Clinapp2017

Your qualifications are impressive, and I am sorry you've had such a negative experience with the GRE (and posters on this forum). I hope the intent behind sharing perspectives on GRE scores is not to put people down, but to be realistic. Aside from (first) author peer-reviewed publications, the GRE is the only metric that side-by-side differentiates applicants, as GPA mean different things widely by major and college, as do extra-curriculars, etc. . The GRE is a really crappy measure, and does not predict success in graduate school at all, yet many schools refuse to drop this measure because schools want ways they can compare applicants on the same measure. When people chime in saying that your scores are below certain suggested cutoffs, they are stating a fact. It is not to say that you should not apply, but if you don't get interviews, that (quite frankly) may be why. I agree to not rule oneself out and go ahead and apply if you have the resources to do so, but be prepared for the GRE (especially scores below 50th percentile) to be a potential hinderance to the application. This GRE's role is a fact that has been well-discussed by many sources, so down-playing its importance is not advantageous.

+/- 100 words (less than a paragraph) is probably okay. Be aware that some portals for applications, however, may have exact word count, so it's good to format your SOP with this in mind then having to frantically trim later.

Everyone will give you different feedback; it definitely helps to have multiple sets of eyes on the document. At the end, you want to tell your story the way you want to tell it while realizing that this is one of easily dozens your POI could read, so you want to toe the line to not be too cliche, boring, or (on the flip side) hyperbolic.

As a student currently training in neuropsych, I am happy to be a resource to any here or over PM about the process. Good luck to all!

I would say no. I wrote mine 2 pages single spaced and got 7 interviews. If you are concerned, reach out to the program coordinator to ask.

Caveat to this - only do this for recent papers. Research lines change as funding changes, so looking at a paper from >5 years ago is a bad idea. And in terms of your interests, they seem kind of all over the place. Maybe focus on 1-2 aspects of that.

I think UVM may have faculty who do work in this area. Unsure, but I remember a post-doc at a clinic I worked at talking about this at one point. Google search pulls this: https://www.google.com/search?q=university+of+vermont+refugee+mental+health&oq=university+of+vermont+refugee+mental+health&aqs=chrome..69i57j33.5980j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Some programs extend interviews as late as January and February. Best to be patient. I’ve never heard of a program (for clinical) invite people before the middle of December at the *very* earliest.

Not by much.

If you are a good fit with PIs at schools you are applying to, your lack of posters/papers may not matter given your other experiences. However, I advise pushing out that paper for publication ASAP. Work with whoever is on that paper to have it under review vs in prep by the time you submit apps. Also maybe apply to present that paper at a conference somewhere. Showing research productivity is important when considering that you will be going up against people with several pubs/posters under their belts.

Be prepared to start all the way over; there was a grad student in the lab I worked for in undergrad who did this and she had to start over (despite having masters) as if she was brand new. She re-took coursework, practica, etc. And that's a rare case. YMMV; this is a hard, personal choice but you sound set on leaving.

18 is too many. I would narrow down to 10-12 where your match with mentors is highest. Any chance any of those posters can turn into a pub in progress or submitted? Posters by themselves aren’t great when papers are the gold standard. Your GRE could also be improved by ~9 points cumulatively to help you cross the 320 threshold that is often recommended for absolutely certainty that people who care about the GRE (which I’ll add is shrinking) don’t discount your application. The difficult thing is the only “objective” measurement of performance across applicants is GRE and (maybe) pubs, as GPA can vary widely in meaning between universities, as can volunteering and other stuff.

I can just say r.e. clinical that without a poster or pub to your name in the field of clinical (broadly), your chances are pretty low. I agree that you should think more about what your end goal is for training and you that will help narrow down the next steps.

It's a bit challenging for clinical/counseling, but if you are doing research that consists of basic science vs. clinical (I.e., intervention), you might be eligible to apply for the NSF GFRP (deadline is rolling up fast on October 24). If provides a large chunk of funding for yourself for 3 years. It doesn't hurt to apply for this (especially if you win your future mentor will be grateful haha), but in the U.S. typically most PhD programs that are reputable offer some time of funding.

Guaranteed nobody will read that much... Any shorter version? I would not submit anything longer than a typical paper length in the field (maybe a max of 20 double space pages, not including references).

Without publications or even posters, your chances are slim to none this cycle. I’d work on trying to get some publications or posters somehow (maybe using archival datasets or something if you don’t have data for projects). Low GREs also won’t help.

Trim it back to 500. Not following basic directions is never a good first impression.

Some reimbursed me for all or part, but yeah expect to pay for a lot of travel. Usually interview sites will host you with current students, so at least that isn’t a cost you have. I advise saving as early as you can for travel. I had worked in two labs - one for 3 years doing research using data from a national dataset (first author pub under review at time I applied, corresponding poster won award at national conference, mentored younger undergrads on a different project); the second lab was for a year where I was basically an EEG technician (no pubs or posters, but good imaging experience).

I’m happy to field questions about this - I am now in a clinical psych (fully funded) PhD program and I applied straight from undergrad. I feel like the adjustment was easier for me than some of my cohort members because I’m used to classes and working outside the 8-5 window, but I see how full time RA experience is valuable for them too. The application process is still equally daunting. I had a lot of research under my belt already so I was invited to interview at 6/10 schools. A big tip I have is get a Airline credit card with miles because I racked up nearly 100,000 miles between the opening offer and the trips which made for a nice few free trips (minus hotel and other costs, haha).

My recommendation (having applied to 10 schools now 3 years ago lol): make a template SOP with the things you won’t change between application (e.g., details about you and your training) in black, normal text. Then, write out placeholders for program names, PIs, details about how you relate to them in bold red text. This really helped me not mix up a lot of programs that, on the face, felt pretty similar even when writing something specific about them.

3.2 isn't terrible. I would advise taking the Psych GRE to show your knowledge of that subject area (will help balance the good general GRE and this subject vs. a "meh" [but not awful] undergrad GPA). At your new job, start talking NOW with your PI about potential projects in which authorship (ideally 1st to 3rd) is possible. Having 1-2 quality publications under review (or, ideally, in press), as well as associated conference meetings, will honestly be the best way to overcome a low-average GPA.

A 318 is pretty good. My view is unless you can improve your score by 5-6 points, no reason to retake it. In your case, you are right around the sweet-spot of 320 that is what I have heard is an informal "all good" on the GRE front. On an unrelated note, if you want to talk to me about clinical neuropsychology programs, message me because that is my research/clinical area.

Do you have current research or clinical experiences with chronic illness populations? If so, saying something along the lines of “having X chronic illness made me interested in Y topics in children with chronic illness, so I’ve gained experience doing Z to address Y in college” then it might be okay. I agree, having a chronic autoimmune condition myself, that while it’s challenging, there’s less stigma around chronic illness relative to most mental health topics. I would be sure, if you talk about it, to make it very clear how well managed it is and how resilient it has made you.

Oh, great on all points then, and all power to you then. I was unsure about your point on acceptances because you said PsyD, which is different than what’s looked for in Phd applications (not as heavy on research training as a qualification). If you want someone cynical to read your SOP draft, I always love reading them and providing feedback. Drop me a direct message if so.

First, I am sorry to hear that this happened to you. This sounds like an experience that you've been able to turn into an inspiration and something positive, despite how helpless I am sure that moment felt to you. So, to clarify, you are a social worker right now and work with trauma/active SI/HI in-patients? And you want to do back to school for another 5-6+ years to become a clinical psychologist (PhD) researcher on EBTs for PTSD? I have thoughts somewhat unrelated with your question: 1) Can you move around easily depending on where you are admitted (if you are admitted)? If you are a military spouse are you tied to a certain area/need to move? If so, this may, frankly be incompatible with 5-6 years of PhD training, plus a potential (likely) move for internship, plus a potential (likely) move for post-doc, plus a potential (likely) move to become faculty. 2) Do you have any background in research (lab work, publications, posters)? If not, you are not likely to be competitive at funded, reputable research PhD programs where prior evidence of research productivity is basically a requirement to be in the competitive applicant pool. 3) Is there any way as a social worker you can get hooked into research at your current institution or neighboring institutions? I know it's not common, but I know of several MSW/LICSW folks engaged in research in some capacity, though I am unsure of being a principal investigator (maybe a co-investigator...?) I am throwing all of these out to help you think through this a bit more. If you still think applying for a PhD makes sense given the above, I am wary about including this story in your personal statement for a variety of reasons. Talking about your past work with trauma/in-patient is fine, but sharing such a vivid personal trauma in a personal statement may come off at TMI for some readers. I also am wary about this because, though you feel you are on an upward trajectory, you've only just met full DSM PTSD criteria and you'd only be in treatment for ~4 months or so by the time you submit your application materials. Though you may truly be in a good place, the literature does not necessarily reflect such a fast recovery from PTSD (generally), so you may raise some flags in terms of emotional liability. PIs all understand that we all have stories and many of us have mental health issues/histories, but being a potentially active PTSD case may not be appealing to some PIs, even if it sounds inspirational to you. This is just my opinion. Others on the forum may care to differ. There may also be a way to bring this up in interviews or your SOP vaguely, such as discussing the index trauma with not such specific description and talking more about the journey you've completed and importantly, using vague language to make it sound like this is more in the past than it is. You are clearly very resilient, which is awesome, but again for reasons stated above putting some distance between you and the trauma might be a better move from the application angle.