Fall 2020 Clinical & Counseling PhD/PsyD

[dancedementia]

Sooooo. Who's ready to get a head start on next year?

(Yes I know April 15th isn't quite here yet, but I've been going through GC withdrawal so I'm making this thread WAY in advance.)

I was originally going to wait for 2 years before applying (to boost my research productivity), but I was just alerted that my grant-funded research coordinator position (which starts in June!) expires after 1 year and there is no guarantee there will be funding for a second year. Thankfully, it is a hyperproductive lab so I should be able to get some pubs before I need to leave (I'm already on a poster and I haven't even started work yet? lol...) I already have a ton of posters/presentations so I really just wanted more research experience in my area of interest.

Anyways! Here's the list for fall 2020, a total of 10 schools 

• Boston College (Counseling PhD) -- POI: OMK
• Boston University (Clinical PhD) -- POI: LB, TP
• Drexel University (Clinical PhD, reapplicant) -- POI: AJ, EF, MB (you're supposed to choose 3 on the application)
• Fordham University (Clinical PhD) -- POI: NB
• Fordham University (Counseling PhD) -- POI: MK
• Northeastern University (Counseling PhD, reapplicant) -- POI: RR, JEG
• Suffolk University (Clinical PhD, reapplicant) -- POI: SR (maybe... she rejected me this round so idk if I'll try again), SS
• UMass Boston (Clinical PhD) -- POI: LR
• Virginia Commonwealth (Counseling PhD) -- POI: SM
• William James (Clinical PsyD) -- safety school (got in last round but deferred offer, so would not need to reapply)
• Yeshiva University (Clinical Health PhD) -- POI: CS

This is, of course, assuming all the POIs are taking students next year.

I'm geographically constrained a little bit b/c my fiance will be in med school next year (at least someone will be earning the big bucks in this family), and I'm not interested in doing a long-distance marriage that spans more than 3 state lines =P

Edited April 1, 2019 by dancedementia

[merpppy]

Hey everyone!

This is my first time applying, I'm taking the GRE veryyyy soon so I'm a bit nervous but hopefully it all works out! I have a pretty solid undergrad GPA and research experience (full time researcher currently) so we'll see how this goes.

Fordham University (Clinical PhD) - KC/DM (I've heard you can work in two labs, hopefully this is true!)

John Jay CUNY (Clinical PhD) - MA

St. Johns University (Clinical PhD)

UMass Boston (Clinical PhD) - HL

Rutgers University (Clinical PhD) - EK

Duke University (Clinical PhD) - MR

Perhaps UNC Chapel Hill as well! 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by merpppy

[letsgetclinicalclinical]

Hello, it’s so great that you are planning early on where you’d like to apply! More generally speaking, I think keeping an organized spreadsheet with 1) program names, 2) program mission, 3) program model, 4) at minimum two potential mentors you’d work with, 5) average gre scores of prior accepted cohorts (past two years only), 6) average time to graduate, 7) average EPPP scores, and 8 ) average gpa of accepted cohort (past two years only) and 9) financial aid info is the bare minimum for what you should know for all of your programs. For Clinical PhD programs, it’s best to apply to as many as 10-15 or more. For Counseling PhD, 7-10 is best. I’d love to provide individual feedback and support you especially since I’ve interviewed and received acceptances from programs you’ve mentioned. Please DM me  also, word to the wise - with greater prestige comes greater competition. Know this when applying to places like UNC Chapel Hill or Boston College. I don’t mean to discourage you at all, but this is already such a competitive process so I found that it helped me to rank my chances on “goodness of fit” to my programs’ averages. Even then, it was still competitive! 

[psychology_student_]

On 4/1/2019 at 6:41 AM, merpppy said:

Hey everyone!

This is my first time applying, I'm taking the GRE veryyyy soon so I'm a bit nervous but hopefully it all works out! I have a pretty solid undergrad GPA and research experience (full time researcher currently) so we'll see how this goes.

Fordham University (Clinical PhD) - KC/DM (I've heard you can work in two labs, hopefully this is true!)

John Jay CUNY (Clinical PhD) - MA

St. Johns University (Clinical PhD)

UMass Boston (Clinical PhD) - HL

Rutgers University (Clinical PhD) - EK

Duke University (Clinical PhD) - MR

Perhaps UNC Chapel Hill as well! 

 

 

you should apply to many more.  even without knowing your stats, it's more than likely you won't be enrolled in a grad program if you only apply to those 7 schools. all phd psych programs are super competitive and the one's you have are super duper competitive.  if you can afford it, apply to as many as you can (16 is a good number to ensure you get in somewhere).

in applying to more schools, try to diversify your geographic locations. those programs are comeptitive not only b/c of academic admission standards but also they are all on the east coast, everyone and their mom is applying to those east coast schools.

[krosstheboss]

I have been making my list for quite some time, and I am still looking for schools to add to my list. My sister is currently in a Counseling Psychology PhD program, so she has been a ton of help during this process! I have an excel sheet with all of the information I need; here is a brief version. Side note: these are all Counseling PhD programs.

University of North Texas 

University of Tennessee - Knoxville 

University of Missouri - Columbia 

University of Missouri - Kansas City

Oklahoma State University

Northeastern University

University of Massachusetts - Boston

Auburn University

[psychology_student_]

1 hour ago, krosstheboss said:

I have been making my list for quite some time, and I am still looking for schools to add to my list. My sister is currently in a Counseling Psychology PhD program, so she has been a ton of help during this process! I have an excel sheet with all of the information I need; here is a brief version. Side note: these are all Counseling PhD programs.

University of North Texas 

University of Tennessee - Knoxville 

University of Missouri - Columbia 

University of Missouri - Kansas City 

Oklahoma State University

Northeastern University

University of Massachusetts - Boston

Auburn University

you obviously have plenty of time, but i'd check w/ University of Missouri-Kansas City to make sure they're accepting students for 2019 (they weren't taking any applications this cycle but that could have been just a one time thing)

[dancedementia]

3 hours ago, krosstheboss said:

I have been making my list for quite some time, and I am still looking for schools to add to my list. My sister is currently in a Counseling Psychology PhD program, so she has been a ton of help during this process! I have an excel sheet with all of the information I need; here is a brief version. Side note: these are all Counseling PhD programs.

Just be aware that some of these programs you've listed require a masters degree for admissions (NEU and UMass Boston are the two that jump out at me). I'm not sure where you are in your academic journey, but just something to be aware of. One of my friends applied for several of these programs and was upset that she didn't notice this requirement beforehand.

[krosstheboss]

11 hours ago, personallycentered said:

you obviously have plenty of time, but i'd check w/ University of Missouri-Kansas City to make sure they're accepting students for 2019 (they weren't taking any applications this cycle but that could have been just a one time thing)

Yes! I did see that, but I noticed their site is back up, so I'm hoping that's a good sign! I'm planning to contact them a little later on to check.

[krosstheboss]

10 hours ago, dancedementia said:

Just be aware that some of these programs you've listed require a masters degree for admissions (NEU and UMass Boston are the two that jump out at me). I'm not sure where you are in your academic journey, but just something to be aware of. One of my friends applied for several of these programs and was upset that she didn't notice this requirement beforehand.

Yes, I actually have the graduate program in psychology book, so it tells me all of the requirements as well as other helpful information. Thankfully, I am currently in a masters program, so I will meet that requirement!

Edited April 3, 2019 by krosstheboss

[ResilientDreams]

Good luck guys. ❤️ 

[MiddleOfSomeCalibrations]

I have 33 schools/59 POIs on my list right now. I know some of them won't end up taking grad students, but I'll probably still be applying to ~20-25 programs!

[dancedementia]

14 hours ago, MiddleOfSomeCalibrations said:

I have 33 schools/59 POIs on my list right now. I know some of them won't end up taking grad students, but I'll probably still be applying to ~20-25 programs!

That's a robust list haha. If I had the $$ I would totally apply to a ton of schools. But damn, this process is expensive

[psychhhhhhhhh]

I currently have a list of 26 clinical programs but will be narrowing it down to hopefully about 15-20 before applying!

[Brainhelper]

I will be applying for programs in Texas only. So if anyone has had experience with any schools in Texas, please PM me  

 

[Yep]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm prepping to apply to a majority of counseling programs. Hopefully, will have a list of 22-24 programs of full funding, partial funding, and non funding programs. It might be challenging because my research interest is masculinity & help seeking behaviors but I’m feeling good about this cycle. If anyone knows mid tier programs that have PI with similar research, LET ME KNOW! 

[TrustedTheProcess]

Good luck everyone!  I think those of you with lots of schools on your list are making a good call! I started with 24-25 schools on my list and cut down to 15 and eventually just applied to 12 during the application process. It's way easier to cut rather than add schools! 

[rainydaychai]

Hey hey! My waitlist prospects have not been kind this application cycle, and as I made the tough decision to decline my only acceptance for financial/program fit reasons, it looks like I’ll be seeing you all for the 2020 application cycle. I’m currently on a lengthy Europe vacation as a graduation gift to myself but when I return home I plan to solidify the list of schools I’m applying to next (this?) year. I applied to 8 Clinical PhD programs this past year and plan to expand that to about 12 PhD programs with 2-3 Masters programs in North America and the UK as a backup (‘cause if the second round is unsuccessful, why not see the world while gaining some more experience?  ). For a bit of an introduction, I just graduated from a west coast Canadian university and am interested in clinical forensic research topics, with a special focus on targeted violence prevention. 

Honestly, I’ve felt myself grow so much over this past cycle, have narrowed my research interests and discovered passion for unexpected areas, and solidified my future career goals! I’m sure the universe meant for this to happen for some reason unclear at the present. Good luck to everyone - looking forward to getting to know you all! 

[PsychedOnCaffeine]

Hi everyone! I'm also starting to prep for another app season. I have a loooooong list of "yes" "maybe" and "no" schools with a whole spreadsheet of info that I'm modifying from this most recent application season (with the intent to move some maybes to the yes list depending on which mentors are accepting students and such).

I only applied to clinical programs this time around, but I have a couple of counseling programs on my list right now--this is probably kind of a dumb question, but what are the major differences between clinical and counseling? I've definitely Googled this before, but I'm trying to wrap my head around how to modify my personal statement for the two kinds of programs, and whether I should be looking more closely at some counseling programs.

Also, does anyone have some solid advice on how to make your application stand out? I have some poster and oral presentations, but at this point no publications on my CV so that's definitely something I'll be working on over the coming months, but any other thoughts on that would be super helpful.

 

Good luck to all and thanks for being such a supportive community  

 

 

[higaisha]

pending GRE rewrite, got 15 or so schools on my hitlist

[psychology_student_]

1 hour ago, PsychedOnCaffeine said:

Hi everyone! I'm also starting to prep for another app season. I have a loooooong list of "yes" "maybe" and "no" schools with a whole spreadsheet of info that I'm modifying from this most recent application season (with the intent to move some maybes to the yes list depending on which mentors are accepting students and such).

I only applied to clinical programs this time around, but I have a couple of counseling programs on my list right now--this is probably kind of a dumb question, but what are the major differences between clinical and counseling? I've definitely Googled this before, but I'm trying to wrap my head around how to modify my personal statement for the two kinds of programs, and whether I should be looking more closely at some counseling programs.

Also, does anyone have some solid advice on how to make your application stand out? I have some poster and oral presentations, but at this point no publications on my CV so that's definitely something I'll be working on over the coming months, but any other thoughts on that would be super helpful.

 

Good luck to all and thanks for being such a supportive community  

 

 

for simplicity, clinical is concerned w/ "clinical" populations, counseling is more concerned with "normative" or "typically developing" populations. Also, most clinical programs are housed in psychology departments, whereas counseling programs are housed in education departments. It's everything you've already googled, tons of overlap b/w the two, some differences as far as approach, used to be more distinct in the past. Still two different entitites though, major differences just being what they're generally ineterested in researching, who they're interested in researching, and somewhat "how" that research is conducted (qualitative is more counseling, but both do mixed-methods and counseling is for sure very heavily embedded in high level stat stuff like HLM SEM and whatever). My MS advisor also said there are a lot more "bad" clinical programs than there are "bad" counseling programs (which I think he relays to like for profit PsyD kinds of clinical programs).

To make app stand out, for sure try to have really good LORs, that will just help the committees take more interest in learning about you. I'd also say to stand out u should make sure your your supervisors' and advisors' names are clearly included on your CV/resume. If a committee member recognizes one of the names then that will certainly help you stand out from the crowd (this worked for me).

 

[Katie B]

On 4/14/2019 at 9:48 AM, Brainhelper said:

I will be applying for programs in Texas only. So if anyone has had experience with any schools in Texas, please PM me  

 

As you can see in my signature, I applied to a majority of Texas schools and I interviewed at Texas A&M so if you end up having questions about there I might be able to help!

[sassyyetclassy]

14 hours ago, personallycentered said:

for simplicity, clinical is concerned w/ "clinical" populations, counseling is more concerned with "normative" or "typically developing" populations. Also, most clinical programs are housed in psychology departments, whereas counseling programs are housed in education departments. It's everything you've already googled, tons of overlap b/w the two, some differences as far as approach, used to be more distinct in the past. Still two different entitites though, major differences just being what they're generally ineterested in researching, who they're interested in researching, and somewhat "how" that research is conducted (qualitative is more counseling, but both do mixed-methods and counseling is for sure very heavily embedded in high level stat stuff like HLM SEM and whatever). My MS advisor also said there are a lot more "bad" clinical programs than there are "bad" counseling programs (which I think he relays to like for profit PsyD kinds of clinical programs).

To make app stand out, for sure try to have really good LORs, that will just help the committees take more interest in learning about you. I'd also say to stand out u should make sure your your supervisors' and advisors' names are clearly included on your CV/resume. If a committee member recognizes one of the names then that will certainly help you stand out from the crowd (this worked for me).

 

I think the differences you list are spot on! If I were to add just 2 things

1) counseling programs also have more multiculturalism/“social justice” courses embedded in their curriculum. depending on the program, you may only have one or two at most for clinical programs whereas counseling programs have multicultural focus engrained in the curriculum 

2) like personallycentered said, the populations you practice with are typically different. In counseling programs you are likely doing practicum at college/university counseling centers, though there are opportunities to work with other populations and external agencies as well depending on the program

my advice is to not pick one or the other in terms of program type, but rather pick your programs based upon research interest match and the types of populations you want to provide counseling to and see if those programs have externship practica with those populations. 

Also, while personally entered is correct that most counseling psych programs are in education departments, some are in psych departments as well! Typically the ones in psych departments allot more collaborative research opportunities so just something to remain aware of 

[Lolade212]

I applied to only 4 schools last year, bit silly I know. However re-writing my GRE  in a few months this year,  about 20 schools on my list for this year ... fingers crossed  

[psychhhhhhhhh]

What GRE scores do you think I should shoot for?

[higaisha]

20 minutes ago, Ruby0626 said:

What GRE scores do you think I should shoot for?

I think 160/160/5 is a good score anywhere, I'm gonna try to shoot for that (may be impossible for math LOOLOLOL we'll see)