nycgrad14

@lebasi I definitely agree with this poster here. You should really try and see if you can get some work experience in research under your belt. You're applying to extremely competitive schools and it will take more than working in undergraduate labs to impress some of the faculty in those programs. I took 3 years off to work full time as a research manager and found that interviews were such a breeze. When you come into interviews already having working knowledge of what you want to study, you're a much different candidate than someone coming straight from undergrad. There are some applicants who are coming straight from undergrad, but it only works in your favor to work. Also you can save some money up for applications, moving, flying, etc... I also graduated in nyc, so I know there are plenty of research jobs and you really can use the city for your success (recommendation letters, friends !! Best of luck!! Also - I just got into a PhD program this year too, so if you would like to message me any questions, feel free!!

I hate to tell you but I would NOT go to NSU. It was one of the worst programs I have ever interviewed at. I applied for their PhD, didnt interview with ANYONE remotely close to my field, got accepted by someone in my field, and they asked me to send them my CV... so they literally had no idea who I was. I am sorry but there is just no real research going on at that school, also to remind you there is absolutely no funding either so its about 150K for the whole program. It really is a money/psyd/phd mill, you will be attending in a class of 100 - times that by 5 for each cohort so technically you will be 1 of 500 doctoral students at any given time. You cannot possibly get the attention you need. You should find a program that is a little more robust. I would say if you want to do a Masters to get more experience and then apply elsewhere, that's what you should do. You shouldnt just go to a school because it's the next step of the journey; you should be going to school because its a great fit and you will get great clinical exposure - not sure either of those schools fit the bill. I am happy to connect with you offline to tell you more about my interview experience at NSU - it honestly was almost comical how amateur this program was. Luckily I got into my top choice and can put this behind me.

@smals hey there - most of the masters programs in the city are pretty crappy to be honest. In the highest sense, they are more like your 3rd/4th year classes of higher psych courses in undergrad, just retaught to you. When going to this Masters program you shouldnt think "oh this is a great school" because its, well, a masters in general psych and they take anywhere from 100 - 150 students a cohort. You should think more, will I use NYC to my advantage. Thats what I did when I did a masters at St. John's. Granted St. Johns, in my opinion, is a much stronger masters program because you are only 1 of maybe 15 students vs TC and NYU when you are 1 of hundreds. But I used the city to my advantage. I beacame a graduate student RA in 2 major research labs in the city and was going to school full time. It opened a lot of doors for me post graduation in getting a FT job and then eventually using all that experience to apply to clinical psych programs. TBH you're not going to come out of NYU being a much better psych major - you definitely will have more familiarity of the concepts, and definitely much more knowledge around stats... but Masters programs are meant to help you get more experience if you work for it on your own. I think maybe some of the negative feedback you're getting is because people thought they were going into a masters program thinking that this was the for sure thing they needed to get into a doctoral program and they quickly realized its just relearning a lot of the same things they learned in undergrad. Hope this helps - one thing for sure, is NYC has a lot of research available, and they all love free labor. So if you're willing to pay for the cost of their Masters program (which is extremely expensive) and also the cost of living in NYC (which is also extremely expensive) to possibly get some more research experience, do it (I did and it worked out for me). But dont come to NYU thinking that this program is a great program because its "NYU" because again, you're going to a 2 year terminal masters program - which funds their PhD programs.

hey there, I think you have great research questions and interests. I would definitely seek out research opportunities that will give you experience in depression and anxiety research (luckily those are very common). Take some time and figure out how you want to explore those two different areas and apply it to neuro psych research/clinical implementations. I did a lot of research on personality disorders in my masters, but ended up finding an interest in substance abuse research, so took a job for 3 years solely looking at behavioral research in substance abuse (somewhat on your lines of thinking of why does person A differ from person B when they use the same amount of substances) and am now attending a great clinical psych PhD program. I think that you definitely can use Anxiety and Depression in a neuropsych setting. I worked in MRI for a year and we had multiple studies looking at placebo effects of SRRI's in depression, ECT for MDD, etc. Neuropsych doesnt always have to be extremely "non clinical"and only testing - so I would say, chase your dream of bridging those two worlds and run with it... that's actually how you will get into a doctoral program.... it's how I did. Best of luck! Also on a side note - the PhD vs PsyD... really look into this - a lot of doctoral PhD programs will want you to be interested in research. This doesnt mean that you have to say - I want to be a professor and work in a research lab for the rest of my life. But you need to have the drive to want to work in a lab, do the day in and day out of research, and be willing to put clinical work on the back burner in some cases. You will definitely get clinical exposure in PhD programs and a lot of people end up going into FT clinical work post graduation, but if you dont like research, maybe PsyD will be more beneficial to you... you may just not get the exposure you are wanting when examining why person A is different from person B in a exploratory factor. Hope this is helpful :)

hey, it depends on what you think you can get out of a post bac vs masters - both could be beneficial. What was the rest of your package like - GPA, GRE, Research before you applied. For example, if your undergrad GPA was low (most PhD programs are looking for 3.7 or higher), then going to a post bac might be more beneficial to improve your GPA. If it is mostly research that you are looking for, which of these programs are going to give you the most. A lot of terminal master degrees claim that you can do research in their program, but the likelihood of you actually obtaining that experience is sometimes low, or extremely competitive. I did a masters before I applied to doctoral programs, and found that I ended up working outside the masters program for my research experience. So if you think that you can get research experience without having to go into a 2 yr program (and usually taking on a lot of debt), I would suggest to do that. Hope this is helpful

Hi There, I think you have a lot of great clinical experience, especially since you're interested in PsyD programs, this will really help you in making it through some barriers. I would say that you should re-take the GRE's. We all say that programs "look at the whole package" which is true, if you make it to a certain point. As poster before said, Clinical psych programs are extremely competitive, especially for the higher tiered programs that dont take on a bunch of students. So you may be applying against 300-400 other applicants. What is one way that the programs can possibly cut this in half? - having a minimum cut off score on the GRE. I think you should have a minimum of at least a 310 to even be considered. Take a few months to study and retake the exam. I would suggest using Kaplan, it really is an amazing program and helped me study/prepare for the GRE in about 3 months and getting me into a great PhD program. Also to answer your other question about if you should reach out to professors. I would say you should always reach out to professors... make an impression on them. Again, you will be one out of hundreds applying. Best of luck!!

oh wow that's surprising, normally programs will get both accreditation's... wonder what their reasons behind that are. Normally if you get PCSAS on top of your APA accreditation, the students take less course work, like my school.

no problem at all!! To be honest, I dont think they do - I could be wrong, obviously, since I didnt go there for my masters. But they are training you to apply primarily to their phd program, and if youre not even interested in applying to their doctoral program, its almost like, whats the point of you going there then? If it's just for NYC living, then thats one thing but thats a big gamble. Primarily all the labs are inhouse, so you're not really branching out, making connections in the city, etc... I also have never heard of a lab that has good connections to other schools. At all. So I just feel like they dont have a good reputation in the city, and even outside the city, no one knows what "the new school" is. This is again my N of 1 opinion, but I have lived here for 6 years, have worked in psych research for the past 4 in a full time capacity, and finally going to get my PhD this fall, and have never really heard good things about the program. Food for thought - maybe they will do an open house for you to come see the program? Hope this is helpful!

hey there - I would avoid this school if possible. Find one that will prepare you for a program outside of its own. The program is very competitive within itself since the PhD program only accepts its own masters students (i think they accept 20 or so MA students and every year they take about 7 PhD... so your friends are your competition in essence). I worked with a few people who were in the MA program and they really disliked the program at the time (we were all working at columbia medical center). I think the program is not highly looked upon, especially in the NYC area. Its surprising that they are offering you funding though, I have never heard of that - so that is a plus, but in terms of research, prestige, and comradery, I would stay away... hope thats helpful! Also the school is in a very cool location of NYC (on 14th street near union sq) so its in a very hustle and bustling place in New York, so if that is something that you are interested in, it will definitely fulfill that. Best of luck!!!

But you don't have to do clinical work if you take on a clinical psych program. I think you're shooting yourself a little in the foot by just going "research only route". Im going to a R1 clinical psych program with a clinical science accreditation and there is very very little clinical expectancy (most/all of us are wanting to stay in research). I solely took clinical psych because why not make yourself the most marketable person that you can be. If I want to do research, and only research, I can do that with a clinical psych phd; If I find that I cant get a job in research/teaching, I can then go into testing and assessment, which is very little clinical if you think about it. There are so many other avenues that you can take with a clinical vs. experimental (I know I have a MA in experimental psych!). I am in the same boat as you, I only want to do research, eventually publish as much as I can, go into academia. I choose clinical psych because I also want to do testing and have a back up if my goals take longer than expected. Maybe some food for thought!

hey there, I interviewed and was accepted to Auburn, one big thing that was pretty crummy at AU was the lack of child placements and externships. If you're wanting to work in child psych, I would really think twice of applying there. In the group interview with students, there were a few students applying for the child track and every student there said that the program was "working on adding more clinical placements". Hopefully some food for thought. I ended up not accepting the program but it was really a lovely school and the program seemed very strong, just some exposure might be missed if you go there (it really is in the middle of no where Alabama).

Im on the other end of the spectrum, got my masters at 23 (finished undergrad at 21). Wanted to take a few years off after getting my M.A. and worked at Columbia and Mt. Sinai in nyc for a few years and eventually into a private practice running a research lab. Just turned 27 and will be going into graduate school this fall with a lot of experience under my belt. Interviews were not even a factor, I was extremely qualified and had so much working experience I was offered admission into every program and ended up taking a top R1 PhD program. So sometime giving yourself some time to apply will really help you get where you want to go and also make graduate school easier for you. Best of luck!

Definitely chase the Clinical Psych PhD. I ended up taking a Clinical Psych Phd with a clinical science accreditation. We are a R1 research school and our placements are highly placed in research post docs and working in VA systems. I also chose the school because even though they are a clinical science program, so main focus is on research, we will also see patients starting our first year. ALSO a big plus of going into research for graduate school is they are normally fully funded programs. You wont be making much starting out of graduate school and having your entire program paid for vs taking out 100-200K in loans is a no-brainer. Good luck and since you're in your masters now, I would suggest getting as much research experience, poster presentations, and data analytics under your belt as much as possible because these programs are extremely competitive. I was 1 of 5 accepted with over 300 applications.

no problem!! Happy to help! I would definitely say you're right on the money with them emphasizing clinical over research. This happens with a lot of NYC graduate schools, which is why I am leaving. I am also wanting to make a career in Academia and there was little to noteaching availability unless I was going to Stony Brook at most of the city universities. Also they say that you are close to Manhattan, which technically you are, but a lot of placements are in clinics around queens. Again, majority of the cohort wont be working in the research hospitals or NYSPI. You totally can but you would have to really work for it. (also the commute will be over an hour one way). Definitely think about where you see yourself and what your goals are, and if this program is going to get you there. Now on the flip side, in each of my stats courses there was a GA who ran a lab or did an hour recap session with the class. They definitely weren't teaching a course, but they were helping us practice the concepts that we were going over with the professor. So if that is enough "teaching" experience for you, then that would work. Other than that, I didn't see any graduate students as Instructors of Record.

hey there, I graduated from there in 2014 with my masters in experimental psychology. I would say that the program really is what you make of it. The professors there are really great (some better than others, of course). The one thing that I think turned me from applying there for my PhD (I currently just accepted a PhD offer at USF) is that the research is really non existent, unless you're extremely motivated. Also funding is quite limited, I think when I was there - it was only 2 years of guaranteed funding. I do remember the cohorts being really close and they seemed to like one another. I took a behavioral therapy PhD course my last year of my masters and it was one of my favorite classes. The stats courses are great but you are only required to get a C to pass in the PhD level so that kind of tells you their commitment to research. Hope this is helpful!