Psych_Law
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Posts posted by Psych_Law
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2 years ago I was waitlisted and never made it off the list. This year I was in the same position again and didn't think the outcome would be any different, which was slightly disheartening. But today I got a phone call that I was accepted off the waitlist, and it made all the agony and waiting worth it. Sometimes you'll make it off the waitlist, sometimes you won't. But you just have to keep trying. Life is short and there's only so much time to do what you want to do. So if this is your passion and what you see yourself doing, don't give up! Keep fighting and pushing forward with the confidence that you are good enough!
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11 hours ago, kitcassidance said:
In case I missed the message, they followed up with a snail mail rejection as well.
Oh, lovely. I'll keep an eye out for that extra letter to come.
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I've received 3...THREE...rejection emails from the same school in a 2 1/2 week period. Like, I get it. I'm rejected. Please no more emails.
- +ve regard, MlhP4a, clinical_chicana and 11 others
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31 minutes ago, psycphd said:
Does anyone know when a reasonable amount of time is to inquire about your status? I don’t want to ask too early but “soon” is so vague? It’s been 2 weeks so I feel like it’s a rejection.
I’d personally just wait it out. It sucks, I know. I’m in the same position. But eventually we’ll find out. Try your best to distract yourself until then.
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Not recent, but still hilarious.
- PsychedSloth, ThisIsCruel, 00ber and 1 other
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1 hour ago, creteA said:
Has anyone heard anything from Georgia State University, University of Colorado Boulder, Fordham, or Columbia?
From the past results section, it looks like Fordham doesn't reach out until the end of January.
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16 minutes ago, Psygeek said:
Haven't heard anything... so frustrating
Don't lose hope! Try your best to find something to distract you during this waiting period. It's early January, and a lot of schools may have taken a long break due to the way the holidays fell this year.
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On 12/18/2016 at 11:08 PM, TakeruK said:
This is the time where many schools are sending out interview invitations and a common (un?)fortunate situation is having accidentally double-booked themselves for interviews**. So, I hope you'll indulge some unsolicited advice:
Resist the urge to respond to interview requests immediately! Consider potential conflicts first.
If you get notification via email, that's great, you can take some time to think about your options before sending that RSVP. If you are notified on the phone, then try not to commit to anything immediately (hopefully the caller will be considerate enough to not even ask you to make a decision on the spot). However, I would rehearse a line to ask for more time to decide in case you get that unexpected phone call. It doesn't matter if you are 99% sure you are free on that date, unless you already know the school in question is your top choice, practice saying something like "I am very excited for the opportunity to interview. I just need to double check my calendar." Then ask if how they would like you to confirm (call back? email?) and ask for a deadline.
While waiting for interview invites, you should think about how you feel about each school and get a rough sense of how you would prioritize one over another. It may also help to know when schools typically notify you of an interview invite and also of their typical interview dates. TheGradCafe's "Results Survey" database is a great tool, and so is searching the forums if people in your field post their dates here.
The point of this advice is that accepting an interview date and then asking to change it later can reflect poorly on you and cause you extra stress. Instead, make sure you are aware of possible conflicts ahead of time. If you get an invite from School A today but know that School B generally sends invites 2 days from now, and that in the past the A and B interview dates have overlapped, then I would wait a couple of days to see if School B responds before committing to any date with School A. If it would be too awkward to simply wait in (email) silence, it's okay to reply to "School A" a day after the invitation and say that you think the proposed date could work but you just need a little bit of time to ensure there are no conflicts. Then you can ask about a deadline (if one was not already imposed).
(** To clarify, this is not meant to "out" anyone already in this situation! Just hoping to help out others).
I have a potential conflict that I'm not sure how to approach if it becomes reality. I have an interview invitation for school A that was extended on Friday. I have 2 schools, B and C, that I am about 99% sure will hold interviews that same weekend. School B usually notifies applicants this week, so I'm waiting for that. But school C usually doesn't get back to applicants until mid-January. Obviously I can't wait a whole month to get back to school A if I am accepting the interview invitation. But school C is better aligned with my research interests than school A, and I'm worried about that potential conflict if it arises--I'm not as confident about getting an interview invitation from school C though than I was with school A. So I'm guessing I accept school A's interview invitation (I do really want to go and get to know the PI and program better), and wait and see what happens? I feel like that's all I can do, but I just wanted a second person's perspective.
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School: Texas Tech University
Type: Clinical Psychology, PhD
Date of invite: 12/08/17
Type of invite: Phone call from POI
Interview date(s): Interview Weekend 02/09
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37 minutes ago, pataka said:
I'm also finding that focusing on work isn't helping... I'm a research coordinator and literally all I did yesterday was browse gradcafe and SDN, and look up recipes on my favorite baking blogs
we're all going crazy.
I'm in the exact same position. Way too much time on my hands.
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6 minutes ago, kitcassidance said:
I've been busy finding mistakes on my CV... six months, over twenty people editing, and no one catches the mistakes until it's too late
*Refreshing pages to check for status change now*
I've put all of my documents for my applications (CV, SOP, writing samples, etc.) on a separate hard drive and am not allowing myself to look at it. I'll torture myself by finding errors.
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I would focus more on the percentile rankings for those scores, and send 1 score with the best overall percentile rankings. My guess would be that your second scores would have the best overall percentile rankings.
AWA scores really don't matter that much to most psychology programs. Or at least that's what I've noticed. Most of them prefer a 4.5 or better anyway, so you're good either way.
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Georgetown has a program that might be relevant for you.
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What's the worst thing that could happen? You don't get in, and you try again! And then you have more time to try to figure out how to increase your scores. Many people apply more than once to clinical psychology programs due to how competitive they are, so it wouldn't be abnormal if you had to try more than once. But you'll never know if you don't try, so put all your effort now into making sure your application is as strong as it can be in your other areas (LOR, SOP, making sure you're a strong match to the faculty you're wanting to work under, etc.), and don't worry anymore about your GRE scores. We all are imperfect and have flaws in our applications that we wish were stronger. You have a lot of great research experience and your GPA is very strong. So why not apply?
Good luck!
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13 hours ago, clinpsych55 said:
Anyone else started the SDSU/UCSD app? The mandatory field for "number of peer-reviewed publications" only allows you to enter a number between 1-100. Either it's a glitch or that'll be one program off my list, unless my paper reviewers hurry up...
Can you put a "-" symbol? You could put 1-1 haha
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24 minutes ago, missfleur said:
Thanks Becks for the link. I've already downloaded it!
To answer your question, I am applying to Ivy League schools, three in fact. And 7 others are probably high-middle of the road and a couple of safeties (as safe as you can get in this field).
I have looked for outcome data. For the safeties, I'm well above. Some don't provide them, some do.
For Yale, for example. While I plan to apply, for 2015-16, their stats are of sight, especially with verbal:
Verbal: 167 mean, 165 median (obviously this means that there are people who had a lower score). I wish they provided a min/max (some schools do).
Quant: 162 mean and median.
GPA: 3.82 mean.
So while I'm applying to Yale, it seems like at least with GREs and GPA, it's a reach? I'm not sure if I'm deluding myself by applying. Harvard and Columbia, for example, don't share this data as far as I can tell. But I have seen Columbia's data from 2014-2015 once when I saw it posted somewhere and it was about 159 verbal and 154 math, so definitely lower. Harvard is probably more in line with the Yale stats above.
I will definitely remove my research interests from my CV. I agree it makes more sense to have it in my statement. I plan to list my GPA for my masters as well as relevant graduate coursework. When looking into Maryland - College Park, they said they did not want GPA on submitted CVs (which is odd), but that's all I saw in regards to that.
Yeah, just look around at the average scores at the type of schools you're applying to and figure out what is best for your case! Like I said, if you can afford it, have the time for it, and can put enough effort into studying for it to try to improve your scores, then there's no harm in taking it again (since you can choose what scores to send now). Also, you'll have to take it again if your scores are older than 5 years (I'm sure you're aware of that, but just in case!)
And when applying, just make sure you read all the details of what each school wants for their app. Some have really specific criteria for SOPs, CVs, even letters of recommendation. So just follow each one precisely and you'll be set! I would recommend making an excel spreadsheet to keep yourself organized for each school and what you need for their app.
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Your GRE isn't bad at all in my opinion. Are you looking at ivy-league schools? I would definitely look at the average GRE scores for the schools you're looking at (find their student outcome and admissions data and it is usually listed there). This can give you an idea of where you are at in terms of the schools you are looking at and the past average GRE scores they accepted. I think this should guide your decision of if you should retake it. Everyone has different opinions and experiences of what others have said about GRE acceptance "rules" in the psychology world. If you want my opinion...if you have the time, resources, and energy to retake it, then why not.
General rule for CV is to be listing your relative research/clinical/teaching experience as well as your past education. Your research interests are to be listed and discussed in your SOP. I recommend listing a final overall GPA for any degrees obtained, but that's just the advice I've been given (again, this can vary from person to person).
This is a great resource for all the aspects of the application process, but there is a specific section dedicated to the personal statement.
http://mitch.web.unc.edu/files/2017/02/MitchGradSchoolAdvice.pdf
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11 hours ago, Trillian8 said:
My GPA is pretty low, but I have a lot of research experience and good GREs that I think can offset that. Would you still suggest taking it?
If your psych GPA is below 3.5 then I'd recommend it. It would just help show that you do understand and know the material to offset the GPA.
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I personally don't think the GRE Psych subject test is needed for programs if it says "recommended" instead of required when you have a BA/BS in psychology and have a good GPA. But that's just my opinion.
I took it (not realizing that it wasn't really necessary) and because it is a paper test and not online, it took a little more than a month for my scores to come back. So it might be cutting it too close, but you could always send the scores late since they're not required for your application to be considered.
So it's just up to you and what you feel is best! If your GPA is a little low, the test could help supplement that. If not, then personally I don't think it's necessary to take it when the program doesn't require it. But again, just my opinion!
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I guess I'll post now as we're getting closer to the actual application process. This is my second round of applications, and I'm going to stay hopeful and positive this round no matter what the outcomes.
Program of Interest: Clinical Psychology
Research Interests: Forensic related
Schools: I'm up to about 14 schools now, but may narrow down a few as it gets closer (Drexel, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln, Univ. of Alabama, Baylor, Texas A&M, etc.)
Number One Worry: My GRE scores. Didn't have the time/money/energy to retake them this year, even though that was the plan.
Not Worried About: My GPA (undergrad and master's), research experience, and letters of recommendation.
I'm kind of at the point where I know I'm shooting for the stars for some of my programs, but I'm going to just put everything I have out on the table and see what this round brings me. I feel a lot more confident and prepared going in this time around, and it is a huge help to not be taking on the hurdle of understanding the application process for the first time. We'll see what this application cycle brings and I'm excited to try this again (we'll see how my feelings change as the months pass by).
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Has anyone utilized the Sherpa prep 8-week class for the GRE before? It is a DC/Virginia/Maryland located company. If so, was it useful/ did it help increase your score if you had taken it before?
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I almost considered doing this for a joint JD/PhD program but decided not to. My initial plan was to study for one for around 2 1/2 months, then take it. Then repeat with the other test. I don't think I could have studied for both at the same time. They're just two completely different kinds of tests and focusing on both at the same time I think would be more harmful than helpful. But with my original plan, it required a lot of time, energy, and early preparation. So it just depends on what timeline you're working with and what you can manage. Obviously studying for both at the same time is doable, but for myself I didn't find it the best idea.
Good luck!!
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On 5/20/2017 at 3:10 PM, EgyPsychologist said:
I don't have the energy or moral to retake the GRE and I'm hoping if I work on other aspects of my application it would compensate.
Oh, I'm right there with you. Just can't bring myself to study for that test again and retake it for a third time.
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2 hours ago, megaspark said:
I'm so happy I found this thread! Unfortunately I didn't get into any programs so I'll be going at it again for next year. I know how common it is to not get in on the first round but it really is discouraging.
Program of interest: clinical psychology focusing on at-risk youth/juvenile offenders
Schools you have looked at: Mainly CA schools: Pepperdine, Palo Alto, California Lutheran but also Denver and Washington.
Number one worry about applying: Pretty bad GRE score for math. I went all out with tutoring and was only able to raise it by 2 points. I also found out that clinical psych programs don't consider ABA to be clinical experience so I'm scrambling to find experience that they will rank higher.
Are you trying to stay on the west coast? I know of a professor in DC who works within that area of study (it is developmental psych though and not clinical).
Incoming Students for Advisor
in Coursework, Advising, and Exams
Posted
I'm starting a PhD program this fall in clinical psychology, and found out that my advisor will have a total of 4 incoming students (including myself). This was not originally intended. But due to only 2 faculty members taking students, the greater ratio of students applying to my advisor's lab vs. the other faculty member, and needing a cohort of 5 to function, my advisor ended up taking on 4. I stand out amongst the other 3, as I have more academic-related career goals whereas they have more clinical-oriented career goals. So I know I have something to stand out with, but I'm curious how I should prepare for this scenario. I'm very aware of how busy my advisor will be, but I also am aware that this may have an impact on my relationship with said advisor.
Has anyone been in a scenario like this before? Or just have any words of wisdom for this scenario?