youngqueerliving

I disagree and stand by that if you have a well-developed research interest, it's highly unlikely you'd really fit with more than three faculty at a single university, but to each their own! 

I disagree and stand by that if you have a well-developed research interest, it's highly unlikely you'd really fit with more than three faculty at a single university, but to each their own! 

As others have said, it's entirely possible to not have much experience in the field and clearly draw a line between your prior experiences and where you want to go. I think the main issue with you is clarifying your research interest. Even the most competitive applicant will not be accepted if they cannot articulate that which they wish to study and why XYZ program/faculty person is the best choice for studying said interest. I understand wanting to apply to places you want to live, but I highly doubt that it's possible to apply to all of the places you've listed if you actually have a clear idea of what you hope to study in graduate school. Applying to graduate school is a bit about the program, but especially in clinical psychology, it's about the faculty member to which you are applying. 
I had a friend who also applied to programs based on location, and he was an exceptional applicant, but he played the game of applying to multiple people in several programs without articulating any clear sense of what he wanted to study, and he is now at an unfunded PsyD program. I think that's another good piece of advice; if your research interests are specific enough, it's unlikely you'll be able to apply to more than one faculty member in a given program. It's possible two faculty may conduct research adjacent to your own interests, but it's almost impossible that there are three. I think faculty also dislike it when it's obvious that an applicant only applied to multiple faculty to increase their chances of getting into a program. You don't want to be that person.
Also, if you haven't read this already, I'd recommend the Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. 

A PhD in psychology will not help you operate on a macro level. Even in counseling or community psychology programs, which are more systemically-oriented than clinical programs, for example, you're still operating on the level of the individual but by placing that individual in their context. A graduate degree in public policy may be useful, but I feel like a MSW is equally as useful if not more so. You may need additional education surrounding policy issues, but to throw tens of thousands of dollars at that goals seems wasteful.

It varies widely depending on the program and university, but graduate assistants can end up in many different roles. Serving as a teaching assistant is one role, but you could also end up as the actual instructor for a course. In my clinical program, graduate students teach Intro to Psych and Abnormal Psych. Graduate assistants may also end up in administrative roles as office assistants in various university departments, although I think this is more rare.  

I think the first thing you need to do is to choose between clinical and social. They're very different disciplines, and your chances will shift depending on which you choose as well as which programs within each discipline you choose. 

I'm applying from undergrad (I'll be graduating in June). I applied to 8 clinical PhD programs and got 6 interviews. I've already been accepted at one of my top choices, so I canceled four of my interviews and am only going to one more.
I think it's extremely common to take a year or two to gain more research experience, but I've had meaningful research experience (and resultant posters/publications) since my freshman year of college (and even a summer in high school), so I knew what I wanted to study and I knew that I'd be competitive. It's really a case-by-case situation though I think. When it comes time to apply, you should compare your CV to other people who are applying/have applied that you know. That can give you a good idea if you're competitive.
Also, to the folks saying that you shouldn't pursue a PhD or even a PsyD if you're interested in a practice-oriented career, you are seriously misguided. 50% of graduates from clinical PhD programs go on to do full-time clinical work. We need good clinicians with good scientific training, and many of those folks come from PhD programs.

This happened to me. If you know that you'd rather go to UIndy, then you can just tell them you've received an offer at another program and thus would like to relinquish your interview spot. You can apologize for the short notice, but I think they totally understand that these things happen. All the programs I emailed to cancel were really wonderful about it; everyone told me congratulations and that they wished me the best of luck and thanked me for reaching out to them to cancel.

This happened to me. If you know that you'd rather go to UIndy, then you can just tell them you've received an offer at another program and thus would like to relinquish your interview spot. You can apologize for the short notice, but I think they totally understand that these things happen. All the programs I emailed to cancel were really wonderful about it; everyone told me congratulations and that they wished me the best of luck and thanked me for reaching out to them to cancel.

I'm applying from undergrad (I'll be graduating in June). I applied to 8 clinical PhD programs and got 6 interviews. I've already been accepted at one of my top choices, so I canceled four of my interviews and am only going to one more.
I think it's extremely common to take a year or two to gain more research experience, but I've had meaningful research experience (and resultant posters/publications) since my freshman year of college (and even a summer in high school), so I knew what I wanted to study and I knew that I'd be competitive. It's really a case-by-case situation though I think. When it comes time to apply, you should compare your CV to other people who are applying/have applied that you know. That can give you a good idea if you're competitive.
Also, to the folks saying that you shouldn't pursue a PhD or even a PsyD if you're interested in a practice-oriented career, you are seriously misguided. 50% of graduates from clinical PhD programs go on to do full-time clinical work. We need good clinicians with good scientific training, and many of those folks come from PhD programs.

School: Ohio State University
Type: Clinical Psychology PhD
Date of invite: 12/18
Type of invite: Email from POI
Interview date(s): Jan 11
Holy sh*t I cannot believe this is happening.

School: University of Toledo
Type: PhD
Date of invite: 12/14/2018
Type of invite: Email from Academic & Client Services Coordinator with POI and DCT cc'd
Interview date(s): Feb 1 or Feb 4
I literally cannot believe this is happening! Truly so grateful and so excited.