Jayne

The psych gre is a joke. Every professor I have talked to told me it doesn't matter much at all and that most programs don't consider its content as very representative of your knowledge in psychology. I did poorly on it and got into more than one program. My general gre scores were pretty good though.

I also studied for the gre while working full time...it can be a lot. I used the Kaplan book to study, which I found helpful. I set aside entire days or several hours to devote to gre studying. What I think helped me the most was taking several full-length practice tests. I got diagnostic results from those and worked on the areas that needed improvement in between.
From my first time taking to test to the second, I ended up bringing my scores from 60th to 80th percentile in verbal, 32nd to 41st percentile in quantitative, and 56th to 83rd percentile in writing! I've been accepted into one of my top programs and I'm beginning this fall

I'll be working with Dr. Swencionis! What I liked about Ferkauf and his lab the most is that he encourages more autonomous research in his students as opposed to a lab where you are obligated to do research for the professor.  The downside of that is it's a bit harder to get funding, but it's definitely still possible.  I'm interested in developing a stronger framework for early identification of EDs, including risk factors and prodromal symptoms and hopefully starting a pilot program for prevention and/or early intervention.  I described this to him, and he said that it is certainly achievable.

This!!!! I wanted to be able to compete with all these trust fund kids so I took unpaid internships, volunteer positions, any lab work I could find regardless of funding...and worked a part time job on the side. All of this did limit my job opportunities though. My parents didn't give me one cent. I have a ton of debt as a result of this (credit cards and student loans) but I got into a PhD program so I'm happy. I'm also in the field of psychology so there aren't many paid opportunities for students anyway.

According to PNPI, 11% of low-income, first-generation college students will obtain a Bachelor's degree within six years of enrolling in school, compared to 55% of their more advantaged peers. We should be very proud of ourselves!

This!!!! I wanted to be able to compete with all these trust fund kids so I took unpaid internships, volunteer positions, any lab work I could find regardless of funding...and worked a part time job on the side. All of this did limit my job opportunities though. My parents didn't give me one cent. I have a ton of debt as a result of this (credit cards and student loans) but I got into a PhD program so I'm happy. I'm also in the field of psychology so there aren't many paid opportunities for students anyway.

It's sad funny just how many of these your post hits. 

My masters' program involved alumni in these types of activities through an alumni mentoring program. We were matched based on interest, and alumni mentors often served on thesis committees, reviewed job hunt materials, and facilitated professional connections. You can formalize these roles without making them faculty appointments.
The same masters program had a lot of kids from well-off families. I had assumed everyone was going to be taking out loans and working multiple jobs to afford school. Turned out that a lot of students were paying for school and living expenses through educational trusts. (Until this point, I honestly thought trust funds were the kind of thing you only say in movies and celebrity magazines.) Students with those resources were able to take advantage of opportunities I couldn't. They could work unpaid internships or volunteer as a research assistant. They didn't have to compete for funding to collect thesis data. After school, they didn't have to consider student debt when job hunting and could take fellowships that didn't pay well or had limited benefits. I worked two paid research jobs plus a few shifts a week in a sandwich shop and still came out with six figures of debt.
Academia has enough problems with diversity. An unpaid faculty appointment is something that you can only accept if you're already well off making it one more barrier for people from diverse backgrounds.

In any clinical PhD program you'll be able to have that outcome -- a research focused career. It sounds like you would like R1 schools though so your research training will be much more rigorous. But any program you get into can be whatever you make of it. 

I am a MA student and applied for the PhD program at my school. I have a good relationship with several professors but the way their admissions process works, to make it less biased, the professors who know me can't review my application. I got waitlisted and ended up accepting an offer elsewhere. I'm not sure still how your program works though, but I imagine a lot of schools have a similar process.