Fall 2020 Clinical & Counseling PhD/PsyD

[psychology_student_]

1 hour ago, Ruby0626 said:

What GRE scores do you think I should shoot for?

many programs list a gre requirement of >/= 50th percentile, so shoot for that as a benchmark

[psychhhhhhhhh]

3 hours ago, higaisha said:

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)

I got 159V/155Q but can't decide if I should retake

[higaisha]

1 hour ago, Ruby0626 said:

I got 159V/155Q but can't decide if I should retake

I don't think a rewrite would hurt. I'm at 157/153 so I definitely am in dire need of a rewrite lol. 80/70th p seems like a soft cut off for schools that I'm looking at, so if I cant get 160/160 I'd have to change around my school list a lot.

Edited April 28, 2019 by higaisha

[chopper.wife]

23 hours ago, Ruby0626 said:

I got 159V/155Q but can't decide if I should retake

What was your writing score? I have heard from many faculty members that they look primarily at this and otherwise at publications/research experience & GPA. I am not sure how that applies to American schools though, as my experience is mostly with Canadian schools. I don't think you have a poor score though and you may benefit from devoting the time to research more than GRE studying.

[_angua]

On 4/28/2019 at 12:36 PM, Ruby0626 said:

I got 159V/155Q but can't decide if I should retake

I can only speak to Canadian schools but I would not be too worried about quant. I was accepted even with a Q slightly below 50th percentile (tbf my V and W were in the high 90s). It's more important to have strong letters and research experience.

[CoffeeErryday]

Hey y'all!! 

I'll be applying for Fall 2020 as well! I'm currently a MA Psychology student, taking the program to show my commitment, boost scores, and get the prereqs done. Just had some questions for Clinical Psychology PhD programs though:

1. Do I really need to take Abnormal Psychology? I never got a chance to take it during undergrad (my major was biomedical engineering) and now my masters does not have a graduate course for it. How important is taking that? Cause I have taken the bulk of prereqs (intro, social, personality, research methods, stats, etc).

2. Does having (or not having) TA experience really affect your application? I'm going to take graduate Teaching of Psychology course this summer but never got a chance to TA yet. Should I TA or focus on other things?

3. Any tips for newbie applicants (like me) that I should look out for?

Thank you!!!

[dancedementia]

25 minutes ago, BhaAlex992 said:

1. Do I really need to take Abnormal Psychology? I never got a chance to take it during undergrad (my major was biomedical engineering) and now my masters does not have a graduate course for it. How important is taking that? Cause I have taken the bulk of prereqs (intro, social, personality, research methods, stats, etc).

Depends on the program. Some of them specifically require Abnormal/Psychopathology as a prerequisite. You can take it at a community college for cheap if your program doesn't offer it.

TA-ing is not a requirement to get into a PhD program. I would focus more attention on research over TA-ing, although if you have time for both it certainly won't hurt.

[Clinapp2017]

On 4/29/2019 at 6:58 PM, BhaAlex992 said:

Hey y'all!! 

I'll be applying for Fall 2020 as well! I'm currently a MA Psychology student, taking the program to show my commitment, boost scores, and get the prereqs done. Just had some questions for Clinical Psychology PhD programs though:

1. Do I really need to take Abnormal Psychology? I never got a chance to take it during undergrad (my major was biomedical engineering) and now my masters does not have a graduate course for it. How important is taking that? Cause I have taken the bulk of prereqs (intro, social, personality, research methods, stats, etc).

2. Does having (or not having) TA experience really affect your application? I'm going to take graduate Teaching of Psychology course this summer but never got a chance to TA yet. Should I TA or focus on other things?

3. Any tips for newbie applicants (like me) that I should look out for?

Thank you!!!

1. It helps, for sure. I would advise taking the psych GRE, if you can, to demonstrate efficacy in all psych concepts you may be missing. But probably not required if you majored in psych and now have an MA in it.

2. TA experience is not considered, really. What would be better is RA experience and/or posters/pubs to prove research productivity. 

3. There are lots of threads throughout here on advice. I'd say if you can clear hurdles with GPA and GRE, I would really spend a lot of time working on your personal statement. This makes or breaks a lot of applications. Really tailor it to ALL programs you are applying to and the work of specific mentors. Tell your story... what got your interested in psych (DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS)? what did you do in college to learn about it,? what did you do in MA program? What is your research experience? What are your goals? How does attending such and such school help you meet those goals?

 

 

[Yep]

On 4/28/2019 at 7:43 AM, Ruby0626 said:

What GRE scores do you think I should shoot for?

It’s all about the programs you are going for.

top 50 clinical PhD progrAm in a big city? Look for high 157-161 for each section.

Funded program in the south? Mid 150’s 

partial or unfunded programs? Low 150

Counseling PhD? Mid 150

a school will not choose you based on your gre scores. The goal is to make the cutoff so your application will go through to the next process

[Yep]

What’s some of your opinions about applying to a program that you interviewed with and did not get in?

[Lenina Crow]

2 hours ago, Itzik said:

What’s some of your opinions about applying to a program that you interviewed with and did not get in?

Go for it. The worst they can do is not invite you to interview. Just because you didn't get in last round, doesn't mean they didnt like you!

[psychology_student_]

6 hours ago, Itzik said:

What’s some of your opinions about applying to a program that you interviewed with and did not get in?

my opinion is do it if you want to go to that program

[CoffeeErryday]

On 4/29/2019 at 7:26 PM, dancedementia said:

Depends on the program. Some of them specifically require Abnormal/Psychopathology as a prerequisite. You can take it at a community college for cheap if your program doesn't offer it.

TA-ing is not a requirement to get into a PhD program. I would focus more attention on research over TA-ing, although if you have time for both it certainly won't hurt.

Thank you! I appreciate the advice!

[CoffeeErryday]

On 5/1/2019 at 9:42 AM, Clinapp2017 said:

1. It helps, for sure. I would advise taking the psych GRE, if you can, to demonstrate efficacy in all psych concepts you may be missing. But probably not required if you majored in psych and now have an MA in it.

2. TA experience is not considered, really. What would be better is RA experience and/or posters/pubs to prove research productivity. 

3. There are lots of threads throughout here on advice. I'd say if you can clear hurdles with GPA and GRE, I would really spend a lot of time working on your personal statement. This makes or breaks a lot of applications. Really tailor it to ALL programs you are applying to and the work of specific mentors. Tell your story... what got your interested in psych (DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS)? what did you do in college to learn about it,? what did you do in MA program? What is your research experience? What are your goals? How does attending such and such school help you meet those goals?

 

 

Thank you so much! Makes sense, I'm definitely focusing more on the RA aspect then as I'm currently an RA for 3 labs. Also, the ideas about personal statement are really helpful, going to work on them stat!

[Yep]

50 minutes ago, BhaAlex992 said:

Thank you so much! Makes sense, I'm definitely focusing more on the RA aspect then as I'm currently an RA for 3 labs. Also, the ideas about personal statement are really helpful, going to work on them stat!

Man the struggle is real to find an RA position

[CoffeeErryday]

Just now, Itzik said:

Man the struggle is real to find an RA position

For sure, I just asked almost every faculty in my department if they had an opening. I had to pursue some for a long time before they said yes lol. So just keep asking your faculty, you never know who might have an opening!

[hopefulgrad2019]

On 4/28/2019 at 2:36 PM, Ruby0626 said:

I got 159V/155Q but can't decide if I should retake

I got a 159V/149Q/5.5 writing and was accepted to a R1 clinical psych PhD program for Fall 2019 if that helps! 

 

Editing to add that a lot of programs will overlook a weakness in one area if you make up for it in another. For example, I clearly had a terrible quant GRE score, and I also had a low undergrad GPA (3.13 cumulative), but I have great research and clinical experience, multiple first-author poster presentations, multiple manuscript collabs, and at the time of applying I had an encyclopedia chapter where I'm first authored in prep in my area of interest. I was convinced I wouldn't make it to the next stage of the process because of my GRE/GPA but I received multiple interviews to my top programs of choice. In short, don't let the numbers get you down!!!! 

Edited May 10, 2019 by hopefulgrad2019
.

[Clinapp2017]

On 4/28/2019 at 12:26 PM, personallycentered said:

many programs list a gre requirement of >/= 50th percentile, so shoot for that as a benchmark

This is a bare minimum. As mentioned, a 160/160 (or 320 combined) will clear most hurdles for sure. 

[Yep]

6 hours ago, Clinapp2017 said:

This is a bare minimum. As mentioned, a 160/160 (or 320 combined) will clear most hurdles for sure. 

Forsure don’t have to get this high of a score to compete unless your going for a top 50 program. Realistically you need roughly a 157v/155q to compete if everything else in your application is in order.

[psycstudent2018]

Hi all,

Could use some feedback on where my resume is at.

Currently for posters I have:

• 1 first author APA
• 1 first author APS
• 1 second author APS
• 1 second author FLUX
• 2 first author at an undergrad conference
• 2 second author at an undergrad conference (Mentored students)

For publications:

• 1 second author (revisions requested) Journal of Language and Social Psychology
• 1 second author (revisions requested) JOVE Video Journal
• 1 manuscript in progress

Now, I'm debating trying to add another poster on here (ISDP), but finances are tight and I'm really deciding if it's better to add on another poster or save that money for an extra application this winter. What do you all think? Is this a decent resume or should I continue building at the expense of funds for applications? 

For reference, my GPA is 3.5 and my GRE was V-166 Q-155. I will have 2 years of lab managing experience at the time of applying. I plan on applying only to Clinical Ph.D. programs

Edited May 13, 2019 by psycstudent2018

[CoffeeErryday]

How do you define 'clinical experience' when applying to Clinical PhD programs? Really struggling with explaining this to potential places where I could maybe volunteer. 

[psycstudent2018]

18 minutes ago, BhaAlex992 said:

How do you define 'clinical experience' when applying to Clinical PhD programs? Really struggling with explaining this to potential places where I could maybe volunteer. 

I define clinical experience as working with a population of interest (i.e. more about working with people than data). 

 

For me, I volunteer at a homeless shelter, volunteer as a crisis counselor, and have volunteered at a domestic violence shelter. I've also been a spokesperson for a domestic violence awareness organization and have worked in a psychotherapy clinic as an assistant. 

[PsyZei]

Hello and good luck to everyone!

I'm applying to both Marriage and Family Therapy and Clinical Psychology PhD programs, but there isn't a Human Ecology forum on Gradcafe, so I'm just going to track everything here (Therapy and Counseling are close enough, right? ?).  Like OP, I've got some geographical logistics that severly limit the locations I can move to (which is why I'm applying to both MFT and Clinical Psych programs), and when you throw in wanting faculty that match my focus areas that gives me this list for applications:

• University of Iowa (MFT)
• University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (MFT)
• Kansas State University (MFT)
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln (PSY)
• University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (PSY)
• University of Wisconsin-Madison (PSY) 
• University of Iowa (PSY) 
• University of Kansas (PSY) 
• University of Missouri- Kansas City (PSY)

I think I have a good basis for application, though I''m a very non-traditional student. Got a good academic record with a Psychology bachelors (4.0 and completed in 2 years, 3 months) and MFT masters (4.0 so far, graduating in 2020). Only one research poster presented at a graduate symposium, but it won the highest level of award for poster presentations at the event (will also be working on thesis research at time of applications/interviews). Haven't been a TA, but have guest lectured for some undergraduate courses to help out a couple of my professors and get that experience. 165/162/4.5 GRE (though it's going to be 2 years old for these applications, but decided to not stress about retaking it this year and will next year if applying again). Have clinical experience as a student therapist at my university's clinic. Also have some letters/credentials I can list after my name (and hope to have one more set before graduating with my masters) that are related to my research and clinical population of focus.

Mainly worried about trying to make sure I have good personal statements, so I took a light credit load this summer (6hrs) to work on them and the applications.

[huskypsych]

22 hours ago, psycstudent2018 said:

Hi all,

Could use some feedback on where my resume is at.

Currently for posters I have:

• 1 first author APA
• 1 first author APS
• 1 second author APS
• 1 second author FLUX
• 2 first author at an undergrad conference
• 2 second author at an undergrad conference (Mentored students)

For publications:

• 1 second author (revisions requested) Journal of Language and Social Psychology
• 1 second author (revisions requested) JOVE Video Journal
• 1 manuscript in progress

Now, I'm debating trying to add another poster on here (ISDP), but finances are tight and I'm really deciding if it's better to add on another poster or save that money for an extra application this winter. What do you all think? Is this a decent resume or should I continue building at the expense of funds for applications? 

For reference, my GPA is 3.5 and my GRE was V-166 Q-155. I will have 2 years of lab managing experience at the time of applying. I plan on applying only to Clinical Ph.D. programs

I had fewer posters and similar GRE and lab experience and got into a several programs, although full disclosure my GPA was a bit higher. I would invest time and money into making your personal statement and applications awesome rather than getting one more poster, but I'm no expert!

[379337933793]

This is such a scary and exciting journey to be starting on! I have a few questions as I get going in my clinical/counseling PhD application process.

- When do people typically ask for letters of recommendation? Should I just ask now?

- Is it appropriate to reach out to department coordinators at this time to ask if they know anything about POIs looking for students? If so, does it look bad to ask about multiple POIs? Should I reach out to POIs directly instead?