Anyone want to review my SOP for psychology doctoral programs? (posted here)

[StatsNerd]

I posted a request for an SOP swap in the Psychology forum with little response, so I decided to actually post it here. I feel a little weird about this so I'll be removing it after I get feedback. I'm applying to all clinical psych PhD programs. My first deadline is Nov 15 so this is my SOP draft for that school, which I'll then edit to fit the other schools I'm applying to. I'm especially curious about the second "paragraph" which I know is just kind of thrown in there but I feel the need to address the large gaps in my undergrad transcript, but without going into detail. Any/all feedback is welcome! Thanks!

 

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I want to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical psychology because I have a desire to empirically investigate problems in the field, and I know that valid research can further the advancement of psychology as both a science and a practice. While in a doctoral program I hope to enhance my research skills while obtaining clinical experience and adding to the current body of knowledge in the area of trauma studies. My professional goals are an extension of my academic and personal experiences thus far, and obtaining a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology will be excellent preparation for a career in academic research. I believe the Clinical Psychology program at XYZ University is the ideal place for me to pursue these goals. I am especially attracted to XYZ's focus on addressing real-world issues through research and community partnerships.

 

As an undergraduate, I dealt with a medical condition that made school a challenge and resulted in having to take several semesters off to seek treatment. Despite this hardship, I kept coming back and by the fall of 2009 was healthy enough to return to focus exclusively on my studies.

 

I acquired my first research experience working with Dr. N at [my undergrad university]. It was in assisting her with a literature review on the stigma of mental illness among adolescents that in part roused my interest in clinical research topics. In my final year as an undergraduate, I completed a senior thesis in which I examined how public perceptions of eating disorders differ according to the etiological factors attributed to them, particularly prior traumatic experiences. The paper was published in my university’s undergraduate research journal. It was an edifying experience in seeing an entire project through from start to finish, and it got me thinking about psychological trauma as a research area.

 

After obtaining my bachelor’s degree I enrolled in the experimental psychology M.A. program at [my graduate university] with the objective of getting more research experience and solidifying my own interests. At  [my graduate university] , I have taken a rigorous sequence of statistics and research methods courses (e.g. Multivariate Statistics, Advanced Research Methods, Latent Variable Analysis) and have been working with Dr. A in his ________ Laboratory. I have conducted research assessing how stuttering impacts psychological wellbeing and how individuals react when listening to people stutter. I have also evaluated the psychometric properties of various scales that measure attitudes towards people with disabilities. I have presented several posters related to this research at regional and national conferences, most recently at the Association for Psychological Science annual convention in Washington, D.C.  In addition to my work with Dr. A, this semester I began volunteering at [my graduate university's] University Counseling Services analyzing data related to students’ utilization of campus mental health services. 

 

Outside of [my graduate university] , I have worked as a research assistant at [my place of employment], a private practice specializing in psychological assessment. I was trained to administer and score psychological assessments as well as edit reports for individual clients, thus becoming familiar with a myriad of cognitive, achievement, and personality assessments. I also maintained a large database of information collected from clients referred to [my place of employment] through the ______ Department of Rehabilitation and examined how certain client characteristics predicted their likelihood of a successful Department of Rehabilitation outcome. My experience at [my place of employment] was invaluable in that it confirmed my desire to conduct research with clinical populations.

 

I came into [my graduate university's] master’s program still unclear on what exactly I wanted to be my research focus, but it became more apparent with time that my passion lies in the area of trauma. [i might add in something here about where this interest stems from] For my master's thesis, I am looking at symptoms of dissociation and the severity of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) as mediators of the relationship between CSA and adult interpersonal victimization. These ideas came as I was reading the literature on sexual revictimization and noticed that posttraumatic symptoms were often brought up as being influential mediators, but it was difficult to know exactly what types of these symptoms contributed the most. I became particularly interested in dissociative symptoms after reading about neuroimaging studies that found physiological evidence for two distinct reactions to trauma (Lanius et al., 2010), which eventually led to a “dissociative subtype” of PTSD being added to the new DSM-5. I also wanted to expand my research to consider all types of interpersonal revictimization (sexual and nonsexual) seeing as most of the current research focuses solely on how CSA leads to sexual revictimization.

 

More broadly, I am interested in the impact of childhood trauma on future psychopathology, resilience and differences in ways of coping with adversity, and posttraumatic growth. At XYZ University, I am interested in working with Dr. K. I am particularly interested in her research on [blah, blah, blah], and her recent project examining [blah, blah, blah].

 

During my undergraduate and postgraduate work, I have cultivated an understanding for what constitutes sound research, and I have had time to develop my own interests in the field of clinical psychology. I wish to expand upon my skills and interests in a doctoral program and I consider myself an excellent fit for XYZ University’s Clinical Psychology program.  A career in clinical psychology research will be both intellectually galvanizing and personally rewarding, and I look forward to the prospect of furthering such a career at XYZ University. 

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

Don't allude to a medical condition. http://psychology.unl.edu/psichi/Graduate_School_Application_Kisses_of_Death.pdf

[StatsNerd]

Don't allude to a medical condition. http://psychology.unl.edu/psichi/Graduate_School_Application_Kisses_of_Death.pdf

 

Yeah, I've read that article, but I've been told by others it's ok to allude to a "medical condition" but not a "mental illness."   This is how my current mentor told me to address it (1-2 lines referring to it as a medical condition). Of course I'd rather not mention it at all, but I have several (like uh, 4  ) pretty obvious gaps in my undergrad transcripts that I think require an explanation, and I don't want to lie and say I was just off volunteering in a 3rd world country or something (although that would have been nice).

[MsDarjeeling]

Perhaps instead of saying you had a medical condition you could just say that you had to take a few semesters off for personal reasons, but was able to return in 2009 and finished strong. 

 

I think adcoms get that personal reasons could mean medical condition, mental illness, death in family, rehab, etc.  My guess is they wouldn't probe for specific detail in an interview, but focus more on the fact that you finished and got a good amount of research experience.

 

Also it needs to be tied in better.  I agree that it makes sense to briefly explain those gaps, but it is literally dropped in out of nowhere and isn't connected to anything else.  Maybe something like:

 

"As an undergraduate, I dealt with a medical condition that made school a challenge and resulted in having to take several semesters off to seek treatment. Despite this hardship, I kept coming back and by the fall of 2009 was healthy enough to return to focus exclusively on my studies."  In fact, I was doing so well that I took the opportunity to gain research experience by working with "Dr. N at [my undergrad university]. It was in assisting her with a literature review on the stigma of mental illness among adolescents that in part roused my interest in clinical research topics. In my final year as an undergraduate, I completed a senior thesis in which I examined how public perceptions of eating disorders differ according to the etiological factors attributed to them, particularly prior traumatic experiences. The paper was published in my university’s undergraduate research journal. It was an edifying experience in seeing an entire project through from start to finish, and it got me thinking about psychological trauma as a research area."

 

You would still need to better connect it to the intro paragraph.

[StatsNerd]

MsDarjeeling-- thanks you! I literally DID just drop that 2nd paragraph in there out of nowhere as a last minute addition but wasn't quite sure how to tie it in, so thanks so much for the suggestion. 

 

I also wasn't sure whether to refer to it as a medical condition or just "personal reasons." In a way "personal reasons" almost sounded worse to me because there's more room for them to fill in the blanks (for all they know, "personal reasons" could have meant I spent time in prison). Then again, I know I really don't owe them a lengthy explanation, nor do they really need to know what "personal reasons" those were. 

Edited November 9, 2013 by StatsNerd

[MsDarjeeling]

You're right that personal reasons could be interpreted as time in prison, which is negative.  I think the problem with hinting at what the reason was allows that to stick in their minds.  They'll forever see you as the sickly person or the rehab person or the prison person.  This could then lead to questions of how stable you'll be in a graduate program.  Using a blanket term like personal reasons forces them to realize that they really don't know and are just making assumptions.  And we all know about making assumptions =)  You could always rephrase "personal reasons" to whatever you feel sounds better but is still not specific.