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Fall 2021 Clinical & Counseling PhD/PsyD


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Does anyone have any tips for coping after receiving rejections? I had a first-round preliminary interview this week that I thought went really well and was (in my eyes) a perfect research match. I was super excited to hear back from the professor, but I just got a rejection in my email with the standard "it was an especially competitive year". It's making me super nervous because now I have 3 rejections (2 assumed) and 0 interview prospects, and if I couldn't land an interview at a place that seemed like the ideal match, I'm just really getting down about my chances at the rest of the schools and what I potentially did wrong in the preliminary interview. Is anyone dealing with a similar thing?

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8 minutes ago, shutupsigmundfreud said:

Does anyone have any tips for coping after receiving rejections? I had a first-round preliminary interview this week that I thought went really well and was (in my eyes) a perfect research match. I was super excited to hear back from the professor, but I just got a rejection in my email with the standard "it was an especially competitive year". It's making me super nervous because now I have 3 rejections (2 assumed) and 0 interview prospects, and if I couldn't land an interview at a place that seemed like the ideal match, I'm just really getting down about my chances at the rest of the schools and what I potentially did wrong in the preliminary interview. Is anyone dealing with a similar thing?

This is my third cycle, so I understand that feeling. What I've done between cycles has been really important. I've really focused on research and I've been in a good position where I've been apart of a post-bacc. I haven't made the financial decision to pursue a masters, and where I may be lacking in academic experience, I have an abundance of hands-on working and research experience. Being rejected is never easy, but now it gives you an edge where you can learn from this 'failure'. How you respond to this will be important. 

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EDIT: jk i found my post ?

Are we allowed to post on here asking about poi initials? Trying to figure out if my post was taken down/if I shouldn’t be bugging people on this forum. 

Edited by missmusical
oops
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Guys I have a question: The website says “Initial Interview Weekend invitations will be sent out by mid-January.”
Does this mean the invites will be sent out by 19th (the end of the mid month) at the latest or 10th (the beginning of mid month) at the latest?

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15 minutes ago, SheMadeItEventually said:

Guys I have a question: The website says “Initial Interview Weekend invitations will be sent out by mid-January.”
Does this mean the invites will be sent out by 19th (the end of the mid month) at the latest or 10th (the beginning of mid month) at the latest?

I think mid-January is just a vague time frame. If they had a specific date in mind they'd probably just say it. But that's just what I would think!

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I’ve seen these schools listed (and Utah has interviews this week), but haven’t seen these PIs mentioned so I’m curious if anyone has heard from..

YS at University of Utah

FH at Penn State University

KC at University of Nebraska-Lincoln 

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37 minutes ago, psychapplicant21 said:

I'm sorry I had to say something but I can't believe there are people who are actually posting false interview invites. This is really unacceptable on so many levels. 

It’s genuinely disgusting and I hope all of those person’s posts get removed. I really have no words. 

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35 minutes ago, psychapplicant21 said:

I'm sorry I had to say something but I can't believe there are people who are actually posting false interview invites. This is really unacceptable on so many levels. 

Thank you for bringing this up! To be honest, I’m a little glad those are fake. The problem solver in me was thinking, “What was your statement like? The GRE? If they can’t get in then how do I have any hope!” 

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This is it guys. I know I probably shouldn't have but I emailed the admission assistant for one of my schools asking if they were done with sending invites. I'm sure she got a lot of those emails over the weekend but here is another one to add. Here's to another week of waiting.

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1 hour ago, frazyfar said:

Thank you for bringing this up! To be honest, I’m a little glad those are fake. The problem solver in me was thinking, “What was your statement like? The GRE? If they can’t get in then how do I have any hope!” 

Yea this was my thought process too, and I initially fell for the posts lol. 

It is insensitive because there are many applicants who have strong applications and come from diverse backgrounds so seeing these sort of stats would add even more anxiety to an already insanely competitive season. 

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20 hours ago, shutupsigmundfreud said:

Does anyone have any tips for coping after receiving rejections? I had a first-round preliminary interview this week that I thought went really well and was (in my eyes) a perfect research match. I was super excited to hear back from the professor, but I just got a rejection in my email with the standard "it was an especially competitive year". It's making me super nervous because now I have 3 rejections (2 assumed) and 0 interview prospects, and if I couldn't land an interview at a place that seemed like the ideal match, I'm just really getting down about my chances at the rest of the schools and what I potentially did wrong in the preliminary interview. Is anyone dealing with a similar thing?

I went through something similar a few weeks back. I had a preliminary interview with a PI and I felt we were a perfect match, plus it seemed to me that my interview and our conversations went really well. Then within a week I received the rejection email, which really surprised me. I actually followed up with the PI and, in a very professional and respectful email, asked if I could receive some feedback. She shared with me that the interview went great, but she was looking for these 2 specific skills/experiences that I simply did not have or did not have enough of. Understandably, that was something she needed to gauge in the interview. In the end, you have to understand that professors are looking for very specific things that may not be completely apparent. I have a friend who went through the interview process 2 years ago and got zero acceptances. When she followed up for feedback, she got responses like "we needed someone with experience in FMRI" but she only had ECG, for example. You have to understand that it is much to the PIs benefit if their graduate students already have a skill than to train someone to learn the whole process. So really, when coping with rejections, you have to remind yourself that A. it is not personal, it is more likely a question of "fit" for the lab and a logistics thing rather than who you are or if you did well in an interview, etc. and B. out of ALL the applicants, you were chosen for an interview. That's HUGE in this field. You should be so proud of yourself for getting to that point. After that, things are beyond your control and you have to find a way to accept that.

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8 minutes ago, sanna927 said:

I went through something similar a few weeks back. I had a preliminary interview with a PI and I felt we were a perfect match, plus it seemed to me that my interview and our conversations went really well. Then within a week I received the rejection email, which really surprised me. I actually followed up with the PI and, in a very professional and respectful email, asked if I could receive some feedback. She shared with me that the interview went great, but she was looking for these 2 specific skills/experiences that I simply did not have or did not have enough of. Understandably, that was something she needed to gauge in the interview. In the end, you have to understand that professors are looking for very specific things that may not be completely apparent. I have a friend who went through the interview process 2 years ago and got zero acceptances. When she followed up for feedback, she got responses like "we needed someone with experience in FMRI" but she only had ECG, for example. You have to understand that it is much to the PIs benefit if their graduate students already have a skill than to train someone to learn the whole process. So really, when coping with rejections, you have to remind yourself that A. it is not personal, it is more likely a question of "fit" for the lab and a logistics thing rather than who you are or if you did well in an interview, etc. and B. out of ALL the applicants, you were chosen for an interview. That's HUGE in this field. You should be so proud of yourself for getting to that point. After that, things are beyond your control and you have to find a way to accept that.

Thanks, it does definitely help to remind myself that it is NOT personal, but my anxiety still gets to me since I had such a good feeling about this one. There are 6 schools left I have yet to hear back from, so here's hoping! It's a shame that you can look so good on paper, be super experienced and qualified, but still get rejections since this process is really a case of the stars aligning. 

I get frustrated sometimes when people in my life are like "oh well you have a great resume, you'll get so many offers!" and I understand that they're being supportive and nice, but I wish I could explain that that's not how it works for clinical psych. Sometimes I think we're all masochists for choosing this field lol

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4 minutes ago, shutupsigmundfreud said:

Thanks, it does definitely help to remind myself that it is NOT personal, but my anxiety still gets to me since I had such a good feeling about this one. There are 6 schools left I have yet to hear back from, so here's hoping! It's a shame that you can look so good on paper, be super experienced and qualified, but still get rejections since this process is really a case of the stars aligning. 

I get frustrated sometimes when people in my life are like "oh well you have a great resume, you'll get so many offers!" and I understand that they're being supportive and nice, but I wish I could explain that that's not how it works for clinical psych. Sometimes I think we're all masochists for choosing this field lol

I totally get that feeling. It is truly unfortunate that there are sooooo many qualified individuals for this field, but the reality is that there are only a few spots open for each school. I wish there was more funding available for these programs which imo largely benefit people and broader society on the other end. 

I get annoyed when people say that too. It's flattering, but they also don't understand the competition or the feeling of just being "lucky enough". Not sure if this is the best thing to do, but I often don't tell people of the schools I applied to or if I'm applying at all just because I can't possibly predict the outcome and I can always try next year but at least the pressure of expectations is kept limited to my immediate social circle.   

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23 minutes ago, sanna927 said:

I went through something similar a few weeks back. I had a preliminary interview with a PI and I felt we were a perfect match, plus it seemed to me that my interview and our conversations went really well. Then within a week I received the rejection email, which really surprised me. I actually followed up with the PI and, in a very professional and respectful email, asked if I could receive some feedback....

I totally get the PI's response as well, although that still leaves the applicant in something of a conundrum. If the PI ultimately needs someone with neuroimaging experience and you don't have it then...what? Sure, the conclusion is that you go get some, but it's not like it's a given you can easily just go get accepted for a position that will allow you to build that experience. It can be so difficult to get any RA job for some people, much less one that is perfectly modeled after your own interests. I think some PI's are more understanding, while others essentially expect to pick from the cream of the crop. Is the person who went to a SLAC any less inherently competent than the Ivy-league alum with lots of experience and pubs already earned by graduation? No, but realistically you're going to have a much harder time as the former. It honestly feels rather "sucks to be you then" sometimes. ?

 

4 minutes ago, sanna927 said:

I get annoyed when people say that too. It's flattering, but they also don't understand the competition or the feeling of just being "lucky enough".

Bah, don't get me started on this too...friends and family mean well, but sometimes their suggestions can leave you feeling a bit "wow thanks I'm cured!" This process can feel so incredibly isolating sometimes.

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Wanted to put it out there that someone told me people have lied about results before on here (people suck. Like come on). Just a reminder to take everything with a grain of salt and remember that this can be a pretty toxic place to stay wrapped up in without taking breathers. 

Edited by FingersCrossed58
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3 minutes ago, FingersCrossed58 said:

Wanted to put it out there that someone told me people have lied about results before on here (people suck. Like come on). Just a reminder to take everything with a grain of salt and remember that this can be a pretty toxic place to stay wrapped up in without taking breathers. 

I'm so confused as to why anyone would want to lie about their results - it's not fair to anyone :(

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