Fall 2020 Clinical & Counseling PhD/PsyD

[absolutelynott]

On 12/4/2019 at 12:16 PM, Frued's Cat said:

Do you both have specific experience in forensic psychology research? 

Yup! For the past year and a half I've been working as a research assistant for a forensic psychology/neuroscience research institute. I spend the majority of my time focusing on a grant exploring sexual sadism, and I spend 2-3 days out of the week conducting clinical interviews in prisons and a secure sex offender treatment center, which has been super awesome since my interests are in the realm of sexual offender/paraphilia research. Very lucky to have gotten this unique experience! Hoping it's worth something to the schools/PIs I'm applying to ?

[Frued's Cat]

29 minutes ago, teenygreeny said:

Yup! For the past year and a half I've been working as a research assistant for a forensic psychology/neuroscience research institute. I spend the majority of my time focusing on a grant exploring sexual sadism, and I spend 2-3 days out of the week conducting clinical interviews in prisons and a secure sex offender treatment center, which has been super awesome since my interests are in the realm of sexual offender/paraphilia research. Very lucky to have gotten this unique experience! Hoping it's worth something to the schools/PIs I'm applying to ?

I definitely think they will be impressed! I would love to hear more about your experience conducting interviewing individuals in the treatment center you should direct message me or however it works on this forum haha

[SoundofSilence]

On 11/20/2019 at 6:14 PM, Schy said:

I'M SO SORRY! ? If it's any consolation I'm still reeling from the change as well. I've been preparing since July/August and it's so frustrating realizing there's been changes WEEKS before apps are due. If I'm being honest I had a bit of mania and spent a couple hours researching new programs so that I can see if there are faculty out there that I missed before lol 

 

On 11/20/2019 at 6:16 PM, justacigar said:

Right?? I've spent time with my partner imagining what life would be like living in that state, reading papers, contemplating what research questions I wanted to ask within the lab...ugh. Wasn't sure if I wanted to scream or cry last night

I'm glad I'm not overreacting ? I hope you found another good option, or are satisfied with the other programs on your list! My partner reminded me last night that this is why I didn't put all my eggs in one basket...but I REALLY liked that basket lol 

Gaaaah... this just happened to me. A week after the deadline which is almost infuriating. Also, it's my back-up master's program... 

So I corresponded briefly with the POI in late September and they said they are taking a student, encouraging me to apply, keeping an eye on my application, you know the drill. I was quite happy since she is well-known and has collaborations with other clinical programs so even if I didn't continue there with the PhD, I would have a better chance after the master's. 

Well.. this Wednesday rolls around and POI emails me and says "I have decided that I will not be taking on a new student" and puts me in contact with a different POI with slightly different area of research that is "potentially looking to take on a new graduate student in the coming year", which is very confusing. I say thank you and promptly contact this new POI to see if we have compatible research interests.. and he does not respond. 

I'm at a loss for words. This was my back-up (since it's a master's) but a really nice program overall. And this application was expensive and energy consuming (many essays, they require separate scholarship applications, they are the only ones who wanted both electronic and hard copy reference letters, etc.)

I understand that changes happen, but still.. What do you think? Did this POI realize I'm not competitive for their lab after all? Did this happen to anyone else? Should I just give up and withdraw my application (the admin coordinator mass emailed that we still have some scholarships essays to do etc. and it feels like a waste of time).

Sorry for the long rant. 

[justacigar]

4 hours ago, SoundofSilence said:

 

Gaaaah... this just happened to me. A week after the deadline which is almost infuriating. Also, it's my back-up master's program... 

So I corresponded briefly with the POI in late September and they said they are taking a student, encouraging me to apply, keeping an eye on my application, you know the drill. I was quite happy since she is well-known and has collaborations with other clinical programs so even if I didn't continue there with the PhD, I would have a better chance after the master's. 

Well.. this Wednesday rolls around and POI emails me and says "I have decided that I will not be taking on a new student" and puts me in contact with a different POI with slightly different area of research that is "potentially looking to take on a new graduate student in the coming year", which is very confusing. I say thank you and promptly contact this new POI to see if we have compatible research interests.. and he does not respond. 

I'm at a loss for words. This was my back-up (since it's a master's) but a really nice program overall. And this application was expensive and energy consuming (many essays, they require separate scholarship applications, they are the only ones who wanted both electronic and hard copy reference letters, etc.)

I understand that changes happen, but still.. What do you think? Did this POI realize I'm not competitive for their lab after all? Did this happen to anyone else? Should I just give up and withdraw my application (the admin coordinator mass emailed that we still have some scholarships essays to do etc. and it feels like a waste of time).

Sorry for the long rant. 

Ugh that's terrible! Especially AFTER the deadline. I'm also surprised that a master's program follows a strict mentorship model, interesting! Well, because your application is in, you never know what could happen. The program could realize you are a wonderful fit and still offer you a position! 

It's nothing personal, for sure. I wouldn't beat yourself up about why the advisor suddenly decided to not consider taking students. I definitely took it personally when I found out about mine, especially because I was making connections with her and her grad students. It's ultimately up to you if you want to continue the process. You've done so much work already, maybe it's worth it to just stick it out. I'm so sorry that happened to you!

[merpppy]

Would any of you recommend following up with a POI after you previously had correspondence? I talked to a professor via email a few months ago, who is accepting students, but haven't heard anything since. Is it useful to kind of remind them that you're still alive? LOL 

[Clinapp2017]

2 hours ago, merpppy said:

Would any of you recommend following up with a POI after you previously had correspondence? I talked to a professor via email a few months ago, who is accepting students, but haven't heard anything since. Is it useful to kind of remind them that you're still alive? LOL 

Not at this point. It could have been nice to let them apply before the app deadline, but now it will just come off as annoying. 

[Jkid]

I got a Skype interview for UCSB!

[CowpokeMT]

38 minutes ago, Macykid said:

I got a Skype interview for UCSB!

Congrats!! Would you mind sharing the initials of your POI? Thanks! 

[SoundofSilence]

20 hours ago, justacigar said:

Ugh that's terrible! Especially AFTER the deadline. I'm also surprised that a master's program follows a strict mentorship model, interesting! Well, because your application is in, you never know what could happen. The program could realize you are a wonderful fit and still offer you a position! 

It's nothing personal, for sure. I wouldn't beat yourself up about why the advisor suddenly decided to not consider taking students. I definitely took it personally when I found out about mine, especially because I was making connections with her and her grad students. It's ultimately up to you if you want to continue the process. You've done so much work already, maybe it's worth it to just stick it out. I'm so sorry that happened to you!

Thank you for your response! It's a medical research master's, but affiliated with the clinical psych program. And it does have a mentorship model, due to the strong research training offered. The thing is, I have in my statement that I want to work with Dr. X and I am applying because of my interest in her work. So I don't know, would a different POI read that and be like - yes, let's interview this person although it doesn't mention me?

I might be a bit too frustrated since I'm an international as well and this process has been quite consuming and expensive as it is. I should have had multiple "backups" lol

[psytillidie]

5 hours ago, SoundofSilence said:

Thank you for your response! It's a medical research master's, but affiliated with the clinical psych program. And it does have a mentorship model, due to the strong research training offered. The thing is, I have in my statement that I want to work with Dr. X and I am applying because of my interest in her work. So I don't know, would a different POI read that and be like - yes, let's interview this person although it doesn't mention me?

I might be a bit too frustrated since I'm an international as well and this process has been quite consuming and expensive as it is. I should have had multiple "backups" lol

I actually have a friend that applied to work with someone, but they ended up deciding to retire after initially thinking they were taking a student. A new faculty member saw my friend’s app, interviewed him, and offered him a spot. So it isn’t impossible!

[Holsmon]

So excited! I've scheduled a phone interview with a POI. 

This is my first time applying to Clinical Psychology PhD programs. Does anyone have any tips regarding phone interviews? I'm a bit unsure of what to expect. 

[Jkid]

30 minutes ago, Holsmon said:

So excited! I've scheduled a phone interview with a POI. 

This is my first time applying to Clinical Psychology PhD programs. Does anyone have any tips regarding phone interviews? I'm a bit unsure of what to expect. 

Same here! I scheduled a meeting with my advisor to do a mock interview so I know what to expect ??

[yikespsych]

I applied to Case Western and I missed a call from Cleveland an hour ago... they wouldn't call on a Sunday right? 

[MaybeMaybe2020]

14 minutes ago, yikespsych said:

I applied to Case Western and I missed a call from Cleveland an hour ago... they wouldn't call on a Sunday right? 

Can't hurt to go to program website/POI page to see if any of the listed numbers match up! Fingers crossed it was them

[PsyDuck90]

1 hour ago, yikespsych said:

I applied to Case Western and I missed a call from Cleveland an hour ago... they wouldn't call on a Sunday right? 

If it was the program calling, they would most likely leave a message or at the very least try again later. It would be pretty ridiculous on their part to pass over a candidate just because they didn't answer an unknown phone number. 

[psycstudent2018]

Can whoever got the UDel interview post or DM your POI initials?

[psycstudent2018]

9 hours ago, Holsmon said:

So excited! I've scheduled a phone interview with a POI. 

This is my first time applying to Clinical Psychology PhD programs. Does anyone have any tips regarding phone interviews? I'm a bit unsure of what to expect. 

What program?

[whitmanic]

Got an e-mail from a POI ... to 1) ask if I was still interested, and 2) tell me my letters of rec were missing, despite them reading as received in my application portal. Assuming this is on balance a good thing.

[2ndTimeHopeful]

7 hours ago, whitmanic said:

Got an e-mail from a POI ... to 1) ask if I was still interested, and 2) tell me my letters of rec were missing, despite them reading as received in my application portal. Assuming this is on balance a good thing.

Which school?

[379337933793]

10 hours ago, psycstudent2018 said:

Can whoever got the UDel interview post or DM your POI initials?

I'd also like to know! 

This is the first school I applied to with any results posted. Yikes! 

[island876]

Can the person who received the Kent State interview post the POI !? 

[Psych1st]

Are more schools doing preliminary interviews this year? It seems like there are a lot more this year than in the past. 

[Holsmon]

16 hours ago, psycstudent2018 said:

What program?

Kent State University. Phone interview is this Thursday!

[Kaya_F]

Hi friends!

New to the forum - need notifications to keep me sane waiting to hear from schools!

I only applied to 

- San diego state (SDSU) / USD joint PhD program Clinical Psych

-  UCLA PhD Clinical Psych

- USC PhD Clinical Psych

UCLA is still showing that my subject test scores haven't been received, and the SDSU portal hasn't confirmed receiving official transcripts or any GRE scores

Also, I submitted my UCLA app on time but it took a day or 2 to process, so now I'm freaking out because it says submitted Dec 2....probably overreacting, im sure if I was late they wouldn't have let me submit it.... ?

 

Stats:

- Graduate Masters of Science in cellular and molecular medical research: GPA 3.8

- Undergraduate honors bachelor of science specializing in psychology: GPA 3.6 (upper years GPA 3.8)

- 1 co-author publication this year, 2 abstracts published, 10+ conferences poster presentations, 2 international poster presentations, 3 years of clinical work, 3 years of research experience

- GRE: V 165 / Q 161 / 5.5; Psych 710

 

[PsychM]

Hi all! I am a student in Fordham University's Clinical Psychology PhD program and I know how hard it is to be in your position! So, I am happy to answer any questions anyone may have about this process in relation to Fordham or really any Clinical PhD program! Fell free to direct message me :]