Clinical Psych Application Advice!!!!!

[psychstudent123]

Hey, 

 

I am a rising senior psychology student. I'm planning on applying to graduate programs (both Ph.D and Masters) for clinical psychology. I was wondering if anybody could give me some feedback about my status so far. I have done a good amount of research in the past year regarding different programs, and I know that they are extremely competitive. In my current situation, I'm not sure what I should do. 

 

GPA: Currently, my cumulative GPA is a 3.32. Unfortunately, I had a rough start my freshman year, and earned some grades that killed my GPA. Since freshman year, my GPA has dramatically increased. My applications are due at the beginning of December, so this is the GPA that admissions will see. This is the weakest area of my application, and I'm very worried that my application will be tossed out because of my low GPA.  

 

GRE: I have taken the GRE once. V: 158 Q:149. I was not happy with my score (particularly quantitative), so I will be taking the test again at the beginning of September. This time, I have invested a great deal of time into preparing for the test, so I do expect my scores to increase. I have been working through 2 Kaplan books as well as a Princeton Review book. 

 

Research: By the time my applications are due, I will have one year of research experience working in a psycholinguistics lab. Last semester, I presented a poster at a University wide conference for undergraduate research, and won first place in the psychology and neuroscience category. 

 

Clinical Experience: By the time my applications are due, I will have about one year of volunteer work at a local hospital. I work on the oncology ward, mostly providing emotional support to patients and their families. 

 

-I plan on obtaining strong letters of recommendation from my undergraduate research mentor, as well as two of my upper level psychology professors. I have done a lot of research on different programs, and I know that being a good match (regarding research interests) is a big part of admissions. I have chosen programs that conduct research that I am genuinely interested in, and will hopefully be able to write  pretty good statements of purpose. Given my low GPA, do I stand a chance of being accepted to Ph.D programs, or should I be focusing on obtaining a masters first, to prove that I am capable of the work? I appreciate any advice! 

[Lisa44201]

Your GPA is on the low side, but you know that. To offset that, you're going to need to have a really solid GRE score. Good call on re-taking it. Your SOP is going to need to be stellar, and you're going to need to bring that GRE up for PhD programs. If worse comes to worse and you don't get into a PhD program this time around, I would suggest going to a Master's program (as opposed to working in a lab for a year or two); it'll help your overall application to get a good GPA there, and you can pick up research experience via your Master's Thesis.

[CBrown]

Many programs only look at your last two years of courses, particularly in your major, so don't worry if your first year is throwing you off. If you're applying ONLY to clinical programs, the overwhelming feedback I received was that the quant score is the least important, but it doesn't hurt to boost it, do your best. Research experience is key, so stay involved in your research projects or try to gain more experience prior to your application, in case you end up having to apply more than once (it's extremely competitive). Good luck!

[MsDarjeeling]

Many programs only look at your last two years of courses, particularly in your major, so don't worry if your first year is throwing you off. If you're applying ONLY to clinical programs, the overwhelming feedback I received was that the quant score is the least important, but it doesn't hurt to boost it, do your best. Research experience is key, so stay involved in your research projects or try to gain more experience prior to your application, in case you end up having to apply more than once (it's extremely competitive). Good luck!

 

Did this feedback come from the clinical programs you were applying to?  From undergrad professors helping you with your applications?  From somewhere else?

 

I'm asking for clarification as I too am applying to clinical programs and have gotten mixed feedback on the importance of the quant score.

[Lisa44201]

Did this feedback come from the clinical programs you were applying to?  From undergrad professors helping you with your applications?  From somewhere else?

 

I'm asking for clarification as I too am applying to clinical programs and have gotten mixed feedback on the importance of the quant score.

I would suggest the Quant score is more important, especially at the PhD level; even if, career-wise, you are someone who "just wants to help people," you need to be able to read and understand journal articles (admittedly, the Quant portion of the GRE has little to do with statistics, but it's still One Of Those Things we have to take).

[CBrown]

Did this feedback come from the clinical programs you were applying to?  From undergrad professors helping you with your applications?  From somewhere else?

 

I'm asking for clarification as I too am applying to clinical programs and have gotten mixed feedback on the importance of the quant score.

It came from clinical programs and specific professors. There is of course individual variability in the weight specific programs and professors will place on the GRE sections, but what I was told in interviews and by the professor I was accepted by is that statistics grades are a stronger indicator of quantitative skills than the GRE quant score.

Edited August 17, 2013 by CBrown

[PsychGirl1]

We've all had arguments on this board before about which section matters most. :-D Let's be real- for clinical, BOTH are important, as well as your overall score. Many schools have cutoffs based on overall score. I've also seen cutoffs based on the quant score (ex. total score over XX + quant score over YY). I did extremely well on the quant section, and I think that helped me stand out during the process. Usually, math/stats are what psych students find the hardest- if you can show mastery of quantitative skills, you WILL stand out.

 

It also depends on your program of interest and the amount of research focus within that program. For example, the average score for accepted students for UCLA's Clinical Psych program- a very competitive, research-based program- is about 650-700 verbal (old scale) and 725-770 quant. For say, Ohio University- also a research-based program but slightly less-so- the average is about 600 for both sections. If you want a very strong research-based, competitive program, having good quant scores are very important. If you want a program that is more equally focused on research and clinical work, then being decent on both sections is important.

 

In addition to that, I think if you have an above-average score in quant (ex. 650 on the old scale) and apply to decent programs, nobody will blink twice at your quant score. But I think if you have an awesome score in quant (ex. 800), admission committees would be VERY excited. But I find it hard to believe that if someone had a 650 in verbal versus an 800 in verbal, it would cause the same amount of interest in that applicant as it would with the quant score. So based on what I've seen, I guess what I mean is that while both sections are important, I think more bang for your buck comes from raising your quant score above average compared to your verbal score. That being said, having your verbal section below average may raise more eyebrows than having a quant section below average, since most people tend to do fairly well on the verbal section.

 

Make sense? I should probably draw a graph :-D

Edited August 17, 2013 by PsychGirl1