Fall 2020 Clinical & Counseling PhD/PsyD

[justacigar]

@psycstudent2018 Wow, some schools have deadlines already? All of my apps are due December 1st! Were there preliminary phone interviews? 

[Shivani513]

Hi all 

 

I wanted to ask if its worth mentioning in my application my GRE retake score was affected by the testing conditions where I took it.

I have just retaken the GRE and the testing place had building works going on as well as a practise fire alarm, it was distracting.

I got 147 on veral and 142 on quant 

My before score was 145 on verbal and 141 on quant. 

 

I don't have time to now retake unfortunately ?

[absolutelynott]

On 11/14/2019 at 10:23 PM, rainydaychai said:

Hi, fellow forensic applicant! I've listed the programs I'm applying to in my signature below (it's a long list this year). Only about half of the schools have a forensic program, but I am applying to explicitly forensic-oriented supervisors. My research interests are very concentrated around the assessment of violence, particularly targeted violence, so that might change some things. Which schools are you thinking of applying to?

That's a solid list, we actually have very little overlap! I'm applying to John Jay (obv) and Drexel too. I'm also applying to University of Denver, University of Colorado @ Colorado Springs, University of Ottawa, Queens University, UT-Austin, University of Saskatchewan, UNevada-Reno, and Indiana University. I'm more interested in sex offender research though, which probably explains the major differences in our lists!

[foood]

If you sent the score to them, I would briefly mention it in your SOP. Many applications also have a part where they ask the applicants if there are any considerations that they would like the admin committee to know when reviewing their application, if your app had this option, it would be a good idea to say it there instead. I would also call/email ETS and let them know. GRE requires a high degree of attentional focus to do well, I definitely would not be able to focus too.

[justacigar]

To the universities who accept unofficial GRE score reports and transcripts - YOU DA REAL MVP! Thanks for saving me around 100 bucks. Love you. 

Edited November 16, 2019 by justacigar

[Jkid]

1 hour ago, justacigar said:

To the universities who accept unofficial GRE score reports and transcripts - YOU DA REAL MVP! Thanks for saving me around 100 bucks. Love you. 

Honestly I couldn't agree more! 

[k0909]

On 11/13/2019 at 2:03 PM, tomatotomahto said:

Does anyone know if Rutgers and Stony Brook require official transcripts for Clinical PhD admissions? 
 

edit for clarity

https://grad.admissions.rutgers.edu/GraduateProgram/Detail.aspx?code=16830B&degree=PHD

Rutgers does appear to require official transcripts FYI! I think your app may be "completed" with unofficial, but I read somewhere else that they accept unofficial if your official wont be there by the app deadline but it seemed like they still wanted you to send the official.

Edited November 17, 2019 by kf0909

[SoundofSilence]

On 11/16/2019 at 4:33 PM, Shivani513 said:

Hi all 

 

I wanted to ask if its worth mentioning in my application my GRE retake score was affected by the testing conditions where I took it.

I have just retaken the GRE and the testing place had building works going on as well as a practise fire alarm, it was distracting.

I got 147 on veral and 142 on quant 

My before score was 145 on verbal and 141 on quant. 

 

I don't have time to now retake unfortunately ?

That's a difficult situation, sorry to hear that  I would report to ETS, maybe they can give you other accommodations.

Regarding applications - most have a section where you can add additional information, If you feel that your credentials and any other information you have already provided does not represent you fairly. So you can definitely mention it there. If not, the SOP or other parts of the application could be relevant for this.

The only thing I would mention is that most programs prefer scores over the 50th percentile. 

 

[psycstudent2018]

On 11/15/2019 at 2:44 PM, justacigar said:

@psycstudent2018 Wow, some schools have deadlines already? All of my apps are due December 1st! Were there preliminary phone interviews? 

Whoops, maybe I should have been clearer. These are preliminary phone interviews, not official "interview day" interviews.

[psycstudent2018]

Just read that sometimes professors do "surprise" phone calls and conduct an interview over the phone on the spot. Can anyone who's applied before speak to this? I want to know if I should prepare something if that's the case.

[huskypsych]

1 hour ago, psycstudent2018 said:

Just read that sometimes professors do "surprise" phone calls and conduct an interview over the phone on the spot. Can anyone who's applied before speak to this? I want to know if I should prepare something if that's the case.

Nothing is impossible, but I applied twice (and interviewed with several programs in your signature) and never had this happen to me. The closest thing that happened was a PI emailing me in the morning and asking to speak with me that same evening, but I think that's still way better than a complete surprise! 

[clinicalpsych1996]

I am applying to a school that says 500-1,000 words for the SOP. These instructions are not specific to the clinical psych program, but rather the whole graduate school. With that said, I am wondering what you guys think about having a SOP that is 1,200 words...

[Clinapp2017]

11 hours ago, clare b. said:

I am applying to a school that says 500-1,000 words for the SOP. These instructions are not specific to the clinical psych program, but rather the whole graduate school. With that said, I am wondering what you guys think about having a SOP that is 1,200 words...

In general, I would encourage following directions that are outlined clearly like those. I would trim it back to 1000 or less. 

[Ppkitty]

Does anyone know if Fordham Counseling Psych PhD requires the subject test? From the website I was sure it didn’t, but then I was reading one of those APA program overview books yesterday from 2018 and it said it did...I am confusion 

[Schy]

Is anyone else realizing that some programs they PLANNED on applying to recently updated who is accepting students for FAll2020? Literally, last week a school that was in my top 3 removed BOTH faculty members from the list and I'm just ?????????????? frustrated. I understand it's due to personal reasons and funding and maybe a list of other things, but now I'm like whats the point in even applying???? not to mention I already sent out the request of LORs for that school. 

 

I feel like I need to find another program to try and replace it, but there aren't a lot of people with a focus in behavioral economics/substance abuse *cries* 

 

[2ndTimeHopeful]

18 minutes ago, Schy said:

Is anyone else realizing that some programs they PLANNED on applying to recently updated who is accepting students for FAll2020? Literally, last week a school that was in my top 3 removed BOTH faculty members from the list and I'm just ?????????????? frustrated. I understand it's due to personal reasons and funding and maybe a list of other things, but now I'm like whats the point in even applying???? not to mention I already sent out the request of LORs for that school. 

 

I feel like I need to find another program to try and replace it, but there aren't a lot of people with a focus in behavioral economics/substance abuse *cries* 

 

I’ve seen the opposite. I once didn’t apply to my top program because the website said my POI wasn’t reviewing apps. Sure enough I saw people posting here that the POI interviewed them.  Anyway, now I’ll have to check all my apps to make sure the POI’s are still reviewing apps. 

[Schy]

1 minute ago, 2ndTimeHopeful said:

I’ve seen the opposite. I once didn’t apply to my top program because the website said my POI wasn’t reviewing apps. Sure enough I saw people posting here that the POI interviewed them.  Anyway, now I’ll have to check all my apps to make sure the POI’s are still reviewing apps. 

That sounds equally as horrible! I guess when in doubt apply? It sucks when something feels like a waste of money though. 

[2ndTimeHopeful]

2 hours ago, Schy said:

That sounds equally as horrible! I guess when in doubt apply? It sucks when something feels like a waste of money though. 

Exactly. I emailed POI when I found out but it was past due date & I was out of luck. 

[Jkid]

How wild is it that these applications are due in less than two weeks? I'm planning to submit them all next Wednesday so Thanksgiving is all relaxation, but I'm not currently prepared to let the universe do its thing. 

[379337933793]

12 hours ago, Macykid said:

How wild is it that these applications are due in less than two weeks? I'm planning to submit them all next Wednesday so Thanksgiving is all relaxation, but I'm not currently prepared to let the universe do its thing. 

I submitted everything in early October thinking it would be reassuring to get everything out of the way, but it's only given me a whole month to panic about how I have absolutely no more control over the situation now that my apps are out in the world...I think many of us are in the same boat as "Type A" future PhD students  

[2ndTimeHopeful]

19 minutes ago, tomatotomahto said:

I submitted everything in early October thinking it would be reassuring to get everything out of the way, but it's only given me a whole month to panic about how I have absolutely no more control over the situation now that my apps are out in the world...I think many of us are in the same boat as "Type A" future PhD students  

Exactly. & I’m still waiting on some recs. Luckily they are all apps that allowed 4 Rec submissions & 3 are in so if worse comes to worse I’ll delete the last request at the end of thanksgiving weekend  to complete the apps. Unfortunately the missing Rec is from my most prestigious recommender. 

[379337933793]

34 minutes ago, 2ndTimeHopeful said:

Exactly. & I’m still waiting on some recs. Luckily they are all apps that allowed 4 Rec submissions & 3 are in so if worse comes to worse I’ll delete the last request at the end of thanksgiving weekend  to complete the apps. Unfortunately the missing Rec is from my most prestigious recommender. 

Yeah I’m waiting for 3rd recommender. Without him all my apps will be incomplete. There was someone I could’ve asked to be my 4th but now I feel like it’s way too short notice- definitely sweating a little bit. But as someone said on this thread there’s really no incentive for them to do them early so hopefully it all works out. 

[foood]

47 minutes ago, 2ndTimeHopeful said:

Exactly. & I’m still waiting on some recs. Luckily they are all apps that allowed 4 Rec submissions & 3 are in so if worse comes to worse I’ll delete the last request at the end of thanksgiving weekend  to complete the apps. Unfortunately the missing Rec is from my most prestigious recommender. 

That is stressful. I remember for the last cycle, one of my referees sent their letter on the day that it was due lol. Although I did appreciate her telling me that was her plan, it was still stressful. I feel like a lot of these profs have their own timeline of deadlines given the amount of work that they do, especially if they are super established within their field

[MuRhythms]

9 minutes ago, tomatotomahto said:

Yeah I’m waiting for 3rd recommender. Without him all my apps will be incomplete. There was someone I could’ve asked to be my 4th but now I feel like it’s way too short notice- definitely sweating a little bit. But as someone said on this thread there’s really no incentive for them to do them early so hopefully it all works out. 

I feel you. A recommender asked my to send reminders as the deadline approaches, and I am now trying to figure out the frequency before my Dec 1st deadlines.

I am torn between 10, 5, and 3 days prior OR 7 and 3 days before the deadline. Any suggestions are welcome.

[psy2020]

What are some opinions on how personal your personal statement should be..? I have gotten a lot of mixed advice - some professors have told me to have a personal story in the essay, some advise strongly against it. Currently, mine just describes key research and clinical experiences/what I've learned from them/my research interests and how they align with the program and POI.. Thoughts?