Advice Needed: questioning everything

[chally]

I recently took the GRE and did not do well at all. I now am basically questioning if I should apply to clinical Psychology PhD programs or if I should wait and possible retake the GRE again. And I thought how better to ask then a bunch of strangers. I have taken the GRE 3 times and cannot get a good score! I find that I do great on practice test and even did pretty good taking a practice test at the actual testing center (a perk of doing a Kaplan prep class). Also if you have any suggestions about possible schools, how to increase my competitiveness, or what I should do if I don't apply please let me know. 

My GRE scores 

V=155 Q=149 AW=4.0 - on my second try

V=151 Q=153 AW=TBD - on my third most recent try

(note: I didn't include my first because I am not planning on sending it to any universities because the scores are lower)

GPA- I graduated Cum Laude 

overall= 3.85

Major= 3.9

Research experience:

Undergrad

3 years in a lab that's focus was motivation 

1 year in a lab that's focus was attention and learning

Post-bac 

1 year as a research assistant (full time) for a children's hospital in an ADHD clinic

Clinical experience

 3 years of clinical experience with children with ADHD and I know am the coordinator for that program 

LOR

I think I have some strong LORs. Not very concerned about this.

Research interest:

externalizing behaviors and disorders in children and adolescence 

problem behaviors in children and adolescence

 

I am not trying to get into really prestigious program, I would just like to get into any clinical Ph.D program with a mentor who has a similar research interest. I am also open to considering apply to school psychology programs, but I think this would be my second choice. What do you guys think, should I apply??

 

Thanks!!

Edited October 21, 2017 by chally

[Psych_Law]

What's the worst thing that could happen? You don't get in, and you try again! And then you have more time to try to figure out how to increase your scores. Many people apply more than once to clinical psychology programs due to how competitive they are, so it wouldn't be abnormal if you had to try more than once. But you'll never know if you don't try, so put all your effort now into making sure your application is as strong as it can be in your other areas (LOR, SOP, making sure you're a strong match to the faculty you're wanting to work under, etc.), and don't worry anymore about your GRE scores. We all are imperfect and have flaws in our applications that we wish were stronger. You have a lot of great research experience and your GPA is very strong. So why not apply? 

Good luck! 

[_kita]

I agree with @Becks_Psych. You can also apply for a few MS psych programs as a backup. You could take several quant classes and complete a research thesis. Those experiences would do a lot to offset the GRE scores for the PhD later on.