Clinapp2017

You can always apply for F31s from NIH agencies, though research fitting the definition of a clinical trial (even in small scale) is not acceptable as of December 2017. So, you can investigate clinical phenomena, but as soon as you attempt to implement an intervention this is not a valid mechanism for predoctoral students. Google is a good resource for this, though I’m also happy to field questions. It gives you up to 3 years of funding, though direct costs available to you are low of course.

They'd contact you for some sort of interview (phone or skype is likely if you live far away).

That is generally my impression of how this works (coming from the other side of the process now).

This is important; I cannot offer advice on this as I have a very senior PI, but my recommendation is if you go to either of those schools you should identify a prospective back-up mentor immediately who is more senior and could help you in the event your junior non-TT PI leaves and you want to stay.

At least from my lab at a well-respected Clinical PhD program, I am fairly positive my mentor (and other faculty in the program) don't care where your undergrad was as long as you did well. Sure, an Ivy has the ability to bias everyone, but what is more important is seeing research productivity. I, and others, are more impressed to see someone with pubs in some high impact-factor places vs. someone with a "top tier" undergrad school on their CV but nothing else really to speak of at all.

I would only email schools you had interviews at to let them know you are taking a positions elsewhere and wish to remove your name from consideration, especially if it helps expedite the admissions process. If you didn’t get an interview somewhere, no need to email them. This late in the game you are probably being rejected and you reaching out only creates a backdrop of presumption on your part that won’t look good if you apply to the same programs and labs for post-doc and beyond.

FWIW as my opinion as a current student (before this gets merged): 1) nobody expects you to buy food for your host family; in fact, programs usually provide some light breakfast food in the morning for applicants. If they didn’t, I’m sorry about that. 2) I can’t really know what you mean by this unless you want to PM more specifics about what the questions were. Hopefully it wasn’t a big deal. 3) Nobody expects you to be super energetic; just a little social. It’s a long process.

More social. Probably geared toward getting to know them in a more informal setting. You can ask questions about life in whatever city the uni is in, but I’d save the harder questions for interview day.

I would say pre-interview questions should concern unresolved logistics (e.g., “who will i meet with in your lab?”) and not content. Save the actual content for your interview. Just my two cents as someone on the other side.

Look at the “interview advice” thread on here, for starters:

*Sigh* I’m wondering when the day will come, if ever, when people don’t assume that being in therapy + reading Freud/Jung = qualifications for a PhD in clinical psychology. Anyways, what everyone has said here is accurate. I’m thinking a 2 year psychology research masters with a thesis requirement would be most ideal to make you competitive even for RA jobs in clinical. Otherwise you are going up against people with qualifications of conceptual knowledge for the RA positions that you probably frankly do not have. If being a therapist is your goal, pursue a masters in counseling or a similar degree. It’s a much shorter path in this case.

Simply put: decline all offers of schools below the one you got into, and attend the others. See what happens. Congrats! You’re now truly in the buyer’s market.

Google it yourself/look up recent papers from the lab. This is not something you should ask about... it sounds like you didn’t do your homework. You can maybe ask “I’ve read xyz, but what are some new projects your lab is starting?”

The program coordinator, if possible. Do not email your POI... it will come off as annoying/pushy.

I don't know if this has already been said, but if you need to leave your bigger bag or suitcase or something somewhere on-site during the interview, ask the grad students or the program coordinator. People will usually let you leave large objects in their offices during the interview day if its a hassle to lug things around.

I would agree, but also want to add that funding situations are a crap-shoot, too. It’s hard to know what mentors are taking students each year... heck, some even interview students but don’t take a student because they are in the middle of potentially switching jobs or institutions (this happened to me at one site I interviewed at 2 years ago). So, there are definitely ways to bolster your app as @checkingmyemail pointed out, but it’s not 100% your fault as an applicant. I’m also not sure if your applicantions are geographically restricted to a certain (highly desirable, competitive) part of the country. This will automatically limit your chances right out of the gate.

FWIW, the school I am attending now (which was my top choice for a variety of reasons) sent out interview invites to people 10 days before the actual interview day, which was in February. This was a massive headache for everyone, especially people like me who had to travel halfway across the country. This year the faculty are theoretically going to send out invites about 3 weeks before, which still seems crazy even though I get how busy they are and how many applications we receive.

True, implicit bias exists even in our field and maybe I am being too naive haha. That’s why we need more research in that area. I’m definitely interested in seeing research on if we have actually worse inhibition of our biases because we think we are not influenced by them. Also, as an edit/aside, I asked my fiancé (a social worker) to read this in an effort to better understand how I came off to you, and she told me that I was definitely mansplaining. She helped me understand more how this message was inappropriate (e.g., “take a deep breath,” Italian suit v women fashion comment) even though I meant it with the best of intentions. I sincerely do apologize for minimizing the unfair experiences of women in our field/other professional settings. I ultimately hope that what everyone finds to wear makes them feel comfortable and confident! You deserve to rock these interviews.

Alright, I know it’s a stressful time... I’ve been there not that long ago. My main point was about the question of *brand* of clothing. I’m sorry if somehow this came off as mansplaining; I’m simply trying to share what was supposed to be helpful/assuring commentary about the fact that “most interviews don’t care about things as trivial as clothing brand.” I agree that this issue commonly evokes anxiety among many women (and women of color), and that there are tons of factors that historically bias interview settings against women (like the wedding band issue). I’d argue and hope that clinical, a field now largely dominated by women, has become sensitive to these things and most interviewers won’t consciously use bias (my opinion, but there may be literature that says otherwise). Implicit bias is obviously a different question, but I’d argue that as the issue of bias is at the forefront of social psychology today that the elevated awareness can help interviewers override any implicit associations that we might have. Anyways, take my comment as you will. I may have been too brisk, but my point still stands as something meant to be helpful about the particularly important issue of not spending $$$$$ on interview outfit(s). Best of luck with the interviews. It’s an exciting, but stressful time. Just remember you were invited for a reason.

Share if you get an interview. The only thing that I would maybe email a POI about this late in the game is a major change in the status of a research manuscript (e.g., from in revision to accepted, or something like that).

I can guarantee you that nobody cares at all what brand/place you bought your clothing from. Of course, the general interview rules apply that you will want your outfit to be well-cleaned and ironed, relatively color-coordinated (and not super crazy), etc. But I can guarantee you as a student interviewer for my lab I do not sit there and think "Oh.... clearly this person went to TJMaxx or Target, so they don't belong here." I know I am a guy talking to a lot of women on here, but y'all need to take some deep breaths, get a 1-2 nice interview outfits, and then focus on the content of what makes you unique/ready for the program. That will get you in... an Italian suit (or whatever the equivalent is for women, LOL) will not.

You reaching out won’t change anything, so don’t do anything right now. Maybe email Friday if you really need to know, but odds are if you don’t hear by tonight it’s a rejection.

Adrenaline is a wonderful thing. I was in your spot 2 years ago when I was interviewing, and this exact circumstance happened to me not once, but twice. You’ll make it through it, but I would encourage you to tell the second school you’ll be coming from another interview, that way if there’s any travel disruption they will know why WAY in advance. This time of the year is notorious for flight delays and cancellations.

Email the program and ask if you have questions. The reality is this will vary from place to place. I slept on everything from couches to having my own bed. I also mostly stayed with male hosts as a male, but one time I stayed with a female host and her family. Again, it varies, so just reach out and ask. It’s also good to see if you need to bring any personal affects (like a towel) that they may not have an extra pair of at their place Congrats on on your interview!

You can be wait-listed to interview. Some programs, like U Florida for example, historically do this. Short-listed means you are invited to interview.