PsychGirl1

Clinical psych (numbers wise) is more competitive than other areas of Psychology- there are just so many applicants. For example, the school where I'm finishing up my master's gets over 600 clinical psych applicants per year for their PhD program, and the incoming class is about 8-10 per year. As competitive as it is to get an interview, the smallest interview I went to was 4 people for 1 spot- the biggest was probably closer to 8-10 per spot. So even if you get 5 or 6 interviews, you still won't be "guaranteed" to get an offer. With so many competitive applicants, you really have to play more of a numbers game than other areas of Psychology (who have equally competitive applicants, but less applicants overall). You also have to pay careful attention to the balance of each program (clinical vs research) and how they align with your career goals and your PI's interests. I know 7 people who went through the application cycle this year, including me. For all but me, this was their second time applying, and 6 of us had a master's degree for this time around. Most applied to 12-15 schools- one applied to 20. Five of us got at least one offer, two didn't- and I'd say the two that didn't were fairly competitive compared to most applicants (aka not multiple publications each, but a solid number of poster presentations, good master's thesis, good LORs from people respected in the field, decent GRE scores, etc.). I applied to 12 schools. I got interviews at 5 programs, and offers from 2. (I was waitlisted at 2, but after the interviews for those two places it was clear that our research interests/future directions didn't align as closely as expected and I withdrew my app after receiving an offer elsewhere). I think the biggest part is just building in a numbers buffer. You could be the most competitive applicant in the world, but if your research doesn't align perfectly, or the PI is looking to start moving their lab in a different direction, or if the PI decides they want to take their RA/RC or someone they had in undergrad- that application is basically wasted. I got an interview at one of the most competitive programs in the country, and didn't get an interview at a lower tier program. It's difficult to know how things will evolve during the application cycle. And frankly, if you're already doing 10 applications, it's not a huge deal to 12. :-D

If any of you are clinical, I'd suggest closer to 12-15 programs.

Bren 2014: I think it's fairly standard to attach your CV so that they can look at it if they want to, although you also introduce yourself in the email with a bit of info about yourself and your experiences. PsychChick: yes, professors do take in volunteers. However, don't ask unless you're committeed to doing it if they say yes. Also, keep in mind you won't be local to all the professors you'd be interested in applying to work with. Also, length of time- if you start volunteering for them in August and then apply to their lab in November/December, I could see that being a bit of an awkward situation. If you're planning to wait another year or two for applying, then I say go for it.

First, define doubts... nothing resembling a "doubt" should be in the email . Second, I contacted mine in July because that's when I had a lot of free time and was narrowing down my list. However, a few profs didn't know yet whether they would have the funding to take a student. I'd say August/September is a good time. The point of the email is really just to introduce yourself and your interests, attach your CV, and find out if they're taking students next year and think you'll be a good fit for their lab.

I only had one manuscript "in submission" as second author and I got into 2 out of 12 places, and waitlisted at 2 others (which I then withdrew, no idea if I would have gotten in or not). Most people apply to 10-15 Clinical Psych PhD programs. You have 6 months- try to get a poster or two submitted and try to get your name on a manuscript somewhere. Otherwise, as many posters as possible would be good. Part of the reason you have to apply to so many places is because things change at all these programs- maybe they are accepting someone they know (ex. who worked for them as a RC/RA or in undergrad), or maybe they decide not to take students last-minute, maybe their department doesn't have funding to take everyone they want, or maybe the prof wants to take their research in a new direction so they are looking for applicants specifically with xyz background- whatever it is, you need to build some of that buffer into your applications In the meantime, look objectively at your application and make sure your GRE scores and foundational coursework are solid (if not, take a night class or study your ass off and retake the GRE), take the GRE psych and do well, and make sure your research interests/career goals are developed well and you can back it up with past experiences. Also, decide if you want to ask the same people for LORs or if there is some way you can improve them. And have 3-5 people look over your pstatement and give you feedback to improve. Good luck!

Look at the reference list, that should clear it up. I'd assume that it means the references go something like: Author, 1995. Author, 1997. Author, 2004. Unless you mean you are submitting an article for a journal and those are the instructions? I'm confused, more information would be helpful about what you're actually talking about.

Thank you! I didn't do very well on my proposal so I was nervous. But for some reason I was in the zone and rocked it! Feel so much more relaxed now :-) Thanks for all your advice!

Oops, lastly: practice, practice, practice. See if you can get a presentation in your lab meeting, or give it to your friends/people in your cohort. The questions they have, or the suggestions they have (ex. "did you look at this and this?" or "a possible explanation could be x"?) can help guide some last-minute analyses or great points for your limitations/future directions section. It can also help you figure out what you're missing from your appendix, or even the types of questions that people who aren't as familiar with your research area would ask. Also, don't forget the standard questions- "what did you learn", "where would you want to take this study next", etc. :-D

No problem! Also something I learned late: in some departments, it's traditional to bring food/drink for the committee members and audience. I brought some muffins/fruit from the grocery store and bottled water. Some people bring a big thing of hot coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Some departments ask you not to do this, others expect it, others don't care. :-D

Thanks for everyone's help! Passed with very minimal changes. Phew!

I thought about my post a little bit and I think the part where I mention rehearsing your voice being natural seems a little odd, but what I mean is that you should develop a presentation "voice". This is helpful so that when you're nervous, you can kind of go into automatic presentation mode, which really helps to hide your nerves, calm your voice, and slow you down. Hope that clarifies what I meant :-)

Oh also- wear comfortable shoes. My left calf hurts from wearing my fancy shoes and standing for a long period of time- definitely regretting the shoe choice.

Since I just gave mine today, here's some lessons learned: - Be overly prepared. Have backups of notes in case the PP doesn't work correct or if all of technology fails. Borrow the laptop and projector you'll be using, and practice on it. Make sure that you can see your notes as expected (set up presenter view on the laptop). If anyone is Skyping in, set that up on the computer. Think about how you'll set up the room and get it ready. Pack up everything a day or two before, including printing out your thesis. I even brought a second pair of clothes, I have no idea why- that's how paranoid I was. :-D I also brought my analyses, all organized just in case. My appendix had about 30 extra slides in it- just in case. If I did an analysis and didn't include it in my thesis- I stuck it in the appendix. Same with distributions, tables from my thesis (copy and paste- appendix doesn't have to look as nice). This way, if anyone has a question, or asks you anything about your data and you don't remember offhand- there's a slide. It will also look impressive that you have slides for various questions. Get to your thesis an hour early and set everything up, rearrange the room, change the room temperature, get yourself something to drink, use the bathroom, etc. Leave nothing to chance. Also, being OCD-like eases my anxiey- I'd rather be overly prepared than underprepared. - Write out your presentation in sections and time it. For example, 30 seconds for this slide, 2 minutes for this slide, etc. Practice it in chunks, and add in notes and update slides accordingly. You can also set up a timer on presenter view and have little comments in your notes like "5 MINUTES HERE" on separator slides, so you can see where you are timing-wise- too fast or too slow to hit the 40-minute mark. If you practice this enough, though, you will have a sense of where the timer should be at various points. - Bring some hot tea in a mug that isn't easy to spill. The small amount of caffeine will keep you alert, and the hot water will soothe your throat :-). Sip it at separator slides or intermittently. You can even make a joke halfway through that you are losing your voice- they will understand. I drank water, but only after the formal presentation was over- but mine was only about 30-32 minutes. My throat hurts from practicing the talk and then giving the talk, but you'll be running on adrenaline and won't notice/care as much as you think. Spread out practicing if you can, so that your throat is in good condition :-). - One thing I've practiced due to my fast talking is sort of a speaking voice. It rises, and falls, and it's almost like a performance- where I'm reading my notes, thinking ahead, looking at the slide- all the while, my voice is coming out as if I'm genuinely interested in what I'm saying. You can practice this by reading a script of your presentation and making sure your sentences and voice are natural while script reading. This forces me to slow down my pace and sound a lot calmer than I would otherwise. - Anticipate and practice questions/answers out loud to yourself. I did that, and while I didn't get many questions that I expected, it turned the Q&A into the easier part of the defense compared to the 30-some minute presentation. Lastly, try to be natural and make some jokes. It will put you, your committee, and your audience at ease :-D Honestly, after you write your results, write your discussion, write any revisions your advisor recommends, write your presentation slides, and write your presentation notes, you will basically have this presentation down pat :-). Good luck! Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thanks! Still making my slides. Highly unprepared and horrible at oral presentations- so yes, practicing would have been nice :-D. I've been frustrated and overwhelmed by the whole thing for a variety of reasons, some my fault, some not. If I could go back, I'd do things very very differently. But I guess as long as I graduate on time and don't puke on my committee, I'll be able to recover from tomorrow :-)

Ahhh that sounds horrible!!! I will make sure to have copies of everything :-). And yes, I defend tomorrow... still making my PP. Sigh.

Thank you! Very helpful. I've only seen one thesis defense and I did very poorly on my thesis proposal, so I'm hoping to be as prepared as possible. If anyone else has any thoughts, I'd appreciate it! :-D

Hey all! I'm defending my thesis later this week and I was wondering if people had good tips or suggestions- as well as any interesting/hard/good questions their committee asked them :-). Thanks!

meh. i rarely capitalize when typing informally, especially to my friends or a forum like this. what can i say? i just prefer the aesthetics of uncapitalized letters :-). i know many people who do the same, and frankly, you can still understand what i'm typing- it works just fine for the purposes of informal communication. but i would never, ever turn in an assignment typed up improperly. that's the difference.

Good luck everyone! It's a exhausting and emotional process, but it's worth it :-D

Craigslist with very careful screening. Also, some universities have roommate boards or online forums where you can find people in other depts looking for housing. Sorry... best I can do.

Yes, I know how it works. I meant for designing the project, not for the IRB process. From OP: "I have an internship this summer with the education/outreach department of a big physics lab (woohoo!). They give a smalls subsistence allowance, but not enough to actually pay for travel/housing, so I asked my department how I would go about getting summer funding from the University, like students do when they stick around for the summer. (This is a PhD program, but people aren't in research groups, and do all sorts of odd things while taking classes.) The department head helped me out and said that I needed to present the internship as research with me as a "participant observer", which would involve writing down everything I did and observed. It seemed like as stretch to me, but he suggested it, and he knows his business. He said I would just have to fill out an IRB. I had never heard of an IRB, but looked it up and surmised that it was paperwork to ensure I wasn't doing sadistic psychological experiments on people." This was my interpretation: - Student at University A gets an internship this summer with University B doing some sort of education/outreach. - University B pays the student $x, which is not enough for the student to live on. - Student then discusses situation with people at University A and asks how the student can get extra funding. - Professors at University A tell the student to submit an IRB for some sort of observation research to get funding, which the internship is not designed for. - The student now wants to submit an IRB submission to University A about a made-up study observing students at University B, of which, according to the OP and my understanding, University B has no awareness of and is not working with the student to design a project. Again, maybe I misunderstood, but I just reread the OP and I came to the same conclusion.

Things that I do to come up with a proposal: - Find an interesting "fact" within the topic that interests you. - Read about said fact - Focus on what the writers say future research should address, or where gaps in knowledge are, or what is exploratory - Keep reading At some point, you should be able to come up with a few interesting questions and then design a study to answer one of those questions (or at least a piece of it).

Actually, I've done a lot of IRB submissions, but I just don't understand the situation. Are you working with your internship site to do the submission, or your adviser at your unrelated university? It sounds like the latter, but that doesn't make any sense to me.

Thank you!!!! I just hope to get through it with some of my dignity intact, but it's not looking too good ;-). I appreciate all your feedback- I might be asking you some questions about the regression in a few weeks!! Technically I know how to do it, but I've never attempted to do it on my own data, and I'm sure I'll run into a billion issues that you never learn about in class... as always.

(BTW I'm defending in less than 2 weeks and I'm still working on the results section.. if that gives you any indication of how tight my timelines are haha. DYING).