kjohnson201

I'm guessing you don't still have this? As it's now... 2 years later ;-) Thought it was worth checking!

Thanks for that. I could see myself doing something similar, so it's good to have people like you talking some sense into me ;-) I tend to obsess about doing the best that I can (generally not a bad thing), but when we're talking about minimal return for maximal investment (studying enough to feel like I could guarantee higher scores), maybe not worth it. I know my verbal and written scores are good, and think there's a good chance i could improve my quant slightly only to drop my verbal. It seems like at the end of the day it's just meant to weed out the bottom candidates ,and after that aren't really looked at again. Maybe my time would be better spent getting another publication on my cv.

Thanks everyone. I applied to some pretty high-tier schools this first time around, as I decided to aim high and then work to make myself a better candidate if I didn't get in. As an undergrad, I majored in psych and got some experience in a few labs and did an internship at the inpatient psych unit at a children's hospital, but as a whole wasn't singularly focused on clinical psych grad school. I was contemplating med school, public health, and psychology, and wanted to make absolute sure I knew what I wanted before jumping into a grad program. So I took some time between my undergrad and deciding to apply to grad school -- worked almost 3 years as a wellness specialist in a grant-funded program serving low income school areas, then volunteered for a year in a university lab (while working with the school district, so only could be in the lab 1-2 days a week... the nature of there being so few paid RA positions, and I didn't have the financial luxury of volunteering full-time). During my time in the lab I developed my own research project based on data from one of the studies they were doing, and from that presented a poster at a conference and am finishing up a publication. After not getting in this first time around, I ended up securing a full-time paid RA position, which I'm hoping will be helpful for the next round. I think at this point, the things that held me back were potentially relative lack of concrete research experience, less than ideal GPA (3.62, due to medical issues and out of state treatment during college, which I'm hesitant to bring into my personal statement, as I don't want anyone to think I'm not healthy or able to do a rigorous phd program), and no personal connections to the professors I was applying to. The fact that I've been out of school for a bit (graduated in 2011) means that my undergrad connections aren't quite as strong (especially because I moved out of state after college). Additionally, the lab I was working in wasn't in the same line of research I want to do in grad school, but it was the only place that needed and RA and I figured some experience was better than no experience. I'm planning on putting together another publication based on the work I'm doing in my current job. I'm working on two different grants -- one is an SAMHSA grant for primary and behavioral healthcare integration, and one is with the Colorado Refugee Wellness Center focusing on reducing disparities and improving outcomes in refugee populations. I think the last challenge I had is in narrowing down my research focus. I've always been envious of people who knew exactly what they wanted to do...it's not that I'm apathetic, but rather that so many things interest me! I'm not sure how much people truly have identified a singular research focus (which they expound in their personal statement), and how much they just pretend and know how to sell it. Even after narrowing down my interests, I still have four primary areas I find absolutely fascinating. I know they seem diverse, but I'm hoping to find a way to integrate at least a few of them. 1. Resilience and protective factors (biological, cognitive, social, environmental, etc) & Post-Traumatic Growth 2. Stress response and regulation (both acute/traumatic and more chronic/daily stress) looking at multiple biological, behavioral, cognitive, interpersonal facets; impact on physical and mental health; maximizing resilience and interrupting cycles of dysregulation 3. ACT/Mindfullness & Mind-Body Connections 4. Health Behaviors and their Impact on Mental Health & Wellbeing/Health Psychology related research (examples of specific research questions I'm interested in: Impact of Exercise on Stress Reactivity and Distress Tolerance, Mindfullness/Acceptance Based approaches to Chronic Pain, Biopsychosocial Tools for Breaking the Link Between Pain and Depression, Integrated Care for Child and Adolescent Populations) I'd love any thoughts/insight anyone might have on other ways I might use this summer to become a better candidate.

I applied for 6 clinical psychology PhD programs this year, and unfortunately did not get an offer. Some of it was bad luck - 4 of the professors who previously were seeking a grad student lost funding and didn't bring one on, then I got one interview, followed by a rejection. I'm doing my best to bolster my application this summer before starting again in the fall, and want to do everything in my power to be a competitive candidate. Would anyone who was accepted into a PhD program be willing to share GRE scores, or comment on mine? I'm trying to decide if I should retake, versus focus on other aspects of my application. Verbal = 165 Quant = 158 Written = 5 I'm somewhat worried that if I studied hard and took them again I could increase my quant but drop my verbal, as I know that one was competitive. I just would have to not retake and then wish I had, if that ended up being a deciding factor. Of all the the things I'm doing to try to get in to a program, retaking GRE seems to be a relatively simple step if it would be helpful. But if the time studying could be better spent, that's worth considering too. Thanks for any thoughts and advice you might be able to provide.