rainydaychai

I did receive an email from my POI asking to set up a time to call (at 10 pm! and he called right after when I said I was free, too!!) but he explained it as a special circumstance since he was overseas. He mentioned he would have cold called if it was during work hours.

Last week I had the pure happiness of receiving an unofficial offer from the SFU Clinical Psych PhD program!! As it seems that no other unofficial offers have gone out from SFU yet, I wanted to update that they should be going out any day now - I have an existing relationship with one of the faculty who advocated for my admission, which explains why I was notified early. Feel free to DM with any questions!

Yes, I applied both last year and for this current cycle and from what I've seen/heard, 3-5 at most is most common for one spot. That being said, I also have experience with programs that invite 8-10 applicants for one spot (I can think of two programs in particular) and frankly, like others have mentioned, it rubs me the wrong way. One of them specifically states that the odds are stacked against you if you choose to interview via Skype and do not come in person and that puts a massive financial burden on applicants for a ~ 12% likelihood of acceptance.

I just had my first "official" interview today via Skype, with a graduate student, and wanted to get opinions on a tough question I received (and further collective knowledge so you guys can prepare for it ). It was "what are your clinical weaknesses?" As I've never been in an official clinical role (I only have a BA), but do have a decent amount of experience interacting with the population I hope to practice with, it was more of a "lack of experience" more than anything but I feel like I could answer it better. Has anyone got this question before?

School: University of Nevada, Las Vegas Type: Clinical Psychology PhD Date of invite: 1/16 Type of invite: Email from DCT (likely mass) after preliminary phone interview this week Interview date(s): 2/14

School: Fordham University Type: PhD (Clinical) Date of invite: 1/10/2020 Type of invite: Mass email from DCT (email for PIs) Interview date(s): 1/24/20 or 1/31/20 :)

School: University of Nevada, Las Vegas Type: PhD (Clinical) Date of invite: 1/9/2020 Type of invite: Email from PI asking for a phone call to discuss ongoing lab research, my research interests, and my career goals early next week. I'm not sure if other UNLV profs conduct phone interviews before in-person invites. This also might be a situation specific to myself and my PI, as we have had prior email contact. DM for PI.

Are we posting Canadian invites on this thread? I'll just go for it so people can message me directly. School: Simon Fraser University Type: Clinical PhD Date of invite: 1/9/20 Type of invite: email from Grad Program Assistant (mass email); DM for PIs Interview date(s): Skype interview in next three weeks or in person interview 1/31

I went to three interview weeks last year and the makeup choices of other applicants was something I did not notice - which probably means that no one was wearing anything too heavy! For myself, I wore foundation, eyebrow pencil, eyeshadow, and mascara, but only used one eyeshadow palette that is matte and in different tones of beige and brown. Overall, I was going for a "no-makeup makeup look" and I definitely didn't feel out of place. Lipstick might be a little too much unless it's a very natural tone and you're comfortable wearing it in your daily routine outside of interviews (I usually notice lipstick and I can't say it was commonly worn by other applicants). A tinted lip balm or tinted lip gloss may be a better option. Just my opinion, though!

Did you hear this somewhere specific? I'm sort of in limbo as I have not been rejected from UNL and have also not seen my PI mentioned on the results page or interview thread - but haven't received an invite.

School: Sam Houston State University Type: Clinical Psychology PhD Date of Invite: 01/06/20 Type of Invite: Phone call from PI (message for details) Interview date: Had to ask for alternate date; set for January 27th. So shocked, as they extended most invites weeks ago!!

In the spirit of stressed and anxious venting, what the heck is going on with Nebraska?? I saw one rejection come out earlier this week and more come out today. Last cycle, they sent all initial rejections at once the day before interview invites were sent out (January 2). UNL is 100% my top choice and I barely missed acceptance last year. My application still just says "submitted" in the portal. I am s t r e s s e d.

School: University of Virginia (Curry School of Education) Type: Clinical/School Psychology PhD Date of invite: 12/20 Type of invite: Email from admin assistant Interview date(s): 1/31 Message for POI!

School: University of Southern Miss Type: Counseling PhD Date of invite: December 10th Type of invite: Email from program director inviting me to in-person interview, followed by email from PI Interview date(s): February 7, 2020 First interview invite of the season!! ?

Yes, I didn't quite know what career path I wanted to follow when I started undergrad so it was extremely fortuitous that I attended a university like that! I understand that it can be difficult to find forensic-specific research experience, depending on your location. This is my second time applying and I got my heart set on my top choice last year and was first alternate but didn't get in, so I've been consciously not putting all my eggs in one basket this year. The research fit with a faculty member at the University of Nebraska is still spot-on, though, but I would be happy at most of the places I've applied! What about you?

I do! Weirdly enough, all of my research experience over the past four years has been forensic - but I was lucky to attend an undergrad institution with a heavy forensic area within their psychology department. I'm currently working as a post-bacc research coordinator at a forensic psychiatric hospital under a different PI, too.

Hi, fellow forensic applicant! I've listed the programs I'm applying to in my signature below (it's a long list this year). Only about half of the schools have a forensic program, but I am applying to explicitly forensic-oriented supervisors. My research interests are very concentrated around the assessment of violence, particularly targeted violence, so that might change some things. Which schools are you thinking of applying to?

Me, for the second time! I applied to eight schools while completing my undergraduate degree last year. I did get one acceptance but similar to others' stories, it was partially funded and I don't want to go into debt. I did receive interviews for 4/8 programs so I don't necessary think it was a specific aspect holding me back - there were just so many qualified applicants and it was hard to complete with individuals who had 1 or more years of post-bacc work while still an undergrad. I secured a post-bacc research coordinator position myself in June in exactly the same area I want to go into (clinical forensic) and have definitely beefed up my CV with a few more conference presentations and many new skills. Good luck to everyone!

Hey hey! My waitlist prospects have not been kind this application cycle, and as I made the tough decision to decline my only acceptance for financial/program fit reasons, it looks like I’ll be seeing you all for the 2020 application cycle. I’m currently on a lengthy Europe vacation as a graduation gift to myself but when I return home I plan to solidify the list of schools I’m applying to next (this?) year. I applied to 8 Clinical PhD programs this past year and plan to expand that to about 12 PhD programs with 2-3 Masters programs in North America and the UK as a backup (‘cause if the second round is unsuccessful, why not see the world while gaining some more experience? ). For a bit of an introduction, I just graduated from a west coast Canadian university and am interested in clinical forensic research topics, with a special focus on targeted violence prevention. Honestly, I’ve felt myself grow so much over this past cycle, have narrowed my research interests and discovered passion for unexpected areas, and solidified my future career goals! I’m sure the universe meant for this to happen for some reason unclear at the present. Good luck to everyone - looking forward to getting to know you all!

Me too please! Congratulations!!

A new development for me: I reached out to my POI at my top choice this morning, which I'm currently waitlisted for, and got a response that is equally stress- and hope-inducing. He was originally hoping to take two students for Fall 2019 but was only able to make one offer after interviews, which the person has accepted. He told me he's currently fighting for the funding to accept a second, which would be me. AHHH! *waiting intensifies* I swear this is taking years off my life.

SO feel you. Waitlisted at three schools (two being my top choices, one being UNL - we may have seen each other on interview day!), accepted at one that I can’t afford tuition at. Basically given up on the grad school dream this year, but would still love to get some good news. I’ll hope for both of us! Also, do you know much about UNLV’s program? I didn’t apply this year, but recently found a faculty member with close interests to mine and am seriously considering applying next year.

I resonate with a lot of this. While I am high on three waitlists, and accepted for a non-funded program, I am not putting much faith in the waitlists panning out and know that I would not be able to attend/content in the non-funded program. The first few days after the last waitlist were hard, but I have managed to turn my thinking around and have been planning my intended schools for next application cycle. There were multiple schools that I didn't know about and therefore did not apply to this year that I would be more than happy attending, especially because they are in beautiful locations and closer to family. While I would still love for an acceptance to come through, I am (almost) as excited to get the chance to apply to these new places! When the waitlist notice first came through, I struggled with many of the "I'm not good enough for graduate school" type thoughts - it was difficult to think differently, as three separate places had waitlisted me after interviews. I even pondered avoiding the crazy low acceptance rates of clinical psychology and switching into a field with higher acceptance rates, like criminology. However, after the acceptance, I've begun to re-evaluate my thinking - I made it on to the waitlist of a school that gets over 600 applications for 9 positions. I was accepted by a school that receives over 200 applications. This was an unlucky, incredibly competitive year for me - for all of us - and reapplying next year shows the future adcomms how dedicated we are to this career path! Hopefully these words help anyone debating whether to reapply or not. I know I could have used them last week.

Could the person DM me too please? Congrats and thank you!

Hey guys, so again I find myself in a tough situation and would love some thoughts and advice. I have now received one acceptance! However, there are now a LOT of pros and cons to consider. Most significantly, it's the only program I applied to that isn't funded, and tuition looks to be $18k a year. For me, that's not just "manageable with some extra RA hours," that's "going into debt" type money. Secondly, the research fit doesn't quite align as well as other programs (isn't bad though), and the program follows a generalist model, while I would much rather be in a POI's lab with a strong relationship with them from day one. However, it's not all bad! The program does have a formal forensic track, which is really important to me, and they do seem to have a prominent research presence at conferences etc. It's in a beautiful (albeit expensive) area that my SO could easily work in. From what I gained during the phone interview, there are opportunities to pay tuition off from teaching at community colleges nearby. With all this being said, and while the lure of being able to say, for sure, that I am starting my PhD this fall is strong, I can't help but worry that a year or two in the future I will be wistfully looking at other people in less generalist, funded programs while going further into debt myself.... thoughts? Anyone else in this situation?