School Psychology or related Psychology PhD and GPA acceptances?

[ZaidaLikeZeta]

Hello everyone,

It is midnight and I can not rest until I have some feedback that may shine some light on my chances for getting into a graduate program Fall 2020. I would greatly like to know of others with low or average GPA to share their experience. I will be graduating this May. I hope to raise my GPA with this semesters coursework and gain more experience during my gap year. I reside in California and will most likely be applying to graduate programs in the state. Here are my current specs.

Overall GPA: 3.42

GPA in last 2 years: 3.68

Psyc GPA: 3.48

2 years working as a Behavior Instructor, one of which as a Registered Behavior Technician

1 year of research

1 year as a TA

I will also be attending WPA this year where I'll be presenting a poster presentation as a co-author for a study on impostor phenomena as well as a presentation with Philip Zimbardo on his Heroic Imagination Project and possible integration to CSU's,. The psychology department chair at my university has asked me to help her present addition research of hers on the impostor phenomena as well. 

 

Again, any feedback will help!

[TiredOfApps]

I'm going for clinical psych, so I can't speak to all of the specifics, but the information you've provided looks like you've laid the right groundwork. Worth noting, at least for clinical, this is only half of the battle - PhDs can be quite competitive and the essay, recommendations, and other aspects can play just as much a role as a decent GPA. For context, honest professors will tell you they only have funding for one spot in their lab, and everyone they invite for interview already is very qualified. They may be able to eliminate a few at interview, but are then stuck with a hard decision. An RA that I used to work with - the professor she was interested in called her references to see if they "liked her." (She wound up getting in.) It's a tough process - good luck!!!

[ZaidaLikeZeta]

On 2/27/2019 at 1:07 PM, TiredOfApps said:

I'm going for clinical psych, so I can't speak to all of the specifics, but the information you've provided looks like you've laid the right groundwork. Worth noting, at least for clinical, this is only half of the battle - PhDs can be quite competitive and the essay, recommendations, and other aspects can play just as much a role as a decent GPA. For context, honest professors will tell you they only have funding for one spot in their lab, and everyone they invite for interview already is very qualified. They may be able to eliminate a few at interview, but are then stuck with a hard decision. An RA that I used to work with - the professor she was interested in called her references to see if they "liked her." (She wound up getting in.) It's a tough process - good luck!!!

Thank you for the advice. I have heard that GPA is one of a factor of things taken into account when deciding for admissions. This is giving me hope as I know my GPA is not the strongest. I have two professors that will give me letters of recommendation and I may have my employer for my third one. I’m hoping that my gpa year can add additional research and presentations under my belt. Good luck with your applications!

[TiredOfApps]

On 2/28/2019 at 8:26 PM, ZaidaLikeZeta said:

Thank you for the advice. I have heard that GPA is one of a factor of things taken into account when deciding for admissions. This is giving me hope as I know my GPA is not the strongest. I have two professors that will give me letters of recommendation and I may have my employer for my third one. I’m hoping that my gpa year can add additional research and presentations under my belt. Good luck with your applications!

Thanks! Best of luck to you too

[mochalattes]

Current school psych applicant here! If it helps, I had an overall GPA of 3.41 when I applied to schools and I got accepted to all of them ? GPA is really a cutoff when it comes down to it, and keep in mind that strong GRE scores can help offset a weak GPA. I've also heard that the further in the past you graduated, the less weight your GPA carries (don't take my word for it though). I can't speak for PhD programs since I didn't apply for those, but you seem sufficiently prepared for PsyD and EdS programs. In fact, your experiences look more impressive than mine. Best of luck with your future applications!

[presentfancies]

I got accepted into a clinical phd with an undergrad GPA of 3.2  In my experiences research experience was weighed heavily and you look like you're on track for that