Anything else I can do? (not accepted into clinical/counseling)

[NoKappa]

Hi all! I finally received my last rejection. No interviews from any place which worries me. My professor/PI strongly advised I re-take the GRE and adjust my standards/apply to more programs. I'll give a brief rundown of what I have going for/against me. My dream is/was to do clinical or counseling psych so I can be involved in research on assessment.  I know there is not a lot I can change or add within this year, but any advice is appreciated. I am also worried if I should just avoid the psych field altogether due to a weak application.

 

-BS Psych 2.8 GPA, Masters in Social Work 3.5 GPA

-GRE V158 Q149 Analytical Writing 4.0 <---Will be retaking and focusing heavily on the quant and writing

-Two social work publications, one as last author (5th), another as second author.

-About 1.5 years experience as a research project manager

-Letters of recommendation: 1 from my social work professor, 2 from two non-academic clinical psychologists <--- And any opportunities to work with other researchers seemed to have gone away with COVID

 

 

[PsyDuck90]

The biggest thing is research I think. Try to get more research experience and your name on a poster/pub within psych. Research positions should be opening up soon. There's been a few places where links to job postings have been mentioned on this forum. While you have the 2 pubs, they're in social work. Although related, you want to try to get posters/pubs specifically in psych. 

[SocDevMum]

7 hours ago, NoKappa said:

2 from two non-academic clinical psychologist

Do you not have two other possible academic LOR writers? If you are applying to clinical research PhD programs, this is a huge miss to not have academic researchers writing your LORs. Beyond research, grad school committees are looking for someone who has proven they can be successful academically as well. Your Masters GPA of 3.5 is borderline for many clinical psych programs, and it may have hurt you to be lacking strong academic voices that could stand in support of your academic abilities. Maybe revisit this for the next application season.

Do you not have any conference presentations from your research work? I know conferences went virtual in 2020, but they still count on the CV and should be listed. And conferences are still happening this year as well - you may want to submit to a psych conference or two this year and get those on the record. 

Lastly - how are you articulating your desire to research assessment? And are you applying to research-based clinical programs? Check the fit of the PIs you are applying to, and make sure when you write your personal statements that you are clearly explaining how your interest is a great match for their interests. Bad fits don't get interviews even if they are a perfect candidate on paper.

Don't give up hope.  I would venture to guess that a very large percentage of clinical applicants do not get accepted on their first round.

 

[Clinapp2017]

I would not give up hope at all but echo what others are saying. Re-taking and acing the GRE, even if programs make it optional, might help offset low undergrad GPA and borderline masters GPA. Fit is everything for clinical (and a lot of counseling) PhD programs, since you'll be working under the guidance of a mentor for 5+ years on your research projects. If its not clear how your MSW and previous research aligns with the work of your POI's, that's going to be a detriment to your application. 

 

One thing I would advise more consideration on, though (assuming you haven't put a ton of thought into this, which maybe you have) is do you really need a clinical or counseling psych PhD to achieve your specific goals? For people who have completed license-eligible programs, like MSW, I always ask that question b/c you are committing another 6+ years of your life, and more with post-doc, to training in a related speciality, with little-to-no pay. There are also academic/research positions for people holding MSW degrees, if your goal is to be faculty. If not faculty and you just want to work in the research world to an extent, you can be hired be a larger study to be a clinician in their research lab's trials, assuming they want licensed folks. Long story short, there are multiple paths, and a PhD will be a significant time investment after already being license eligible. 

[NoKappa]

7 hours ago, PsyDuck90 said:

The biggest thing is research I think. Try to get more research experience and your name on a poster/pub within psych. Research positions should be opening up soon. There's been a few places where links to job postings have been mentioned on this forum. While you have the 2 pubs, they're in social work. Although related, you want to try to get posters/pubs specifically in psych. 

I want to do that. There is nothing currently open at my university as far as I can see but I will keep looking. When I check postings, it seems like I would need to move across or out of state. Which I am more than willing to do for the duration of a degree, but have not considered (until now) to do just for a year or two in preparation for school.

7 hours ago, SocDevMum said:

Do you not have two other possible academic LOR writers? ...

Lastly - how are you articulating your desire to research assessment? And are you applying to research-based clinical programs? Check the fit of the PIs you are applying to, and make sure when you write your personal statements that you are clearly explaining how your interest is a great match for their interests. Bad fits don't get interviews even if they are a perfect candidate on paper.

I knew it would be an issue. The best suggestion that my professor gave me was to use a recently graduated PhD who was my lab manager for a year. Which is still not ideal. Again, it seems the best route would be to just pick up more psych-focused research job and get experienced references. So I will be seriously looking into this.

As far as the admissions essays: Yes, I ensured that I picked professors/universities with research that I could realistically spin my current work as being similar. e.g. all my POIs were doing research with similar populations, using similar instruments, a couple of them were specifically community/social justice focused which I had really hoped would align closer with social work. 

5 hours ago, Clinapp2017 said:

One thing I would advise more consideration on, though (assuming you haven't put a ton of thought into this, which maybe you have) is do you really need a clinical or counseling psych PhD to achieve your specific goals? For people who have completed license-eligible programs, like MSW, I always ask that question b/c you are committing another 6+ years of your life, and more with post-doc, to training in a related speciality, with little-to-no pay. There are also academic/research positions for people holding MSW degrees, if your goal is to be faculty. If not faculty and you just want to work in the research world to an extent, you can be hired be a larger study to be a clinician in their research lab's trials, assuming they want licensed folks. Long story short, there are multiple paths, and a PhD will be a significant time investment after already being license eligible. 

That is a discussion I have had with my professor. My main hang-up with not doing psych is that there is no equivalent in social work PhDs/DSWs. I find the work great and I think I would be ok with pursuing it. But when I find research that I am excited about, it is almost uniformly being done by psychologists. It is an on-going conversation that would take too long to discuss here but I am glad that someone other than my professor (and every graduate guide book) is suggesting it, because I know I tend to overlook the possibilities of what I currently have. 

 

Thank you all for the feedback. I was really down in the dumps (still am) because I spent the last year and a half trying to do everything to follow that Insider's Guide to Clinical/Counseling programs book. I do understand a lot of people probably spend a good 5 years following the guide and prepping themselves. It is good to know that all of the advice in it is pretty much exactly what everyone on the forums is saying. I just have to bring it up another couple of notches. One specific question: With the psych research assistant positions, how crucial is it that the research be aligned with whatever I am looking for in a future program? I see a lot of positions open across the US, almost all for projects that I would never want to pursue for life (though I do love being involved with research in-general). 

[SocDevMum]

17 hours ago, NoKappa said:

how crucial is it that the research be aligned with whatever I am looking for in a future program?

In your field would be great. In your particular scope of interest would be *chef's kiss*

But when push comes to shove, any research is better than none. I would say, try to get in to a clinical/counseling lab if possible, either in an academic institution or at a med school affiliated with a university. Research skills are research skills - what you learn in any one lab can be easily translated to another.