Fall 2017 Counseling Psychology Applicants

[JacobW83]

39 minutes ago, FacelessMage said:

Waitlisted at Texas Tech

Waitlist is better than rejection at least! I was also waitlisted by Tech Counseling Psych 2 years ago, but I hope your outcome is better than mine! 

[Le Chat]

7 hours ago, linxing said:

Hi all, it's my first time applying counseling psychology. I noticed that most of you are discussing phd program. But I applied to 3 master program: Minnesota twin city, Ohio University, and University of Oregon. I don't know how difficult/competitive to get in a master program of counselling psychology. I haven't heard anything yet. Do you think it's necessary to apply to more programs? Because some master programs have relatively later deadline, and I still have time to apply.

Most of the Master's programs in Counseling psych will be less competitive, but they still may not take a large number of applicants. The ones I have seen at top universities take a max of 10 students. The selection criteria will be a little less than doctoral. IMO I would say applying to more programs would be a good idea. I have applied to 2 schools for both the doctoral program and the master's program. One rejected me for both, the other invited me to interview for their counseling program. 

The good thing about Master's acceptance is that they likely will require less research experience.

[Jungandrestless]

To all Canadian applicants, I received an email from my POI at the University of Calgary for an interview.

[CounselingPsychPHD]

What's standard for replying to a waitlist email? Do I need to reply saying thanks for informing me and I'll keep you updated if I want to be taken off the list or is that not necessary? 

[bronzetherapy]

On 1/28/2017 at 1:25 PM, tanm55 said:

has anyone gotten interview invites from Georgia State or BC?

Someone posted that Georgia State is finished extending invitations 

[bronzetherapy]

Has anyone heard anything from University of Denver, University of Maryland, or University of Akron? 

[CounselingPsychPHD]

1 hour ago, bronzetherapy said:

Has anyone heard anything from University of Denver, University of Maryland, or University of Akron? 

Denver had their interviews on the 3rd. I think Maryland did as well...I never heard back from Maryland though. 

[buttercup8d]

I interviewed at University of Oregon recently and considering going there. Did anyone else who interviewed get the sense that:

1. They are not as diverse as they say they are? Especially reflected in the faculty and overall school.

2. The student body is not as happy as they say they are (and, surprisingly, more cliquish between the different ethnic groups)

Idk, just intuitions that I picked up on there. The facilities and campus look amazing. Yet, in terms of research, I didn't get a lot of passionate research-related conversations from the graduate students. They mostly talked about how 'happy' they were there - which is important - but where is the research and career direction in their student body? Things seemed to be moving slowly there.

Edited February 9, 2017 by buttercup8d
grammar

[katieliz809]

10 hours ago, bronzetherapy said:

Has anyone heard anything from University of Denver, University of Maryland, or University of Akron? 

Haven't heard from Maryland, but was invited for an interview for Akron on 1/30, interview is 2/13. 

[Wellbeing]

2 hours ago, buttercup8d said:

I interviewed at University of Oregon recently and considering going there. Did anyone else who interviewed get the sense that:

1. They are not as diverse as they say they are? Especially reflected in the faculty and overall school.

2. The student body is not as happy as they say they are (and, surprisingly, more cliquish between the different ethnic groups)

Idk, just intuitions that I picked up on there. The facilities and campus look amazing. Yet, in terms of research, I didn't get a lot of passionate research-related conversations from the graduate students. They mostly talked about how 'happy' they were there - which is important - but where is the research and career direction in their student body? Things seemed to be moving slowly there.

I interviewed as well and having it so early on it rose to my top choices. However after interviewing at other replaces I got the same impression as you.

Still a great program but 2 things stood out:

1) They don't really have traditional labs and instead utilize large datasets

2) Not much opportunity to publish with faculty. I asked a couple of 3rd-4th years who planned to go into academics and they were just prepping for their first pub

 

[buttercup8d]

Edited February 11, 2017 by buttercup8d

[Psyched56]

For those of you who have been through this process before - I've been trying to prep for interview questions and I'm having trouble finding blogs etc specifically for counseling psych  questions I may be asked. I know these interview are similar to clinical but how else do I need to prep? What kind of questions might I be asked about clinical work? Also how do group interviews work, I may have a few of those throughout the cycle. Thanks! 

[ellieotter]

1 hour ago, Psyched56 said:

For those of you who have been through this process before - I've been trying to prep for interview questions and I'm having trouble finding blogs etc specifically for counseling psych  questions I may be asked. I know these interview are similar to clinical but how else do I need to prep? What kind of questions might I be asked about clinical work? Also how do group interviews work, I may have a few of those throughout the cycle. Thanks! 

I have interviewed at two counseling programs this cycle and I found that the counseling programs did not focus on my CV (research experience really) as much as I thought they would. They seemed to focus more on my professional goals and things I stated in my personal statement. I also found that many wanted to know why I chose to apply to counseling vs. clinical so it may be good to have an answer ready for that one! Also, you may know that most counseling programs have a large emphasis on diversity so I made it known that I chose to apply to programs who promoted diversity because of the population I want to work with. Just some things I noticed!

As for group interviews, I felt like that was the easiest part of the whole interview. We all were given one question to answer (a random question) and then the floor was open to us to ask any questions we had. Of course, this could be different anywhere you go but I felt like everyone in my group had a very positive experience.

[Le Chat]

Has anyone not heard from Texas A&M yet?

[asm77]

On 2/9/2017 at 7:14 AM, buttercup8d said:

I interviewed at University of Oregon recently and considering going there. Did anyone else who interviewed get the sense that:

1. They are not as diverse as they say they are? Especially reflected in the faculty and overall school.

2. The student body is not as happy as they say they are (and, surprisingly, more cliquish between the different ethnic groups)

Idk, just intuitions that I picked up on there. The facilities and campus look amazing. Yet, in terms of research, I didn't get a lot of passionate research-related conversations from the graduate students. They mostly talked about how 'happy' they were there - which is important - but where is the research and career direction in their student body? Things seemed to be moving slowly there.

I interviewed as well and having it so early on it rose to my top choices. However after interviewing at other replaces I got the same impression as you.

Still a great program but 2 things stood out:

1) They don't really have traditional labs and instead utilize large datasets

2) Not much opportunity to publish with faculty. I asked a couple of 3rd-4th years who planned to go into academics and they were just prepping for their first pub

 

 

So I also interviewed there and was def irked by the program as well. I also asked about co-authorship opportunities, and the professors responded that they do exist but you have to make an effort to be able to do so. I am a student of color, and I did not feel there was a sense of community among the students either....it for sure seemed cliquey, and there didn't seem to be support groups for students of color. I am also debating about this admission offer because like you mentioned, the facilities seem to be top notch and super new but would it even be worth it if I didn't feel comfortable there? Also, I am not sure if you have received your funding packages, but I don't think they compare to other schools I have heard back from...just a thought?

[buttercup8d]

I am considering another program in which there are more diverse faculty members (esp the DCT). It seems to make a huge difference in the overall program 

[8BitJourney]

Waiting on NYU so if anyone else is waiting as well feel free to pm me!

[Le Chat]

For anyone waiting to hear from Texas A&M, rejection letters have been sent out.

[CounselingPsychPHD]

Noob question....what does DCT stand for? Director of Clinical Training?

 

Also, did anyone interview in person with U of Denver? I had a skype interview and am just wondering what the in person experience was like. 

[inerted]

1 hour ago, CounselingPsychPHD said:

Noob question....what does DCT stand for? Director of Clinical Training?

 

Also, did anyone interview in person with U of Denver? I had a skype interview and am just wondering what the in person experience was like. 

Yes it means Director of Clinical Training.

I interviewed at Denver, some bullet point thoughts: 

• Programs strengths are definitely practice oriented; all activities leading up to POI interview basically talked about all the practicum opportunities and diversity. Denver (and surrounding cities) is(are) saturated with psychologist, while negative if you want to practice/live there after grad school it is positive if you are looking for practicum sites with supervision. 
• Full funding is rare, expect a good amount of loans. Financial aid session was pretty blunt about this. However if you are flexible and able to work in a lab in the psych department, you may get full funding (as stated by current students).  
• I had an amazing experience with my POI, but some other interviewee's said they had tense/awkward interviews were they got grilled.
• Did not get a good feel for student community, saw some during the day but most seemed stand offish and rarely saw more than 2 talking together. (side note: flew in late so did not attend social night before).
• They had an open bar for the reception 

[CounselingPsychPHD]

22 minutes ago, inerted said:

Yes it means Director of Clinical Training.

I interviewed at Denver, some bullet point thoughts: 

• Programs strengths are definitely practice oriented; all activities leading up to POI interview basically talked about all the practicum opportunities and diversity. Denver (and surrounding cities) is(are) saturated with psychologist, while negative if you want to practice/live there after grad school it is positive if you are looking for practicum sites with supervision. 
• Full funding is rare, expect a good amount of loans. Financial aid session was pretty blunt about this. However if you are flexible and able to work in a lab in the psych department, you may get full funding (as stated by current students).  
• I had an amazing experience with my POI, but some other interviewee's said they had tense/awkward interviews were they got grilled.
• Did not get a good feel for student community, saw some during the day but most seemed stand offish and rarely saw more than 2 talking together. (side note: flew in late so did not attend social night before).
• They had an open bar for the reception 

Thanks for sharing! 

The lack of funding is nerve racking. But I really enjoyed my interview with my POI as well, and there's another professor who I'm interested in working with too. Open bar-maybe that means they are pretty chill overall?! Haven't heard back yet, if I get accepted I'll probably go visit in person and see how I feel about it. Good luck! 

[8BitJourney]

Does anyone know the post interview timeline for NYU? I forgot to ask 

[phdcalling]

Does anyone know when we will hear back from UGA?

[justbreathe]

Would the SUNY Buffalo poster mind messaging me their POI? This is my top choice program...

[AnxGradStudent]

Waiting to hear back from Central Arkansas and West Virginia---anyone hear anything yet?