nycgrad14

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. 

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!!

I got into a clinical psych PhD program this cycle, so I can tell you a bit about what the other applicants who also got interviews were like. I wouldn't say that many applicants had Master's degrees. There were a few applicants straight out of undergrad, but the majority (myself included) had taken about 1-2 years off after undergrad to pursue full-time research. I think that is something you should consider, although your experience thus far sounds great. I would aim to have about 2 years of research experience, as the programs you intend to apply to are relatively research-intensive (or at least half-half). Also just FYI, NYU does not have a clinical psychology PhD program. If you haven't yet, I would get the Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology book. It's very helpful in comparing and choosing programs, and taking you through the process.
 
I was advised to apply to at least 10 programs by my mentor, and I ended up applying to 15. I was a very good applicant, and I only got into 2 of those 15 programs. So I would recommend you expand your list if you can find more programs that are a good fit for your interests, especially since a lot of those programs are very competitive. Boston University, for example, gets on average 700 applicants and accepts about 8 people. The odds are against you no matter how good of an applicant you are, so try to stack them a bit more in your favor if you can. I don't say that to scare you; I do think you seem like a competitive applicant! I just think that for me, personally, it helped to have realistic expectations. So if you want to apply to only 5-6 very competitive programs, then just keep in mind that the odds may be a little against you and you may have to go through a cycle or two of applications before you get in.
 
Feel free to direct message me if you want to talk more specifics. I know the application process is stressful and confusing. 

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!

@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.

@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.

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.

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!

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!

Will be attending University of South Florida! Moving from NYC. Cant wait for some sun!

hey there - I've heard great things from Miami, if you're torn, then maybe look at which program is stronger in the field you want to study.

I asked whoever I had the most contact with! Some schools I just a typical mass rejection, so I would respond either to the program coordinator or the DCT. Some schools the POI let me know that they were not extending an interview so I would ask them. This is the message I used: 
I want to first thank you for reviewing my application for Clinical Psychology Ph.D program for the 2017 admission cycle. Even though I was unable to move forward I was told that I could reach out to get feedback about my application. Were there areas of weakness in my application (E.g., GRE scores, personal statement, or my letters of recommendation)? I would appreciate any feedback on how I might be able to improve myself as a candidate for the next submission cycle.    My Application number was: (if applicable).    Thank you so much for your time.   So something like that and I got really nice responses from everyone - so dont be afraid to ask.

I would 100% ask for feedback. This is my second cycle of applying and finally landed 6 interviews and so far have been accepted to 3 places and have pulled my name from the remaining 3 since I already have accepted. After my first cycle, I didnt land one interview and reached out to each program for feedback on my application and the majority of my feedback was my GRE scores were too low. Also when I was writing my PS, the fit didnt really show as well as I wanted. So this time around I went through and really applied to programs that were perfect matches for me, forgot about location location location, and that really turned things around. Hope that helps!

Thank you! Really great input and example. I'm hoping for some solid feedback I can address for next cycle.

I asked whoever I had the most contact with! Some schools I just a typical mass rejection, so I would respond either to the program coordinator or the DCT. Some schools the POI let me know that they were not extending an interview so I would ask them. This is the message I used: 
I want to first thank you for reviewing my application for Clinical Psychology Ph.D program for the 2017 admission cycle. Even though I was unable to move forward I was told that I could reach out to get feedback about my application. Were there areas of weakness in my application (E.g., GRE scores, personal statement, or my letters of recommendation)? I would appreciate any feedback on how I might be able to improve myself as a candidate for the next submission cycle.    My Application number was: (if applicable).    Thank you so much for your time.   So something like that and I got really nice responses from everyone - so dont be afraid to ask.

I asked whoever I had the most contact with! Some schools I just a typical mass rejection, so I would respond either to the program coordinator or the DCT. Some schools the POI let me know that they were not extending an interview so I would ask them. This is the message I used: 
I want to first thank you for reviewing my application for Clinical Psychology Ph.D program for the 2017 admission cycle. Even though I was unable to move forward I was told that I could reach out to get feedback about my application. Were there areas of weakness in my application (E.g., GRE scores, personal statement, or my letters of recommendation)? I would appreciate any feedback on how I might be able to improve myself as a candidate for the next submission cycle.    My Application number was: (if applicable).    Thank you so much for your time.   So something like that and I got really nice responses from everyone - so dont be afraid to ask.

Thanks! I was there first weekend as well! They made us wait since the second interview day was the 15th/16th. I know they met on the 20th to make all decisions, not sure why you havent heard anything - even a wait-list notification... hope you hear something soon and best of luck! 

I would 100% ask for feedback. This is my second cycle of applying and finally landed 6 interviews and so far have been accepted to 3 places and have pulled my name from the remaining 3 since I already have accepted. After my first cycle, I didnt land one interview and reached out to each program for feedback on my application and the majority of my feedback was my GRE scores were too low. Also when I was writing my PS, the fit didnt really show as well as I wanted. So this time around I went through and really applied to programs that were perfect matches for me, forgot about location location location, and that really turned things around. Hope that helps!

I would 100% ask for feedback. This is my second cycle of applying and finally landed 6 interviews and so far have been accepted to 3 places and have pulled my name from the remaining 3 since I already have accepted. After my first cycle, I didnt land one interview and reached out to each program for feedback on my application and the majority of my feedback was my GRE scores were too low. Also when I was writing my PS, the fit didnt really show as well as I wanted. So this time around I went through and really applied to programs that were perfect matches for me, forgot about location location location, and that really turned things around. Hope that helps!

Hey there,
I officially accepted USF this morning - for RS lab. Was trying to make decisions ASAP so that they might let people know who were in a "on hold status". Not sure if that pertains to you or not but hope its helpful.