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Getting Into Graduate School in Clinical Psychology

Getting Into Graduate School in Clinical Psychology. First Step: Ask yourself 3 questions: Do I want to go to grad school at this time? requires major time, financial and emotional commitments At least 5 years Subsistence wages Very hard work Full courseload of academic work

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Getting Into Graduate School in Clinical Psychology

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  1. Getting Into Graduate School in Clinical Psychology First Step: Ask yourself 3 questions: Do I want to go to grad school at this time? requires major time, financial and emotional commitments At least 5 years Subsistence wages Very hard work Full courseload of academic work 20 hrs/wk of clinical work Independent research/thesis/dissertation Different methods of instruction Seminars – presentations Journal articles rather than texts

  2. Getting Into Graduate School in Clinical Psychology • Are my credentials strong enough for a clinical training program? 4 main criteria (usually in this order of importance: 1. GRE scores 2. GPA – the best indicator of the effort a student is willing to exert 3. Letters of Recommendation 4. Research experience

  3. Getting Into Graduate School in Clinical Psychology • In what type of program am I interested? Clinical Psych is not the only mental health profession a. Given my credentials, to what type of program can I realistically aspire? Ph.D. programs are not for everyone – are highly competitive, very demanding, and emphasize research as well as clinical training. Getting a Ph.D. is like writing a book…if you can keep from doing it…don’t!

  4. What should I do first? • Clarify your personal goals, objectives and plans a. interested more in research or clinical training, or both? b. Doctoral or masters? c. Interested in a specific client population? d. Preferences related to types/location of future employment?

  5. Then what? • How do I identify a good graduate program? (Not really the right question – better is: Does a specific program fit my particular interests/needs?) • research vs. clinical emphasis • size of department and program • student/faculty ratio • practicum opportunities • size and location of community and campus • type/extent of departmental resources • predominant theoretical orientation

  6. APA Accreditation • Where To Learn About Accredited Programs • Consult either the December issue of the American Psychologist or, for a more up-to-date listing, www.apa.org/ed/doctoral.html. Once you have decided where you are applying, learn as much as you can about their faculty and specific programs, starting, but not limiting yourself, to their Website.

  7. Application Rule #1 Apply to several schools. It is not easy getting into an APA-accredited program.. If you are tied to the area, admission is rather difficult. This is no reflection on you. Acceptance has a lot of the aura of a crapshoot.

  8. Application Rule #2 Apply to at least one professional school. Most are stand-alone programs, which tend to admit relatively large classes. They are more lenient regarding GPA and GRE. The California School of Professional Psychology, with several campuses, is well known. In particular, try the Fresno campus—it is in a relatively unattractive location. You probably will not spend your life there. Because of their size, professional schools tend to have good alumni networks.

  9. Application Rule #3 Apply to a school that looks for students with your strong points. Some schools (typically, academic universities) weight grades and GPA very heavily; others weight practical experience (including life experience = older students), and still others look for research experience. This is why your changes of acceptance can be quite different at different schools.

  10. Application Rule #4 Diversify your experience. Work in a professor’s lab. A professor for whom you work is in a much better position to give you a strong recommendation than one whom you simply took a course from. Get Outside Experience. Suicide prevention centers are a good choice for outside experience. Obviously grades are important, but what you take is considered. The GRE is usually relevant. However, the evidence regarding retaking it is mixed. Many students lay out a year or go to an MA program and are then accepted.

  11. Application Rule #5 Research is a very important, though it obviously plays a greater role in Ph. D. programs. Schools are under pressure from APA to graduate students in a timely fashion and an ABD (all but dissertation) makes everyone unhappy. Guard against becoming an ABD by developing research skills before you go to graduate school. That is one reason why we run our department as we do. Graduate programs love students with a good research and statistics background.

  12. Application Rule #6 Many graduate schools don’t care if you have extensive course work in clinical courses. They feel that if you do, you may need to unlearn things. Clinical programs can teach clinical things; they have less time to teach basic research skills, even though the better programs have extensive ongoing research.

  13. Application Rule #7 You will probably be asked to write a biographical sketch outlining your intended career paths. One of the best things you can do (as long as you are honest about it) is to say you have an interest in topic X and you wish to study with Professor A at the school who works in that area. That shows you have researched the program, and it may help get an assistantship.

  14. First Corollary To Rule #7 If the program does not say that it has a program in autism, don’t stress your interest in the topic because they may say (at least to themselves) “too bad, we can’t help him/her”.

  15. Second Corollary To Rule #7 It is probably not a good idea to say something like “I want to study battered spouses (or alcoholics, etc.) because I am a battered spouse (or my mother/father was battered, alcoholic, etc.)” as they see dozens of them. Not every battered spouse’s experience is like yours. Don’t appear to be an advocate or a victim. Do appear to be intelligent, motivated, and to have good interpersonal skills.

  16. Final Points About Your Sketch The sketch should reflect both your maturity and your humility at not being able to predict the future (don’t get tremendously specific). In particular, it should relate what you have done with what you want to do. Get someone to look it over for both content and technical points.

  17. Q. What do they call someone who has been rejected by 20 of 21 graduate schools he/she applied to? A. A graduate student.

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