Advice needed - my chances of getting into clinical psych PhD program

[kimmie103]

Hi and Thank you for reading this post. I planned to apply for clinical psych PhD programs this cycle. I know this may be too late for me to be still wondering my chances but any advice would greatly help.

I graduated from college in 2018 with 3.78 GPA. I did a few undergrad research internships (not in clinical psych) and an independent honors thesis. My GRE is pretty low (<70%tile); english is my second language. I have good recommendation letters and solid stats/coding skills. I also gained some experience with fMRI and EEG during my undergrad internships.

Here's the biggest problem: I didn't know I want to do clinical psych until after I graduated. I currently work as a research coordinator/ academic assistant for a liberal arts college's psychology department. I am working on some clinical psychology projects (developing new psychometric measurements and investigating college's mental health in a longitudinal study) but none has led to publications yet. The main part of my job is working on monitoring psychology and neuroscience students' academic progress and assisting in the academic program improvements of the department - which is nothing related to clinical psychology or research. 

Do you think my lack of post-bacc research experience can be a hindrance to my chances of getting into grad school? If so, do you suggest anything I can do to increase my chances?

P/s: I can't quit my current job because my visa is tied to this position and I will have to leave the U.S. if I leave my job.

Thank you!

 

[Clinapp2017]

Without publications or even posters, your chances are slim to none this cycle. I’d work on trying to get some publications or posters somehow (maybe using archival datasets or something if you don’t have data for projects). Low GREs also won’t help. 

[JoePianist]

Honestly, many students who get accepted into an APA-accredited PhD Clinical Psychology program haven’t had any research publications. Have you done any research posters to present at any research conferences? In the very least, you’ll want 2-3 first author posters before applying. The liberal arts college where you work may have some local research conferences where you can present a first-author poster. Perhaps you can also contact a trusted professor leading one of the psychology studies you assist and ask them for guidance on your career goal.

For the GRE, you should be okay as long as your quantitative and verbal scores are in the 50th percentile. You’ll need to score at least a 4 on the writing section. I know some programs will be a little lenient on the verbal and writing scores for students whose first language is not English. 

What are your specific research interests in terms of career goal? You don’t need to necessarily have experience working in a “clinical psychology lab” but you do need experience working on projects related to the research labs you plan to apply for in doctorate Clinical Psychology programs.

Edited September 27, 2019 by JoePianist