POI not taking grad students this year. Should I wait to apply?

[aja89]

Hi all,

So I'm about to frantically email every adviser I ever had contact with this same question, but I would love advice from anyone here. Sorry if this is a super long post. Hopefully it will help people in similar situations!

I am(was?) planning to apply to Clinical Psych programs this year to enroll in the fall of 2013. I'm interested in doing research in a very specific field, such that only about 15 programs have mentors with similar research interests. At my top two ranked schools, there are researchers who are conducting studies that have greatly influenced my views and interests on this topic and so map directly onto what I would like to study. Both of these schools are extremely competitive, though, and are my "reach" schools.

In compulsively checking the program's website last night I discovered that one of my two top choice mentors will not be accepting graduate students for fall 2013. Here's my dilemma: do I wait a year to apply in order to get a chance to work with my top choice researcher?

If I apply this year to enroll in fall 2013, I think I stand a fair chance of getting in somewhere. To give some background, I have a 3.7 GPA over all, 3.9 for my last 60 credits, and 3.8 for my major; GREs: Quant=157=71%ile (meh), Verbal=166=96%ile, Writing 5.5=96%ile. I will have 2 years of full time research experience at a fancypants institution upon enrollment. I also completed an honors thesis and some did some volunteer research as an undergrad. I have year of a 6-10 hr/wk clinical intern experience at a pediatric psych hospital and a summer of full time clinical experience on a women's helpline. I should have good letters of rec.

The chances of me getting into my other top choice program are ok (I think?), but obviously not a sure thing. If I got into other programs that I'm moderately interested in (in comparison to my top choices), then I would essentially have to count myself out of a chance at getting into my dream program by accepting an offer. Is it reasonable to put my entire application process on hold for a year to have a chance of maybe getting into my dream school? Is this unrealistic considering how competitive clinical psych programs are?

Thanks for any advice!

[kaister]

Hm that's a tough one. I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket and not apply just for one POI. I would still apply this year and see what happens, if you get in somewhere, you'd be able to talk to the faculty, perhaps visit on an interview and you'd have a better idea if you really like the place. You might end up really loving it. My view is that since it's so competitive, you should really just try as often as you can rather than wait it out for one POI. Then if you don't get in anywhere or the offers you got just didn't sit well with you, you could try again next year and have no regrets that way. Note that this POI may not be accepting this year but other POIs on your list may not accept next year if you wait, as well, since they may fill up their lab during this year's application season.

[TakeruK]

In addition to what the above person said, I'd also say to apply everywhere anyways. Especially the point that you should really visit/interview before making a final decision. I know that some of the departments I visited looked much different "on paper" than it did in real life.

Also, the POI you're interested in might change their mind and take a student anyways -- especially if you get external funding. Or there might be a possibility to switch over after a year. Or, if after visiting and you and your "dream POI" make a good connection, there might be a possibility to defer admission for a year?

The bottom line is that it's better to just apply to everything you're interested in now to keep your options open. Like the above person said, you can always just decline everything and reapply next year if you don't think you like any offer you got! Just remember that if you do this, you're not guaranteed to get the same offers as before!!

[Green bean]

Hi Aja89,

Although your specs are indeed, quite impressive, I agree with disillusioned14. Clinical Psych is extremely competitive and you are probably already considering applying to a relatively large number of schools. I understand that you're disappointed that one of your dream programs isn't accepting students... but that's no reason to not apply anywhere else.

You should at least apply to your other dream school. There is no reason not too. If anything, the experience will allow you to get familiarized with the process. However, to be safe, I think you should go ahead and apply to a handful of programs.

[stereopticons]

I actually had this same problem this year. My POI at my dream program isn't taking students, so I had a week or so that I was conflicted about applying. I decided to apply anyway, because a) there's no guarantee that your POI will take students next year, either, there's no guarantee that you'll get in, and c) there are other programs! It's really easy to get tunnel vision about one program, but if there are other places that you think you might have a good experience and enjoy the research, then definitely apply!