pinkingpsych

I got into the University of Michigan's Master's of Science in Information program, and I'm thinking about studying the computational social sciences track. If I do this, I would still like apply to PhD programs in clinical or counseling psych during my last year at UM. Do y'all think admissions would look favorably upon the degree? If you have any advice on how to stay a competitive applicant, I would greatly appreciate it.

Same here! I'm so nervous lol

To anyone who received an invite from UCSB or University of Oregon, could you PM me about which PI contacted you about it?

Thanks for the advice. I don't really think I need to explain my situation but it's not about respecting them. I've already applied to programs based on fit regarding research interests, so this was more to prepare myself for massive disappointment if my parents decide a program is not worth it because of its ranking or distance away from them.

yeah I only applied to fully funded programs, but my parents come from a culture where i cannot make any decisions without them until im married and i care about having a relationship with them. okay that's what i used but i wasn't sure if the ranking system was the best. thanks!

Ugh yes! I just want to know if I got any interviews so I can start planning on applying to jobs (if I get no interviews) or buying plane tickets. When do y'all think I should worry about not getting any interview offers? Around late January?

I'm also non binary and applying to clinical psych programs. Congrats on your interview offers! I agree with the above! I talked about my involvement with the LGBT community but didn't specify what I identify as specifically and asked my recommenders to use she/her pronouns just in case. While I agree that you probably don't want to be somewhere that won't accept your trans/nonbinary identity, it's so hard to be picky in this field, so I personally decided not to bring it up unless directly asked. I do have my pronouns in my email signature though. At my current institution those who bring it up tend to be very receptive, so it helps me avoid any potentially hurtful interactions since people who are uncomfortable with it generally do not bring it up. After gaining placement, though, I highly encourage you to be your authentic self to the fullest extent that you can!

Hi! So some of the programs I'm applying to are asking for a writing sample. I'm pretty bad at writing, so the two options I have are an article submission (accepted, not yet published) and my honors thesis proposal. I would rather share the article but I'm the second author on it. Can I still submit it as a writing sample and just point out which parts are mine?

Hi! I've already applied to most of my schools for clinical psych Ph.D.s, but I was wondering, is there a good site to look at for the rankings of these programs? I'd like to use it if it ends up that I get into a program to show my parents how prestigious or not a school is (unfortunately this is the majority of what they care about when deciding whether they'll allow me to leave them or not, which is a whole different issue). If I knew ahead of time, I could better prepare myself for the rejection(s) and future, or come up with a good argument in the meantime. Thanks in advance

Hi! I've posted in this forum previously, and since then I've gotten a near final draft for my statement of purpose. However, I have been given specific feedback for my statement that I'm not sure how to fix. Here's the feedback I've gotten so far: I wrote in my statement "[research program] was my gateway into the research world and fostered my love for it that has only grown since" and I've heard from others that using emotional words like "love" is a general no-no. Does anyone know what words I could use to replace it? "I feel like the way you put so much detail in your experiences, it seems like your future goals are an afterthought. it's okay if you really don't know exactly what you want to do in the future; becoming a professor in any field is even more competitive than getting into a clinical psych program. Additionally, your future goals may change while you're in the program. So when talking about your future goals, I don't think you mentioned this in your statement, but why you're choosing a clinical psychology program vs any other program like gender studies or general psychology. What do you want to do with a clinical psychology degree? I do think you did a great job explaining why you want to apply to these specific programs though." I'm struggling to show why I'm interested in clinical psychology in particular (though I have very specific research interests that I talk about in my SoP) and I'm wondering if anyone else had trouble with that and how they ended up explaining why they want to be a researcher in their field of choice (doesn't have to be clinical psych). Thanks in advance!

So I'm currently working on my UCSB Clinical Psych PhD application, which is due in less than two weeks. I'm not too worried, but I have an idea for the diversity statement that may or may not go over well with the admissions committee and I'd like some opinions on it. This is the prompt: UC Santa Barbara is interested in a diverse and inclusive graduate student population. Please describe any aspects of your personal background, accomplishments, or achievements that you feel are important in evaluating your application for graduate study. For example, please describe if you have experienced economic challenges in achieving higher education, such as being financially responsible for family members or dependents, having to work significant hours during undergraduate schooling or coming from a family background of limited income. Please describe if you have any unusual or varied life experiences that might contribute to the diversity of the graduate group, such as fluency in other languages, experience living in bicultural communities, academic research interests focusing on cultural, societal, or educational problems as they affect underserved segments of society, or evidence of an intention to use the graduate degree toward serving disadvantaged individuals or populations. Now I've never really experienced financial hardship - so I don't plan on focusing on that part of the prompt. I am financially dependent on my parents who are homophobic (I'm part of the LGBT+ community) which may come into play but like I said, that won't be the focus of my statement since I'm not out and haven't had to face the consequences of being out to my parents. I have however, thought about speaking on my experience as a child of immigrants who barely knew English, being bilingual, and how that has shaped my view of America. My plan so far is to talk about the intersection of race and sexuality and how that has been an isolating experience for me that I have turned into a motivating factor for studying clinical psychology. Often I've felt that finding a therapist who works to understand rather than pity or assume very hard, which I'm not sure if I should mention. I've been working at my university's LGBT+ resource center for the past couple of years, I've been a mentor for incoming South Asian freshmen for two years, and my honors thesis is on how bicultural identity affects the relationship between internalized stigma and well-being among LGBT+ South Asians. The research lab I've spent the most time in focused on Asian American mental health, and the project I worked on was specifically centered around abuse in Asian American households. Right now I'm confident that this will be enough evidence that I've been dedicated to serving diverse populations and will continue to do so. However, I have a few worries. I know that my racial identity is not usually associated with being disadvantaged, so I wonder if it's even relevant to mention. Among South Asians it's common knowledge that mental health and LGBT+ identities are taboo topics (though that is changing, thank god). In addition, I am worried about being pigeon holed or too specific about my research interests. What do y'all think?

Hey! So I'm just about done with my first draft of my SOP (I know, I'm pretty late in the game) and going to get it reviewed by some advisors this week. After my second or third draft, would anyone (possibly psychology majors) be willing to exchange SOPs so we can give each other advice?

Hi there! so I'm a senior in undergrad (sociology and psychology major) looking to apply to some clinical psychology PhD programs!From what I know, it's pretty taboo to talk about your own psychopathology on a personal statement. However, I have not so great grades from freshman year (a C+ in biology and a C in physics 2 and then a couple of Bs in social science classes), transferred to a better school, maintained a 3.5 GPA, and then this summer had to withdraw from a summer term so now I have two Ws on my transcript as well for linear algebra and intro to programming. All of this was due to my C-PTSD and subsequent alcoholism (which I am working on now). I'm pretty frustrated because I don't to leave this unexplained but I also don't want to cross a taboo subject. How should I address this in my personal statement? If it helps, here's a short list of the stuff on my CV: - GPA: 3.5, major GPA 3.9- worked in university's LGBT center for past year and continuing this year- worked in neuroscience lab for one year, presented poster- worked in clinical psychology lab for 21 months, presented poster- worked in child neuropsychology lab for a summer- worked with a professor at the school of social work for her poster and publications- presented at MBGLTACC, an LGBT conference for college students/staff on the intersection of hinduism and being LGBT+- presented at a LGBT POC conference on an independent research project- currently working in a social psychology lab that is related to my honors thesis, which is related to both social and clinical psychology- GRE scores: 162 verbal, 167 math, 5.0 on the essay. above the 90th percentile for all 3.