Fall 2019 Psychology PhD Applicants!

[vallaboop]

I'm still feeling the pain of rejection of this years application cycle but I will be reapplying for Fall 2019. I'm graduating next month with my MS in clinical psych with a 4.0 (unless I have an epic stumble in the next few weeks). I'm a full time research assistant for a prestigious institution since 2015 for psychiatry, we focus on psychosocial rehabilitation, smoking cessation, and clinical trials for cannabis use disorder for people with serious mental illness. As of right now I have one publication and two poster presentations. I just submitted a manuscript and I am working on another paper and an abstract for a conference. 

My interest is in behavioral neuroscience but I am worried that my lack of hard science background was a detriment this time around. I majored in psychology and in neuroscience in undergrad and I took pre-med courses. However, my grades are all over the place. I would get B's and A's in hard science classes but then not did well in easier classes. This was mostly due to personal issues. My GRE scores are also abysmal. My boss and coworkers keep telling me to take a prep course and retake them. I know that I should but I just don't know if I can afford it.

This past cycle I applied to 13 schools and only had one interview. This time around I will probably stay around the same number but I honestly have no idea where to apply. I want to reapply to some of the same schools but I don't know if that's a bad idea or not. Thoughts?

Good luck everyone! I can also help answer questions since this isn't my first rodeo.   

[brainlass]

1 hour ago, cindyboop said:

I'm still feeling the pain of rejection of this years application cycle but I will be reapplying for Fall 2019. I'm graduating next month with my MS in clinical psych with a 4.0 (unless I have an epic stumble in the next few weeks). I'm a full time research assistant for a prestigious institution since 2015 for psychiatry, we focus on psychosocial rehabilitation, smoking cessation, and clinical trials for cannabis use disorder for people with serious mental illness. As of right now I have one publication and two poster presentations. I just submitted a manuscript and I am working on another paper and an abstract for a conference. 

My interest is in behavioral neuroscience but I am worried that my lack of hard science background was a detriment this time around. I majored in psychology and in neuroscience in undergrad and I took pre-med courses. However, my grades are all over the place. I would get B's and A's in hard science classes but then not did well in easier classes. This was mostly due to personal issues. My GRE scores are also abysmal. My boss and coworkers keep telling me to take a prep course and retake them. I know that I should but I just don't know if I can afford it.

This past cycle I applied to 13 schools and only had one interview. This time around I will probably stay around the same number but I honestly have no idea where to apply. I want to reapply to some of the same schools but I don't know if that's a bad idea or not. Thoughts?

Good luck everyone! I can also help answer questions since this isn't my first rodeo.   

If your GRE scores are really "abysmal," you should definitely retake them before trying again. I think it's quite likely that the reason you had such difficulty getting interviews was that you fell below cutoff points for the schools where you applied. If your GRE scores were below a certain threshold, they may have immediately scrapped your application without reading about your other excellent credentials. Prep courses are probably very expensive, but you can do a lot if you dedicate yourself to practicing on your own before retaking the GRE. You could also look into hiring a private tutor on a session-by-session basis (more tailored to your needs and don't have to commit to the cost of a full course).

Edited April 16, 2018 by brainlass

[kierkegoth]

4 hours ago, cindyboop said:

I'm still feeling the pain of rejection of this years application cycle but I will be reapplying for Fall 2019. I'm graduating next month with my MS in clinical psych with a 4.0 (unless I have an epic stumble in the next few weeks). I'm a full time research assistant for a prestigious institution since 2015 for psychiatry, we focus on psychosocial rehabilitation, smoking cessation, and clinical trials for cannabis use disorder for people with serious mental illness. As of right now I have one publication and two poster presentations. I just submitted a manuscript and I am working on another paper and an abstract for a conference. 

3

When I asked my rejected schools for more information regarding their decision, the crucial details were always my lack of citations and presentations. I've read here previously that the people who select cohorts try to create diversity, so there are spots for people with masters and bachelors etc. It sounds like you are a very strong candidate on all fronts, even for the master degree holder spots, and I would bet the GRE is your only problem! Buy the 1lb gre prep book and squeeze some money for MAGOOSH if you can! I last minute decided to apply for 3 schools 1 month before the deadline, rushed to get all my LOR, my SOP, and finish magoosh in three weeks. I ended up getting a 158v 155q, which was at least at the cutoff. I am pretty good at tests, but magoosh is VERY GOOD at explaining cognitive and logical shortcuts on quant and verbal.

 

On 4/13/2018 at 3:31 PM, kalman_gain said:

definitely applying to: USCD, BU, NYU, Princeton, Brown, UC Berkeley

maybe applying to: U of Wisconsin, Harvard, MIT

As for what information I may provide to programs so that they hopefully deem me worthy(of at least an interview?); 2 years undergraduate research, 3 years post-grad at a university. My technical skills are the bomb, I think, but how would they know that? They wont. *cries*. 3.6 GPA, GRE: 170Q, 164V, and a 5 on the writing score. 1 second author publication (but not at all in a high impact journal), 2 second author publications currently in review at much better journals. 2 poster presentations at conferences. 

6

UCSD is my Alma Mater! I worked in two labs there and am hoping to intern this summer at another if I stumble up my 2nd interview at a traumatic brain injury lab off campus! It's a great school and if you want any information regarding anyone's lab, just reach out. I was close with a few professors, but have the first-hand experience with most of the cognitive science and psychology department members. I will probably be applying to there as well. I was curious about your post-grad position. Were you a volunteer or a paid research associate? I've been looking for three months, and have only found 1 lab opening that was quickly taken by in-house hiring of an intern over myself, and now I'm hoping that I stand a chance at this super competitive position with TBI. Also, I would definitely throw your accomplishments and skills in your SOP!

Edited April 16, 2018 by kierkegoth

[vallaboop]

4 hours ago, brainlass said:

If your GRE scores are really "abysmal," you should definitely retake them before trying again. I think it's quite likely that the reason you had such difficulty getting interviews was that you fell below cutoff points for the schools where you applied. If your GRE scores were below a certain threshold, they may have immediately scrapped your application without reading about your other excellent credentials. Prep courses are probably very expensive, but you can do a lot if you dedicate yourself to practicing on your own before retaking the GRE. You could also look into hiring a private tutor on a session-by-session basis (more tailored to your needs and don't have to commit to the cost of a full course).

Thanks! That's what coworkers keep saying and I know it's the right thing to do. It's just hard to get motivated to go through the whole process again but I know it's an investment in my future and I need to just suck it up and do it.

[vallaboop]

45 minutes ago, kierkegoth said:

When I asked my rejected schools for more information regarding their decision, the crucial details were always my lack of citations and presentations. I've read here previously that the people who select cohorts try to create diversity, so there are spots for people with masters and bachelors etc. It sounds like you are a very strong candidate on all fronts, even for the master degree holder spots, and I would bet the GRE is your only problem! Buy the 1lb gre prep book and squeeze some money for MAGOOSH if you can! I last minute decided to apply for 3 schools 1 month before the deadline, rushed to get all my LOR, my SOP, and finish magoosh in three weeks. I ended up getting a 158v 155q, which was at least at the cutoff. I am pretty good at tests, but magoosh is VERY GOOD at explaining cognitive and logical shortcuts on quant and verbal.

 

UCSD is my Alma Mater! I worked in two labs there and am hoping to intern this summer at another if I stumble up my 2nd interview at a traumatic brain injury lab off campus! It's a great school and if you want any information regarding anyone's lab, just reach out. I was close with a few professors, but have the first-hand experience with most of the cognitive science and psychology department members. I will probably be applying to there as well. I was curious about your post-grad position. Were you a volunteer or a paid research associate? I've been looking for three months, and have only found 1 lab opening that was quickly taken by in-house hiring of an intern over myself, and now I'm hoping that I stand a chance at this super competitive position with TBI. Also, I would definitely throw your accomplishments and skills in your SOP!

I tired Magoosh and I really liked it but I wasn't super motivated, I only studied once a week during the summer.  I do have the 1 lb GRE prep book though and I  barely used it. I need to just sit down and really focus. I am thinking about the Kaplan online prep course but it's so expensive...

[Jung&Psyched]

9 hours ago, cindyboop said:

I'm still feeling the pain of rejection of this years application cycle but I will be reapplying for Fall 2019. I'm graduating next month with my MS in clinical psych with a 4.0 (unless I have an epic stumble in the next few weeks). I'm a full time research assistant for a prestigious institution since 2015 for psychiatry, we focus on psychosocial rehabilitation, smoking cessation, and clinical trials for cannabis use disorder for people with serious mental illness. As of right now I have one publication and two poster presentations. I just submitted a manuscript and I am working on another paper and an abstract for a conference. 

My interest is in behavioral neuroscience but I am worried that my lack of hard science background was a detriment this time around. I majored in psychology and in neuroscience in undergrad and I took pre-med courses. However, my grades are all over the place. I would get B's and A's in hard science classes but then not did well in easier classes. This was mostly due to personal issues. My GRE scores are also abysmal. My boss and coworkers keep telling me to take a prep course and retake them. I know that I should but I just don't know if I can afford it.

This past cycle I applied to 13 schools and only had one interview. This time around I will probably stay around the same number but I honestly have no idea where to apply. I want to reapply to some of the same schools but I don't know if that's a bad idea or not. Thoughts?

Good luck everyone! I can also help answer questions since this isn't my first rodeo.   

I've heard great things about Magoosh and am planning to buy it in the next couple of weeks. They supposedly guarantee a five point improvement or your money back (I'm really hoping all five of those points end up on my quantitative score haha). There is also a GRE prep online course offered through ed2go, I haven't heard anything about it, but its only $109 so I'm going to give it a try ! I looked at the Kaplan courses but just couldn't justify the cost....

[kalman_gain]

6 hours ago, kierkegoth said:

UCSD is my Alma Mater! I worked in two labs there and am hoping to intern this summer at another if I stumble up my 2nd interview at a traumatic brain injury lab off campus! It's a great school and if you want any information regarding anyone's lab, just reach out. I was close with a few professors, but have the first-hand experience with most of the cognitive science and psychology department members. I will probably be applying to there as well. I was curious about your post-grad position. Were you a volunteer or a paid research associate? I've been looking for three months, and have only found 1 lab opening that was quickly taken by in-house hiring of an intern over myself, and now I'm hoping that I stand a chance at this super competitive position with TBI. Also, I would definitely throw your accomplishments and skills in your SOP!

Aha, what an embarrassing typo on my end considering it's your Alma Mater, *UCSD. I'm primarily interested in working with two people there though they are unfortunately in different departments...which is a bit of a head scratch. One is in the psychology department while the other is in the cognitive science department. Thanks a ton for the offer!

To answer your question, my post-grad position is paid. I've actually been in two labs over these 3 years(concurrently), I'm happy to answer general questions about post-grad research / pre-gradschool research. You should definitely keep searching! There are definitely more places.

[topsailpsych]

I'm officially joining this bandwagon.  I received my final rejection this morning, so I'll be trying to figure out what I can do over the next year to improve my application and where I might want to apply.  I imagine I'll take the GRE and the Psych Subject tests again.  I also need to find a new research team to work with.  I started working with a brand new research team last fall and we have been in the early stages of some interesting research, but the PI just announced that she's leaving and moving overseas.  Since we're no where near ready to publish anything we've been working on, I'm a little worried that time has been a waste.  Where have y'all found research opportunities?

[vallaboop]

On 4/16/2018 at 6:30 PM, liznlex said:

I've heard great things about Magoosh and am planning to buy it in the next couple of weeks. They supposedly guarantee a five point improvement or your money back (I'm really hoping all five of those points end up on my quantitative score haha). There is also a GRE prep online course offered through ed2go, I haven't heard anything about it, but its only $109 so I'm going to give it a try ! I looked at the Kaplan courses but just couldn't justify the cost....

Yeah, I know I'm on the line with Kaplan. I applied for the payment assistance and got approved for 60% off the course but it's still like $500. I don't know. I wish Magoosh was more interactive though. 

[vallaboop]

23 hours ago, topsailpsych said:

I'm officially joining this bandwagon.  I received my final rejection this morning, so I'll be trying to figure out what I can do over the next year to improve my application and where I might want to apply.  I imagine I'll take the GRE and the Psych Subject tests again.  I also need to find a new research team to work with.  I started working with a brand new research team last fall and we have been in the early stages of some interesting research, but the PI just announced that she's leaving and moving overseas.  Since we're no where near ready to publish anything we've been working on, I'm a little worried that time has been a waste.  Where have y'all found research opportunities?

I wouldn't say that your time was wasted at all! Even if you don't get publications out of this position you still have the experience, which is great! I've had luck finding research positions through indeed.com in the past. Good luck!

[PNIplz]

1 hour ago, cindyboop said:

Yeah, I know I'm on the line with Kaplan. I applied for the payment assistance and got approved for 60% off the course but it's still like $500. I don't know. I wish Magoosh was more interactive though. 

I used Magoosh and I actually found it incredibly interactive. Whenever I had to message them they replied within 24 hours addressing my concerns and more. Plus all 1000+ of they practice questions had video explanations and references to where the information was taught in their video libraries. It raised my score 12 points when I took it Fall 2016

[ChiNative]

It's exciting to read about everyone else's search!

Programs of Interest: PhD Community Psych/Developmental Psych/Social Work/Human Development/Social-Urban Policy (A little broad - my interests center on the impacts of housing instability and community violence on adolescent development)

Schools I'm Applying to: UChicago (Social Work & Hum Dev); Loyola (Dev Psych); Northwestern (Hum Dev/Social Policy); UIC (Urban Planning/Policy & Comm Psych); DePaul (Comm Psych)

Not considering schools outside of Chicago which is limiting but I wouldn't be happy moving. If you know of other programs I might have overlooked please let me know!

Worried About: Funding - I like the programs at UIC and DePaul, but they offer minimal funding and I refuse to take out loans. GRE Quant Score - studying pretty hard, but I'm really abysmal at mathematical reasoning. Undergrad in unrelated Soc Sci discipline from a school better known for STEM and architecture. 

Not Worried About:  1 year research experience as an internal evaluator for a major OST provider and 1.5 years as a research assistant at a UChicago affiliated policy research center. One in press book chapter, two low-scoring journal pubs, one in prep journal pub, lots of reports for lots of different funders mostly in my areas of interest, lots of invited presentations. Lots of undergrad awards. 3.75 gpa. Great letters of rec.

[Jung&Psyched]

Just thought I would share !

 

Yesterday, while continuing the search of programs to apply to (ah, the things we do in our spare time), I stumbled across a new program at UHCL.  It is a psyd and requires that you already have a masters to apply. They are not yet accredited (I think this will be their third year), but are offering $17,000 per year in assistantships. Just thought it might be a good option for anyone willing to take the risk of an unaccredited program, its rare to find that kind of funding for psyd! 

[Clinapp2017]

7 hours ago, liznlex said:

Just thought I would share !

 

Yesterday, while continuing the search of programs to apply to (ah, the things we do in our spare time), I stumbled across a new program at UHCL.  It is a psyd and requires that you already have a masters to apply. They are not yet accredited (I think this will be their third year), but are offering $17,000 per year in assistantships. Just thought it might be a good option for anyone willing to take the risk of an unaccredited program, its rare to find that kind of funding for psyd! 

Attending an unaccredited program will create lots of nightmares down the line if your goal is to practice (e.g., severe barriers to licensure and internship). I would seriously advise against this. 

[dancedementia]

On 3/28/2018 at 12:19 PM, rosesandrecords said:

As you can see, I'm aiming to attend school in the South.  I currently live near Boston and I'm sick of the weather!  I'd love to return home to Texas, but I don't think I can afford to make my applications THAT narrow...

Looking forward to navigating this application season with y'all!

This is hilarious - I'm currently living in Texas (my home state) but desperately want to get back to Boston (where I did my undergrad). We should just switch ?

[dancedementia]

On 4/3/2018 at 12:29 PM, Jayne said:

I'm about to enter Yeshiva's PhD program and I do ED research! I applied to

Reach schools -

Temple, Drexel, Stony Brook, University of South Florida, Rutgers (PsyD)

Reasonable schools to get in to - 

Fairleigh Dickinson, Yeshiva, Long Island University (Brooklyn), CUNY, La Salle (PsyD), Chestnut Hill (PsyD), Pace (PsyD)

I got waitlisted at FDU, La Salle, and Chestnut Hill and accepted at Pace and Yeshiva. All are good programs to look into if you're interested in working with eating disorders!

Also as far as experience goes you sound pretty competitive. I applied right out of undergrad with 2 years of research experience and some good clinical volunteer and internship experience and didn't get in. Now I have a masters in general psych from a research focused program with 2 poster presentations, 5 doctoral level courses with an A or A- grade, 2 years in a graduate research lab, and 2 more years of clinical experience and I got into 2 programs and interviewed at 5. 

Thanks for sharing this! It definitely gives me hope (and also confirms my interests in ED research). I also really appreciate you breaking down your research/match schools as it gives me some sense of where to target my apps. Who is your prof/POI at Yeshiva?

37 minutes ago, Clinapp2017 said:

Attending an unaccredited program will create lots of nightmares down the line if your goal is to practice (e.g., severe barriers to licensure and internship). I would seriously advise against this. 

I wouldn't paint it so black and white. UHCL has good reputation in the area (and many of the other programs - MFT, etc.) are accredited. They will be applying for APA probably this or next year, and I expect that by the time a student is up for internship match, the program will probably be accredited. I was considering the UHCL program for a while before I decided I really didn't want to stay in Texas. KCUMB is another unaccredited program that seems like it will pass accreditation fairly easily, and I'm considering it as one of my safeties.

@liznlex: if you're okay with taking a chance on programs in the initial stages of accreditation, here's a list: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/programs/initial-accred.aspx

Edited April 22, 2018 by dancedementia

[Jung&Psyched]

23 minutes ago, dancedementia said:

Thanks for sharing this! It definitely gives me hope (and also confirms my interests in ED research). I also really appreciate you breaking down your research/match schools as it gives me some sense of where to target my apps. Who is your prof/POI at Yeshiva?

I wouldn't paint it so black and white. UHCL has good reputation in the area (and many of the other programs - MFT, etc.) are accredited. They will be applying for APA probably this or next year, and I expect that by the time a student is up for internship match, the program will probably be accredited. I was considering the UHCL program for a while before I decided I really didn't want to stay in Texas. KCUMB is another unaccredited program that seems like it will pass accreditation fairly easily, and I'm considering it as one of my safeties.

@liznlex: if you're okay with taking a chance on programs in the initial stages of accreditation, here's a list: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/programs/initial-accred.aspx

I have been curious about it @dancedementia! It wouldn't be a first choice, but hearing all these rejections makes me nervous !  I may consider something non-accredited as a back up to my back up haha. However, I have seen on some forums that most people don't recommend it as @Clinapp2017 mentioned above. I feel like the programs that have made it to the "accredited on contingency" point by the APA would be at least a little safer, but most are psyds with a price tag that makes me sweat ! 

[dancedementia]

9 minutes ago, liznlex said:

I feel like the programs that have made it to the "accredited on contingency" point by the APA would be at least a little safer, but most are psyds with a price tag that makes me sweat ! 

APA has a time limit as to when they can apply, which is why UHCL and KCUMB (among others) haven't gotten accredited yet. They need (I think) 3 years of student data in order to put forth the proposal. So the fact that they are unaccredited doesn't necessarily mean they're shit programs, it just means they haven't been open long enough. I know UHCL in particular has very strong ties with agencies and extern/practica placements in the area, and the school in general is fairly good. When you hear folks say not to go unaccredited, it is because of the difficulty you will have 1) getting internship placement in your 5th year, and 2) getting licensed in some states. Assuming your school gets to the application and/or contingency phase before your 5th year, you should be fine. I definitely get the concern, but I would be much more willing to attend an unaccredited program like UHCL vs. something sketchy like Cal Southern (which purposefully refuses to apply for APA accreditation... probably because they know they wouldn't get it =P)

Edited April 22, 2018 by dancedementia

[HeyHye]

Hello fellow applicants! 

As of today, I receive 5/5 rejections?. I'm bummed and would like any suggestions to improve my chance of acceptance for Fall 2019. 

I graduated last May with a degree in neuroscience with a 3.2 GPA. I did 2 independent researches during my undergrad since 2015 at drug addiction research lab, focusing on virtual conditioned place preference using monetary reinforcer. After graduation, I became a full time research assistant at the same lab, continuing the virtual CPP research as well as clinical researches on methamphetamine and alcohol. I have 4 poster presentations and 3 papers are currently being prepared for publication. (unsure if they will be published by December) 

I received 155 verbal, 152 quant, and 3.5 writing. I had a panic attack in the middle of writing section and was not able to finish it. I will be retaking in August.

I am interested in clinical drug research and will be applying to:

UCLA, CU Boulder, Iowa, Washington State, IUPUI, Michigan, and UIC

I emailed professor who gave me LOR for last cycle to ask for another one, but hasn't received any replies 

 

 

[rosesandrecords]

On 4/22/2018 at 5:39 PM, dancedementia said:

This is hilarious - I'm currently living in Texas (my home state) but desperately want to get back to Boston (where I did my undergrad). We should just switch ?

That is too funny!  I really like Boston, but I CANNOT deal with the winters.  Hopefully we both get what we want this application season!

[psyapplicant]

I'm an international applicant preparing for the second year applying. I have a licensure degree/professional title in Psychology (in my country, we study for 5 years as full-time students. There are no minors and majors. When we graduate, we can apply for licensure) and I'll get an M.S. degree in Social, Work, and Organizational Psychology in February/2019.

• Undergraduate GPA = 3.17, Graduate GPA = 4.0 
• GRE Scores: 
  • 1st time: 157 Verbal, 151 Quant, 4.5 Writing
  • 2nd time: 163 Verbal, 155 Quant, 4.0 Writing [I'll retake it and work on improving my quant scores]
• 6 years of clinical experience as a licensed psychologist in my country (private practice)
• 1,5 years of research experience working in a lab at my university + 6 months during undergraduate school (back in 2010)
• 1 year as T.A. in a training program in the U.S., 6 months T.A. here in my university,  language teacher since 2006
• No publications [I plan to submit one or two manuscripts by August this year. I don't think they'll be published by December though]
• No presentations at conferences [I had my abstract accepted at three international conferences last year, but couldn't find any funding. I'm going to Canada in July for a poster presentation.]
• I've never attended a well-known scientific conference as a delegate either [Not sure if it's worth spending my own resources on that. There's no funding from my university.]
• Strong recommendation letters (one from my Master's advisor in my country, one from the coordinator of a certificate program that I attended in my country, and one from a professor that I assisted in a training program in the U.S.).

I applied to six programs:

• Fordham University - Clinical Psychology Ph.D. - rejected without an interview
• NYU Steinhardt - Counseling Psychology Ph.D. - rejected without an interview
• Columbia, Teachers College - Counseling Psychology Ph.D. - rejected without an interview
• George Washington University - Clinical Psychology Ph.D. - rejected without an interview
• St. John's University - Clinical Psychology Ph.D. - interviewed and waitlisted, but never made it off the waitlist
• New School for Social Research - General Psychology M.A. - accepted, but without advanced standing and I wasn't happy with the scholarship offered, declined the offer 

I know that I shouldn't have focused on the East Coast only, but that's where most of my research match is. I also have some restrictions because my husband will be going with me and we need to find a city with job opportunities in his area as well.

• Fall/2019 - I intend to apply to some universities in Canada (McGill, Concordia, and UBC).
• I'd like to apply to Fordham and NYU again but I don't know if that's a wise decision, since they already rejected me once. Advice on that would be appreciated.
• Also, I'm not sure if I should wait until Fall/2020 instead (so I can have more publications and my M.S. degree completed). 
• Do you guys know of any fully-funded programs with strong research in Intercultural/Cross-Cultural Psychology?

Thank you!

[vallaboop]

On 4/23/2018 at 3:52 PM, HeyHye said:

Hello fellow applicants! 

As of today, I receive 5/5 rejections?. I'm bummed and would like any suggestions to improve my chance of acceptance for Fall 2019. 

I graduated last May with a degree in neuroscience with a 3.2 GPA. I did 2 independent researches during my undergrad since 2015 at drug addiction research lab, focusing on virtual conditioned place preference using monetary reinforcer. After graduation, I became a full time research assistant at the same lab, continuing the virtual CPP research as well as clinical researches on methamphetamine and alcohol. I have 4 poster presentations and 3 papers are currently being prepared for publication. (unsure if they will be published by December) 

I received 155 verbal, 152 quant, and 3.5 writing. I had a panic attack in the middle of writing section and was not able to finish it. I will be retaking in August.

I am interested in clinical drug research and will be applying to:

UCLA, CU Boulder, Iowa, Washington State, IUPUI, Michigan, and UIC

I emailed professor who gave me LOR for last cycle to ask for another one, but hasn't received any replies 

 

 

Besides your GRE scores I am not sure how you can improve unless you decide to do a masters first. I would also think about applying to more schools, that has been the advice I keep getting over and over 

[SendMeAnEmailPlz]

Sorry to hear you didn't have any luck this cycle. I have similar stats to you and will be applying for the 2nd time next fall as well. Did you get any feedback from programs about your application?

Also, how did you like St. John's? I've had them high on my list but the funding might not be enough for me.

I tend to think based on your research interest, you should be able to find at least a loose research match at most programs. You may find the most luck at counseling programs over clinical programs, as historically they emphasize multiculturalism slightly more. Also you're more likely to get significant transfer credit at a counseling program than a clinical program.

 

 

[psyapplicant]

3 hours ago, Jung Boy said:

Sorry to hear you didn't have any luck this cycle. I have similar stats to you and will be applying for the 2nd time next fall as well. Did you get any feedback from programs about your application?

Also, how did you like St. John's? I've had them high on my list but the funding might not be enough for me.

I tend to think based on your research interest, you should be able to find at least a loose research match at most programs. You may find the most luck at counseling programs over clinical programs, as historically they emphasize multiculturalism slightly more. Also you're more likely to get significant transfer credit at a counseling program than a clinical program.

 

 

I haven't asked for feedback. Not sure if I should or not since I wasn't even invited for interviews at most schools.

I was happy with what I learned about St. John's program. I decided to not apply again because of the funding.

Thank you for the suggestion about counseling programs. It's the second time I hear this and I'll definitely keep it in mind!

 

[PsyDuck90]

Asking for feedback is a pretty standard part of the process. Because of the competitive nature of the process, plenty of good candidates don't even get interviews, and programs and faculty are usually pretty willing to give you honest feedback about where you can improve your application from next time. Remember, they usually have about 200 applicants vying for 5 spots, with only about 15 or so being offered an interview. 

Just send a polite email to either the director or your POI (if you were in contact with them) asking how you can improve your application for next round. One professor I spoke with after not getting an invite told me that they encourage people to try again and can even waive the application fee for the next time.