From Physics to Psychology

[philophilosophy]

Hi all,

I am a PhD student in physics but I have a very strong interest in clinical psychology - strong enough that I want to get a PhD in it after I finish with my physics degree. I am planning to apply for a PhD/MA in psychology the fall of 2013. So far, I have taken as much psychology courses as possible and have just started working in a psychology lab (data entry for now). Here are the undergraduate courses that I have taken: Child Development, Research Method, Personality Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, and Social Psychology. And I will take Intro to Clinical Psychology, Abnormal Psychology and a graduate course on Cognitive Neuroscience before I apply. As for my grades, I have a 3.87 GPA and a 4.00 in the psychology courses.

Given this information about my background what do you suggest regarding the following questions:

1. Do you think I can be a good enough applicant for a relatively good PhD program, or do you suggest that I start with an MA first (I would need funding)?

2. Given that I have plenty of research experience and a few publications in physics, I am inclined to think that I don't need a lot of research experience in psychology to show my commitment and diligence in doing research. So I'm inclined to think that I'd better take as much courses in psychology as possible instead of spending more time in research so as to produce a paper or present a poster. Am I right about this? In other words, does the general advise that research experience matters the most apply to my case as well?

3. I have to retake the GRE general exam. I got a perfect score in the math section last time and I can easily repeat that, but the verbal part is a bit tough for me. It seems that with a reasonable amount of work I can make it up to 600s (old scale) but getting a score above 700 will need a considerably more amount of work. Does anyone think it is worth it? (Please remember that I must at the same time finish my PhD in physics so I have really limited amount of time).

4. How reasonable is it for me to take the GRE subject exam? Do you think that'll help me show my knowledge in general stuff?

I really appreciate your advice

[LuckyCat]

Given that you are currently pursuing a physics Ph.D., does your school have a clinical psychology Ph.D. program? If yes, speak with professors/grad students at your school (or a school in the surrounding area) to get their perspective on the best preparation to make the transition. Two of the biggest challenges that I foresee (caveat: I am a social, not clinical, psychology Ph.D. student) are the following:

(1) From your provided information, it appears you don't have clinical experience. Most of the top clinical psych Ph.D. programs prefer that you have 1-2 years of clinical experience to demonstrate an ability and desire to interact in a professional, competent, and mature manner with community members and/or clinical populations. This experience can be gained in the form of an internship or paid work.

(2) Your decision to switch from physics to clinical psychology will be viewed skeptically by some in the field. Are you interested in psychophysics that has a clinical application? If yes, this will make your transition more logical and, possibly, your background in physics highly valued.

Best of luck with your transition!

[TakeruK]

Maybe this comment is unnecessary because you do sound like you've looked into this in detail. But are you planning to do the Psychology degree at the same school? When applying, I noticed that many schools do not allow students who already hold a PhD from the same school to apply to another PhD program. Some schools may not even want to take any student with a prior PhD from anywhere else. But maybe someone who does have a multiple PhDs can say something about this?