Plan to reapply...should I keep in touch?

[ck926]

Hi all,

So I am in sort of a weird situation. I had a phone interview, as well as multiple conversations with a professor that I really wanted to work with- he wanted to give me an offer and said he was very interested in working with me, but one of the committee members was hesitant due to my lack of clinical experience, so I did not get an offer. At this point, I am most likely just going to compete the clinical psych MA program at my undergrad institution, and continue working in the lab I am still working in as a post-bac (the research here is exactly what that professor does).

 

Ultimately, I would like to reapply to this school in two years once I finish my MA, with the hopes that the clinical experience and additional research experience (as well as graduate level course work, obviously) would strengthen my application enough to be considered more seriously. Would it be a bad idea to shoot him an email and let him in on these plans? I feel as though it may be weird to just suddenly reapply in two years without any conversation about it, especially since we have already spoken quite a bit. I would think it could only help to keep some sort of dialogue going (at least for a bit), but I'm not sure if it's a good idea.

 

Thanks in advance for any input! 

[PsychGirl1]

I would probably email him and thank him for his advocacy throughout the process (or whatever you want to call it), and tell him that you were highly interested in working with him. And you will be addressing some of the weaknesses in your application by doing xyz, and plan to reapply in 2 years and hope he will be taking students then. After that, I wouldn't keep in touch until you start the application process in a year or two, unless he specifically requests it.

[PsychGirl1]

PS I definitely recommend MA/MS programs for certain people (including myself- I went the MS route first), but in this situation, it almost seems like you don't need it. Why can't you take the next year, spend part of your time researching in your lab, and then get a clinical volunteer position in whatever your area of interest is, and reapply next year? The professor you're working with now, who does the same research you want to do, can probably help connect you to places in the area where you can give some clinical experience. You could also take one or two night classes at the grad-school level (I highly recommend Harvard Extension online) to show that you can handle grad-school level coursework. It sounds like you have almost all the pieces you need to get into a PhD program, which is why I wouldn't recommend an MA program. I think in your situation, it would be a waste of time and money. (Although I'm sure others may disagree and jump in!).