PsyZei

SAME!!!! My cohort and everyone in the program are freaking amazing. I am 100% convinced this whole process just comes down to luck and am grateful I just one of the ones was lucky enough to get acceptances.

I don't think I have never not found a typo, missing word, or something in an essay, statement, thesis, whatever after I've submitted it ?

Same, I really thought there would be less people wanting to go through the additional stress of applying for programs this year, not more. Shows what I know ?

I think this is the common language used when they are saying they like you and want you be in the program but there are still more official hoops to jump through. I know that with the programs I applied to they all used that type of language to say they had recommended me for admission. I've got a recent example because I recently added a MA program to my plan of study during my PhD. Screenshot: So you having been told this sounds like good news, to me, and that at the very least like you can expect to be interviewing in January. Congrats!

I honestly thought it would be less this year, too.

Ouch!

I saw on Twitter there is talk about 50%+ applicant increases to various graduate psychology programs this year. https://twitter.com/jayvanbavel/status/1334558142240321544?s=19 I don't know how true this is across the board, but just wanted to post a heads up. If the programs you applied at saw these type of increases, you may end up with a more competitive experience than some of us had in past cycles. Remember to be kind to yourself while waiting for and getting results. I'm rooting for all of you.

That is the worst feeling. This year of all years I feel like it's okay to not be ideal. Good luck!

Good luck, rooting for you!

I included at least two, and sometimes three. This was suggested to me by multiple faculty members (and was a good thing, as at one of the places I interviewed I was one of the few interviewees that didn't get a deer in headlights look when handed a piece of paper and asked to list the three faculty we wanted to work with, in order of preference, if we were accepted to the program). In most programs you won't be working exclusively all the time with only one faculty. So they want to know that you will be a good fit for the whole program. I would focus on my main faculty I wanted to work with, and then just add a sentence or two for one or two others to show that I'd done my homework and was interested in the program as a whole. I was invited to interview at 75% of the programs I applied to, so it seemed to work as a strategy well enough ?

I would consider matching people up with current grad students through email instead of zoom meetings. I get the need to do zoom meetings with faculty- but zoom fatigue is real (as al of us in clinical programs doing telehealth, on top of likely also taking &/or teaching virtual classes, right now know). I wonder if it wouldn't be less stressful and fatiguing to be able to exchange emails with a current grad student, and would more closely mimic the conversation that occurs between potential students and current students who are matched up together for hosting when in-person interview days are occurring?

You can get pretty personal. That said, I was very careful on my statement of purpose with what I revealed. There were some things that were personal that I alluded to in every SOP because of the connection to my research and it showing what I overcame (but was worded to do so in a relatively safe manner where I could control the narrative taken away from what I shared). What you are talking about (being the only minority in your town) sounds like an overcoming story that would likely help you in most applications (from my opinion). There were some things about my identity that I left out in most SOPs because I knew it could hurt me more than help me for getting a chance to interview at most programs because of the overwhelming prejudice that exists. So I only included that in the SOPs for the programs that I knew it was safe to do so because of either the program clinical/research focus or because of knowing the views of the PIs in that program on the subject. I know that is not the cut and dry answer you were hoping for. I'm sorry that this is something that still has to be navigated in 2020.

Hello. Since you are in California it's worth noting that there are a lot more strenuous hoops to jump through for being an MFT in California- I don't know if that is true for being a MSW or not. Personally, I can't think of much that would convince me to move to California and deal with those issues as a MFTer. That said, I'm obviously biased towards MFT, lol- and things would likely not be as big of a deal for you if you are doing your degree in California as far as checking all the right boxes. Either way you go, you can still work with systemic therapy- so you should be able to do similar work with either degree. While systems might have originated in the MFT world, MSW has picked it up for a while now and even Psychology has starting to assimilate systems therapy practices. I think as far as being able to do the type of work you want either degree will serve you well. For MFT, you can simply go on the AAMFT site to look for programs and then search through the programs to see what work is being done in each- https://www.aamft.org/COAMFTE/Directory_of_Accredited_Programs/MFT_Training_Programs.aspx Under location just choose California or where ever it is you want to be looking at programs.

Hey, I'm a MFTer also. Yes, you have a good chance for a PhD I think, though Clinical Psych is (of course) as competitive as ever. I'd look at CFT programs with a LGBTQ+ focus in addition to clinical psych and social psychology. We have similar stats. My undergrad was psych, minors in anthropology, sociology, and women's studies. My masters is in Human Development and Family Science, Marriage and Family Therapy. I have certifications in clinical work with trauma as well as working with trauma in families. 4.0 GPAs, some research, presentations, awards, etc... My client and research focus is also LGBTQ+ (Trans population, affects of adverse and minority stress - including ACEs - on identity development). I looked at clinical psych, social psych, counseling psych, various human ecology, and MFT/CFT PhD programs. I chose to attend the University of Iowa CFT PhD program in the Psychological and Quantitative Foundations department, as the clinical focus here is LGBTQ and we have an LGBTQ Counseling Clinic (which helps with if you are wanting to work with research in the LGBTQ population) as well as being a top-tier/Research I university. Just based on what you said, I believe you would have a shot at getting accepted to this and other programs. Have you had any ideas of where you want to apply? When are you planning to apply (if this year you have a time crunch, but could potentially still do it). Feel free to message me or reply here, I'm happy to chat.

My experience is they don't normally check individual grades (they may glance at letter grades to get an idea of what your spread is- but again not really going class by class). They may check to see or ask you if you took a particular class, but likely won't ask you what your grade was in it. Even if they did, I don't think a B would make waves- if it was a C or lower it might, but a B will likely be glossed over.

Same advice here basically. I sent all links once I had acceptances from each letter writer. Then I would also send links separately to each person as I followed up with them closer to the time (and then again for the one person who still hadn't written them the day before they were due, lol).

It'll def depend. Some of the schools I interviewed at said they would count some of my MS credits- but those tended to be schools that had PhD programs with attached masters programs. The program I chose to attend requires you already have a MA or MS, so none of the credits transfer. I assume that is because it is assumed you already have a graduate level of comprehension in many topics and you'll be moving forward from there.

So, no- but I did take a less traditional way of merging the two (which I am apparently prone to, being as I did not even start college until my 30s), but I sort of did the opposite of going quant and then clinical. BA is vanilla Psych, then MS is HDFS with a clinical MFT specialization, and I'm now in a PhD for clinical CFT in a research heavy program (housed in a Psychological and Quantitative Foundations department), where the plan is to also pick up a MA in Educational Measurement and Statistics on my way through the PhD. I really enjoy stats and quant a lot, so basically just took every class I reasonably could from undergrad on (and some coding/comp sci background that obviously makes stats applications significantly easier to pick up). So, I was pretty excited to wind up in a program where clinical and quant merges so well. I submitted my GRE scores even when they were optional, but I had competitive scores so they (theoretically) couldn't do anything but help me out and if they were just ignored it wasn't going to hurt me. If you aren't sure if your scores will actually help you, I'd take the break on it this year of all years.

This (your supervisor's answer) has been my experience as well as I have not been directed to use anything (although one program I considered did use them as a normal required tool by all clinicians). I have some that I habitually use with psychotherapy clients- but they are pretty specific to my specific focus around trauma and systems.

First (just cause this jumped out to me as a whoa buddy thing), please do name two different faculty in your statement of purpose. That will actually make you seem the opposite of flighty- rather prepared and like you have made sure that the program you are applying to aligns with you in more ways than just by having one faculty you like there. I named at least two, and sometimes three, faculty in all of sops (there was one program that I essentially said that I was really excited about this faculty and that faculty and that faculty and that i was also excited about how it seemed like the whole program and larger department really aligned with my interests and was excited about all the opportunities to work with everyone... I'm in that PhD program now). Also, good for you applying to masters programs! I did the same thing my first application season I applied to both phds and masters. I was rejected or waitlisted for all phds, but accepted to all masters (which had the benefit of not making me feel like a complete failure, lol). Did my masters and applied to phds again. Student loans suck, but I also know this is what I want to do, so I'd rather have the student loans than not have the career, you know? Good luck on everything, you've got this!

Last cycle there were a few of us in Human Ecology related degrees looking to connect, so I thought I would start this thread for this cycle in case anyone was lurking and not sure what forum you belonged in. Psychology isn't a perfect fit, but seems as good as any. Feel free to reach out to connect with questions, where you are applying, updates, etc... If you are looking for information about a past year when invites went out and stuff like that my cycle is recorded in last year's thread: My background is BA Psychology (minors in Anthropology, Sociology, and Gender Studies), MS Human Development and Family Science, Marriage and Family Therapy, currently working on a Couple and Family Therapy PhD (and considering adding a MA Educational Measurement and Statistics, once the world is less on fire- both because I have found I enjoy the topic and was looking at taking a lot of the required courses already, and because if would make me more "hireable" down the road as a professor). For me the hardest choice came down to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Human Sciences, Global Family Health and Well-being PhD and the University of Iowa's Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, Couple and Family Therapy PhD. I interviewed at several other programs and can talk about them as well. I did have geographical restraints on where I could move to for family reasons (basically I am stuck in the Midwest, lol). So I don't have experience with applying to programs on the coasts or too far south. I'm still more than happy to cheer you on and chat while you apply to those programs ? Good luck, everyone!

I know that everyone says research is the biggest deal, and maybe it is (I certainly think if you have no research experience that will hurt you), but I got way more questions about and discussion from PIs about the ways that I had worked with my populations of interest and in the stuff I did that showed initiative beyond research or the expected internship stuff (like developing and implementing programs/curriculum/groups at a local non-profit that worked with my population of interest). Granted I didn't do those things expecting them to be the tipping points on my applications, I did those things because I was already working there and saw the need and had ideas about how to fill it within my own capacity (and it is basically the miniature/lighter version of what I want to do with my degree). In hindsight, I definitely would encourage others who are looking at PhDs in an sort of social science/justice/work field to go ahead and if you have the chance to work with your population of interest or area of interest in some capacity I think that will add to your resume/application.

How is the process going for you so far?

Yes, the pandemic as well as the social justice issues going on in the USA right now is making things much more stressful than in past years. Things that were manageable levels of stressful when I started at undergrad and my masters program are really hard to do this year starting a PhD. Even simple things like enroll in classes or whatever. On top, I have kiddos and we are having to jump through hoops to get them set up for virtual school (and we honestly don't even know how that is going to work with my spouse working ~60+ hours a week and then my in school plus working as a grad assistant, plus seeing clients as well). I know we will find some way to manage it, but life is super overwhelming right now. It is definitely not just you. Good luck and try to remind yourself that you can only do your best.

I'm in the USA. My graduate assistantship is as a research assistant to my PI this year and when we met a couple weeks ago and I asked him what to expect as far as the job and research went his answer was "That's a really good question... I will let you know as soon as I know" and a lot of nervous-cause-no-one-knows-what-is-going-on laughter ? So, there's that?