I got admitted to a Clinical Psychology program but was told that the POI is not good. What should I do?

[laural201]

Hello everyone, 

I only get admission from a Clinical Psychology program (PhD) this year (I also have another admission, but it's for Counseling Psychology). I was very excited because I had such a great chat with the POI during the interview. However, when I chatted with the two current students who works with my POI, they told me that they do not like the program that much. They said the program, although having good clinical training, does not have good research training. I don't mind having less research training because I just want to practice. However, I still hope to graduate on time. Here's the thing that I heard from the current student about the professor who I would like to work with. 

Pros: the professor is friendly and always reply email quite quickly.

Cons: the professor rarely gives feedback for his students about their dissertations. One student from his lab dropped out the school last year due to lack of support. 

Another thing that really confused me is: This professor got 2 interesting ongoing projects. One project is about 1 millions for 5 years. However, he only involved one students from his lab. I don't know why. Is it normal that a professor does not really involve students from his project? Is that a red flag? The current students also told me that this professor does not have funding to give students. Most students have to do TA ships. His lab only has 3 grad students. Other labs seem have many more. It's a reputable university, but I am very concerned if I cannot graduate if the POI is not helping his students.

I got an admission to a Counseling Program, and the current students love their professor and program. However, It's a Counseling program, which is awesome, but I would love to be trained in assessment and diagnosis. Going to a Clinical Psychology program is my dream. I don't know if I have energy and money to apply for next year. Please give me some insight. Thank you so much for your help!! 

[binbinsmuoffer]

Brief answer: Never go!          

According to your description, this mentor is very bad, but the most important factor in doctoral education is the mentor.

[PsyDuck90]

A counseling psych program should also give you training in assessment and diagnosis. Look at the course list and student handbook for the counseling program. In practice, counseling psychology and clinical psychology are very similar. 

Note: there is a difference between a doctorate in counseling and a doctorate in counseling psychology. I'm assuming the program is counseling psych?

Edited March 7, 2019 by PsyDGrad90
Clarification

[TheEternalGrad]

Is there another POI you would consider working with at that program? At one program I interviewed at, they said they were really open to students switching mentors if they felt their current mentor wasn't the right fit. If your program has that mentality, that could be an option. Otherwise, if there aren't any other POIs that you feel you'd be willing to work with (or the program looks down on/does not allow switching), I would definitely agree that you likely shouldn't go. ☹️

You're going to be with this POI for the next 4-6 years, so you want someone who is going to support you and be a proper mentor for you.

 

[psychology_student_]

"Pros: the professor is friendly and always reply email quite quickly.

Cons: the professor rarely gives feedback for his students about their dissertations. One student from his lab dropped out the school last year due to lack of support."

These seem a little contradicting, unless you are meaning financial support. If I were in this situation I would continue on into the program, your POI 

 

"The current students also told me that this professor does not have funding to give students. Most students have to do TA ships"

This is very common practice among APA clinical and counseling psychology PhD programs.

 

None of what you said would concenrn me enough to not matriculate into this Clinical Psychology program.

[laural201]

Thank you for all of your input! 

When I mentioned about lack of support, I mean that the professor does not give much support and guidance for his students' PhD dissertations. He is friendly for sure. And a few students confirm about it. But at the same time, many students told me that to work with this professor, I have to be very proactive and have strong ability to work independently. He won't check on students' progress on their dissertations. He does not give much guidance and is not able to give too much constructive feedback in terms of case conceptualization. 

I am a person who is very motivated. However, I am still worried that if I do something wrong about my thesis, but no one gives me feedback about how to improve it. I am worried about finishing program on time. 

Thank you again for your insight.  

[Mickey26]

13 hours ago, laural201 said:

Thank you for all of your input! 

When I mentioned about lack of support, I mean that the professor does not give much support and guidance for his students' PhD dissertations. He is friendly for sure. And a few students confirm about it. But at the same time, many students told me that to work with this professor, I have to be very proactive and have strong ability to work independently. He won't check on students' progress on their dissertations. He does not give much guidance and is not able to give too much constructive feedback in terms of case conceptualization. 

I am a person who is very motivated. However, I am still worried that if I do something wrong about my thesis, but no one gives me feedback about how to improve it. I am worried about finishing program on time. 

Thank you again for your insight.  

Ahh so he's very, VERY hands-off. I think a professor needs to be versatile--being able to adjust supervision style depending on the grad student is vital. I would inquire the current grad students to ask if they ever asked the prof to set mini deadlines for them/if he's every tried to be more "hands-on." It might just be he is unaware he's so hands-off that it's not working? 

[chopper.wife]

I think you need to decide what kind of mentorship you are looking for. It sounds to me like you don’t want a hands-off PI though? Some people actually thrive in a more independent situation, others want a lot of support, and further others want something in-between. Take some time to consider what works best for you and whether that PI fits with what you want. If he does not fit with what you are looking for, i would be very cautious about working with this PI. Students often don’t speak all that negatively about their PI’s even if there are serious concerns, the issues usually lie in what they don’t say (if that makes sense). So the fact that they brought up lack of support as a concern is definitely a red flag to me.

I also want to mention that since you just want to practice, you may actually be better suited for a counselling program anyways. You will get training in assessment and treatment in these programs. 

[MaybeTheFutureDrKHopefully]

Looking at the complete picture might help in deciding. While POI is super important, lots of things are super important. The lab work, the location, the POI, the degree you want, etc. You should weigh these (and other) variables as you want and decide how much you think it will matter to you. Sounds like the POI is hands off but like others have said, maybe they could be more hands on if requested too. It might also give you some freedom to apply some of your own spins on to your research. Like you said if you want to practice, this might be useful if you can research the client base you are interested in. The concerns other posters brought up could be real for you, it is tough without knowing you specifically!

Good luck with the decision! Sounds like it may be a tough call for you.

[lewin]

On 3/6/2019 at 11:24 PM, laural201 said:

This professor got 2 interesting ongoing projects. One project is about 1 millions for 5 years. However, he only involved one students from his lab....The current students also told me that this professor does not have funding to give students.

To address this point specifically, grants have different levels of involvement. If this professor is a "co-investigator" or "collaborator" (various terms are used) but not the "Applicant" or "Principal Investigator" then he may contribute to the project but not hold the purse strings, i.e,. not be the lead. If he is the principal investigator then it's hard to speculate without knowing more about the project. e.g., maybe it's fMRI which costs $500/hour to run.  I'm not disputing there's no money trickling down, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he's sitting on a huge pile of money and not sharing, like Scrooge McDuck.