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Ole Miss (The University Of Mississippi) Clinical Psychology, PhD (F18) Rejected via E-mail on 15 Dec 2017 15 Dec 2017 report spam Wow. Really disappointed that in the era of Trump I still need experience. Your loss, Ole Miss. I only just found this thread, but I remembered this post from December and had to share. Gave me a good laugh then, just as this thread is now.

Totally reasonable!! Good luck on your site visit! I'm sure everyone, myself included, is very anxious to hear back.

It's totally fine to hang onto an offer until you hear back about a top choice. That actually enables you to contact your top choice about your position on the waitlist and the probability of it moving to an acceptance. However, you are NOT supposed to hold onto multiple offers for more than a couple of days. As the poster above said, it's poor form and really holds everyone else up who are likewise hoping for movement in the waitlist. You should make a decision among the acceptances you do have and decline all but your top choice. See item #5 in this CUDCP document for reference.

If these schools are not your dream schools and don't seem to be a great fit, then if you extend that logically, you wouldn't be applying to those particular programs next time around, yeah? So I wouldn't worry about that hurting your chances Programs don't want students accepting just to accept, because that increases the likelihood of attrition, which is a poor outcome for everyone involved. That you got interviews and may be getting multiple offers means you are qualified, and the stage you are at now is all about mutual fit and deciding what is best for you. If you end up applying again next cycle, that is fine!! If you sit with this for awhile and assess how you're feeling and realize the negative emotions are a result of, let's say, burnout from the rigor of this application season and you do like the program enough to accept, that's okay too!! Ultimately, this decision should be about you, and not expectations set forth by faculty or family.

Hi @FeministPsychologist, While I come at this from the clinical side, as far as I know if a school offers interviews, it is very very unlikely to be accepted without an interview (especially when the interview weekend already took place a month ago). Some programs, like some I/O psych PhD programs for example, admit based on applications and don't require interviews. However, I think the norm across other subfields for PhD is an interview. To be "wait-listed" pre-interview is probably just to the school's benefit. If you are adamant on contacting the program, I would reach out to the graduate coordinator, not your POI. That information would then inform you whether or not it would be worth contacting the POI. That is just my understanding of this process, however, so take it as you see fit.

Not going to lie, I’m sitting here thinking how much I wish this admissions process was as structured (or structured like) the APPIC match process for internship ?

@DippinDot In my understanding of the field, the only time the issue of having a masters & PhD programs wanting to train you in their own way would come up is if it's a counseling degree, which yours is not (and even if that were so, you'd still get the training and still go through the masters process en route to the PhD, so I'm not convinced how sound that advice is). I think that pursuing a research masters where you could get two more years' experience as well as stats work, writing some papers/posters, having more options for LOR, and upping your GRE scores and statements could be really beneficial. If you're concerned about your coursework, you could look into taking a class or two at a local college or community college. Additionally, you can always be reading up on the latest literature and getting a feel for the knowledge base in your area of interest. PhD programs love self-starters. In terms of having a MA and that not really being applicable to jobs, I don't think that's the case given that it's a paid program. It's not like you'd be shelling out 50k and still winding up with a BA level job. I really am of the mind that you can get out of most situations as much as you put into it, and whether you accept the MA, go for a job, or find a postbacc, you'll be making progress, adding to your CV, and showing that you're committed to this path. It's a lot of delayed gratification but whatever you end up doing will be worth it once you get that PhD acceptance. Best of luck!!

I work at a facility that has an internship program. I haven't looked at the APPIC website but like Hk328 said, I'm sure the stats are there as well.

I have been working a full time research job the last two years. It's given me the experiences I need for applications that I didn't fully get as an undergrad RA and has also given me the opportunity to explore my own research and career interests. In clinical psychology, having evidence that you are committed to this type of program (often 5 years plus an internship year) as well as evidence that you can succeed as an independent researcher are key. I think taking time out of school but still doing work related to my ultimate goals helped me in this application cycle. Regarding post-baccs, I know some programs have formal post-baccs (e.g., a former roommate attended a post-bacc in math at the college we lived near) but from what I understand talking to fellow applicants this cycle, post-baccs for clinical applicants tend to be research positions that expect a two year commitment but in return they prepare you for acceptances into PhD programs. This is often a good route because your mentors are familiar with entrance qualifications and will help get you the experiences and preparation you need. I am not applying with a Masters so I can't speak fully to that or how it could be detrimental. However, there are a few reasons why pursuing a masters would be useful. If you have a low undergrad GPA, if you were not a psychology major, if you do not have any research experience, or if you don't yet have a defined area of interest particularly for research pursuits would all be reasons that taking the master's route may be beneficial. I met a number of applicants as well who are applying to PhD programs as they are completing their masters. From what I hear, like post-baccs, masters also allow for help in interview prep, letters of rec, and advice on statements and general application questions. One major downside to this is that the majority of masters programs are not funded (with a few notable exceptions). My experiences are all geared toward clinical applications, so I can't speak to how applicable this is to non-clinical programs. There were plenty of applicants applying out of undergrad, but there is no reason to fear taking time off and working on your CV and understanding exactly what you want--this application process is grueling and the more prepared you are the better off you'll be. Edit: Just saw your other post. Congrats on getting into Wake Forest! I met an applicant in that program at one of my interviews. Sounds like you already have a handle on the masters info I wrote about above.

I'm not sure if you guys tend to think as far ahead as me or would be interested in this information, but as we do know, pre-doctoral internships are very competitive. In the last few years the gap has been closing between the number of internship applicants and the number of internship positions available. This year, finally, there were more internship positions available than applicants! I for one hope this trend continues as it's pretty relevant to those of us applying to clinical programs. Hope everyone is hanging in there as we wind down interview season and are waiting for good news!

I'm not sure what your area is or if the admissions pattern differs from clinical, but if there were 6 applicants for 2-3 slots, you have really good odds! The wait time can vary for a number of reasons (e.g., maybe the committee meeting was further away than implied, maybe they are working on securing funding packages, etc.) so unless you've heard otherwise I don't see a reason to lose hope yet. If you haven't already done so, you could search the survey/results section of grad cafe to see if anyone from your program has posted there in past cylces. I know the waiting sucks but try not to get too down on yourself. Good luck!!

I had mostly these same questions when I got home from interviews, so I reached out to one of my undergrad mentors (who is the DCT at that institution), and regarding R1 vs. R2 and clinical science vs. scientist-practitioner, this is what she had to say: "picking a program is all about the match. If it is a good fit for you, then that is the place for you. You'll have to trust your instincts--as long as the programs also look good with regard to internship placement, etc., which I'm sure they do." Not terribly specific but the idea is that as long as the program's history (APA accreditation, match rates, licensure rates, EPPP scores, graduate placement, etc.) indicates their students are successful, then the deciding factor should be match with faculty and climate of the lab/program and how likely it is to get you where you want to be. I also applied to a mixture of R1/R2 and CS/S-P programs and I think these various metrics are all something I'll weigh in my decision, but they won't be the only things in consideration.

I have been thinking about this the past few days so I'm glad you started this thread! I just wanted to point out a couple things about my own priorities that the poll doesn't really capture. I did not vote for funding as an important reason because I started with a baseline of not applying to any program that hasn't historically funded all of their students. So, yes, funding is important to me, but when it comes down to an acceptance decision, that has already been accounted for. Furthermore, what I've found is that advisors who are supportive of all facets (social, emotional, intellectual, physical, whatever) tend to foster lab members who are like that with each other as well, so I considered those one in the same and voted for supportive mentor since that's where it starts. I voted for research being important because as a clinical student, it's a leg up in internship applications and like experimental is important for career trajectory, but I'd also want to add level of fit with that definition of research--all of the programs I interviewed with obviously overlapped with my interests, but some moreso than others. I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say!!

Wondering if anyone is in the same boat as me: I've had a couple of interviews already that I felt went well, but my last couple interviews aren't for 2-3 more weeks. The gap is making me anxious given that I may (or may not) hear from these earlier schools before completing my interview cycle. How are everyone's interviews going?

This is second-hand information, but it's pretty common to apply to programs twice. I wouldn't recommend *only* applying to the same programs (diversifying your applications is a good thing), but if your dream schools are still your dream schools in a year's time, go for it! On one hand, if there was something about your application that got it tossed early and you come back with a much stronger application, no one is going to remember it from a year ago. On the other hand, if you were a strong applicant and they do remember you, it will demonstrate your commitment to their program as well as some good character traits. What you have to remember is that nothing about this process is personal, and you shouldn't take rejections as a slight. Furthermore, there are SO many reasons an application can be tossed out. I was talking with a 5th year at a program I applied to, and one of the professors in that program does research in a super small niche field, so students will often apply for 2-3 cycles just to work with her. I hope this helps. Best of luck! I hope this next year will be productive for you.