forensicpsychstu

You can reach out to professors from previous schools and see if they are hiring RAs or would be willing to let you volunteer in an RA position. I'm graduated with my MA and still working on research (unpaid) with the university I did my MA at. Another option is looking for paid positions being advertised by universities or companies. If you have linkedin, that would be a good place to start. I found a few research job postings through there. When I was applying for MA programs in 2019 one of them had interviews and it was comprised of both a group and an individual interview. While I cannot necessarily give tips for anything that might change due to the virtual nature, I remember during the group interview it was an opportunity to ask questions about the program. In addition to that, the program I was applying to emphasized culture and diversity, so we had a group discussion about what that means and why it is important in clinical psych. If you encounter an interview like this, my one tip would be to speak up and provide a response or ask a question if there's no group discussion like that. That's one way to make sure you stand out and that they notice you during the group interview.

I applied to Rowan and have not heard back yet, but I think they will be starting to review applications next week. I already have an MA and will probably look for a research job. The other option is perhaps taking up training in ABA. At least in my location, places seem to be desperate for ABA therapists right now and I am seeing a lot of places that say that they will train you. Some even only require a BA and no previous ABA experience. It's not necessarily something that's related to my exact interests but it will keep me working in the psychology world and if I'm able to be trained / certified then that's even better for the CV. Only other concern is that some of these ABA jobs require you to travel and do house calls which is a bit scary during COVID. Some schools in their rejection letters/interview emails have been saying "We received x applications this year!" which is one way people are finding out, and then some schools just already have it there on their program website. You should be able to see how many people are at least accepted to the program for all APA-accredited programs as they have to report that number as a requirement in their outcome data.

Clinical!

I applied to Fordham, as well, but I've been told that Fordham gets over 600 applications even in "normal" years. The school that has about 150 was Rowan, but I believe that this is partially because their program is a bit newer. It IS accredited, but just upon contingency.

I haven't heard back from any schools either and I have a masters, multiple poster presentations (one first author), and a research grant. I only applied to six schools though and a couple haven't given out invites yet, but honestly I think it's not that we are not qualified, it's just that our research interests may not fit as well as we think it does with the faculty. Plus with the amount of people applying this year it's definitely just harder overall and I'm sure there's tons of people they would have loved to give interviews to but decided not to for whatever reason. I also know that some schools on apps will ask where else you're applying, so they may use that as a deduction of whether or not to give you an interview. They may assume that you belong at one of the other schools you listed or may think it's a better spot for you. Don't feel bad about yourself. You are qualified. And there is no shame in trying again next cycle. I know a few people who are now in PhD programs who applied multiple times. I also plan to try again next cycle if I do not get in anywhere. By the way, not every school is getting 900 applications. I'm not sure where you applied to, but I spoke with an admissions counselor at one of my prospective programs and he said they have about 150 or so applications. So it's totally possible your odds are a bit better for the programs you chose and you might not even know it.

Thanks all, I was mostly wondering to make sure there isn't some kind of secret problem with the faculty or the school itself! I saw one very disgruntled post from 2018 claiming the faculty was unprofessional for keeping them waiting, but I was unsure if that was just a person who was upset over being rejected.

Is there a reason that it seems that barely anyone is mentioning having applied to Fairleigh Dickinson University / FDU? Almost every other school on my list I've seen multiple others apply to but for FDU I haven't really seen anything at all on this forum about it. Is there something I don't know about why people choose not to apply there for Clinical PhD?

Very true, I'm on the east coast and strictly applying to northeast schools / am basing my information off of northeast clinical programs.

I was suggested that women should be wearing a blazer and men should be wearing a button down shirt with a tie, and possibly a jacket as well. Some schools may not be as strict with this, but I was told by someone who is about to conduct interviews for students applying to the PhD program at their school that this is how they would want interviewees to dress. I am a little surprised at the above commenter who said in their interviews people were wearing hoodies, as according to the person I have spoken to that would automatically make the applicant look bad, but again, different schools, different faculty, different expectations. I would be much more afraid to underdress than to overdress... definitely better to go full business professional than possibly being too casual.

I actually recently had a conversation about this with my advisor. She let me know that unfortunately, with how interview days are run, it is unlikely that they will set up a whole new one just for you. However, you should decide to accept the interview offer based on which school you would be more likely to attend if accepted. It would still be worth to reach out to the other school just to see if there is a possibility that they have an alternate interview day, but from what I've been told I would not count on that being an option.

I have not heard anything about invitations but did receive an email with a qualtrics form sometime a couple weeks ago asking me more details about research interests.

Thanks for the response! I was considering emailing them tomorrow, but I suppose I will just wait it out. It is the first school on my list that has begun to send things out, but it also happens to be my top choice. I hope for luck for the both of us!

Is it possible that John Jay is still sending out invites during the rest of the week? I did not get an invitation, however I also did not receive any sort of rejection. When I log in to the application portal there is no indication of rejection nor an interview offer, either. Also nothing in my spam folder but coincidentally someone from John Jay checked out my linkedin profile today.

I saw that people were rejected / received interviews from John Jay today but I also applied and did not receive either email? Did anyone else experience this?