purplepuffle

Thank you everyone! You've really given me a lot of things to think about. I think I'll still apply this round but maybe, be a little more restricted on the amount of programs I apply to this round. Hopefully I do hear back from some programs and get the chance to at least interview, as that would be good exposure to the process and I can start to refine and refocus my next steps after graduating in the spring!

I'm currently in a clinical MA program. I'm realizing that I'd like to do a clinical pysch doctorate next. However, I have literally no research experience. I did an unrelated BA and then ended up switching to psych as a career. I had originally planned to stop at my MA and just start working. However, this past year I really became passionate about going deeper into the field getting more training. I want to do a PhD program over a PsyD program (cost and research focus are big factors for that). I want to do trauma related work and research. As I've been doing more intake assessment work and reading a lot of these research papers, I'm feeling really passionate about being able to contribute to the field as a WoC and bringing new culturally relevant work to help progress the field. I'm not sure what my options are and how I can boost my application this fall so that I don't get written off for PhD programs automatically. I know that I probably will, but I'm wondering if there are any avenues I can take to get research experience and maybe apply again next fall (although it may not be feasible for me to put off starting a program due)? I do recognize that I'm very late to the game and that my ambivalence towards research (and juggling my workload) in the past year definitely hindered me from taking research opportunities. I'd love to hear any advice or personal experiences with this. TIA!