WAMC: What Are My Chances

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Your GRE will keep you out of almost all ph.d programs and the quality psy.D programs. It willhave to come up, no question. Your UG GPA could still be problematic as well, as some schools will still hold to the 3.0 UG GPA cutoff.

MOD NOTE: just a friendly reminder to current and future applications...ALL posts about viability as a candidate for doctoral programs belongs in here. Do not start your own thread

What do you think my chances are, as an undergraduate senior applying to Masters and PhDs straight out of college? My overall gpa is 3.8, psych gpa is 3.9, GREs are 1280. My LORs will be positive, but not glowing. I have one year lab research experience, 6 month clinical experience with autistic adults. I'm applying to schools that are competitive, but not extremely so, e.g. University of Georgia, Penn State, Suffolk, NYU, etc.

Do I stand a chance? Also, what kind of salary am I looking at if I decide to work after getting a Master's? Thanks.

So, I took my GRE again today and did not improve at all. Taking my highest scores, I have a total GRE of 1040. Not impressive. I feel like I am good on paper besides the lower GRE score. Master's degree from distinguished university, research experience, current research position in neurology/neuropsychology, lots of clinical experience, 4 pubs in process w/ 2 as 1st author, 2 presentations, and awesome letters of rec. For the schools I'm applying, I do fit quite nicely for most of them as well regarding research interests and experiences.

What do you guys think? I'd say 12 out of the 15 schools have no specific cut-offs and look at the app as a whole or say the graduate school has a 1,000 minimum. What are my chances? Can everything else compensate for the GRE?

Originally Posted by Applicant03

So, I took my GRE again today and did not improve at all. Taking my highest scores, I have a total GRE of 1040. Not impressive. I feel like I am good on paper besides the lower GRE score. Master's degree from distinguished university, research experience, current research position in neurology/neuropsychology, lots of clinical experience, 4 pubs in process w/ 2 as 1st author, 2 presentations, and awesome letters of rec. For the schools I'm applying, I do fit quite nicely for most of them as well regarding research interests and experiences.

What do you guys think? I'd say 12 out of the 15 schools have no specific cut-offs and look at the app as a whole or say the graduate school has a 1,000 minimum. What are my chances? Can everything else compensate for the GRE?

It's not that it has to compensate, it has to overwhelm the GRE. You are essentially wanting people to ignore this data point, unfortunately it is one of the first applied to weed out applicants.

Cases like yours require a shift in tactics, while many people can get past the first hurdle with out assistance you need to generate interest in your application to get it past the first hurdle (GPA/GRE Sort). This means talking to professors and getting them excited in you. It means pulling favors from people (professors) who you might not normally ask them of. It means networking at conferences and doing site visits.

You can overwhelm a poor GRE but you have to put the leg work in. Some schools do not do a simple GRE/GPA sort, they tend to have less applicants, and these are the schools I would shoot for in order to get a more complete review of your package. A school with 500 applicants is far less likely to give you a fair review of your efforts than a school with 50 applicants.

Mark

I'm applying to Developmental PhD programs, not clinical, but I dont really know how competative my application is.
I have really strong stats
GPA 3.9
GRE 1430
(680 verbal, 750 quant, 5.0 writing)
I have substantial research experience in undergrad, and I'm currently working as an RA with a pretty well known developmental researcher. I have two co-authored publications, and an independent honors thesis research project.
I have strong recommendations and a decent, well-written SOP.

Unfortunately, I have fallen in love with one program in particular, at University of Nebraska. I have strong research matches there, and I've met with the director of admissions and I've been in contact with three professors who've sent me their publications. I'm also applying to several other safety schools.... but my heart is not really in it anywhere else.

What are my chances??

Originally Posted by nomnom

I'm applying to Developmental PhD programs, not clinical, but I dont really know how competative my application is.
I have really strong stats.

What are my chances??

Really, you don't know how competitive your application is?

Seriously, Do you not understand basic statistics?

You've graduated Summa Cum Laude
You're GRE scores are somewhere north of the 85% in both categories
Their clinical program is modestly competitive 3.5+ GPA's and 1250 GRE's
They take their own students into their developmental graduate program
You are a strong match with good research experience, killer recommendations, and a solid SOP.

If you haven't figured it out, you are a top tier student.

You'll have to F' this up pretty badly not to get in, but hey, they may just not like you... and in the end, that's enough to deny you admission.

Mark

Originally Posted by nomnom

I'm applying to Developmental PhD programs, not clinical, but I dont really know how competative my application is.
I have really strong stats
GPA 3.9
GRE 1430
(680 verbal, 750 quant, 5.0 writing)
I have substantial research experience in undergrad, and I'm currently working as an RA with a pretty well known developmental researcher. I have two co-authored publications, and an independent honors thesis research project.
I have strong recommendations and a decent, well-written SOP.

Unfortunately, I have fallen in love with one program in particular, at University of Nebraska. I have strong research matches there, and I've met with the director of admissions and I've been in contact with three professors who've sent me their publications. I'm also applying to several other safety schools.... but my heart is not really in it anywhere else.

What are my chances??

You should be fine. I had a lower GPA and GRE scores and got into some competitive developmental programs. They tend to have more lenient GRE cut offs and care more about your research experience and what you got from it. I'd say you are in pretty good shape.

Ungradate GPA: 3.88 Summa Cum Laude
Psychology GPA: 3:98
GRE: 480 verbal, 710 Math
Good recommendations, Some research experience.

Do I stand a chance at any of the following programs? :
Fordham (counseling), Rutgers (Psyd), NYU (counseling), Yeshiva (psyd), Seton Hall (counseling), Fairleigh Dickenson (clinical)

Im really nervious and unsure if its worth the money to apply to any of these programs if I don't stand a chance

Originally Posted by Kennyhaha2

Ungradate GPA: 3.88 Summa Cum Laude
Psychology GPA: 3:98
GRE: 480 verbal, 710 Math
Good recommendations, Some research experience.

Do I stand a chance at any of the following programs? :
Fordham (counseling), Rutgers (Psyd), NYU (counseling), Yeshiva (psyd), Seton Hall (counseling), Fairleigh Dickenson (clinical)

Im really nervious and unsure if its worth the money to apply to any of these programs if I don't stand a chance

Are you a foreign student? The low verbal score suggests that their might be a reason that could be explained through circumstances such as English as a second language, etc.

I would apply provided you can explain what happened on the GRE verbal. How you explain your GRE and whether you took the TOEFL as a way of mitigating the GRE performance has a lot to do with your chances.

Mark

Hey guys, thought I might get in on the advice action :-)

GPA:
3.72 cumulative, 3.84 within Psych (well-respected university)

GREs:
V: 640 (92%)
Q: 710 (72%)
Writing: 5.0 (84%)

(raised score from 1190 on my first attempt to this 1350 on second attempt)
Psych subject test: just took it, felt like I did well.

Research Exp.:
Significant experience, 3 years by the time I graduate this year.

• 3 years in a health psych lab, looking at human motivation and cravings. Wrote an undergrad thesis on our work
• 1 summer in an emotion regulation lab at Stanford as a RA with a well-known prof, wrote undergrad thesis on this work
• 2 years in a memory lab as an honors studen, independently doing brain surgeries and fear conditioning with rats. Designed studies looking at the neural mechanisms of memory reconsolidation. Wrote 2 honors theses on this work.
• 1 year in a trauma/PTSD lab as an honors student. Designed and am currently running a study using a drug to dull or "erase" the emotionality of specific drug-related memories for drug addicts in rehab. Also worked on a few other trauma-related projects. Writing my 5th thesis on this (3rd honors thesis)

Clinical Experience:

• Co-founded an NGO (initially a student club) that works with homeless shelters in the montreal area to prevent homelessness among the mentally ill. Participated in interventions and psychoeducational groups.
• Currently doing a clinical placement for a course I'm taking. Working with high school students with severe learning disabilities and at least 1 comorbid disorder. Independently leading group interventions and working with individual students on issues such as bullying, anxiety and social relationships.
• Participated in CBT therapies as a role player for people with social anxiety.

Pubs:

• 1 publication with the health psych lab (coauthor).

Random stuff:

• Was the sophomore and junior representative of psych students at my university
• Currently being considered for the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
• Dean's honor list
• Varsity rower (hardly relevant, but I'm hoping to push the 'dedication' card...it was certainly hard keeping everything up with 12 brutal practices and trainings/week)
• Will have strong LoR's, all from psych faculty, one from a prof at stanford
• Haven't finished my SoP, but it should be good, emphasizing interest match and research experience

Schools I'm applying to (there are specific people at each of these programs that I'd kill to work with):

Harvard (top choice + top interest match)
Yale
UPenn
UMichigan
Duke
Columbia
UCLA
(considering Vanderbilt, Winsconsin-Madison, Boston University)

I know I'm a strong applicant and am not here to pretend otherwise or to be a jerk about it. But with these programs, I feel like there will be at least 20 or 30 other applicants that have just as good, if not better stats and experience (those people with 12 pubs, or who started some sort of clinic, or invented something ), or that have some sort of personal relationship with members of the psych department. And I've heard that at these types of places, the tiniest details become important.

Here's the main question: How many students are typically invited for interviews at these places? With my stats, do you think I'll make the interview cut? I interview well, so I feel like that if I can make it there, I'll be able to edge out some of the other applicants that might look better on paper. I'm just pretty intimidated about the "400 applied, 6 were accepted" stats of some of these places. I'd appreciate any insight or advice!

(sorry for the novella...)

I am not a foreign student, if only it were that simple lol. I'm not formally diagnosed but I must suffer from some form of dyslexia because spelling has always been an issue, and I read slower than most. It's never been an issue however considering my ability to achieve in school, only shows when I'm tested on pure words, or have to spell, or read quickly

Originally Posted by Kennyhaha2

I am not a foreign student, if only it were that simple lol. I'm not formally diagnosed but I must suffer from some form of dyslexia because spelling has always been an issue, and I read slower than most. It's never been an issue however considering my ability to achieve in school, only shows when I'm tested on pure words, or have to spell, or read quickly

I would get evaluated, a legitimate disability that affects your test performance should not hold you back as long as you are capable of doing the work. That's certainly one of those things that could be easily explained in a recommendation letter or your own SOP.

Every school may not be equally accommodating in this regard (although legally they should under the ADA), but I would be willing to bet that you'd stand a better chance with a formal evaluation. You have to decide what the right course of action is for you.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by attackemu

Hey guys, thought I might get in on the advice action :-)

Schools I'm applying to (there are specific people at each of these programs that I'd kill to work with):

Harvard (top choice + top interest match)
Yale
UPenn
UMichigan
Duke
Columbia
UCLA
(considering Vanderbilt, Winsconsin-Madison, Boston University)

I know I'm a strong applicant but with these programs, I feel like there will be at least 20 or 30 other applicants that have just as good, if not better stats and experience and I've heard that at these types of places, the tiniest details become important.

You have a great resume, which you know, but you are right... the competition is keen and you do come up a bit light on the GRE. Hopefully your undergrad institution is more than just "well respected" but "very highly respected."

Here's the main question: How many students are typically invited for interviews at these places?

Usually 2-4 per slot depending on the program.

With my stats, do you think I'll make the interview cut?

Possibly, it will depend a bit on how interested you have gotten these people interested in you prior to your application getting there. This is where networking can really help... the GRE is the only concern I have for you at these top notch schools.

I interview well, so I feel like that if I can make it there, I'll be able to edge out some of the other applicants that might look better on paper. I'm just pretty intimidated about the "400 applied, 6 were accepted" stats of some of these places. I'd appreciate any insight or advice!
(sorry for the novella...)

It's the truth, but with a 1350 GRE you will probably get some interviews, just don't expect all of them to fall all over themselves. I would consider some "safety" schools as well. Obviously no where you apply will be a safety school for most people but you're fighting at the pointy end of the spear so to speak.

The trouble with "safety schools" is that they must be places that you would love to attend as well. There are some excellent but lessor known programs that you might consider as well, but you'll have to look.

Good luck the competition is always roughest at the top.

Mark

Would love to hear from you guys on my chances... I'm pretty anxious about the whole process...

Psychology and English Major
3.39 cumulative, Ivy League

During Undergraduate:
-3 years as social psych research assistant, part-time, work on affect
-1 summer internship at clinic, developed behavior modification program
-1 year at associated Ivy League (not mine) as literary based psych RA on emotional intelligence and children
-2 years peer counseling training and working as counselor on campus

Post-Grad:
-1 year immediately following graduation as RA at top 5 medical center on clin psych research study
-1.5 years at current position as clinical research study coordinator on neuroscience based multi-site research trials, top 3 medical center, pediatric research in my field of interest for phd
-Attended conferences, but no poster presentations or authorships

GRE
670 subject
630 q
670 v
1300 cum
5 analytical

LOR
PIs at both labs from post-grad and current lab manager at current site.

Given the low acceptance rates, prob going to apply to ~20 clinical psych phd programs and 5 masters programs.

Thoughts? I know my GPA is low... and I'm also a bit worried that I have no professor rec (large class sizes at my undergrad). Plus, is having a rec from my first clinical lab, which will be nearly 3 years ago by the time I apply, bad?

Thanks for your help!

^ Forgot to mention... my primary interest is in adolescents/children with autism.

I'm going to jump on the WAMC bandwagon. Here is my info:

- Career changer - majored in Psychology in undergrad, but ended up in non-psych-related grad school program
- Undergrad GPA (at an ivy league school): 3.75 overall/ 4.0 in major
- Ivy league graduate program; working for the past 5 years
- GRE: 700 V/ 710 M (lower than I'd hoped, but doesn't seem worth it to retake at this point - please correct me if I'm wrong. If I don't get in this year, I will probably retake them for next year)
- Clinical experience: Internships in college and grad school working with children in foster care, and with domestic violence victims; Volunteer work with homeless children and teenagers, and with at-risk teenagers
- Research experience: zero, other than a research methods class in college that involved a research paper (I'm applying only to PsyD programs, so I'm hoping this won't kill my chances)
- 3 LORs: one from a college psych professor, one from my current employer, and one from a supervisor at a volunteer position held for 3 years (and a potential 4th from a short-term, but on-point volunteer position)

I'm specifically interested in my chances at the following PsyD programs:
- GW
- Loyola
- Yeshiva

Thanks, and good luck to all the other applicants!

Hello,

I am a junior in college and I'm starting to look at grad school - i'd love to jump right into a phD program but i don't know what my chances looks like. i'm a psych major with a political science minor, a spanish minor, a women's studies minor, and am part of the honors program at my school.

i have a 4.0 right now and have no problem getting a 700 on the psych GREs but haven't taken the normal GREs yet.

i have research experience of working with a professor and another student and going to 3 conferences to present, our paper is published in one of this conferences' online journal. i'm also working on an honors research project with a faculty advisor and 2 readers that will be presented at 2 conferences next year. i've also been volunteering and then was hired at a mental healthcare for the past 3 years and will pick up another internship since a fielwork class requires it.

i can get good letters of recs no problem and can do a good job at writing application essays. the top 2 schools i'm looking at are stanford and uc berkeley - am i being too ambitious here? do i basically need perfect GREs and to keep up my 4.0 to get into these schools? thank you for your help!!

Ugg Berkeley... Hope you are a sincere believer in "social justice". They are looking for a certain type of applicant and you must be practically a zealot from what the application instructions suggest. Your GRE scores will be very important.

Figure 1300's on the GRE and a 3.6 GPA are reasonable targets.

Mark

Haha, oh Berkeley...I laughed too when I read what they wanted for their personal statement:

"Please include information about:
• How you have overcome barriers to access in higher education;
• Evidence of how you have come to understand the barriers faced by others;
• Evidence of your academic service to advance equitable access to higher education for women, racial minorities, and individuals from other groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education;
• Evidence of your research focusing on underserved populations or related issues of inequality;
• Evidence of your leadership among underserved populations."


They're pretty much looking for poor social workers interested in clinical psychology. Usually you think "personal statement=pretty open-ended", but there are very specific answers/applicants they're looking for! Hardly seems fair to a lot of great people/applicants.

x

Originally Posted by jexa

Oh wow reading this thread is making me nervous! I've sent out most of my applications already -- these are my stats:

GPA: 3.62, Psychology GPA: 3.5 -- not an Ivy league school. I worked full-time through undergrad so my GPA isn't as high as it could have been..

GRE: 1320 Total. 660V, 660Q, 4.5A, just took subject test and think I did well.

Do you guys think I have like a 100% chance, or at least 95%, of getting in this year?

You have a good chance, but no, you don't have a 100% chance or even a 95% chance. It sounds like it's gonna be a rough road if you don't get in. Do your best, I think if I was gonna make odds, I would probably put you north of 50% but no more than 75%. That's because I don't know what the "fit" between you and the schools is like.

Mark

x

Originally Posted by jexa

Also, my POI at Utah State personally called me last year after I sent him an email, to ask me some questions (and asked me to send him a measure haha - I did him a favor!), so I have a good feeling that I'll at least get in to Utah State.

So.. think that bumps me up to at least 75%? This is so nerve-wracking!

I had some very personal help at U of Alabama from a prof there... Didn't get in... but I feel that my time spent talking to here wasn't wasted. Good luck, it's hard, there is a lot of competition and much of it is pretty darn good.



Mark

Hello everyone, I am currently thinking of the path I should take for advancing deeper into the field of psychology!
I have GPA of 3.5/4 for my degree in psych and I was able to pull off a 1240 on my GRE (General Test).
I was wondering if I am able to enter into a good clinical psych program with these scores. One point to note is that I have NO(ZERO) working experience nor had I participated in any research.

Anyone care to share and advise me?

And also ... Should I start joining some organization to gain experience? If yes, what should I do? I had approached hospitals but they are unwilling to grant me the chance because I am not yet a graduate student.

If you can raise your GRE to 1300 that would be nice but you should be able to make the cut off at most schools with your GRE and GPA. However, you are in very serious need of research experience.

How to I get research experience? Where can I start looking for? And also what are the things required?

Originally Posted by Psychcs

How to I get research experience? Where can I start looking for? And also what are the things required?

How? You can get research experience in a lab from some of your professors perhaps. Why not ask your adviser or others in your major what your professors are researching... then approach them about an opportunity within the research lab. Other options include asking a professor or someone in your department about running an independent research project or thesis later. Finally, after graduation you can look for a paid research assistant job (RA)... one popular choice is https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/postbac_irta

Requirements? There aren't really any per say, but you need to find a lab (or several labs) that will give you 4-6 semesters (at least) of research experience. You will probably start out doing data entry and other grunt work. However, the longer you hang around you will, hopefully, be given opportunities for other responsibility.

It would probably be helpful for you to get a copy of the Insider's Guide.

Good luck.

Thank you for enlightening me.
I was wondering if UB (SUNY buffalo) has a good clinical phd?

And with a GPA of 3.5 and GRE of 1300, where is a good place to apply to?
I doubt Ivy league will accept me after seeing that some of you guys have OUTSTANDING records.

Originally Posted by Psychcs

Thank you for enlightening me.
I was wondering if UB (SUNY buffalo) has a good clinical phd?

And with a GPA of 3.5 and GRE of 1300, where is a good place to apply to?
I doubt Ivy league will accept me after seeing that some of you guys have OUTSTANDING records.

Get the Insider's Guide I mentioned above.

Originally Posted by Psychcs

Thank you for enlightening me.
I was wondering if UB (SUNY buffalo) has a good clinical phd?

And with a GPA of 3.5 and GRE of 1300, where is a good place to apply to?
I doubt Ivy league will accept me after seeing that some of you guys have OUTSTANDING records.

It's not all about GPA and GRE, there are a LOT of good schools. You're undergraduate school is not all that critical. However, you have to match in so many other ways as well to get into the really great schools.

A 1300 GRE and a 3.5 GPA are sufficient to break into the top 20 with legwork, but you have to have all the other stars lining up too.

The GRE and GPA just weeds out the lower quartile to lower 50th percentile of applicants, that's about it... every one else has a real shot, but you have to prove why you deserve it more than the person who outscored you.

Mark

Thanks for the advice!
Does LOR works?

Ok so with deadlines approaching I was nervous and did some web searching for grad school info and found this nice forum. I just wanted an outside opinion on how I look on paper.

GPA (from small state school)
3.55 (3.85 in the last five semesters)
3.71 psych gpa

GRE
570 - V
710 - Q
4.0 AW (concern?)

LOR
One very strong one from professor of numerous research projects
One strong one from professor that I've known for awhile and am just starting to get some research projects underway
One decent one from a (rigorous) professor that I was influenced by and earned an A in both of her classes

Research
I will have three projects on my vita, one of which I am the first author. Presented two of them myself at state conferences and one of these at SEPA (Southeastern Psychological Association).
Have worked with one professor for what will be 4 semesters and am working with one more during the spring. No manuscripts or articles written.

Professional Experience
Worked at a psychiatrists office as an office assistant last summer.
Just completed a 120 hour practicum at a substance abuse treatment facility

Personal Statement
Not incredibly personal but well written and reviewed and criticzed by personal statment stickler professor here in the psych department.

Recently won a Research Excellence award (one of 8 out of 200 undergrad and graduate students)

I picked only professors (and subsequently, schools) that I have a very similar research interests in and that closely match my past research projects.

Purdue
Alabama (Tuscaloosa)
Tennessee (Knoxville)
Bowling Green State
U of New Orleans (Applied Developmental)

I know I have a small school list which is the biggest hold back but any other thoughts?

Originally Posted by Spoonman87

Purdue
Alabama (Tuscaloosa)
Tennessee (Knoxville)
Bowling Green State
U of New Orleans (Applied Developmental)

I know I have a small school list which is the biggest hold back but any other thoughts?

My advice would be to increase your list of schools to at least 10.

Ok, so here's my story.

Overall GPA: 3.68
Psychology GPA: 3.66

GREs
V 600, Q 650, AW 5.0
Psychology GRE: 730

I have 1 year of research experience.
1 semester researching language development. I'm considering not even putting this on my application because I was given very little responsibility and so don't have much to show for it.
1 semester studying perinatal depression. Translated interviews from spanish to english, did qualitative research with NVivo. It was a great experience and should give me 1 strong LOR.

I have about 5 years experience working with children with special needs. Most of my experience comes from working with children diagnosed with autism. I've been a special care nanny, a verbal behavior therapist (briefly), and done a lot of volunteer work.

While my experience involves working with children, women's health, and language development, this is not what I want to go to school for. I am interested in a Ph.D. program specializing in assessment, psychometrics, and cognitive neuroscience.

From my own assessment of the situation it looks like I need ~1 year solid experience in my areas of interest before I can become a competitive applicant.
So. WAMC? Assuming I can secure a good research position for 2011, will I be ready to begin the application process in fall 2011?

Thanks for your outside perspective!

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum, although I've been reading it quite frequently in the past few months. To give you a little background, I'm a graduate student (in psychology) currently working towards my masters. I am now applying to doctoral programs, and need some advice..

I have (what I believe to be) a pretty solid application. I have a strong GPA (4.0), good LORs, and experience (both research and clinical). The downfall is that I did horribly on my GRE. I took it twice, and went up in verbal from the first time but went down in everything else. I can't seem to break 1000 (although if you take my highest scores, I do score 1000 w. a 5.5 on the AW section) and want to know if it would look bad if I took it a third time. The truth is that I most likely wouldn't be able to improve my scores very much and have pretty bad test anxiety. Should I take them over risking the chance of doing poorly again, explain my scores in my SOP or leave it alone and hope for the best?

Also, do most schools look at the highest score of each section, average the scores, or look at the most recent? I know it differs for each school, but is there a more used way that they go about this?

Thanks for the help and suggestions in advance. I appreciate any feedback

How much time and effort did you put into preparation? You have a year to improve it, unless you've applied for this cycle. Some adcoms have pretty strict 1200 cutoffs but as you've seen from anecdotes here its not always the case.

I think I did well on the GRE; I got a 1400 which isn't extraordinarily high, but above the 80th percentiles. I also feel comfortable testing. I still spent about a month doing practice problems for 1 to 2 hours a night... If you get test anxiety you might need to spread out your studying regularly over months and months and months. For study aides, I found Kaplan had some great explanations of the format and scoring of the test, but it had too few practice problems to really make a difference. Princeton Review had lots and lots of practice problems, but was a little thin on advice. I used both.

Just remember to think of the test is a skill, rather than a measure of anything about you, and the best way to do well is to practice lots and lots of problems. You can't predict what will be on the test, but you'll be well-prepared to reason through whatever they ask once you learn to approach the questions.

Good luck.

If it'd be possible to have your LOR writers address the low GRE scores in light of other areas of "glowing praise" in their letters, that could help. I'm a bit torn on whether or not you should mention it in the SOP, although a quick sentence or two explaining the low scores before moving on to your strengths could be helpful.

And as BiopsychStudent pointed out, it's possible that you could do better on the third attempt, depending on how you prepare (and have prepared in the past). I definitely agree that it's helpful to use both the Kaplan and Princeton Review books if for no other reason than the extra vocabulary lists. I'm fortunate that when it comes to anxiety in most contexts, I fall on the lower end of the continuum; however, even I spent 2-3 months preparing by working math problems and memorizing definitions for 1-2 hours per day/5 days a week. It's definitely more grunt work than anything else, but I'm positive that it helped my scores.

Also, if you have a year between now and the next cycle of applications, you could always look into finding some help for your test-related anxiety.

The problem is that you likely won't make it through the first cut that a lot of programs do based solely on the numbers with a score below 1000. If you think about it, there will be many applicants coming from M.A. programs with lots of experience, so to have that much of a weakness in your credentials is problematic.

Even if it is addressed in LORs, if they don't read the LORs, that doesn't matter. I feel like that strategy is the best for if your score is low comparatively, but high enough to reach the cut-off (which yours is not). You need to take it again and get over 1100-1200 to be safe for most programs' GRE cut-offs.

I am applying for this cycle..and just hoping for the best!

As far as GRE prep goes..I know that I didn't prepare for as long as I should have. I have very limited time to study, but I'm not trying to make excuses. I figure, I'll try this cycle..and if all fails..there's always next year, right?

Thanks for your advice ..I really do appreciate it.

I am an aspiring psychologist with the goal of eventually earning a PhD in Counseling Psychology from an APA accredited university program. With a bachelors in performing arts (a successful performing career behind me) I am now researching Master's degree programs. I took 4 psychology courses and a statistics course as electives in undergrad knowing that I would pursue psychology after performing for a while.

I came across the Chicago School of Professional Psychology during my search. (MA in Counseling Psych) The program was also recommended to me by several local practicing and researching psychologists I have been able to speak to.

My question is, supposing I have great grades, test scores, and research/practicum experience when finished...will the fact that my degree is from a professional school and not a University be a problem for me when applying to university PhD programs?

I've read some negative opinions of professional schools on boards similar to this and just wanted to get some additional feedback. I understand that I may have to repeat some courses if accepted to a PhD program, but am really wondering if a MA from professional school would create any other issues for me, all other things being equal to applicants from university programs.

Thanks so much!

Originally Posted by SuperP35

I am an aspiring psychologist with the goal of eventually earning a PhD in Counseling Psychology from an APA accredited university program. With a bachelors in performing arts (a successful performing career behind me) I am now researching Master's degree programs. I took 4 psychology courses and a statistics course as electives in undergrad knowing that I would pursue psychology after performing for a while.

I came across the Chicago School of Professional Psychology during my search. (MA in Counseling Psych) The program was also recommended to me by several local practicing and researching psychologists I have been able to speak to.

My question is, supposing I have great grades, test scores, and research/practicum experience when finished...will the fact that my degree is from a professional school and not a University be a problem for me when applying to university PhD programs?

I've read some negative opinions of professional schools on boards similar to this and just wanted to get some additional feedback. I understand that I may have to repeat some courses if accepted to a PhD program, but am really wondering if a MA from professional school would create any other issues for me, all other things being equal to applicants from university programs.

Thanks so much!

nothing wrong with your plan, but many programs would rather you just complete their non-terminal masters on your way to the PhD. Is there a reason you want an MA before you attempt phd?

If you have the grades and gre etc etc than you should have a good chance once you have the prerequisites. It looks like you are missing the core classes from an undergraduate degree in psychology so you would probably be taking those classes rather than master's level classes.

Originally Posted by SuperP35

My question is, supposing I have great grades, test scores, and research/practicum experience when finished...will the fact that my degree is from a professional school and not a University be a problem for me when applying to university PhD programs?

MOD NOTE: All questions about viability as an applicant belongs in this thread, so I merged your thread. -t4c

You are better off not incurring the debt associated with a pursuing an MA before a Ph.D. Spend a year or two in a lab doing research, it will be cheaper and more beneficial than taking classes.

Originally Posted by Therapist4Chnge

MOD NOTE: All questions about viability as an applicant belongs in this thread, so I merged your thread. -t4c

You are better off not incurring the debt associated with a pursuing an MA before a Ph.D. Spend a year or two in a lab doing research, it will be cheaper and more beneficial than taking classes.

100 PERCENT AGREE. Take it from someone who did it. The MA really isn't worth the money. I will be done with my MA in May, with $50,000 in debt. I am hopefully headed right into a doctoral program in the fall...shooting for funded, but not entirely sure where I will end up. So, long story short...I'm pretty screwed with debt. Did I get something out of my MA? Yes, of course. A practicum at a very well respected site (this boosted my CV), and a ton of research experience. However, I could have done this if I had taken a couple years off and gotten a paid position in a lab. Regret!

Originally Posted by Existenz

nothing wrong with your plan, but many programs would rather you just complete their non-terminal masters on your way to the PhD. Is there a reason you want an MA before you attempt phd?

If you have the grades and gre etc etc than you should have a good chance once you have the prerequisites. It looks like you are missing the core classes from an undergraduate degree in psychology so you would probably be taking those classes rather than master's level classes.

Originally Posted by Therapist4Chnge

You are better off not incurring the debt associated with a pursuing an MA before a Ph.D. Spend a year or two in a lab doing research, it will be cheaper and more beneficial than taking classes.

Originally Posted by Student4Life0

100 PERCENT AGREE. Take it from someone who did it. The MA really isn't worth the money. I will be done with my MA in May, with $50,000 in debt. I am hopefully headed right into a doctoral program in the fall...shooting for funded, but not entirely sure where I will end up. So, long story short...I'm pretty screwed with debt. Did I get something out of my MA? Yes, of course. A practicum at a very well respected site (this boosted my CV), and a ton of research experience. However, I could have done this if I had taken a couple years off and gotten a paid position in a lab. Regret!

Thanks so much for all of the advice folks! I appreciate it!

I really think that I am going to need the MA (with great grades, practicum, etc) to get into a PhD program because:

1. My undergrad degree is in Performing Arts. I took Psych 101, Abnormal, Social, Personality, & Statistics...but I don't think that will get me into a PhD program with any funding considering the level of competition and that fact that I have no research.

2. I don't think I could get a paid position assisting research with my background and a few psych classes. I could be wrong about this.

3. I don't have much undergrad debt so I would be cool with the MA debt. The goal of course being to rock the MA so that I could get into a funded program.

Which leads back to my original concern which is the dreaded stigma of the "professional school" (CSPP), but after digging around on this forum some more, it's sounding like that won't be as much of a concern if I come out of the program with good grades, research & practicum experience.

Next goal...dig deeper into CSPP to see just how much of a chance I have to get adequate research experience there.

Did I mention how incredibly helpful this forum is?

Removed.

Sorry.

Originally Posted by PsycApplicant

info removed by greenpsych due to original poster request.

Really. Do you even need to ask?

I think someone is out fishing.

Originally Posted by GreenPsych

Really. Do you even need to ask?

Ya, this is someone who just wants to brag about their CV, since I don't see a question.

They have a great CV, congrats are in order... However narcissism won't help for the interview process. They know that they have a great CV, and if they don't I'd like to start with a Shipley for the assessment.

Mark