How much research is enough research?!?!

[dancedementia]

Honestly, I think hanging around SDN has really skewed my perception of how much research a person actually needs to attend a graduate degree program.

Quick background: I'm in an MA in Counseling program right now and am interested primarily in practice over academia. I'm applying to several well-known PsyD and practice-oriented PhD programs and - thanks to fiance's good earning potential - am not too (keyword) concerned about price. My masters in counseling is also license eligible and I plan to work part-time with that while pursuing the PsyD (and have selected programs that are okay with that).

My research experience:

• 2 years in a behavioral economics group (at a top tier busines school - I was an aspiring economist in undergrad, but it was actually very psychologically inclined)
• 1 year in a state department of health analyzing public health data
• 1 year in a multicultural counseling lab (resulted in 3 posters, no papers)
• 1 year in a personality lab (resulted in 1 poster)
• 2 years in an anxiety disorders lab (might result in a paper)

It sounds like a lot on paper, but I haven't been productive at all. 3 posters seems like child's play when I see other applicants with multiple papers, some with first author status. There is no thesis option in my master's program.

My Plan B if I don't get into a program is to spend a year working part-time as a research coordinator and part-time as a therapist (to get both research/clinical balance). But still, I don't know how much a year of research coordinator work is going to improve on my lackluster application.

tl;dr - NO RESEARCH EXP. PANICKING HARDCORE. HALP.

[fuzzylogician]

13 minutes ago, dancedementia said:

<snip>

• 2 years in a behavioral economics group (at a top tier busines school - I was an aspiring economist in undergrad, but it was actually very psychologically inclined)
• 1 year in a state department of health analyzing public health data
• 1 year in a multicultural counseling lab (resulted in 3 posters, no papers)
• 1 year in a personality lab (resulted in 1 poster)
• 2 years in an anxiety disorders lab (might result in a paper)

<snip>

tl;dr - NO RESEARCH EXP. PANICKING HARDCORE. HALP.

That there is NOT "no research exp". That's actually quite a lot of experience. What you're lacking are publications, but that's an entirely separate issue and not entirely up to you when you work in a lab anyway. The experience is the time you put into the lab and projects and what you learned from that. You developed skills, you refined your interests, you learned to present and write, design studies, work in a team, perform certain analyses. All of these are things that you can discuss in an SOP to make it a strong one. They should also lead to strong letters of recommendation from people who know you well. This kind of experience should give you enough insight to know what you want to study and what career path you want to pursue, and you should be able to have a strong argument for why you're qualified to do it and why the schools you're applying to are the right place(s) to pursue these interests. I'd really stop worrying about things you cannot change and focus on perfecting what already sounds like a potentially very strong application. 

[dancedementia]

9 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

[snip for length]

Thanks for this - and I mean it. Having a stranger on the internet give good advice is rarer than it sounds.

I am really, really bad about hiding behind my imposter syndrome. I'm actually terrified that it will come out during interviews and I'll essentially shoot myself in the foot. I might have to take a taste of my own medicine and get some counseling to help work through this so I'm not a ball of anxiety throughout the interview process.

[SarahTonin]

You have plenty of experience, especially for a more practice-oriented program (but I'd say even for research-oriented). I am going to a very research-oriented program in the fall, and I can tell you that even for that kind of program, you have a very skewed idea of what experience people have. Plenty of people I interviewed with had 1 or 2 years of experience, and very few had any papers at all, much less first author papers. I will also say, although I am a good applicant with lots of experience, I got in over a candidate who, on paper, had much more relevant experience than I did. It goes back to the "fit" aspect of admissions. You need to sell them on why you are the best fit for their program, even if you yourself don't believe it (and let me tell you, I did not think I was going to get in). Basically, all that to say that you NEVER know what is going to happen and all you can do is try your best. Practice interviewing and feigning confidence, and definitely get some therapy if you think it'll help! I struggled with a lot of anxiety and panic attacks throughout college, and therapy helped immensely. Message me if you want to talk more specifics - I know this process is incredibly nerve-wracking.