Rerun

Hey! Good to see this kind of question come up. For real, there's life outside of PhD/PsyD. It shouldn't be our entire life. That being said, yes I am talking from experience that I got pregnant right after I got admitted into my PhD. I didn't defer it because I can't, and I want to both be a mom and my PhD. My husband also has a good paying job and work remotely. So all I can say is though it's hard, it works out so far. For me, I started the program pregnant, so on the 2nd semester, I only did 1 credit of seminar and did nothing else. Then after summer break I came back full time and baby goes to daycare. I'm now only 1 semester behind to my cohort, but I don't feel that way. I'm done with classes, now working on my qualifying components. I don't have any other internship thing like that. I suggest looking up your school guideline about pregnant students. Maybe there's some regulation about class, leave of absence, etc. I'm sorry that you feel people will judge you. I guess grad school is just not a friendly environment for moms, but find your support and don't feel like a PSyD should hold your desire to have at least one child!

I would say you are slightly above average. Depends on what program you are applying, acceptance rate for doctoral is always low, mainly if they are funded. If you are going to a competitive program, that has like >100 applicants, your stats profile might contribute in cutting down number of applicants. What tells the most is your FIT. Is your research area fitting the deparment overall or some professor' study? Start contacting current students and professors to see your match. Most applications are holistic, meaning they will look at all components. Good luck!

As stated above, to apply for a PhD you need to check your area of research match with the department because that's where it really starts. But I understand your concern that funding can be an issue. Here are some programs that I know are funded or have fellowships, but there might be some conditions that apply: https://psych.uw.edu/graduate/areas/developmental https://psychology.umbc.edu/ph-d-in-applied-developmental-psychology/prospective/ Are you an international student? I am-myself. I'd be happy to answer more questions about finding PhD programs in the U.S and what to consider. Feel free to chat me via inbox.

Hi I am not familiar with these field, but I believe a degree towards licensure like school psychology might be the most competitive, followed by others. I've had experience applying to multiple fields.. and my piece of advice is to network. Learn the different nature of research in each of those field through the people, both faculty and students. Set up call appointments and pitch ideas about research area. That will give a better sense of which area would be most suitable. Then your partner can pick up the GRE question from there. Usually some programs publish their rate of acceptance, but not all. Education sometimes will go to a totally different department. Sorry I cannot answer the GRE part, but you might be able to weight the competitiveness once you reach out to the schools and people. Best of luck!!

Hi there, I can understand your concern because I have the issue too: moving to another state will be a lost of opportunity to my health insurance benefit, including a medical treatment that I am currently undergoing. In my case, I will accept my offer and make the most out of the benefit now while I can. I will need to adjust what they have for the school insurance, but my condition is not urgent. I still can treat my condition without going to a doctor. For your condition, is there a chance to defer? Probably your case might be considered by the school because you have some circumstances with health. If that's not an option, do you think you can do grad school without the surgery? A doctoral program is a lot of commitment. Doing PhD with a good physical and mental health on itself will already be a challenge, let alone doing with a health condition. Maybe that's a perspective you want to think of. For me, quality of life goes first and you need to start a PhD by knowing the consequences and maybe support that the school can provide for you. Listen to yourself, and I believe if you can get in now, you still can get in later.

I've applied multiple years to more than 20 university and scholarships, got some interviews and finally got 2 PhD offers. One with funding and the other without. The one with funding is one of the school that I've been wanting to go for many years. But I guess my interest has change. In the past year I volunteer in a lab to realize that I really like research and the idea of team work etc. But then when there's a lot of pressure with publication etc in the lab, I started to become unhappy. Previously I also had a teaching experience and felt unhappy too. Now I am at the point.. what's the whole point of doing a PhD if I don't see myself happy in academia? I know this sounds naive. The reason I am doing a Phd is because I am passionate about my topic.. but then I don't know if a Phd is the only answer to what I want to do. My other plan is to get another master (change my field), find a job to do what I want to do, and start from there to figure out later.. if probably I still want a PhD. I am not young, early 30s. But I still want to take the time to figure things out. I am not sure if this is probably because I am still dissapointed that I didn't get to my dream school and really see myself there. Also, being pressured by someone else is really what I am avoiding right now. Is it too dumb to reject a funded PhD offer? Should I just do it and not overthink it. I've spoken to students and the professor. They seem nice and the program seems doable. I can still see my goal being fulfilled by doing a PhD, definitely, but I don't know if I am up to the commitment. I've heard many horor stories in PhD. Maybe any of you have similar experience or thought. thanks for getting this far to read my post!!

Hi thanks for starting this thread. Congratulations on being accepted! I haven't accept my offer, so I am still a bit in limbo. Nevertheless, I've prepared myself, a bit more to the academic side, in re-learning some basic stats through a study group and coursera. I am not very confident with my stats skills, so that's why. Another thing that I want to prep is my lit review skill ( I want to increase my pace in getting to know my research literature and paraphrase), prepare a system for my bibliography/ lit reviews, get to know how I can read more (both non and academic), and possibly put some hours in learning academic writing (I have some publications, but as an international student, I am not very confident that my writing skills will be good enough for PhD expectation). I've also learn some new recipe and coping mechanism (I guess that's more like a pandemic survival) for my PhD survival kit. I need to complete some publication manuscripts that are due for my lab too. But yes I love the tips on indulging to hobbies and spend more times to fun places.

Hey, are you applying there? My review might be false but this is just my observation and input from talking with my supervisor. UIUC used to be a great school if you are looking to study clinical community psychology. So many outstanding and prominent community psychologist from back then (and even now) graduated from there. But my supervisor said it's no longer THE school for community psychologist since the direction and faculty kinda change. I know some assistant professors who graduated from there, but never really ask about their experience. So if being trained as a clinical community psychologist is what you are looking for, then probably think twice. But other than that, probably someone else can speak more. Again, those are just rumors and don't quote me on it. I have zero direct exposure/ never contact the school. Good luck!

Good luck!! I was thinking to apply there and did some research on it but didn't apply because I prefer not moving from the east coast. It's a great program and school. I hope you get in!

The GRE score is 170 max, so your score is great. Now you can focus on trying to get good LORs (you can be specific to the professor and say other qualities about you-your grade, and other things and attach your cv), and you should also focus to research your match/ FIT with each schools/ professor research. Good luck on preparing other parts of the application.

Hey! It's a stressful time for anyone who is applying this year, totally understand, hang in there! My friend graduated from UMass Amherst and did exactly children and media studies. She went to the School of Communication though. Her undergrad and master's was both in psychology. Now she's a media psychology professor in Indonesia. I don't know who did she work with. You can look up for publication by Laras Sekarasih. Try to find her email and reach out to her if you'd like. I believe she will be happy to hear from you.

I think one way to decide is to read articles that you like and find the people who are working on those issues. You still have time to browse any psych programs across those themes to decide. I know that sounds manual but that's the hard yet rewarding way because you can make an informed decision to choose one over another. Other than that, choosing a PhD is also about choosing the location and resources you would want to have. I would say Chicago, Florida, San Diego, and sometimes Boston would have professors working on those studies, geographically speaking.

Sure. That is definitely the reason to apply, knowing that someone might be interested to take you, or that you fit with the overall department research area. Speaking to your supervisor will certainly help

Hey, if you want to give a try and apply to 1-2 schools (if you have the money and time), just try out. You are in a good school and have research experience. You can choose schools that waive GRE if you think it would be a problem (I am a bad test taker so I know what you mean). Trauma and cross cultural, what are the literature that you read? Look up at the authors name, and find the idea of what school do they teach. Counseling is commonly a practitioner-science based, social and development are both science, and educational-depends on the university. Are you looking to study refugee and immigrants? Yeah I am international too. the situation and upcoming election is concerning. But if you really want to try, you can and have time for at least 1 application or 2. Good luck.

Hey. That's an interesting overview and I am commenting because I've been dedicated to psychology for more than 10 years and now thinking if I can do law instead. I watched too much RBG and BLM movies lately. But I hope you know that the grass on the other side always look greener. We can always contribute to the world with our own way. If you want to give a try, I suggest looking out for forensic psychology programs or psychology and law. At least you will have both worlds. Is relocating an issue for you? I know John Jay College at New York is one of the complete and good school for that. With their variety of masters, doctoral and certificate, that might cater your need. Many programs are waiving GRE this year, but the main thing is always a match. You need to back up your story with a reason for transition. Finding a match really matters. It all depends on what psychology you are looking for, what school, what degree. If you're looking into doctoral, there's a LOT of commitment there, so I don't think changing right away is wise, unless you want to give a try to 1-2 schools and see what is the experience like. If you really want to do a psych program, I suggest starting from masters and see if you like it. Doing a PhD requires interest, some research experience (a thesis counts), and commitment to the field. If you can tie together your story, it might work! We never know. It's always a good thing to find out, but make it as a calculated decision. That's my two cents!