juhidee119

Now that the dust has settled, I hope everyone has a successful year ahead of them! Thank you all for sharing, venting, crying, and cheering with me. The support on the forum was so helpful.

There's a reason most people don't apply to any more than 20 clinical doctoral programs. You'd have better chances submitting 15 fine-tuned, tailored applications than 30 generalized ones. A really good, tailored application is time-consuming. And I can't imagine your letter writers would be happy about being asked to send out 30+ rec letters for one student. Besides, you can only attend so many interviews before you need to reject the rest due to schedule conflicts. I think 8-15 schools is a good range to aim for.

Hi! Sorry, it's so incredibly competitive to get into these programs. I finally got in this cycle after 5-6 rounds of applying.
1. My undergrad GPA was 3.6 so I got an MA to boost my GPA and some experience points (wouldn't suggest it unless it's funded, I'll be paying for it forever ?). The biggest thing was getting publications and poster presentations. I had only 1 last time I applied; this time I had 5 total. 
2. In the past, I emailed the POI or DCT, depending on who I felt a better connection during interview. 
3. I don't think other fields will harm your application, I think it actually helped mine. Makes you a bit more interesting. 
 
Sounds like youre taking the right steps steps to having a stronger application. Your psych GPA is strong, you should be sure to highlight it on your resume/CV. Good luck! 

Was it Georgia Southern? 

Jackson State University
Clinical Psych Phd
got into a program I liked more

Congrats!!!

Ha I love your user name lol 

Oh wow, we interviewed at 2 of the same schools- I wonder if we've met at either one  
The funding at Georgia Southern definitely sealed the deal for me. I didn't feel a good fit at IUP, some things just seemed...off lol. 
As a minority student, I'm a little nervous about moving to the South in the current political climate but hoping people are openminded since it is a college town. I wanted to stay in the Northeast but Georgia Southern was too good to pass up. 

Some programs just keep going down the list after an interview but don't notify people they're on a waitlist. Outright rejections happen pretty quickly after an interview. It's most likely people are holding on to offers from the program. 
Did the programs tell you when you should be hearing back from them? If it's past the date, you can email/call for an update. 
Theres always hope until 4/15- horrible, crippling anxiety provoking hope, but it's there! 
Good luck!! 

Some programs just keep going down the list after an interview but don't notify people they're on a waitlist. Outright rejections happen pretty quickly after an interview. It's most likely people are holding on to offers from the program. 
Did the programs tell you when you should be hearing back from them? If it's past the date, you can email/call for an update. 
Theres always hope until 4/15- horrible, crippling anxiety provoking hope, but it's there! 
Good luck!! 

Good idea to start this thread! 
I declined at IUP so I hope that helps someone on the waitlist. I took my name off the University of South Dakota waitlist. 
I accepted at Georgia Southern. I loved the faculty and other students when I visited, I'm excited to start there! Metalpsychperson- hoping you get some good news and we can be cohort buddies! 

Oh wow, we interviewed at 2 of the same schools- I wonder if we've met at either one  
The funding at Georgia Southern definitely sealed the deal for me. I didn't feel a good fit at IUP, some things just seemed...off lol. 
As a minority student, I'm a little nervous about moving to the South in the current political climate but hoping people are openminded since it is a college town. I wanted to stay in the Northeast but Georgia Southern was too good to pass up. 

Oh wow, we interviewed at 2 of the same schools- I wonder if we've met at either one  
The funding at Georgia Southern definitely sealed the deal for me. I didn't feel a good fit at IUP, some things just seemed...off lol. 
As a minority student, I'm a little nervous about moving to the South in the current political climate but hoping people are openminded since it is a college town. I wanted to stay in the Northeast but Georgia Southern was too good to pass up. 

I took the General and subject GRE a few times. I got the best results with Magoosh. You can download the apps
on your phone and do flash cards anywhere and their website lays out the best plans for you and how much time you'll need. 

Hi! 
1. Gre scores are fairly important in clinical and counseling programs. A good reference is the book "Insiders Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology"- it gives cutoff scores for all accredited programs.
2. In your situation, I would suggest going to a MA program, I was in the same situation. It makes you a bit more competitive especially if you do a thesis for graduation. It also gives you a chance to get a better gpa. 
3. In my opinion, publications are very important. I've applied for a lot of cycles and I finally got into programs this time and the major difference is the number of publications I have now (3 publications, 2 presentations). MA programs are a good way to get more publications and presentations under your belt. 
 
Hope that helps! 

Agreed with stereopticons, Harvard implicitly carries more weight with its name. If both are equal, I'd go for Harvard. 

If you already have an acceptance, I think that would be fine! 

Personally, I would advise against that unless your programs would have you doing research that's very different what you want to do. 
I've been applying to so many application cycles and learned it's really a luck of the draw, and you should really put your money on a sure thing. There's no guarantee you'll get in on a later cycle. I would take one of the programs that accepted you and possibly do a collaboration with the researcher. 

Personally, I would advise against that unless your programs would have you doing research that's very different what you want to do. 
I've been applying to so many application cycles and learned it's really a luck of the draw, and you should really put your money on a sure thing. There's no guarantee you'll get in on a later cycle. I would take one of the programs that accepted you and possibly do a collaboration with the researcher. 

School: Georgia Southern University
Program: Clinical Psychology PsyD
Date of Notification: 2/21/17
Method of Notification: Phone Call 
Thoughts: I'm over the moon. I've applied for so many cycles, the first time I applied was in 2008 as a undergrad senior! I can't believe I finally got into a program that provides funding, just feels so surreal. 

School: Georgia Southern University
Program: Clinical Psychology PsyD
Date of Notification: 2/21/17
Method of Notification: Phone Call 
Thoughts: I'm over the moon. I've applied for so many cycles, the first time I applied was in 2008 as a undergrad senior! I can't believe I finally got into a program that provides funding, just feels so surreal. 

School: Georgia Southern University
Program: Clinical Psychology PsyD
Date of Notification: 2/21/17
Method of Notification: Phone Call 
Thoughts: I'm over the moon. I've applied for so many cycles, the first time I applied was in 2008 as a undergrad senior! I can't believe I finally got into a program that provides funding, just feels so surreal. 

School: Georgia Southern University
Program: Clinical Psychology PsyD
Date of Notification: 2/21/17
Method of Notification: Phone Call 
Thoughts: I'm over the moon. I've applied for so many cycles, the first time I applied was in 2008 as a undergrad senior! I can't believe I finally got into a program that provides funding, just feels so surreal. 

You should definitely email your POI and any other faculty you interviewed with. Just say you enjoyed your time at the school and look forward to hearing from them and they can contact you with any other questions. 

It is so tiring. After many cycles of applying, I'm over the moon that so many schools invited me for interviews. But I'm also an introvert and I have 6 trips in 4 weeks (4 of which involve flying!). I'm broke and tired of being on and rushing off to the airport all the time. I'll be happy when this is done, I (hopefully!) have an acceptance in hand and cake!