Anxiousapplicant01

Yes. Being a minority of any kind in this field (and, yes, males are minorities in school psych) will help you. One initiative in the field right now is training more diverse school psychologists (like over 70% of students are white females or something ridiculous like that).

Current grad student here who interviewed several places. No one at any of my interviews had a laptop with them, but many brought a nice leather portfolio to carry copies of CVs and other papers. If you're a guy, maybe you could get away with carrying a laptop bag and having it in there just in case, but carrying one around is def. not the norm.

Nice blouse is fine. Really anything that you would wear out of your house and not be embarrassed to be seen in during the day is probably fine.

When I pulled out a notebook with pre-written questions and notes for my interview with my POI, usually people were nothing but impressed that I was so prepared.

Usually the unique factors sections are for things like extenuating circumstances that could have impacted your performance in general. Like major things. This would be something like working full time to pay your way through school or a family illness or death that really impacted you in a major way. I don't really think that being a bad test taker is a good thing to put in this section.

I'm a School psych phd first-year in a program with both phd and eds students (NASP and APA accredited). Feel free to ask me questions, although if they are specific about my experience that might be best addressed by PM

This is the only book I used. Read the whole thing through the night before the test (this is the only thing I did to prepare), revisited topics that I was iffy on again the morning of the test. It is pretty good. It really hits home on the "this is what you need to know" topics. I scored around the 80th percentile (don't remember the exact score).

Looking for a good advisor is one of the most personal parts of the application process, and the process of looking will help you narrow your interests even further. It is a great way to learn more about yourself, which is really helpful when writing your statement. It is beneficial to tackle this process yourself. It is hard, but worth it! One way to get a good jump on looking is to look at research articles (search your interest in a database like Psychinfo)that excite you and see who the authors are. See where they are, look at those programs. There might be other people there that share similar interests beyond the authors you found. Research fit is not necessarily a deciding factor/important for PsyD programs, so things might not work the same way advisor-wise. If you are not clearly decided on PhD vs. PsyD you need to do some introspection and decide what's important to you so you can articulate it clearly in your apps. I hope this is helpful!

Some schools have "Continuing Studies" programs that might allow you to take more classes and build on what you have done, and maybe build toward getting a second degree. If you were to do that at a new school, your GPA would be entirely new and you wouldn't have to completely start your degree over, but you could still take the advanced classes you are taking about for a GPA you could put towards a grad app. It might take a couple of years. I know people who had degrees who did this, got a second degree in psychology (not sure what the first was in), and then got into graduate programs. It won't erase what has happened, but that may be a way to show that you are serious about showing how you've improved. And usually these programs are designed for people who work as well, so you could work and save some money for grad school at the same time. Just an option to consider...I hadn't heard of this type of program until I realized that my undergrads institution had one. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to make your dream happen with a few years of work.

There's a book called pocket guide to the DSM (or something like that) that I used in an abnormal psych course. It boils the DSM down to the main points and goes over how it works and things like that. Hope that might be helpful.

Honestly, I do not know much about California but can try to give you some feedback based on what you said. For your goals, it doesn't sound like you really need a PhD or psyd, so you could get your degree in a lot less time and start working with an MSW. also, psyd programs at school like Alliant are going to cost a ton and. Degrees from degree mills like Alliant are not really going to carry any sort of prestige (if you are ever going to be doing anything besides clinical practice) and likely won't be substantially more valuable than a far cheaper MSW from a school like UCLA or USC. And if you are interested in long term learning opportunities in psychology, all licensed mental health professionals have to continue learning so the learning doesn't stop at the end of the MSW program. Phd programs in general, but especially at any UC, are very competitive in clinical psych and if you don't have research aspirations than you likely won't be admitted or be happy in a phd program. For clinical, if you don't need a doctorate to accomplish your goals, the application process alone is probably not worth the headache. I would say MSW would be your best bet, and your might not even have to take the GRE so that's an added bonus.

Honestly, you could be pretty competitive right now for a phd program if you score well on the GRE and maybe consider trying to do some sort of independent study during your final year in undergrad. I was accepted to multiple PhD programs straight out of undergrad. I spent a summer as a research assistant and did an independent study my last semester (after I applied and was admitted to programs). As for practical experience, I taught Sunday school and volunteered for a crisis hotline starting the summer before applying. As long as you can write and talk about what you want to do and why you want to do it, you are a competitive applicant given your credentials. Understanding and being able to talk about/apply the process of conducting a study is also important. Also, being able to explain how the experiences you have and the courses you have taken have prepared you for a graduate program is key (and being able to "sell it"). Once you make if past the minimum GPA and GRE scores, they are looking for fit. I honestly viewed my personal statement as a persuasive essay. As for GPA and GRE, I had a 3.75ish when I applied and my GRE scores were 162V and 161Q. I hope this was helpful.

I would look and see what each of your programs require and what are the average scores of people who are accepted. If you are close to that, you should be fine. Lots of programs use this test as formality (I got a very similar score, if not the exact same...it's blurry at this point, and my score was never mentioned and I got into programs with full funding and a competitive stipend) and many don't require at all. If you have a masters, there's even less to worry about. I would only worry about getting a very high score if I weren't a psych major ad only had completed undergrad. Also, if you are only retaking it for the subscores, my advisors told me those were virtually meaningless. The way they define "social psychology" vs experimental is very bizarre; I wouldn't worry about it. In general GRE scores of any kind are usable for 5 years, so unless a program specifies beyond that, that shouldn't be a problem. Definitely check to see what the requirements are for each program and you should be fine!

It's not like there is a rush to sign up for these tests. Seats don't usually fill...sometimes people walk in literally the day of the test and register (particularly for October tests if they are unhappy with September scores). That being said, I sat for the test in October and registered in early or mid September. Signing up for this is a very minor part of your application process (most schools don't even care about this test), so it is not worth stressing over. This process is stressful enough without sweating the small stuff!

Honestly, I didn't contact any of my POIs before applying. Maybe i would have saved some time if I had, but I have heard from friends who applied that many of these initial contacts eventually turned awkward so I am happy I didn't do it. If you have a specific reason for contacting them (to ask questions that would need to be answered before applying), then you should. I don't think it is particularly advantageous...you will have plenty of time to ask questions and get familiar with your POI if the program is interested in you.