Wow that is scary. Applying this year after being way too optimistic in my selection last year. Going to shoot for more masters programs this time though due to my undergrad GPA (2.8) being so low. Might end up just grabbing another research position so see you in the thread next year too.
In your field would be great. In your particular scope of interest would be *chef's kiss*
But when push comes to shove, any research is better than none. I would say, try to get in to a clinical/counseling lab if possible, either in an academic institution or at a med school affiliated with a university. Research skills are research skills - what you learn in any one lab can be easily translated to another.
I want to do that. There is nothing currently open at my university as far as I can see but I will keep looking. When I check postings, it seems like I would need to move across or out of state. Which I am more than willing to do for the duration of a degree, but have not considered (until now) to do just for a year or two in preparation for school.
I knew it would be an issue. The best suggestion that my professor gave me was to use a recently graduated PhD who was my lab manager for a year. Which is still not ideal. Again, it seems the best route would be to just pick up more psych-focused research job and get experienced references. So I will be seriously looking into this.
As far as the admissions essays: Yes, I ensured that I picked professors/universities with research that I could realistically spin my current work as being similar. e.g. all my POIs were doing research with similar populations, using similar instruments, a couple of them were specifically community/social justice focused which I had really hoped would align closer with social work.
That is a discussion I have had with my professor. My main hang-up with not doing psych is that there is no equivalent in social work PhDs/DSWs. I find the work great and I think I would be ok with pursuing it. But when I find research that I am excited about, it is almost uniformly being done by psychologists. It is an on-going conversation that would take too long to discuss here but I am glad that someone other than my professor (and every graduate guide book) is suggesting it, because I know I tend to overlook the possibilities of what I currently have.
Thank you all for the feedback. I was really down in the dumps (still am) because I spent the last year and a half trying to do everything to follow that Insider's Guide to Clinical/Counseling programs book. I do understand a lot of people probably spend a good 5 years following the guide and prepping themselves. It is good to know that all of the advice in it is pretty much exactly what everyone on the forums is saying. I just have to bring it up another couple of notches. One specific question: With the psych research assistant positions, how crucial is it that the research be aligned with whatever I am looking for in a future program? I see a lot of positions open across the US, almost all for projects that I would never want to pursue for life (though I do love being involved with research in-general).
Okay, I'm back to shamelessly self-promote, but only because I created something that I hope some of you could use! Last cycle I started to organize myself by using a spreadsheet for all application related materials. I put quite a bit of time into it, and thought it would be best if other people were able to get some use out of it as well. If you want to see my reasoning for including the tabs and columns you can read that here: https://www.thedailypsych.com/blog/organizing-yourself
If you prefer to skip the post and just make yourself a copy to see if you want to use it, you can go here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tf77N8CTAS_S1VufvL5DqtZnOEqngJHyYid_QVPM6yc/copy?usp=sharing
Also let me know if you have a different way of organizing - I'm always looking for more tips on how to store program info!
Hi, all! I found this spreadsheet on Reddit of clinical psychology programs that are waiving their GRE Requirement for this fall. (I don't personally plan to schools that only waive their GRE Requirements, but I thought this could help some people!)
NoKappa got a reaction from RebeccaPsych in USA Fall 2022 Clinical/Counseling PhD/PsyD
NoKappa got a reaction from SocDevMum in Anything else I can do? (not accepted into clinical/counseling)