PsychM

I went to Kent State for my undergrad degree and continued to work in a lab after graduation for a little while. They are an AWESOME school and a FANTASTIC Clinical Psych PhD program!! Every faculty member at Kent is awesome! Congratulations!!!! 

School: Kent State University
Concentration: Clinical Psychology
Type: Ph.D.
Date of acceptance: 2/20/2019
Notified by: Email from DCT asking to schedule a phone call. Beyond excited and will most likely be accepting!

Me too! Sat in my car and sobbed. Called my mom, still crying, she thought I’d been in an accident. Congratulations! It’s such a relief isn’t it!
i hope everyone in this thread get some good news soon!

I got an acceptance today and cried. I'm going to grad school, y'all ? 
Sharing this process with all of you has definitely helped make this crazy application process a lot more bearable. Wishing acceptances on everyone!

I am a Clinical Psychology PhD applicant and the current round is not my first round. I have sought feedback on how to improve my application from programs I have and have not interviewed at. My former master's program adviser and the majority of psychologists I currently work with (some said they advise against it) said they don't see a problem with it and said it is something they doubt would hurt me. I was told to be sure to type a well thought out, clear and concise email, nothing wordy, whiny, or desperate sounding. They said it wouldn't hurt to try and if someone does not want to respond they can simply not respond. Depending on the program, I have either emailed POIs directly or DCTs and I received great feedback from many of them, a few just sent me back generic stuff about the competitiveness of Clinical Psych PhD programs and how great applicants are passed up because of it etc. etc., and there were only a couple that just completely ignored me. Overall, the feedback I got definitely helped me and this year I was invited to interview at three programs, one of which I have previously interviewed at so obviously they were not turned off by my request for info on how to improve my application.
I do know that there are a lot of people that would advise against seeking feedback on how you can improve your application in the future but as I said, for me it was helpful. You could be told it was nothing personal and that your application is great but that due to a change in funding, your POI is no longer taking a student or the rejection is related to some other factor that is not something within your control... that happens more than people think. I hope this is helpful!! I'm happy to talk more about my experience with it if you wanted to PM me. 

I am a Clinical Psychology PhD applicant and the current round is not my first round. I have sought feedback on how to improve my application from programs I have and have not interviewed at. My former master's program adviser and the majority of psychologists I currently work with (some said they advise against it) said they don't see a problem with it and said it is something they doubt would hurt me. I was told to be sure to type a well thought out, clear and concise email, nothing wordy, whiny, or desperate sounding. They said it wouldn't hurt to try and if someone does not want to respond they can simply not respond. Depending on the program, I have either emailed POIs directly or DCTs and I received great feedback from many of them, a few just sent me back generic stuff about the competitiveness of Clinical Psych PhD programs and how great applicants are passed up because of it etc. etc., and there were only a couple that just completely ignored me. Overall, the feedback I got definitely helped me and this year I was invited to interview at three programs, one of which I have previously interviewed at so obviously they were not turned off by my request for info on how to improve my application.
I do know that there are a lot of people that would advise against seeking feedback on how you can improve your application in the future but as I said, for me it was helpful. You could be told it was nothing personal and that your application is great but that due to a change in funding, your POI is no longer taking a student or the rejection is related to some other factor that is not something within your control... that happens more than people think. I hope this is helpful!! I'm happy to talk more about my experience with it if you wanted to PM me. 

I am a Clinical Psychology PhD applicant and the current round is not my first round. I have sought feedback on how to improve my application from programs I have and have not interviewed at. My former master's program adviser and the majority of psychologists I currently work with (some said they advise against it) said they don't see a problem with it and said it is something they doubt would hurt me. I was told to be sure to type a well thought out, clear and concise email, nothing wordy, whiny, or desperate sounding. They said it wouldn't hurt to try and if someone does not want to respond they can simply not respond. Depending on the program, I have either emailed POIs directly or DCTs and I received great feedback from many of them, a few just sent me back generic stuff about the competitiveness of Clinical Psych PhD programs and how great applicants are passed up because of it etc. etc., and there were only a couple that just completely ignored me. Overall, the feedback I got definitely helped me and this year I was invited to interview at three programs, one of which I have previously interviewed at so obviously they were not turned off by my request for info on how to improve my application.
I do know that there are a lot of people that would advise against seeking feedback on how you can improve your application in the future but as I said, for me it was helpful. You could be told it was nothing personal and that your application is great but that due to a change in funding, your POI is no longer taking a student or the rejection is related to some other factor that is not something within your control... that happens more than people think. I hope this is helpful!! I'm happy to talk more about my experience with it if you wanted to PM me. 

Thanks guys! Super bummed about Fordham, but hoping CU will pull through. Best of luck y'all!

School: Fordham University
Type: Clinical Psychology PhD
Date Of Invite: 01/14/19
Type of Invite: Mass email from DCT 
Interview date: 1/25/19 OR 2/1/19 

I had two interviews today with one of my top choices for clinical psych grad programs, and I want to share what has really already been suggested here, but I want to reiterate because I don't think this link has been posted.... before interviews, you guys might want to check out this site! I pleasantly surprised my POI today in my interview for having knowledge of my preferred POI's current NIH grants as they werent listed on their website so Im assuming they guessed I really did do my research--I did, but to be very honest this website really helped! It really opens up a new game changer of potential questions you can ask your POI('s). 
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm
 

School: Fordham University
Program: Clinical Psychology PhD
Type of Invite: Mass email from Director of Clinical Training for in person interview.
Interview Date(s): Either Jan 25th or Feb 1st.
POI: PM me.
To say I'm in shock is an understatement. Wow. Since I already have an interview on one of those dates, and a non-refundable plane ticket on another, I'm going to have to do some rearranging.... but so incredibly excited!!!  

Thanks yes! Super helpful wow. 

Was it a personalized email or do you think it was a mass email to all interviewees at the same time?

That's so helpful - thanks so much!

Those three domains may have different ways of doing things so if you haven't seen posts from people that applied to the exact same program you applied to, I would keep waiting. I wrote a longer post about this a few pages ago and I am speaking for CLINICAL psych PhD's here,  but many programs will send some sort of rejection via email or mail at some point after they have interviewed applicants, extended offers, and finalized their incoming class. So, that could mean rejections are likely to not be sent until after the decision date imposed by the APA or some other accrediting body for your particular type of program. An applicant who did not interview may also, eventually, just get an email that says to check your status in the application system, this will usually mean rejection. I applied to a program before and heard absolutely nothing from them, I was not invited to interview, and then out of the blue in June, I received a rejection in the mail.  Now, applicants that do interview tend to get their status within a few weeks of the interview (alternate, rejected etc.).
It is fairly typical for invitations to go out through late January and early February as some programs will not interview until March or maybe even later (I have no idea what sort of timeline a Cognitive Psychology PhD program uses). Regardless, don't lose faith yet, there is still quite a bit of time for invites to go out! Many schools resumed classes this week so POIs may just be getting to an initial review or perhaps even reviewing and finalizing the list of who they want to invite to interview. Again, I don't know the timeline for a Cognitive Psych PhD program but I would say if you don't hear ANYTHING by the middle of February, it could mean you are no longer being considered. Another good reference point is, if you know the interview date for a specific program and you don't hear anything from them 2 weeks before that date, you are likely no longer being considered. Notifying people that they are no longer being considered is just not a priority for doctoral programs in many different fields, not just psychology, and it sucks that it is like this! I hope this helps!

Thank you!! I’m applying for clinical psych PhD so this is great info. Best of luck!! 

boutta make a burner email account to anonymously ask all my programs where they're at in the review process

I was just invited to interview at the University of Florida - Clinical Psych PhD program! Feb 14-16!

@paraent I completely agree with @davidfreire20. I wouldn't pay too much attention to that. A program wouldn't be accredited if it wasn't good. Rankings matter much more at the undergraduate level than at the doctoral level. Ivy League and top ranked schools sound great but when you are applying for internship, post docs, and eventually a career, they don't look at the rankings or the prestige of the name of the school very much, they are looking at your experiences, expertise, etc. as compared to others. Student outcome, such as internship match rate, is very important in determining if the program will set you up for success or not. In short, rank or prestige of a program is unlikely to matter when it comes to your future career. That is my opinion at least!

I've heard that rank of the school is no where near as important as the quality of your research experience and the prestige of you mentor (i.e. it'd be better to have a well-respected mentor at a not-so-well-known school than a so-so mentor at a top school). At the same time, It probably depends on you're ultimate career goal; if you're looking to be a professor at a prestigious college then maybe holding out for a top 10 ranked department would be your best option. Personally, I would feel SO lucky just to receive ONE acceptance offer I can't believe that someone would consider turning an offer down just for the chance to go to a "top" school! I'm just hoping for my personally ranked "top" school and a good match for my interests. I have paid 0 attention to the "official" school rankings.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to rankings but would pay more attention to student outcome data. Aside from that, just doing a quick cursory view at the institutions those at my current undergrad institution went to, theres an even mix of schools that aren't in the top 10 but are faculty so I wouldn't necessarily let ranking dictate where you want to go. 

Just got my first in-person interview invite (Marquette University - Clinical Psych PhD) this application season!! I am very excited!

I think that is how the majority of applicants are. Try your best to keep yourself distracted with things you enjoy doing (easier said than done, unfortunately). I noticed that over the holidays when I was with my nieces and nephews I rarely had the urge to check my email or to check GradCafe! My fiance and I are also in the process of planning a trip for April and our honeymoon for January 2020 so that helps to distract me too. My problem is when I am at work all day I have unlimited time to refresh my email and GC because I generally have nothing else that I really want to be doing while at work! ??

I think that is how the majority of applicants are. Try your best to keep yourself distracted with things you enjoy doing (easier said than done, unfortunately). I noticed that over the holidays when I was with my nieces and nephews I rarely had the urge to check my email or to check GradCafe! My fiance and I are also in the process of planning a trip for April and our honeymoon for January 2020 so that helps to distract me too. My problem is when I am at work all day I have unlimited time to refresh my email and GC because I generally have nothing else that I really want to be doing while at work! ??

I think that is how the majority of applicants are. Try your best to keep yourself distracted with things you enjoy doing (easier said than done, unfortunately). I noticed that over the holidays when I was with my nieces and nephews I rarely had the urge to check my email or to check GradCafe! My fiance and I are also in the process of planning a trip for April and our honeymoon for January 2020 so that helps to distract me too. My problem is when I am at work all day I have unlimited time to refresh my email and GC because I generally have nothing else that I really want to be doing while at work! ??