PsychApplicantFall2019

Thanks for your advice! I think that it's a great idea to look for research positions instead of applying to masters programs. 

@FM2 I think everyone worries about not having enough publications, presentations, etc. I have even posted about it here, but I have tried to keep my insecurities at bay because the only way we will make it through is convincing ourselves that we are good enough to get accepted.

Overall, you seem to have a great application, and I don't think that faculty will judge you more harshly because of an international degree. I have worked with many people who did their undergrad outside of the US. However, I am not sure of your immigration status, but some programs do have a limited number of slots for international students for funding reasons. For instance, one of my research supervisors was international when she was applying to graduate school and ended up turning down a top acceptance because they were unable to offer her assured funding throughout the program. She did end up going to another great program, so it isn't hopeless. It is just something to keep in mind and to ask questions about when you are interviewing. 
Good luck! 

@hahowell I do not consider myself qualified to make an assessment on whether you would be competitive for PhD programs.
However, I would like to suggest that if you think that you might not be competitive after talking to professors and the like, that you not do a masters. You are right that it is unnecessary, but beyond unnecessary it is very expensive. There are a lot of paid, bachelors-level research opportunities available in which you could make some money and gain invaluable experience all without having to do a masters. 
For example, you can look for lab manager postings, and the National Institutes of Health has a lot of research opportunities for people preparing for graduate school. You could even seek out these opportunities while you are applying for PhD programs and only take the offer if you were to not get accepted into a program. 

@hahowell I do not consider myself qualified to make an assessment on whether you would be competitive for PhD programs.
However, I would like to suggest that if you think that you might not be competitive after talking to professors and the like, that you not do a masters. You are right that it is unnecessary, but beyond unnecessary it is very expensive. There are a lot of paid, bachelors-level research opportunities available in which you could make some money and gain invaluable experience all without having to do a masters. 
For example, you can look for lab manager postings, and the National Institutes of Health has a lot of research opportunities for people preparing for graduate school. You could even seek out these opportunities while you are applying for PhD programs and only take the offer if you were to not get accepted into a program. 

My work uses a lot of computational methods as well, and I think that your experience will be a great fit for many groups. I do think many PIs have the expectation that you have some experience with MATLAB/Python/R/Unix, and it sounds like you would fit that very well. There is a chance that particular groups may typically take students with a very strong CS or applied math background, but you should be able to find that out by looking at the lab website or talking to the PI. 

#nopressure hahahah

I wanted to second this sentiment. Being well connected in the field goes a long way. This is something that prospective graduate students have some control over. 

Something else that goes a long way and may not seem entirely fair is a strong letter of recommendation from a "famous" faculty within the discipline. Perhaps, it is a bit of academic nepotsim, but that seems to be the reality. From my experience --albeit not entirely comprehensive--this is more likely to ensure admissions to a top program than a mid-tier first-author publication. 

I’m surprised to hear this will be your 4th time applying to PhD Clinical Psychology programs, given your background. I’m a third-year student in the UAB (Alabama-Birmingham) Medical-Clinical Psych PhD program myself, and many of our incoming students don’t have a first-author publication or oral presentation under their belt aside from a few posters — that’s the same case at similar PhD Clinical Psych programs where I know other colleagues. 
I assume you’ve done this, but my first suggestion would be to ask for feedback from the potential mentors at the institutions you interviewed at the last time you applied. Perhaps there’s a key factor or two beyond your objective grades/research productivity/GRE or interview style that’s been impeding your placement.  
My second advice is to see if your research mentor or other faculty in your Psychology Department has any connections to faculty at a PhD Clinical/Counseling Psych Program; and if that’s the case, see if they can introduce you to these individuals at these programs. I feel that a factor that often gets ignored about this application process is that it favors those with the right social connections within the field — professors seem more willing to take in a mentee if a colleague they know well can strongly vouch for the student. 
In any case, I sincerely wish you the best on the process!

Feeling quite overwhelmed. My lab is currently demanding a ton of time. I feel like I need the NSF GRFP submitted before I can think about the school SOPs. Further, one PI I talked to recommended applying for the Hertz Fellowship which is ridiculously competitive and likely a waste of my time, but I feel obligated. On the actual applications, I have a  final school list, registered the accounts, sent out the recommendation requests, the GRE reports and transcripts are squared away. All of that is mostly because I already had everything together for the grants. I am probably not going to make serious progress on the SOPs for about a month. First app due is Stanford in mid-November. 

Feeling quite overwhelmed. My lab is currently demanding a ton of time. I feel like I need the NSF GRFP submitted before I can think about the school SOPs. Further, one PI I talked to recommended applying for the Hertz Fellowship which is ridiculously competitive and likely a waste of my time, but I feel obligated. On the actual applications, I have a  final school list, registered the accounts, sent out the recommendation requests, the GRE reports and transcripts are squared away. All of that is mostly because I already had everything together for the grants. I am probably not going to make serious progress on the SOPs for about a month. First app due is Stanford in mid-November. 

Exactly. If PIs only took people with the exact same research interests as them, there would never be any new types of research being done. 

Here is my suggestion and others may disagree. I think that you might be looking for people who are too specifically aligned with your interests. The way I think about the purpose of a PhD is to develop the scientific skills necessary to conduct research not necessarily to have a particular research program defined when you enter. (This may not hold for senior, highly renowned PIs who would expect you to have a research program, but I am speaking generally).

As such, the PI does not need to have a research program that is working on your particular question in order for there to be a good research fit. And, you need to be able to mold your research interests to a PI's particular flavor of research. I am just spit-balling because I don't have a strong relevant background, but perhaps, someone working on gambling addiction or obsessive behaviors would provide you with the training that you need to pursue your particular interests later in your postdoc or as a faculty.

In summary: Broaden your search. Identify where your interests match the PIs. Mold the way you present your interests to match their interests. 

Here is my suggestion and others may disagree. I think that you might be looking for people who are too specifically aligned with your interests. The way I think about the purpose of a PhD is to develop the scientific skills necessary to conduct research not necessarily to have a particular research program defined when you enter. (This may not hold for senior, highly renowned PIs who would expect you to have a research program, but I am speaking generally).

As such, the PI does not need to have a research program that is working on your particular question in order for there to be a good research fit. And, you need to be able to mold your research interests to a PI's particular flavor of research. I am just spit-balling because I don't have a strong relevant background, but perhaps, someone working on gambling addiction or obsessive behaviors would provide you with the training that you need to pursue your particular interests later in your postdoc or as a faculty.

In summary: Broaden your search. Identify where your interests match the PIs. Mold the way you present your interests to match their interests. 

Thanks for the advice, I am giving it another go! 

Here is my suggestion and others may disagree. I think that you might be looking for people who are too specifically aligned with your interests. The way I think about the purpose of a PhD is to develop the scientific skills necessary to conduct research not necessarily to have a particular research program defined when you enter. (This may not hold for senior, highly renowned PIs who would expect you to have a research program, but I am speaking generally).

As such, the PI does not need to have a research program that is working on your particular question in order for there to be a good research fit. And, you need to be able to mold your research interests to a PI's particular flavor of research. I am just spit-balling because I don't have a strong relevant background, but perhaps, someone working on gambling addiction or obsessive behaviors would provide you with the training that you need to pursue your particular interests later in your postdoc or as a faculty.

In summary: Broaden your search. Identify where your interests match the PIs. Mold the way you present your interests to match their interests. 

I never re-emailed people. I did apply however to schools I got no reply from the potential POI - which turned out to work fine because my nr. 1 POI did not reply initially, turned out way better than I expected during the interview, and now during my PhD POI has been more than great so far.
I also had people tell me to really apply to work with them and then never made it the interview. I would really not stress the emails too much except if someone says they're not taking students (then don't apply). 
And maybe this individual just wanted to help you. I often asked for other people with similar interests to apply to. Any prof will understand that you're not just gonna bet on one program, so they're usually happy to give recommendations (got some good names out if it tbh).

I think you're in a really good place to get into a top school. In my experience, if you've already had skype interviews you've got a really good chance of getting an in-person official interview. If you get one of those you've got like a 75% chance of getting in. Also, keep in mind that Skype interviews are offered all the way out to January depending on the professor, so you might still hear from the other two proffs. I will also say that I had 0 publication when I applied and I got into two Ph.D. programs and got offers to masters programs from 2 others.  I also didn't have nearly as much research experience as you and was coming straight from undergrad. You'll be ok.

Grad school is half application/half job interview while med school is 100% application. It might make sense for people applying to med school to send out a lot of applications (though I think 30 is too many), but for grad school it makes more sense to send out fewer applications to schools with which you have a greater fit.

I only sent applications to places I really wanted to go. Don't see myself working on a topic or with someone I don't feel a fit with. I applied to 6 places - 2 ended up having issues with my transcript (meh). Did do one safety school abroad that accepted me. Ended up being accepted to my nr 1 choice because of my fit with the PI (who is apparently very picky with accepting students so I've heard now I've been here). Was nerve-wracking, but worth it. Love my advisor!

I am sure that you will be very successful in your applications! I am not saying positive response means that you will for sure be admitted, but there can be lack luster responses, or they can say that their group is full, so a positive response doesn't mean nothing. 
I would like to add that I have contacted PIs who told me their labs were full, and there are a couple that I am planning on applying to who have not responded.