hopefulclinicalpsych

Has anyone heard from British Columbia, Vancouver?

I'm glad someone started this! I'm a first time applicant, so I'm pretty nervous. I just want it to be January 1st, so everything is in. I'm applying to 11 schools - Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Harvard, University of Utah, British Columbia, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Auburn, George Mason, Florida State, Southern Miss, and Texas Tech. I think my undergrad university hates me... I requested 17 transcripts in a matter of two days. Oh well. What is everyone's research interests?

I think it's mostly for funding. When I applied to undergrad I didn't put my SSN on an application that listed it as optional. This was my first choice school and I filled out a priority application. I never got any financial aid because I didn't put my social on it. Once I called the university and asked about funding, they literally laughed at me and told me how could I NOT know I wouldn't get funding if I didn't put my SSN. ... needless to say, I didn't go there for my undergrad.

I have a similar situation going on. I'm applying to clinical programs this round and the PI at my DREAM school is really good friends with my boss right now. My boss knows that this program is my dream one, too. He told me that they talk and that it wouldn't be uncommon for the PI to pick up the phone and call my boss and ask him about my application once he gets it. I wouldn't pressure the person you're currently working under to email your potential PI. If they're close enough, they'll talk about it.

Wow! I haven't been on here in a while and am shocked that people responded. I sorta gave up hope that someone would. Thanks! I was just wondering what people did to get in. I'm applying this round and think that I have decent experience. Would anyone care to give me any advice on what my chances would be? I have 2 years undergrad research, 1 internship in a lab, and then 2 years employed research with people in the field. I also have a first author publication (with one in the process) and two co-author publications (7th and 3rd authors). I have four first-author posters, a co-author poster, three co-authors on oral presentations, and will be giving a talk in October at an international conference. My boss and professor at my undergrad both think I have a pretty good chance at getting in. I, of course, am very hesitant since I've heard of a lot of people with great CVs not getting anywhere.

Hi! I am in a similar boat. My GRE scores were not as good as I hoped for despite studying A LOT and taking courses. I got pretty average scores and felt like my dream of grad school was over. That is, until I talked to my boss (a professor in the field that I want to go into) and he gave me some solid advice. He said that for clinical psychology, GRE scores are not supposed to be the highlight of your application. They're not supposed to be a weakness either (which I don't believe your scores are), but they don't have to be the highlight of your clinical psych application. Research experience, publications, good letters of rec, and posters are much more important than the GRE. The GRE is just supposed to make sure that you can deal with classes that come along with the program. I ended up scoring better on the Quant than Verbal and he told me that the quant scores were more important. If I were you, I would still apply if the rest of my application was well rounded. I hope that helps and to good luck as the application season approaches!!!

Hi! I plan on applying to Clinical Psychology PhD programs in the fall and I was wondering what everyone's average research experience is. Do people typically apply with papers and presentations under their belt? I think I have a strong research component to my CV, but just wanted to see where I was in comparison to either people who have already been accepted or people who are applying this year. Thanks!

I just took a look at that website and there are so many child track jobs! Here's the link to the job portion: http://clinicalpsychgradschool.org/pbacc.php

I graduated in 2014 with a BA in both psychology and sociology. I plan on going to Clinical Psychology (adult). What I can tell you is that ONLY ONE person has cared about my sociology degree. They only cared because they saw that I was a double major and knew it took effort to do that. Sociology and psychology are similar, but a MA in that field won't help you that much. You can talk about how you learned more about statistics or some aspects of research methods, but ultimately, it won't do much. I would suggest maybe taking a year or two off and do some post-bac research assistant positions. I've been working with a professor in my field (who took 3 years off between undergrad and grad school) for less than a year now and I added 3 posters to my CV (2 first authors), a paper, an abstract accepted as an oral presentation at an international conference, a paper under review, and have two papers in the works. Hopefully by the time I apply, I'll have 4 papers. I can not express enough how working has helped my application. I strongly suggest being an RA for a year or two. Here's a website that helps you find RA positions and find more about clinical psych application: http://clinicalpsychgradschool.org

Hey! I think the best would be listening to your main mentor in the field. My professor in undergrad told me that I should get more experience (already 2 years of experience + a poster at a conference in the field). My professor actually got me interviews for the IRTA program at the NIMH! I ended up not getting the job, but I interned at USUHS (across the street from NIH) and they brought me in for an interview once hearing I got an interview at the NIMH. I was offered a job there and at another university. I'm currently no longer in DC, but working under a great professor in the field. I'm coming up on a year working for him and I have a publication that's gotten press, have a 1st author pub under review, and have two more publications in the works. Now I know that it isn't a typical experience, but just think of the different paths you can have! I NEVER imagined I would live in this state! With an RA position, depending where, you can get your name on SO many things. You can also get an AWESOME letter of rec from your mentors when you do research for them! You can PM me for more details. I'll definitely help you with your CV and list of grad schools! Good luck!