clinical_sike

I would just consider what happened to all of the Argosy University campus's. Here is an article on it: https://www.nationalregister.org/eo-desk-mar-2019/ I don't think that poster was trying to come off as rude, but just wants you to know and understand the risks. It can affect your ability to get hired in certain settings, especially if you don't get matched at an accredited internship (many for-profit programs do not have good relationships with accredited internship sites and often do not get priority-- this can affect a person's career). You can also look up the clinical/counseling psychology internship crisis to understand why it is so important to match with a reputable internship site. I think this is ultimately your own decision. You should attend whichever school you feel is right for you.

I would say something along the lines of, "Dear Dr. XXX, I hope this email finds you well and that you are enjoying your week. Thank you very much for our conversation this past November-- I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the program and our intersecting research interests. The reason that I am reaching out is to hopefully set up another time to talk and discuss the possibility of working together. I want to once more emphasize my strong interest in your work and the [clinical/counseling] [Ph.D./M.A.] program at [university of XX]. . . . . [personalize as needed] Sincerely, EyelandPychePhD"

All the advice I have read about the PhD admissions process says that applying to 10+ programs is advisable, but applying to around 14 programs is recommended. This is because of the extremely competitive nature of fully funded PhD programs. It is 100% unfair, however, fee waivers exist for those without the means to pay application fees (although I would argue that they are confusing to procure). Because acceptance rates are 10% and below, it makes sense why this would be recommended to us, because it increases chances of admission. I would say this was even more important this year with 2-3x the applicants. But even applying to 10 schools may not work because acceptance rates are increasingly being met at between 1-5%. That is between a 1-5 in 100 shot of getting accepted, so applying to a bunch of schools is very reasonable in my mind. Even if you apply to 100 schools at a 1% acceptance rate, you still have a ~36% chance of getting rejected to every single school. You also have a ~63% chance of getting accepted to at least one. But who's gonna apply to 100 damn schools? Thats why you have to know these chances and really boost your CV to match with specific programs. I saved up for a long time because I did research on this and thought of it as a small investment in my future that will have a big payoff later on. I would definitely not recommend applying to under 5 programs and banking on getting in. Especially if it meant putting your life on hold in hopes of having a small, small shot at acceptance. It is so risky. But ultimately, this whole process discriminates against people of color and those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

This, this, this, and this. When I began my search of graduate programs, I thought my 4.0 GPA and year's worth of research experience at a small liberal arts college made me a very competitive applicant, in addition to my diverse background. Contrary to what I thought I knew, I am not a competitive applicant, lol. I would say I am a mediocre applicant. Please do your research before spending the time/money/energy on clinical PhD applications. This person is so right-- if your main goal is to do clinical work and you do not like to do research, there are so many other options (e.g., clinical social work, professional counseling)! Many Ph.D. programs are so research-oriented that they advise those who wish to become clinicians not to apply to their program. There are so many other paths to become a clinician!

Although I have only received one interview to a fully funded PhD program thus far, I am feeling so hopeful today! I just received an interview for a promising research assistantship in my area of interest. I am so happy and excited! Thank you to everyone who provided advice related to backup plans. I believe that my plan will be to do research for another year before reapplying for my second cycle. I now realize that I definitely need more than 1.5 years of research experience to apply for doctoral programs. I am making peace with the fact that this year might not be my year. However, I am so proud of everyone who is in the midst of their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th application cycles who are finally receiving the interviews that they deserve. You guys inspire me.

I highly recommend getting the book “The Insiders Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology.” They have a whole section of the book dedicated to specialty areas, where they list all the schools with faculty doing that sort of research. For instance, if I looked up “addiction” in the index, it would show schools that are known for addiction research! You can get it cheap from Amazon or EBay!

Hey! Here is what I did. I made sure to say that my primary interest laid in research unless the program was equal emphasis or near equal emphasis (I found this information in “Insider’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical Psychology”, which ranked schools on a scale of 1-7 where 1 = practice oriented, 4 = equal emphasis, and 7 = research oriented). Then at the very end of my statement, I said that, ultimately, my goal is to unite research with teaching and part-time clinical practice. However, if the program was closer to practice-oriented or equal emphasis, I didn’t feel such a need to overstate my interest in research.

Once again, thank you. It was encouraging to read this. I wish you the best of luck.

Just chiming in to let everyone know that I was not using caps to yell at anyone. Even if, yes, I was frustrated, I meant to use caps to make the post visible. And thank you for calling out the ableism in the persons response to me. As someone with a learning disability, I was not thrilled to see that response. I tried to be helpful and include the link to the forum, but apparently it doesn't matter because the person refuses to stop after repeated requests from users. Thank you for the support, and best of luck to you in the application process!

You are welcome! Lol.

Hey-- I accidentally downvoted, lol! I am so sorry. I realized after I had woken up from a nap that the forum was still open. It was not at all on purpose! I believe I meant to upvote it. I agree that it is a good addition!

There are really great sample questions in the book “Insiders Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology”, and there are also some great articles on the internet with questions you may receive and questions to ask. Here is one: https://sites.education.uky.edu/motivation/files/2013/09/prinstein-how-to-interview-for-grad-school.pdf

I agree. I consider myself a competitive applicant, however, I was set up to fail the GRE. I struggled with addiction in high school, which meant that I also struggled with my education during these years. Basically, I did not fully comprehend the core information presented on the GRE since it is primarily based on high school math and [kind of] english. I was psychologically unwell/not present during the time that these lessons are taught. I do not believe GRE is an adequate predictor of intelligence or success in graduate school, considering how well I have succeeded in undergraduate studies.

I guess I kind of do (compared to the extremely qualified applicants on the forum). My GPA on the transcript of my first academic institution was 2.62, primarily because I was struggling with addiction and poor mental health. I stayed at this institution for one year, then I got and stayed sober and went back to school at another university (small/not well known liberal arts college) for the final 3 years. During the final 3 years of college, I maintained a 4.0 GPA. However, my cumulative GPA has suffered due to my first year, bringing me down to a 3.6. Because of this experience, I was also late to develop research experience. So by the time I graduate, I will have had less than 1.5 years of research experience. I used to think this was a lot of research experience, but I now realize that is not. To my credit, there were minimal psychology faculty conducting research at my institution. I applied to 9 Ph.D. programs and only got an interview at one, which I feel extremely fortunate to have achieved. On another note, I did not submit my GRE scores. I know some schools eliminated it and others made it optional, but I have a feeling that those who submit their GRE scores anyway (aka those who scored in the 70-80+ percentile) might have a huge advantage over those who did not submit at all. Even if the program says that this will not hurt an applicant, it will certainly benefit the ones who submitted scores anyway.

Congrats!!!! May I ask which university? Also, how what do you think made you stand out in your prelim? Any tips? Thanks:)