FeministPsychologist

Hi all,
I wanted to start a thread to allow us all to share our thoughts and reflect on this application cycle now that it is almost over. This was my second time applying to Counseling Psychology programs, and I know that I have learned a lot about myself (and the ridiculous admissions game) through this process. 
To give you a bit of background, my first application cycle, I applied to 6 programs (all CounPsy) and though I had a mix of preliminary and in-person interviews for 4 of them, I was eventually rejected from all. I was devastated, and literally had mental breakdowns every few days. So, I really understand the struggle of having to wait, but never getting the news you want. 
This time, I applied to 17 programs (yeah I know, it is a lot!). I interviewed at 9 - one of them being a School Psychology Ph.D. program - and out of those, ultimately was rejected from 1, waitlisted at 1, and received offers from 7.
Based on my experience, I want to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice: 
Rejections do not determine your self-worth. Please do not feel like you are not qualified/smart/unique enough if you did not get in. I say this because my first time applying was last year, and I have not really gained any more relevant experience since then. I didn’t even change my personal statement besides 2-3 sentences. I improved my interview skills a little bit, but the big difference was where I applied. Which brings me to #2. Last time, I was picky about location/perfect fit. This time, I chose to apply to places where I would actually bring something new to the lab/POI, and I was flexible about location as well. You might think “I would never go here”, but sometimes the interview will change your mind. That happened to me with multiple programs this time. So my advice for both new applicants and applicants who are applying again, is that do not be stuck to one area if it’s possible. Of course, family/partner relocation and finance might be something you have to consider with this. Submit apps early! I submitted materials a month in advance in case I missed anything. Of course, if this is not financially possible for you, then try to review the checklist of materials for each school multiple times. This will give you enough of an idea to fix something if needed.  If you can’t afford to interview in person, don’t. Out of my 9 interviews, I did 6 over Skype/phone (although one of them didn’t have in person interviews). I was accepted to 5/6 of the programs I interviewed at on Skype, and 2/3 for the ones in-person. In fact, one of the programs strongly discouraged Skype interviews, and still ended up accepting me in the first round. This goes to show that your interviewing skills can sometimes matter more than your in-person presence. And if you do get in, you can always visit during dates that are more convenient/cost-effective as well. Be proud of yourself for completing and submitting your applications. That is a difficult task in itself. If you got to the interview stage, congratulations on that as well. No matter what the result, don’t give up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. I hope this reflection can be insightful to folks in some way. If you would like to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer! 
It would be awesome if all of the wonderful Ph.D. applicants out here could share their reflections as well I’m sure you all could bring much more to this conversation! 

Could they also emphasize different parts of you as an applicant? I looked also for complementarity in my letters (and had one senior person in there).

Applied first at age 21 (also graduated undergrad at 21), reapplied at 22 and will be starting shortly after I turn 23 Having to reapply really reaffirmed my passion for and dedication to the field, so I can't say I regret how things played out. 

I’m also going to UTK’s Counseling Psych Program! ?

Here it is!
Why do you want to be pursue this field? What are your goals/how can a PhD help you attain your goals? What are you looking for in a graduate program? What interests you in our program specifically? What research are you interested in doing? If you were to design a study, what variables would you study and what methods would you use? (Usually they are wanting to get an idea of what you will do from start to finish). What are your strengths and weaknesses? What skills do you think will be helpful for completing a PhD? What challenges do you anticipate facing in graduate school? How will you handle these challenges? What are you looking for in an advisor? How have you shown initiative in your learning process? What was a difficult interpersonal experience you had in your life, while in your undergraduate or graduate program, and how did you deal with it? Name a time you failed to accomplish something. What did you learn from this experience? What is something that isn’t on your resume/CV, but you believe would be important for us to know?

Hi all,
I wanted to start a thread to allow us all to share our thoughts and reflect on this application cycle now that it is almost over. This was my second time applying to Counseling Psychology programs, and I know that I have learned a lot about myself (and the ridiculous admissions game) through this process. 
To give you a bit of background, my first application cycle, I applied to 6 programs (all CounPsy) and though I had a mix of preliminary and in-person interviews for 4 of them, I was eventually rejected from all. I was devastated, and literally had mental breakdowns every few days. So, I really understand the struggle of having to wait, but never getting the news you want. 
This time, I applied to 17 programs (yeah I know, it is a lot!). I interviewed at 9 - one of them being a School Psychology Ph.D. program - and out of those, ultimately was rejected from 1, waitlisted at 1, and received offers from 7.
Based on my experience, I want to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice: 
Rejections do not determine your self-worth. Please do not feel like you are not qualified/smart/unique enough if you did not get in. I say this because my first time applying was last year, and I have not really gained any more relevant experience since then. I didn’t even change my personal statement besides 2-3 sentences. I improved my interview skills a little bit, but the big difference was where I applied. Which brings me to #2. Last time, I was picky about location/perfect fit. This time, I chose to apply to places where I would actually bring something new to the lab/POI, and I was flexible about location as well. You might think “I would never go here”, but sometimes the interview will change your mind. That happened to me with multiple programs this time. So my advice for both new applicants and applicants who are applying again, is that do not be stuck to one area if it’s possible. Of course, family/partner relocation and finance might be something you have to consider with this. Submit apps early! I submitted materials a month in advance in case I missed anything. Of course, if this is not financially possible for you, then try to review the checklist of materials for each school multiple times. This will give you enough of an idea to fix something if needed.  If you can’t afford to interview in person, don’t. Out of my 9 interviews, I did 6 over Skype/phone (although one of them didn’t have in person interviews). I was accepted to 5/6 of the programs I interviewed at on Skype, and 2/3 for the ones in-person. In fact, one of the programs strongly discouraged Skype interviews, and still ended up accepting me in the first round. This goes to show that your interviewing skills can sometimes matter more than your in-person presence. And if you do get in, you can always visit during dates that are more convenient/cost-effective as well. Be proud of yourself for completing and submitting your applications. That is a difficult task in itself. If you got to the interview stage, congratulations on that as well. No matter what the result, don’t give up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. I hope this reflection can be insightful to folks in some way. If you would like to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer! 
It would be awesome if all of the wonderful Ph.D. applicants out here could share their reflections as well I’m sure you all could bring much more to this conversation! 

Applied first at age 21 (also graduated undergrad at 21), reapplied at 22 and will be starting shortly after I turn 23 Having to reapply really reaffirmed my passion for and dedication to the field, so I can't say I regret how things played out. 

Hi all,
I wanted to start a thread to allow us all to share our thoughts and reflect on this application cycle now that it is almost over. This was my second time applying to Counseling Psychology programs, and I know that I have learned a lot about myself (and the ridiculous admissions game) through this process. 
To give you a bit of background, my first application cycle, I applied to 6 programs (all CounPsy) and though I had a mix of preliminary and in-person interviews for 4 of them, I was eventually rejected from all. I was devastated, and literally had mental breakdowns every few days. So, I really understand the struggle of having to wait, but never getting the news you want. 
This time, I applied to 17 programs (yeah I know, it is a lot!). I interviewed at 9 - one of them being a School Psychology Ph.D. program - and out of those, ultimately was rejected from 1, waitlisted at 1, and received offers from 7.
Based on my experience, I want to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice: 
Rejections do not determine your self-worth. Please do not feel like you are not qualified/smart/unique enough if you did not get in. I say this because my first time applying was last year, and I have not really gained any more relevant experience since then. I didn’t even change my personal statement besides 2-3 sentences. I improved my interview skills a little bit, but the big difference was where I applied. Which brings me to #2. Last time, I was picky about location/perfect fit. This time, I chose to apply to places where I would actually bring something new to the lab/POI, and I was flexible about location as well. You might think “I would never go here”, but sometimes the interview will change your mind. That happened to me with multiple programs this time. So my advice for both new applicants and applicants who are applying again, is that do not be stuck to one area if it’s possible. Of course, family/partner relocation and finance might be something you have to consider with this. Submit apps early! I submitted materials a month in advance in case I missed anything. Of course, if this is not financially possible for you, then try to review the checklist of materials for each school multiple times. This will give you enough of an idea to fix something if needed.  If you can’t afford to interview in person, don’t. Out of my 9 interviews, I did 6 over Skype/phone (although one of them didn’t have in person interviews). I was accepted to 5/6 of the programs I interviewed at on Skype, and 2/3 for the ones in-person. In fact, one of the programs strongly discouraged Skype interviews, and still ended up accepting me in the first round. This goes to show that your interviewing skills can sometimes matter more than your in-person presence. And if you do get in, you can always visit during dates that are more convenient/cost-effective as well. Be proud of yourself for completing and submitting your applications. That is a difficult task in itself. If you got to the interview stage, congratulations on that as well. No matter what the result, don’t give up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. I hope this reflection can be insightful to folks in some way. If you would like to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer! 
It would be awesome if all of the wonderful Ph.D. applicants out here could share their reflections as well I’m sure you all could bring much more to this conversation! 

Hi all,
I wanted to start a thread to allow us all to share our thoughts and reflect on this application cycle now that it is almost over. This was my second time applying to Counseling Psychology programs, and I know that I have learned a lot about myself (and the ridiculous admissions game) through this process. 
To give you a bit of background, my first application cycle, I applied to 6 programs (all CounPsy) and though I had a mix of preliminary and in-person interviews for 4 of them, I was eventually rejected from all. I was devastated, and literally had mental breakdowns every few days. So, I really understand the struggle of having to wait, but never getting the news you want. 
This time, I applied to 17 programs (yeah I know, it is a lot!). I interviewed at 9 - one of them being a School Psychology Ph.D. program - and out of those, ultimately was rejected from 1, waitlisted at 1, and received offers from 7.
Based on my experience, I want to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice: 
Rejections do not determine your self-worth. Please do not feel like you are not qualified/smart/unique enough if you did not get in. I say this because my first time applying was last year, and I have not really gained any more relevant experience since then. I didn’t even change my personal statement besides 2-3 sentences. I improved my interview skills a little bit, but the big difference was where I applied. Which brings me to #2. Last time, I was picky about location/perfect fit. This time, I chose to apply to places where I would actually bring something new to the lab/POI, and I was flexible about location as well. You might think “I would never go here”, but sometimes the interview will change your mind. That happened to me with multiple programs this time. So my advice for both new applicants and applicants who are applying again, is that do not be stuck to one area if it’s possible. Of course, family/partner relocation and finance might be something you have to consider with this. Submit apps early! I submitted materials a month in advance in case I missed anything. Of course, if this is not financially possible for you, then try to review the checklist of materials for each school multiple times. This will give you enough of an idea to fix something if needed.  If you can’t afford to interview in person, don’t. Out of my 9 interviews, I did 6 over Skype/phone (although one of them didn’t have in person interviews). I was accepted to 5/6 of the programs I interviewed at on Skype, and 2/3 for the ones in-person. In fact, one of the programs strongly discouraged Skype interviews, and still ended up accepting me in the first round. This goes to show that your interviewing skills can sometimes matter more than your in-person presence. And if you do get in, you can always visit during dates that are more convenient/cost-effective as well. Be proud of yourself for completing and submitting your applications. That is a difficult task in itself. If you got to the interview stage, congratulations on that as well. No matter what the result, don’t give up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. I hope this reflection can be insightful to folks in some way. If you would like to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer! 
It would be awesome if all of the wonderful Ph.D. applicants out here could share their reflections as well I’m sure you all could bring much more to this conversation! 

This is a great observation.
My wife became a little frustrated that I agonized over my personal statement, ending up with about 15 drafts to produce the final product, haha. While I may fixate on details and become a little obsessive, the PS can hurt your application if you make an error or don't communicate well.
In an effort to be supportive, people will downplay the significance of elements they don't understand. While the perfect is the enemy of good, you should be serious in your preparation and execution.
It is possible to find balance between building unrealistic expectations and being afraid to try. You can't anticipate with absolute certainty what a POI and admissions committee will respond well to. Some elements you can control more easily than others: GRE, GPA, personal statement, and reaching out to POI. Some are more difficult: research, professional, and life experiences, your personality, the personality of faculty, funding, the saturation and relevance of your area of research interest, and the strength of recommendation letters, etc.
If I wasn't geographically constrained, I may well have applied for top schools, just to see what I was capable of. As it stands, I'm incredibly happy I have this opportunity in front of me. To be honest, I'm glad I only joined this forum once my application process was over, or I may never have completed it. The advice and guidance here is both generous and overwhelming. This is a process, not a binary result, not pass/fail; understand that not getting in this cycle isn't really failure unless you reject the opportunity to learn and grow.

Hi all,
I wanted to start a thread to allow us all to share our thoughts and reflect on this application cycle now that it is almost over. This was my second time applying to Counseling Psychology programs, and I know that I have learned a lot about myself (and the ridiculous admissions game) through this process. 
To give you a bit of background, my first application cycle, I applied to 6 programs (all CounPsy) and though I had a mix of preliminary and in-person interviews for 4 of them, I was eventually rejected from all. I was devastated, and literally had mental breakdowns every few days. So, I really understand the struggle of having to wait, but never getting the news you want. 
This time, I applied to 17 programs (yeah I know, it is a lot!). I interviewed at 9 - one of them being a School Psychology Ph.D. program - and out of those, ultimately was rejected from 1, waitlisted at 1, and received offers from 7.
Based on my experience, I want to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice: 
Rejections do not determine your self-worth. Please do not feel like you are not qualified/smart/unique enough if you did not get in. I say this because my first time applying was last year, and I have not really gained any more relevant experience since then. I didn’t even change my personal statement besides 2-3 sentences. I improved my interview skills a little bit, but the big difference was where I applied. Which brings me to #2. Last time, I was picky about location/perfect fit. This time, I chose to apply to places where I would actually bring something new to the lab/POI, and I was flexible about location as well. You might think “I would never go here”, but sometimes the interview will change your mind. That happened to me with multiple programs this time. So my advice for both new applicants and applicants who are applying again, is that do not be stuck to one area if it’s possible. Of course, family/partner relocation and finance might be something you have to consider with this. Submit apps early! I submitted materials a month in advance in case I missed anything. Of course, if this is not financially possible for you, then try to review the checklist of materials for each school multiple times. This will give you enough of an idea to fix something if needed.  If you can’t afford to interview in person, don’t. Out of my 9 interviews, I did 6 over Skype/phone (although one of them didn’t have in person interviews). I was accepted to 5/6 of the programs I interviewed at on Skype, and 2/3 for the ones in-person. In fact, one of the programs strongly discouraged Skype interviews, and still ended up accepting me in the first round. This goes to show that your interviewing skills can sometimes matter more than your in-person presence. And if you do get in, you can always visit during dates that are more convenient/cost-effective as well. Be proud of yourself for completing and submitting your applications. That is a difficult task in itself. If you got to the interview stage, congratulations on that as well. No matter what the result, don’t give up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. I hope this reflection can be insightful to folks in some way. If you would like to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer! 
It would be awesome if all of the wonderful Ph.D. applicants out here could share their reflections as well I’m sure you all could bring much more to this conversation! 

An alternative account. I emailed the place I was waitlisted on Tuesday. Then, they emailed me back to schedule an interview for Wednesday (they mentioned in the email that they were glad I reached out and showed I was still interested) and we had the interview. Wednesday night I was accepted. So moral of the story, I dont think there's any harm in reaching out now to ask about your status and let them know if you have the intention to go there if you get off the waitlist.

Did anyone conduct a mock interview?
I had lunch with my friend, mentor, and recommendation writer (PsyD), and she put me on the spot, grilling me on every aspect of why I chose the school, why a PhD, what my research interests are, which professors were aligned with my goals, how my professional experience made me a strong candidate, what I wanted to do afterwards, etc, etc.
It was helpful insofar as it really allowed me to practice expressing my thoughts to someone who could actually appreciate the answers, rather than talking to family and friends who have no specialized knowledge in or appreciation of the field.
It was a useful rehearsal.

I don't know if this is advice or just a reality check. Whatever it is, I hope it's helpful.
You're going to be told by many people that you're super intelligent with a lot of accomplishments so you're basically guaranteed to get a spot in a PhD program and probably a top one. You are super intelligent and accomplished, but it's REALLY hard to get into a program. You're competing against people who are just as super intelligent and accomplished as you (maybe more so). Don't feel entitled to a spot. Don't put a ton of pressure on yourself that you MUST get in this year. Do apply to a realistic set of schools (not everyone can get into a top school and not every top school is right for you)
 

I second what @hlr20 said! Themes not only allow you to express your interests in a clever way, but can also make your personal statement much more cohesive and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your outline! 
Here is an idea of the outline I used for most of my statements (which I then tailored to each program I applied to based on a format they expected). Keep in mind, I applied to a scientist-practitioner program so it's not solely about research. 
PARAGRAPH 1: Personal story; introduce theme.
Strong hook that connects to a theme you are trying to convey.   Thesis = I am applying to X program at Y university to do Z research.  PARAGRAPH 2: Relevant volunteer/job experiences (my research interests correlated much more with my non-research experience in terms of the population I am interested in working with)
How have you grown through these experiences? How have these experiences influenced the research interests you are pursuing? PARAGRAPH 3: Research experience
What have your previous research experiences taught you? What gap have you noticed in research? PARAGRAPHS 4/5 - WHO do you want to work with in this program (if applicable), and WHY this program?
What are your specific research interests, and which professor are you interested in working with based on those interests? How can their experience help you? How will this program specifically help you reach your goals? Try to tie in aspects of the program to your personal interests. (Ex: The social justice orientation of this program aligns with my desire to support marginalized populations.) Make sure to explicitly mention your goals and tie them in to the training provided by the program (Ex: The vast teaching opportunities in this program will help me be prepared for a career in academia.) PARAGRAPH 6 - Summarize, explain societal/community impact
Why is this research needed, and why is it urgent? Why are you the best fit for this type of research and program?

I think the differences you list are spot on! If I were to add just 2 things
1) counseling programs also have more multiculturalism/“social justice” courses embedded in their curriculum. depending on the program, you may only have one or two at most for clinical programs whereas counseling programs have multicultural focus engrained in the curriculum 
2) like personallycentered said, the populations you practice with are typically different. In counseling programs you are likely doing practicum at college/university counseling centers, though there are opportunities to work with other populations and external agencies as well depending on the program
my advice is to not pick one or the other in terms of program type, but rather pick your programs based upon research interest match and the types of populations you want to provide counseling to and see if those programs have externship practica with those populations. 
Also, while personally entered is correct that most counseling psych programs are in education departments, some are in psych departments as well! Typically the ones in psych departments allot more collaborative research opportunities so just something to remain aware of 

Hi all,
I wanted to start a thread to allow us all to share our thoughts and reflect on this application cycle now that it is almost over. This was my second time applying to Counseling Psychology programs, and I know that I have learned a lot about myself (and the ridiculous admissions game) through this process. 
To give you a bit of background, my first application cycle, I applied to 6 programs (all CounPsy) and though I had a mix of preliminary and in-person interviews for 4 of them, I was eventually rejected from all. I was devastated, and literally had mental breakdowns every few days. So, I really understand the struggle of having to wait, but never getting the news you want. 
This time, I applied to 17 programs (yeah I know, it is a lot!). I interviewed at 9 - one of them being a School Psychology Ph.D. program - and out of those, ultimately was rejected from 1, waitlisted at 1, and received offers from 7.
Based on my experience, I want to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice: 
Rejections do not determine your self-worth. Please do not feel like you are not qualified/smart/unique enough if you did not get in. I say this because my first time applying was last year, and I have not really gained any more relevant experience since then. I didn’t even change my personal statement besides 2-3 sentences. I improved my interview skills a little bit, but the big difference was where I applied. Which brings me to #2. Last time, I was picky about location/perfect fit. This time, I chose to apply to places where I would actually bring something new to the lab/POI, and I was flexible about location as well. You might think “I would never go here”, but sometimes the interview will change your mind. That happened to me with multiple programs this time. So my advice for both new applicants and applicants who are applying again, is that do not be stuck to one area if it’s possible. Of course, family/partner relocation and finance might be something you have to consider with this. Submit apps early! I submitted materials a month in advance in case I missed anything. Of course, if this is not financially possible for you, then try to review the checklist of materials for each school multiple times. This will give you enough of an idea to fix something if needed.  If you can’t afford to interview in person, don’t. Out of my 9 interviews, I did 6 over Skype/phone (although one of them didn’t have in person interviews). I was accepted to 5/6 of the programs I interviewed at on Skype, and 2/3 for the ones in-person. In fact, one of the programs strongly discouraged Skype interviews, and still ended up accepting me in the first round. This goes to show that your interviewing skills can sometimes matter more than your in-person presence. And if you do get in, you can always visit during dates that are more convenient/cost-effective as well. Be proud of yourself for completing and submitting your applications. That is a difficult task in itself. If you got to the interview stage, congratulations on that as well. No matter what the result, don’t give up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. I hope this reflection can be insightful to folks in some way. If you would like to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer! 
It would be awesome if all of the wonderful Ph.D. applicants out here could share their reflections as well I’m sure you all could bring much more to this conversation! 

I second what @hlr20 said! Themes not only allow you to express your interests in a clever way, but can also make your personal statement much more cohesive and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your outline! 
Here is an idea of the outline I used for most of my statements (which I then tailored to each program I applied to based on a format they expected). Keep in mind, I applied to a scientist-practitioner program so it's not solely about research. 
PARAGRAPH 1: Personal story; introduce theme.
Strong hook that connects to a theme you are trying to convey.   Thesis = I am applying to X program at Y university to do Z research.  PARAGRAPH 2: Relevant volunteer/job experiences (my research interests correlated much more with my non-research experience in terms of the population I am interested in working with)
How have you grown through these experiences? How have these experiences influenced the research interests you are pursuing? PARAGRAPH 3: Research experience
What have your previous research experiences taught you? What gap have you noticed in research? PARAGRAPHS 4/5 - WHO do you want to work with in this program (if applicable), and WHY this program?
What are your specific research interests, and which professor are you interested in working with based on those interests? How can their experience help you? How will this program specifically help you reach your goals? Try to tie in aspects of the program to your personal interests. (Ex: The social justice orientation of this program aligns with my desire to support marginalized populations.) Make sure to explicitly mention your goals and tie them in to the training provided by the program (Ex: The vast teaching opportunities in this program will help me be prepared for a career in academia.) PARAGRAPH 6 - Summarize, explain societal/community impact
Why is this research needed, and why is it urgent? Why are you the best fit for this type of research and program?

I second what @hlr20 said! Themes not only allow you to express your interests in a clever way, but can also make your personal statement much more cohesive and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your outline! 
Here is an idea of the outline I used for most of my statements (which I then tailored to each program I applied to based on a format they expected). Keep in mind, I applied to a scientist-practitioner program so it's not solely about research. 
PARAGRAPH 1: Personal story; introduce theme.
Strong hook that connects to a theme you are trying to convey.   Thesis = I am applying to X program at Y university to do Z research.  PARAGRAPH 2: Relevant volunteer/job experiences (my research interests correlated much more with my non-research experience in terms of the population I am interested in working with)
How have you grown through these experiences? How have these experiences influenced the research interests you are pursuing? PARAGRAPH 3: Research experience
What have your previous research experiences taught you? What gap have you noticed in research? PARAGRAPHS 4/5 - WHO do you want to work with in this program (if applicable), and WHY this program?
What are your specific research interests, and which professor are you interested in working with based on those interests? How can their experience help you? How will this program specifically help you reach your goals? Try to tie in aspects of the program to your personal interests. (Ex: The social justice orientation of this program aligns with my desire to support marginalized populations.) Make sure to explicitly mention your goals and tie them in to the training provided by the program (Ex: The vast teaching opportunities in this program will help me be prepared for a career in academia.) PARAGRAPH 6 - Summarize, explain societal/community impact
Why is this research needed, and why is it urgent? Why are you the best fit for this type of research and program?

I second what @hlr20 said! Themes not only allow you to express your interests in a clever way, but can also make your personal statement much more cohesive and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your outline! 
Here is an idea of the outline I used for most of my statements (which I then tailored to each program I applied to based on a format they expected). Keep in mind, I applied to a scientist-practitioner program so it's not solely about research. 
PARAGRAPH 1: Personal story; introduce theme.
Strong hook that connects to a theme you are trying to convey.   Thesis = I am applying to X program at Y university to do Z research.  PARAGRAPH 2: Relevant volunteer/job experiences (my research interests correlated much more with my non-research experience in terms of the population I am interested in working with)
How have you grown through these experiences? How have these experiences influenced the research interests you are pursuing? PARAGRAPH 3: Research experience
What have your previous research experiences taught you? What gap have you noticed in research? PARAGRAPHS 4/5 - WHO do you want to work with in this program (if applicable), and WHY this program?
What are your specific research interests, and which professor are you interested in working with based on those interests? How can their experience help you? How will this program specifically help you reach your goals? Try to tie in aspects of the program to your personal interests. (Ex: The social justice orientation of this program aligns with my desire to support marginalized populations.) Make sure to explicitly mention your goals and tie them in to the training provided by the program (Ex: The vast teaching opportunities in this program will help me be prepared for a career in academia.) PARAGRAPH 6 - Summarize, explain societal/community impact
Why is this research needed, and why is it urgent? Why are you the best fit for this type of research and program?

I second what @hlr20 said! Themes not only allow you to express your interests in a clever way, but can also make your personal statement much more cohesive and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your outline! 
Here is an idea of the outline I used for most of my statements (which I then tailored to each program I applied to based on a format they expected). Keep in mind, I applied to a scientist-practitioner program so it's not solely about research. 
PARAGRAPH 1: Personal story; introduce theme.
Strong hook that connects to a theme you are trying to convey.   Thesis = I am applying to X program at Y university to do Z research.  PARAGRAPH 2: Relevant volunteer/job experiences (my research interests correlated much more with my non-research experience in terms of the population I am interested in working with)
How have you grown through these experiences? How have these experiences influenced the research interests you are pursuing? PARAGRAPH 3: Research experience
What have your previous research experiences taught you? What gap have you noticed in research? PARAGRAPHS 4/5 - WHO do you want to work with in this program (if applicable), and WHY this program?
What are your specific research interests, and which professor are you interested in working with based on those interests? How can their experience help you? How will this program specifically help you reach your goals? Try to tie in aspects of the program to your personal interests. (Ex: The social justice orientation of this program aligns with my desire to support marginalized populations.) Make sure to explicitly mention your goals and tie them in to the training provided by the program (Ex: The vast teaching opportunities in this program will help me be prepared for a career in academia.) PARAGRAPH 6 - Summarize, explain societal/community impact
Why is this research needed, and why is it urgent? Why are you the best fit for this type of research and program?

Here is a handout from a personal statement seminar I went to. 
I got some really solid advice from a good friend who is getting their PhD at Purdue, he talked about how to write your personal statement differently and interestingly without getting caught up in the natural formula that people use. Personal statements tend to be written chronologically. For example: "I've done A, I've done B, I've done C and those led me to D". There is nothing wrong with this, but there is a way to change it up so that your personal statement feels less formulaic and can highlight a lot more than just your resume/CV. 
Try writing your personal statement in terms of "themes". This is really hard to do because it forces you to look back on your life and analyze yourself like you are a character from a book haha. But I will show you what he sent me when I gave him my rough draft. Keep in mind that he helped me formulate this outline based on what I wrote, so yours could be very different: 
PARAGRAPH 1: Personal story
PARAGRAPH 2: Research interests: what questions interested you? 
How did your research mentor(s) introduce you to questions? PARAGRAPH 3: Research application
How did you start answering questions/researching into your interests? What were you doing to answer these questions
What did it show me (show that you know WHY you were doing research)
PARAGRAPH 4 - Research impact, personal motivation
How have you changed as a person through your research? PARAGRAPH 5 - Future; grad school (what is your research?); job after grad school (professorship, teaching, research), societal/community impact
From your past research, how have you decided what you are going to do now
 
One good way to organize your personal statement is to write what your story chronologically, then highlight in different colors the different categories of the paragraphs shown above. For example, highlight everything yellow in your personal statement that has to do with "research impact and personal motivation" and then organize your essay by color and see if you can get it to flow. If anything, this is a great exercise to conceptualize your own life, which is a super hard feat. Personal statements are very hard because of this reason. 
 
Hope this helped! Let me know if you have any questions 
 
Writing a Personal Statement_2018_handout.pdf

Hi all,
I wanted to start a thread to allow us all to share our thoughts and reflect on this application cycle now that it is almost over. This was my second time applying to Counseling Psychology programs, and I know that I have learned a lot about myself (and the ridiculous admissions game) through this process. 
To give you a bit of background, my first application cycle, I applied to 6 programs (all CounPsy) and though I had a mix of preliminary and in-person interviews for 4 of them, I was eventually rejected from all. I was devastated, and literally had mental breakdowns every few days. So, I really understand the struggle of having to wait, but never getting the news you want. 
This time, I applied to 17 programs (yeah I know, it is a lot!). I interviewed at 9 - one of them being a School Psychology Ph.D. program - and out of those, ultimately was rejected from 1, waitlisted at 1, and received offers from 7.
Based on my experience, I want to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice: 
Rejections do not determine your self-worth. Please do not feel like you are not qualified/smart/unique enough if you did not get in. I say this because my first time applying was last year, and I have not really gained any more relevant experience since then. I didn’t even change my personal statement besides 2-3 sentences. I improved my interview skills a little bit, but the big difference was where I applied. Which brings me to #2. Last time, I was picky about location/perfect fit. This time, I chose to apply to places where I would actually bring something new to the lab/POI, and I was flexible about location as well. You might think “I would never go here”, but sometimes the interview will change your mind. That happened to me with multiple programs this time. So my advice for both new applicants and applicants who are applying again, is that do not be stuck to one area if it’s possible. Of course, family/partner relocation and finance might be something you have to consider with this. Submit apps early! I submitted materials a month in advance in case I missed anything. Of course, if this is not financially possible for you, then try to review the checklist of materials for each school multiple times. This will give you enough of an idea to fix something if needed.  If you can’t afford to interview in person, don’t. Out of my 9 interviews, I did 6 over Skype/phone (although one of them didn’t have in person interviews). I was accepted to 5/6 of the programs I interviewed at on Skype, and 2/3 for the ones in-person. In fact, one of the programs strongly discouraged Skype interviews, and still ended up accepting me in the first round. This goes to show that your interviewing skills can sometimes matter more than your in-person presence. And if you do get in, you can always visit during dates that are more convenient/cost-effective as well. Be proud of yourself for completing and submitting your applications. That is a difficult task in itself. If you got to the interview stage, congratulations on that as well. No matter what the result, don’t give up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. I hope this reflection can be insightful to folks in some way. If you would like to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer! 
It would be awesome if all of the wonderful Ph.D. applicants out here could share their reflections as well I’m sure you all could bring much more to this conversation! 

Here it is!
Why do you want to be pursue this field? What are your goals/how can a PhD help you attain your goals? What are you looking for in a graduate program? What interests you in our program specifically? What research are you interested in doing? If you were to design a study, what variables would you study and what methods would you use? (Usually they are wanting to get an idea of what you will do from start to finish). What are your strengths and weaknesses? What skills do you think will be helpful for completing a PhD? What challenges do you anticipate facing in graduate school? How will you handle these challenges? What are you looking for in an advisor? How have you shown initiative in your learning process? What was a difficult interpersonal experience you had in your life, while in your undergraduate or graduate program, and how did you deal with it? Name a time you failed to accomplish something. What did you learn from this experience? What is something that isn’t on your resume/CV, but you believe would be important for us to know?

^ this is still my biggest takeaway but I also want to say:
-If you can, do everything in your power to find a strong mentor for this process, ideally someone who got the degree that you want to get. They know the process well and it's a nice balance between all of these anonymous opinions you can find online and the advice of friends and family, who probably hold you in unconditionally positive regard. Find an awesome professor (or even advanced grad student) who will offer frank advice when needed but who still has your best interest at heart.
-While obviously applying to the maximum number of schools you can is a good strategy in terms of upping your chances of being admitted somewhere, I actually wouldn't necessarily give the advice to apply to a ton of schools to everyone. If you have a relatively niche research interest and/or you have certain other standards you want your program to have (i.e. having to do with funding, research rigor, teaching/clinical opportunities), the truth is there probably aren't 15-20 schools that fit the bill. Especially if you are like me and you are just getting started in your life post-undergrad, waiting another year (and another....and maybe another...) for the perfect program is probably a better choice long-term than attending a program that doesn't meet your standards.
Those are like my most important pieces of unsolicited advice lol. I am always happy to exchange messages if someone wants to talk more