another thing is consider is whether they offer opportunities for training in DBT. If they don't, I would certainly not mention this because you want DBT training and they don't have it, implying an ill fit. I think you should nevertheless mention your experiences at the residential treatment facility. I am sorry to learn that the environment was abusive and disorganized. But I wonder if there are still things that you learned from the experiences, being it clinical skills or simply interacting with these women offers you another reason for pursuing this program. I would omit mentioning negative aspects of the experience. The reason is that past history often predicts future behaviors and you don't want to be misperceived as too critical. Lastly, I think your capstone project is super interesting and can't be more relevant for the kind of work you want to do! It really shows how you value these individuals as human beings and how you care about their voices. You probably are already doing this but I think that elaboration on this and its connection to what you want to do in future would be very convincing. Anyways, just some of my personal opinions. Please feel free to ignore them.

As an International student, I agree with SoundofSilence that you may want to carefully look into the visa situation post Master's/Doctorate degree in the US. My impression is that you may be able to find a practice that would take you for the duration of OPT after a Master's degree. But beyond that, I am unaware of private practices that would sponsor a work visa. Doctoral programs would offer more flexibility but the visa issues remain. Hospital/University medical centers may be an option as they are not restricted by H1B quotas but my impression that the hires that require visa sponsorship almost always involve certain research mmm "excellence".

Current Quant Psych PhD student at Notre Dame here. I think that it is true that a lot of people may come into grad school with very specific goals or area of interest in mind. This, to my knowledge, is generally true for a lot of areas in psychology (expect a "but..." later). You obviously seem to have done a really good job of research on application stuffs! But I think for quantitative psychology, it can be difficult to come in with a honed-in area of interest: On the one hand, quant psych programs that i know really encourage students to work with multiple faculties and really explore around in the first couple of years; on the other hand, you would also be exposed to lots of in-depth stat courses the first couple of years that can definitely help you shape/change your research interests. To be honest, I came in with some pretty specific interests in mind: I am, of course, still "interested" in that, but I am actually doing research on things that, when I was applying I said, I would not be interested in doing at all. And guess what? they are great fun! I think that you have a very solid GRE quant score. Congratulations on that! I think your GRE quant score is definitely competitive. It is true that some areas of psychology puts some emphasis on verbal scores. But I really don't think that GRE scores should be the focus here. It is more about fit, what you want to do (not exact topics but like a couple of general interest points that you would like to explore more), what faculties do in the programs that you apply to (if that coincide with your interests). I hope that these would help!

Hi, I am curious and wonder if anyone may have any input about Notre Dame Clinical Psych Program. The program is not ranked. But the program seems to have some very influential people and have particular strength in depression. The program also seemed to have been adapted from their former counseling psych program. Any input would be appreciated!

I am very glad that someone started this thread. I have been brooding for a while. I know that suit would suffice for the interview day. But what should I wear when the grad student come pick me up? My interview places would be cold but my suit is relatively "thin," what should I wear to keep myself warm? A coat, but would I have to take that off and carry it around awkwardly from a faculty to another faculty? What should I wear for the "grad student party"? What should I wear for post-interview "casual" hangouts (with grad students)?

I just noticed that someone got a phone interview with Vanderbilt clinical psych PhD program, congrats! I would really appreciate if you can PM me more details. Congratulations!

Congrats to the one who got the Harvard interview invite! I would really appreciate it if you can PM your POI (or just the sub-area)! Thanks!