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You'll still need 2000 hours of clinical work post-masters to be eligible for the LPC (at least in the state I am in). In my state, I went the LPCC route, so I didn't have to pay to register as an unlicensed psychotherapist, but am still eligible to count all my clinical and supervision hours towards the LPC. I was encouraged to not close any doors, and while I don't want to be a full-time clinician, having a license opens up doors to many more opportunities in different work environments. For example, many research coordinator positions in hospital settings prefer licensure for hiring purposes if your research will be with clinical populations. Good luck!

Probably professors and classmates. Your school probably also has some student support and tutoring services that could be valuable to look into.

A lot of programs only have TAships available because of funding constraints, but that doesn't mean you won't also be spending time in your professor's lab! It just means your lab time won't be paid if it's not an RA. But definitely look into outside funding sources like NSF, NIH and NIMH

Is this for clinical? Have you heard anything from the program yet? Who is your POI? Thanks!

Hello all! I've seen a couple rejections from CU Boulder Clinical and I was wondering if those who have heard from the school had interviewed? Has anyone heard post-interview? Thank you!

I agree about the crapshoot. There are so many qualified applicants with so few available spots in these programs! Sometimes it just depends who else is applying at the same time...there could be someone with a skillset that is needed in the lab beyond what you may have! It's such a disheartening process. I'm in the same boat, with the one interview. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it was as good a fit for them as felt for me! Good luck!!

I see a couple of people posting rejections from CU Boulder for the clinical program. Do you mind specifying if this is post-interview and how you heard? Feel free to PM me!

You should definitely re-write your personal statement to include your new experiences. Having an MA shouldn't hurt your application, but if you're concerned you can emphasize the fact that you didn't get as much clinical experience as intended so you look forward to gaining more training in a different setting (or something to that effect). Rank of your current university shouldn't affect your application, especially if you're taking steps to bolster the application (for example, seeking out clinically-relevant research experience). Goodness of fit with the prof is everything for these applications, so make sure that you are articulate in your personal statement in explaining your research interests (what questions do you want to answer? Why is it important/why does it matter? What do you hope to find? How would you design a study? etc). Good luck!

I currently work full-time and still volunteer in a lab at a local university. I would reach out to lab managers and POIs at local universities and see if they are taking any volunteer RAs to gain research experience if the PhD is really the route you are interested in. If you're only interested in becoming a clinician, then I agree with the above poster that a PsyD program would probably be a better fit.

I was told DU was planning to be finished extending interviews early this week for the Clinical Child program.

The PsyD and PhD programs are in different departments. GSPP started giving out PsyD interviews last week, Department of Psych is supposed to finish up offering interviews in the next day or two (but most profs have given out the interviews already...)

DU said they planned to be done sending invites out by the end of last week/early this week. If you haven't heard by Wednesday, the grad program administrator (Paula) should know if all interview invites have been extended if you call. There are some POIs that have definitely given invited already though...fingers crossed they haven't all gone out!

Me too! Also, which program (clinical, social, etc)?

I got an interview offer from Boulder about two weeks ago, but it's by POI so they may not be done. Interview day is Feb 5. It probably couldn't hurt to call the department and ask if invites are still being sent.

Business attire. You should look professional. And I was always told to avoid dresses and skirts (they can be distracting? Of course this is coming from male professors). You could get away with nice slacks, top, and blazer for women and a suit for men. Over dressing would be waaaayyy better than under dressing--it just shows that you care! I've also gotten mixed reports on wearing colorful anything. Some say it's good to wear a color on top that stands out, but you also don't want to be too flashy. You want them to remember your name for the right reasons!

Usually the POIs aren't looking for folks with exact same research interests because they want their students to be able to contribute something new. Sometimes they are just looking for someone with similar interests that can take the field in a new direction. It's of course certainly disappointing, but it may not have anything to do with your application, they may just be short on funding too. I hope another school works out for you, and if not there's always next year!

I think you should prepare what research questions you want to answer (top one or two), why is it important, what do you hope to find, how will you go about doing so/what experience do you have in regards to this line of research? Brief, but it shows you have a solid idea of what you want to do and can think about ways of succeeding. Good luck, we are all rooting for you!

My first set of scores expired, and then one school wanted me to take the new test so I bit the bullet and re-took it...and then again. So that was a total of 3 times. I was able to raise my score by about 5 points total, but verbal has always been a struggle for me (157)...which seems silly when my writing score is a 5.5. Quant is 159 which is respectable enough for psych that they won't just throw out the application, but also doesn't make me super competitive when other people are applying with perfect scores. I also invested in a tutoring course which I don't think was really worth the money, but my score did improve. Not sure if it was the tutoring or the absurd amount of practice tests...or just luck. But in the long run, I do think people can learn to take the GRE well if you have the time and money to commit

The first time I applied for grad school was while I was in my 3rd and final year of college. I applied for mostly social psych phds and a couple masters. Got into a few programs, and ultimately decided I didn't want to do social, so i went to one of the masters programs. Most of the schools I didn't get into told me that it had nothing to do with my application, it's just a competitive process and I was really young (so they're less inclined to commit so much funding to someone who may not know exactly what to do for the future). I also had applied to a bunch of scholarships at the same time as my applications and wound up getting a sweet scholarship that paid all of my tuition (and then some), but then I worked for a couple of years in an unrelated field. This is now my 3rd time applying to grad school, 2nd time for clinical programs. I decided I don't want to leave where I'm at so I only applied to two schools (got an interview at one and haven't heard yet from the other). I have a good job that doesn't pay much, but has great benefits and a flexible schedule where I can volunteer in a lab and also do some work on the side with another research team I've been working with for a few years. I'm also able to acquire more clinical hours towards my license in the volunteer positions I hold, so that will be beneficial long-term. Of course, I don't want to have to reapply next year (how many times can i reword a personal statement??) but I'll probably continue applying to a select number of schools until I get in. Some people say that it's better to cast a wide net and apply to a bunch of schools to improve chances, but being where I'm at is more important to me than settling on a program that doesn't feel like as good of a fit (geographically and program in general). Things like this often have a way of working out, even if it doesn't feel right at first.

Me too! For clinical child and affect/social please!

DU GSPP has interviews in late February/early March, so interviews probably haven't been out yet. In past years, it's been a phone call invite from one of the professors in the department and I imagine that's how it will be this year too. You can also call the department admin (Julie is awesome) and find out if they know when interviews will go out. Good luck!

I think it's generally fine to apply to two programs in one university provided they are in different departments. Some schools specifically say you can't do that, though. My understanding is that most schools appreciate and support collaboration with colleagues, so maybe identifying professors in two departments with matching research interests could benefit the application? Good luck!

I spoke to my POI and was told decisions about interviews will be made this week and next, and we should probably hear by the end of next week. Good luck!

It's not about doing anything wrong, it's about being the right fit at the right time (for yourself and the university/faculty). There isn't a formula for admission. My understanding is that programs look for students who can be successful in the program, who can be an asset to the program/university, good stats, etc. Most people applying have good scores, letters, grades, etc. and while those are important to every application, they aren't necessarily the deciding factor. Some schools get 400+ applicants, and interview 15-20, for 2-3 spots in Clinical Psych PhDs. Some professors get 100+ apps to their labs alone, and can only choose one student. It also takes most people more than one round of applications to gain admission, so try not get too down on yourself if you haven't heard back yet. If you wind up not getting interviews this year, it can't hurt to contact your POIs and ask if they have any advice to improve your application for the next round because they can usually provide personalized input. But it's still early in the game! Hang in there and good luck!