How to request email over skype rather than in-person

[imonfire98]

How would you guys frame an email requesting a Skype interview over an in-person one? I am definitely interested and i don't want to seem disinterested. it's more of a financial challenge. 

[1|]010ls10o]

This is an excellent question and especially helpful for people applying to American clinical psych programs which apparently have 40 different programs in the first week of Feb. Also eager to learn how y'all would frame it.

[PsyDuck90]

I would just be honest and reply to the interview invite by saying something like "Thank you so much for the interview opportunity. Due to financial constraints, it is difficult for me to travel to the campus. Would it be possible to schedule a Skype call in lieu of the in-person interview?" Some schools even have funds that they offer students to offset travel. 

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2 hours ago, 21ny14 said:

This is an excellent question and especially helpful for people applying to American clinical psych programs which apparently have 40 different programs in the first week of Feb. Also eager to learn how y'all would frame it.

A million+ programs decided on Feb. 1st or Feb. 4th this year. Pretty unfair for applicants honestly to not share this information BEFORE we decided to apply for schools ????

[dancedementia]

13 minutes ago, checkingmyemail said:

A million+ programs decided on Feb. 1st or Feb. 4th this year. Pretty unfair for applicants honestly to not share this information BEFORE we decided to apply for schools ????

I like what CUDCP is doing with posting all their dates on a calendar. APA should create a centralized calendar or system for all of their programs to post and make it part of APA accred requirements =P

[1|]010ls10o]

25 minutes ago, checkingmyemail said:

A million+ programs decided on Feb. 1st or Feb. 4th this year. Pretty unfair for applicants honestly to not share this information BEFORE we decided to apply for schools ????

Falls in line with the whole, work for free for years to 'gain experience' in a good lab that's relevant to what you want to do, work for 15-25k a year in stipends for another 5 years just to get a PhD, and work for a salary that your friends were getting 2 years out of undergrad. You know. Screw the $50-100 that you spent on the application + hours researching and crafting a personal statement.

10 minutes ago, dancedementia said:

I like what CUDCP is doing with posting all their dates on a calendar. APA should create a centralized calendar or system for all of their programs to post and make it part of APA accred requirements =P

Seriously. Lower ranked programs (if ranking is important) have dates on the same day, too. Like, yeah, shoot yourself in the foot by inviting students on the same day as a top 10 program. Let's see what candidates pick.

Edited January 17, 2019 by 21ny14

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39 minutes ago, 21ny14 said:

Falls in line with the whole, work for free for years to 'gain experience' in a good lab that's relevant to what you want to do, work for 15-25k a year in stipends for another 5 years just to get a PhD, and work for a salary that your friends were getting 2 years out of undergrad. 

This. X10000000. I hate that in comparison to other PhD programs (the “real sciences,” eh?) Clinical Psych students are getting paid in PENNIES! It’s unacceptable ?

[1|]010ls10o]

1 minute ago, checkingmyemail said:

This. X10000000. I hate that in comparison to other PhD programs (the “real sciences,” eh?) Clinical Psych students are getting paid in PENNIES! It’s unacceptable ?

Hardest graduate area to get into (by acceptance rate%).

One of the lowest income/time.

Makes sense.

Why do we do this to ourselves lol

[dancedementia]

Just now, 21ny14 said:

Hardest graduate area to get into (by acceptance rate%).

One of the lowest income/time.

Makes sense.

Why do we do this to ourselves lol

Seriously, some days I wonder why I didn't go the med school route and match into psychiatry instead -___-

[1|]010ls10o]

2 minutes ago, dancedementia said:

Seriously, some days I wonder why I didn't go the med school route and match into psychiatry instead -___-

Don't start. You're going to make me cry. They make so much more money omfg.

[topsailpsych]

3 hours ago, imonfire98 said:

How would you guys frame an email requesting a Skype interview over an in-person one? I am definitely interested and i don't want to seem disinterested. it's more of a financial challenge. 

I would start the email with something about how excited and honored you are to receive the invitation to interview and how you really look forward to speaking with the faculty and students.  Then continue on with how you're trying to figure out travel plans, but with the costs, you're not sure quite yet if you'll be able to make it.  If there is a deadline by which you need to respond, I would let them know you will be able to let them know for sure in the coming days, and definitely before their deadline.  Then see what they say, they may mention if they have travel funds (or if they will book your flight and hotel for you at their expense - this is rare in our field, but I have heard of some schools doing this for applicants), or they may suggest a Skype interview.  Either way, it communicates to them that you are very interested and puts the ball in their court to provide information about assistance or alternatives available to you. 

I will caution you, while schools say that doing a Skype interview doesn't hurt your chances of acceptance, I have had many professors at different schools tell me over the years that the reality is that it does hurt your chances a bit because fewer faculty get to meet you and therefore you have fewer advocates when it comes time to make decisions.  So if you possibly can attend in person, I would try to do so, at least for your top schools.

[topsailpsych]

15 minutes ago, dancedementia said:

Seriously, some days I wonder why I didn't go the med school route and match into psychiatry instead -___-

12 minutes ago, 21ny14 said:

Don't start. You're going to make me cry. They make so much more money omfg.

If you're planning to go into the clinical practice side of the field and you would like to increase your income potential, you might want to look into states which offer prescribing privileges to PhD level psychologists (they usually require a little extra training in clinical pharmacology and supervision for several years).  Mixing some prescription appointments in with your therapy clients in those states can apparently make you some very good money.  There are only a handful of states offering it at this time, but the movement is growing nationally, so by the time we graduate there will likely be even more states in which it is allowed. 

 

[dancedementia]

Just now, topsailpsych said:

If you're planning to go into the clinical practice side of the field and you would like to increase your income potential, you might want to look into states which offer prescribing privileges to PhD level psychologists (they usually require a little extra training in clinical pharmacology and supervision for several years).  Mixing some prescription appointments in with your therapy clients in those states can apparently make you some very good money.  There are only a handful of states offering it at this time, but the movement is growing nationally, so by the time we graduate there will likely be even more states in which it is allowed. 

This is already on my list of career goals! I just hope more states allow it, because personally I'm not interested in living in any of the states that currently have it haha.....

[imonfire98]

1 hour ago, topsailpsych said:

I would start the email with something about how excited and honored you are to receive the invitation to interview and how you really look forward to speaking with the faculty and students.  Then continue on with how you're trying to figure out travel plans, but with the costs, you're not sure quite yet if you'll be able to make it.  If there is a deadline by which you need to respond, I would let them know you will be able to let them know for sure in the coming days, and definitely before their deadline.  Then see what they say, they may mention if they have travel funds (or if they will book your flight and hotel for you at their expense - this is rare in our field, but I have heard of some schools doing this for applicants), or they may suggest a Skype interview.  Either way, it communicates to them that you are very interested and puts the ball in their court to provide information about assistance or alternatives available to you. 

I will caution you, while schools say that doing a Skype interview doesn't hurt your chances of acceptance, I have had many professors at different schools tell me over the years that the reality is that it does hurt your chances a bit because fewer faculty get to meet you and therefore you have fewer advocates when it comes time to make decisions.  So if you possibly can attend in person, I would try to do so, at least for your top schools.

thanks for the response. I will reach out to him and keep him updated! I will let him know of the situation as well as try to keep it open. The email said if we want a skype interview, we should reach out to the professor. I dont know for sure, but i definitely don't wanna take too long as it has already been a couple of days. 

[1|]010ls10o]

1 hour ago, dancedementia said:

This is already on my list of career goals! I just hope more states allow it, because personally I'm not interested in living in any of the states that currently have it haha.....

Yeah, praying that NY/CA start allowing it.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/so-sue-me/201705/should-psychologists-be-allowed-prescribe-medication

TLDR: Idaho, New Mexico, Louisiana, Illinois, and Iowa

Oregon, Hawaii, and Texas have RxP legislation currently pending

Edited January 17, 2019 by 21ny14

[topsailpsych]

15 hours ago, 21ny14 said:

Yeah, praying that NY/CA start allowing it.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/so-sue-me/201705/should-psychologists-be-allowed-prescribe-medication

TLDR: Idaho, New Mexico, Louisiana, Illinois, and Iowa

Oregon, Hawaii, and Texas have RxP legislation currently pending

It's also allowed by the military, so if you're interested in working as a civilian for the DoD, you would be eligible (but I have never heard what sort of training the military requires to be eligible for that or if there are any restrictions).