[Applied to clinical psych but received an offer for a different track, what should I do?]

1 hour ago, PsyDuck90 said:

I'm not sure how likely it is to transfer into a clinical program since the clinical training starts day 1. There are respecialization programs that you can do post-grad which may meet requirements for clinical licensure in your state. However, those programs seem to only be offered by professional schools with questionable reputations. You said your PI does clinically oriented work. What does that mean exactly? What kind of career do you envision yourself having? If you don't care about being eligible for a clinical license in the future and want to strictly be an academic and a researcher, then this may be a good option. If you think you may want to clinician in some capacity that requires a license, then that's a tougher decision. You may still be able to be involved in clinical research in some capacity without being a clinician. I would maybe speak with any mentors in the field you may have and see what they say. 

 

44 minutes ago, SocDevMum said:

Exactly what are your career goals? What is it about clinical psych that you are so passionate about? As mentioned previously, if you aren't interested in holding a license that would enable you to diagnose and treat, you just want to do research, then this could be a great option. There is quite a bit of overlap between the different specializations - cognitive/neuro and developmental especially seem to have a lot in common with the topics that clinical researchers also study, so you may find fulfillment in something that is adjacent to the field. 

All that said, if you just absolutely know that you want to complete the training and apply for licensure, you would be doing yourself (and the program) a disservice by taking this spot this year. You mentioned that you don't have a lot of direct clinical experience - is that something you would want to work on for another year, to improve your chances for the next application season? 

I've heard of people with exisiting PhDs in cogntive or developmental going back to school for a few years to get a second PhD in Clinical, but man that seems like a lot time and money to spend (waste!) if you already know you want a Clinical degree.....

Those are some very valid questions. I am not entirely sure about my career goal yet, which might have come off in my personal statement and contributed to the unsuccessful outcomes of my application. I am not keen on becoming a therapist, but like I said, I have not done any direct clinical work, like patient counseling or clinical assessments. I am working as a clinical research coordinator at a hospital right now, so I work with clinical populations a lot. I really enjoy implementing research that can improve their quality of life and quality of care, but I guess that doesn't have to be limited to clinical interventions. 

[Applied to clinical psych but received an offer for a different track, what should I do?]

21 minutes ago, rainydaychai said:

I can weigh in on how this happens in my program, but please keep in mind that this is just my experience in my own clinical program and that this may not generalize. In my time here, I've known a couple students who have started in the experimental program and completed (or almost completed) the MA portion of the program when they then applied to the clinical side. They were almost unilaterally successful, because at this point they have established relationships with both experimental and clinical faculty and have even collaborated on research with clinical faculty (usually, the faculty member they apply to work with). However, they had to go through the formal clinical application process again just like all other applicants and while any overlapping program coursework transferred (as well as their MA thesis, if completed!), they still needed to take all the first and second year clinical coursework, so it undoubtedly stretched out their time in the program as a whole.

Oh that is good to know. I met someone who is a current student in the clinical psychology program of that school, and they were initially admitted to the cognitive neuroscience program and transferred to clinical psych during their second year. They did not even redo the first year, so I guess it varies across programs. 

[Applied to clinical psych but received an offer for a different track, what should I do?]

I recently interviewed with a clinical psych program and was notified by the PI that they would like to give me an offer, just not for the clinical track. The research fit is amazing, and I really like the program in general after the interview. 

However, clinical psychology has always been my passion, and getting clinical training has been my goal all along. This is my third time applying, and even though I know how competitive and especially difficult this cycle has been, I am starting to have some doubts about whether clinical psych is for me. 

I am not especially keen on becoming a therapist, and I know that is not the only thing clinical training offers us. I also haven't been exposed to much clinical work to know what to anticipate. I guess another major door that would close by going nonclinical is conducting research on clinical samples or behaviors, especially if I want to do any intervention work. My POI doesn't work directly with clinical populations, but their research is clinically-oriented. 

The thought of going through another cycle/year of this is soul-deadening, but I don't think I should feel like I need to compromise on my career goals if I can help it either. That said, I'd like to hear what everyone thinks about this and what you would do if you were in this situation. I also heard that you could transfer to clinical later even if you weren't initially admitted to clinical. Does anyone know how likely this is?

 

Thanks everyone, any feedback is much appreciated!

[Fall 2021 Clinical & Counseling PhD/PsyD]

11 hours ago, LostPsychGrad said:

Has anyone heard from Harvard University or University of Pennsylvania for their clinical psych PhD programs?

It's been absolute radio silence from both of them.

I haven't seen anything on GC either.

Anyone else feel like that's a little strange?

 

I emailed my POI at Harvard yesterday, and they said "graduate applications have now been fully considered at the departmental level. Unfortunately, we have experienced a pretty drastic reduction in the number of students we can admit this year, dictated by the graduate school. " ?

[Should I retake the Psyc GRE?]

1 hour ago, topsailpsych said:

I took the Psych GRE and scored in the 30th percentile.  I was not a psych major and it had been over a decade since I took the intro psych course in undergrad by the time I took the test, so I bought several study guides and spent months studying.  The vast majority of my test was names and dates and while I had studied what each person did, I paid little attention to what year things happened in (lots of questions about X person did Y thing which influenced Z person to do their thing, in what years did each person make their breakthrough discovery).  I had taken a dozen practice tests and had gotten in the 90-95th percentile on all of them, so I felt super confident going into the test and was shocked and devastated when I got my scores.  So 3 schools I applied to first round had the terrible scores on record because they were the free score reports that I had to commit to before taking the test.  Two of those schools told me they did not consider the test scores with my application because they only consider the Psych GRE if it helps your application, but I did get rejected from both of those schools - so maybe not having it hurt me or maybe it was just the quality of my application that year (the third school never returned my emails asking for feedback on my application, so I have no idea what they did or did not consider).

If you can afford the time and money to study more and take it again, there's no harm in doing so, but there are lots of other things that will help your application more than re-taking the Psych GRE so if you feel weak in those areas it may be a better use of your time and resources to focus your efforts on adding additional trainings/certifications to your CV, investing in a relationship with a potential LOR writer, finishing a manuscript and submitting for publication, etc.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I think I would be able to arrange a reasonable amount of time to study again for this test and retake it. The two schools that I put on my free recipient list are unfortunately my dream schools so I think it is kind of necessary to show them everything I've got. Even though one of them does not require the test, I think having a bad score would still somewhat weaken my application. That being said, I totally agree with what you said about making a better use of my time, but if I don't fix this potentially harmful component of my application, I will feel somewhat unsettled and might even attribute future losses to this one component. 

Also, how did you get them to tell you if they considered your PSYC GRE score or not? Did that happen after the rejection? 

Again, I truly appreciate your reply.

[Should I retake the Psyc GRE?]

8 hours ago, PsycUndergrad said:

Definitely retake if you can. I’m not sure how you studied last time, but I recommend learning how the test works and taking as many practice tests as you can find. Chances are you already know most of the material, but the test can require really specific response strategies to do well. 

Can you maybe share some of your test prep tips? I I used the Kaplan prep book and read through my intro to psyc textbook. I wasn't able to find many studying material for this particular test, and everyone seems to have different opinions about which test prep book out there is the most comprehensive. If you could share your experience with me, I'd very much appreciate it!

[Should I retake the Psyc GRE?]

Just now, snapplebcho said:

Thank you for your advice. I think I will retake the test. I did study very hard for this test, but I also didn't sleep well the night before the test. In fact, I wasn't able to sleep at all, which might be caused by my test anxiety. I def need to work on that as well. Can you suggest some good ways to study for this test? I used the Kaplan prep book and read through my intro to psyc textbook. I also made sure I knew enough of every topic that is listed on the official guide. Although I have to admit that I was a bit rushing a week before the exam. I signed up for the test back in November, and I procrastinated studying for it till 2 weeks before the exam. To be honest, I think this test is completely based on memorization, so would studying in advance really help? 

Thank you for your advice. I think I will retake the test. I did study very hard for this test, but I also didn't sleep well the night before the test. In fact, I wasn't able to sleep at all, which might be caused by my test anxiety. I def need to work on that as well. Can you suggest some good ways to study for this test? I used the Kaplan prep book and read through my intro to psyc textbook. I also made sure I knew enough of every topic that is listed on the official guide. Although I have to admit that I was a bit rushing a week before the exam. I signed up for the test back in November, and I procrastinated studying for it till 2 weeks before the exam. To be honest, I think this test is completely based on memorization, so would studying in advance really help? 

 

[Should I retake the Psyc GRE?]

Thanks everyone for your advice

[Should I retake the Psyc GRE?]

Hi Everyone,

So I took my psyc subject test in April and found out about the score this morning. It was pretty bad to be honest. I know the percentile is whats it matters, and 68% is still very bad. I also forgot to cancel my free score recipients before the test so some schools (sadly, some of my dream schools), would get this bad score. However, I see that I still have time to retake this test in Oct, but I don't know if I should, given the fact that those schools will receive this first score either way. 

I am planning to apply to clinical psychology programs, and I know the application review is holistic. But I am very worried that having this bad score could negatively impact my application, more so than not sending it entirely. I guess my questions is, for the schools I already sent the score to, should I retake the test to make up for the first test? 

I majored in psychology and statistics in undergrad. My psyc GPA is 3.9. I am working full time as a research assistant right now, with a thesis and some conference presentations listed on my resume. 

I would really like to get some opinions on this. Thank you guys so much in advance!