PsychWannabee

I took both tests in September last year, with a two week gap, and felt like that was an adequate amount of time in between tests. It may be different for you, though.

If you are graduating next Spring with no research experience, your chances of getting into a PhD are very, very low. However, this doesn't mean you have to go and get a master's. The best route to take can often be to get a job as a research assistant/coordinator/etc in a psychology lab after graduation. That is IF you really want to shoot for the PhD.
From the post, you don't seem entirely convinced that a PhD is what you want to do. I think the bigger question here is what are your career goals? Answering that question will help clarify a bit more what path you should take to prepare yourself for what comes after undergrad.

I think I can pass my thesis.

Some people just suck.

You're all adults. If you aren't sure how someone wants to be addressed... ask them.

As a current grad student, enjoy the time you have for you will never see its like again. 

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

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 came here to post about this too ...I never got to see it. 

Not really a vent, I'm just so bummed about the Notre Dame cathedral fire. Such a beautiful, iconic piece of architecture, and we have no way of knowing just how much has been ruined until the fire's out. I'm glad that at least I've had a chance to go already and see it in all its glory.

Absolutely love this thread.
I immigrated with my parents to the U.S. from a Latin American country when I was very young. Higher education has been interesting to navigate as neither of my parents have a degree, and they don't understand the U.S. education system in the slightest. I don't blame them. I don't understand a good 80% of the time. My parents, however, have been very supportive, and my mom is elated I'm going to be a doctoral student. I've been able to get this far because of their endless love and support as well as the support of other people that believe in me.

I officially accepted my offer at the University of Michigan where I will get to study both media psychology and developmental psychology. Whew! Glad that's over.

Hate the US and their weird ass tax system and determination of residency (with the only other country in the world basing 'residency' based on nationality being eritrea). Like for real.. why you folks always have to be special with your weird non-metric system, weird president, and also these things..

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

I am not OP, but this would probably also be my biggest takeaway from a successful Round 2 of apps. Let's say you are interested in research topic X. If you apply to only labs that have X as a primary focus, you're going to be competing against every other applicant in the world who is also just as passionate about X as you are, and unfortunately, no matter how great your application is, it starts to become a game of chance in that scenario. Someone is probably going to edge you out based on a slightly better application or interview. On the other hand, if you apply to other labs who primarily study Y but perhaps did one project that included X or have been working in an area related to X, you can make a much more unique and convincing pitch that YOU are the one applicant who can bring this passion and experience for X to this lab that typically studies Y. 

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

University of Washington!!! Woohooo!!!
 
Note: I saw that someone in the results section asked for my POI, message me for details if that's you

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

Ooh I love sharing things like this. I applied to cognitive programs, so if anyone is looking for experiences in that domain I'd be happy to chat. I don't know how different it is from clinical/counseling, but I imagine there's a lot of overlap and this is what I personally took from the process:
Research your POIs thoroughly, and have as solid of an understanding of your research interest as possible. I know sometimes you might still be figuring this out, but spending time thinking about this is never time wasted. It makes writing your SOP so much easier, and faculty are pretty good at telling when you have a genuine interest in the work and a good fit with their lab. The places I was accepted to were the places where my research interests fit best with the research interests of the POI, regardless of my current skillset/what I'd need to learn after arriving at the program. I think partly this is just because it makes it a lot easier to talk with the POIs about follow-up studies and you're more interested in papers they've probably read as well, so it's just easier to interview. My interviews at these programs felt more like conversations compared to the interviews at places where the research fit was still related, but a bit more of a stretch. Also be up front with POIs about your research interests, and don't try to change your interests to fit with the lab in the hopes it gets you an acceptance. You're going to be spending several years in this program, so you want to make sure you're doing work you enjoy. Also, they can tell a student who is truly passionate about what they do from one who isn't.
Make sure your letter of rec writers will be able to write you strong letters with specific examples of times you've demonstrated your abilities to be a competent researcher/student. Every POI I talked to mentioned the letter my lab director wrote for me, and while I'd like to say I got in all on my own I know that letter pulled some massive weight in my acceptances. Even some of my rejections mentioned it. My other letter writers were also very kind and wrote strong letters, but the specific examples my main writer was able to include were probably massively helpful.
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). I was so hyped for this one program I was applying to - it was my top choice from the beginning and I spent so much time reading the POIs papers and discussing research with them. The location was also wonderful and I was super excited to move there. I interviewed, got in, and was all set to go there. However then I visited a second program I was accepted to, and actually liked it better. They were more up-front about funding, understanding of student struggles, and just a very chill department overall. They produce great research and great researchers, and have a strong group for the area I research. The POI was also wonderful, and I had a very good feeling after visiting that program that I never would have gotten if I didn't visit and had just accepted program 1.
Talk with anyone in your current department who will advise you. Grad students, faculty you've worked with, faculty you haven't worked with, etc. Be respectful of their time because everyone is busy, but I asked for as many opinions as I could get. Current grad students helped me identify potential POIs, and also helped me go over offer letters and some of the things that I heard when visiting programs that I wasn't really sure how to interpret. It really helped, and brought up a lot of things I hadn't considered too.
There's a lot of luck and connections that go into this process. So as others have said, rejections don't determine your self worth. POIs talk to several students, and sometimes they might want to take all of them but just can't.
 

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress.
Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. 
What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else.
BREATHE. Seriously.

adcomms will see you as someone who thinks that a "low-ranked" university is in the top 40 and that's how they'll deny you. your pretentious attitude aside, any experience is good experience.