PsychedOnCaffeine

@msw715 I would love to hear about your interview experience, if you're willing! I have my interview next week and just have no idea what to expect tbh.

Beyond happy that this thread exists!! I'm going to be applying to schools in Philadelphia and my SO and I are moving there soon--would love some recs on personal statement writing as I've previously applied to Clinical Psych PhD programs and the personal statements for MSW programs seem super different. Also, have either of you looked at MFT programs? I'm curious as someone who wants to do more micro SW whether I should be applying to MFT programs as well. Luckily, Philly has a LOT of schools so I have options (I hope)

Thank you!! This was super helpful!! The area I'll be in has not yet been determined, which is maybe why I'm having such a hard time! All of this is great advice though, I appreciate it!

Hi everyone! I'm going to be applying to professional programs this fall/winter but am getting such mixed reviews on the benefits of MSW/MFT/MHC degrees. I know that the kinds of programs I apply to will be partially reliant on location (my S.O. is looking for jobs, and I'm going to be looking for programs in/near the same city), but can someone help me clarify what the difference is between these kinds of programs? For background, I have a lot of research experience (I had been planning on going for Clinical Psych PhD programs but had a mild quarter life crisis and decided not to), but am more interested in direct practice. I have a little bit of "practice" experience through a peer counseling program at the university I work at, and I would ideally like to work with adolescents (particularly interested in eating disorders) and possibly their families. However, I'd also like the flexibility to possibly be on a research team at some point (not a PI) Some people have told me that an MSW degree is more flexible, and because of NASW is the way to go, but others have told me that with either an MFT or MHC you get more direct practice training. I've also been told MFTs and MSWs are both great but that MHC programs aren't as well received? HELP PLS. I'm so confused about the differences in quality and in training! I'm sure there is another post somewhere on this site, so feel free to just point me in that direction. Would love to hear about experiences of others in this kinds of programs!

Hi everyone! I'm also starting to prep for another app season. I have a loooooong list of "yes" "maybe" and "no" schools with a whole spreadsheet of info that I'm modifying from this most recent application season (with the intent to move some maybes to the yes list depending on which mentors are accepting students and such). I only applied to clinical programs this time around, but I have a couple of counseling programs on my list right now--this is probably kind of a dumb question, but what are the major differences between clinical and counseling? I've definitely Googled this before, but I'm trying to wrap my head around how to modify my personal statement for the two kinds of programs, and whether I should be looking more closely at some counseling programs. Also, does anyone have some solid advice on how to make your application stand out? I have some poster and oral presentations, but at this point no publications on my CV so that's definitely something I'll be working on over the coming months, but any other thoughts on that would be super helpful. Good luck to all and thanks for being such a supportive community

So, after this most recent application season ending with 2 interviews and no offers of the 13 schools I applied to, I'm trying to psych myself up for another round of apps. I'm wondering if my research interests are too specific for some of the people I applied to this round, or maybe just weren't the best match and that's why I didn't get as many interviews as I would have hoped. I'm hoping this lovely community of humans can help me either find some schools with mentors that would be a good match for my interests OR a way to market my interests in a broader way that might appeal to more mentors. I'm assuming this is something at least some others have struggled with and thought this would be a good place to start our search early In a nutshell, I'm interested in how relationships with parents in adolescents are related to the development of maladaptive coping mechanisms/emotion regulation. I'm particularly interested in self-injury and eating disorders, and I'm also interested in how trauma and resilience plays a role in these relationships. Any places/people in mind that fit? Thanks so much Café-ers!!

Thank you this is helpful!! I've found some recent (and some older) publications that pretty clearly link my POI's interests and my future interests (which makes sense, considering my current experiences have helped lead me to my future interests) so I think I may use that as a jumping off point, as in "I'm excited about your current research and would be interested to expand it into xyz interest, especially given current research has shown a strong link between the two." I do think the general theories this POI does research with fit pretty nicely with most, if not all, of my interests so that's encouraging!

I have an interview coming up in about a month where the POI's research matches my current experience pretty well, but not necessarily my future interests (from what I can tell). They don't have a lab website, so I can't see what current grad students are working on unfortunately. Any advice on how to ask questions about this, and how to answer questions about my own research? Happy to clarify if this doesn't make sense, thinking is hard this month ?

Has anyone heard from Washington University in St. Louis? I just got an email that my fellowship application there was complete and nearly had a heart attack.