PsychCrab

Hi everyone, Now that I've convinced myself that my forties is not too old to finally pursue a clinical psychology Ph.D., I'm ready to research programs to hopefully winnow down to a handful that could be right for me. What are the best resources? I'm considering buying a subscription to the APA's Psychology Graduate School Online Search Tool and am curious what other resources might be out there. I'm less interested in rankings than I am in the balance of research / clinical, faculty, and philosophy. Also, I'm looking for resources that cover programs outside the U.S. Wanted to get an overview before I spend any money on one resource! Thanks in advance.

What's the best way to reach out to grad students? Granted the past year hasn't been normal times, but I reached out to grad students via email at a program near me, and only one replied and then flaked on our Zoom meeting. I was thinking of taking to the various Psych hashtags on Twitter and asking students to DM me if they didn't feel comfortable posting on a public forum. I'm not sure *I'm* comfortable announcing my intent to pursue a Ph.D. for all to see. Would this site be good for reaching out to current grad students in programs I'm curious about? (I just started using the site.)

I just joined this site, found your post, and felt so relieved and glad to be here. Count me as another 40-something (44) hoping to re-enter grad school to become a clinical psychologist. I could have written so much of what you said, about knowing you want to focus more on clinical work but wanting to gain research experience, not wanting to pursue an MSW because it's psychology that is your passion but appreciating the social justice aspect of MSW training, being afraid of being "too old." I'm not as far along in my search as you are and I'm not sure of the best sources to look for programs. I want excellent clinical training as well as training in research. I want to be fully funded because I NEED to be in order to swing a doctorate financially. I want a program that doesn't treat psychology as a branch of medicine. And most of all, I want to be in a program that's supportive, inclusive, with mentors who genuinely enjoy nurturing graduate students and feel a sense of responsibility in seeing them succeed. As far as I know, there's no guide that relays subjective information like this. Anyway, I'm so glad to know I'm not alone and crazy in considering that I could return to grad school for a Ph.D. in my forties! For several years I'd told myself that ship had sailed, but maybe due to the pandemic, I started to see my possibilities a little differently. Good luck and maybe we can find ways on here to support each other in our journeys.