2011-2012: The Numbers (# of applications, interviews, acceptances, etc)

[Psych2011]

So I know those of us applying to graduate programs this year were talking about doing something similar to what was done two years ago (link: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=708649&highlight=numbers). This is obviously not to "brag" about our results (if anything, this process has truly humbled me), but I think it's really useful information for those who will apply next year. I remember reading the thread from 2009/2010 and really realizing the importance to apply to many programs etc. It's so competitive out there!

So, I have just copied and pasted the information from two years ago:

Each person should add his/her relevant info to a post:

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other

2) # of applications submitted

3) # of interview invites

4) # of waitlists

5) # of rejections

6) # of acceptances

7) GRE score

8) GPA

9) Years of clinical experience

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research)

11) Information about publications, presentations

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)

Only give the information that you feel comfortable sharing. (For those of you who want to maintain TOTAL anonymity, you can PM me, and I will include your info. in a post. I will reference you as SDNer # ___. )

Your application year does not have to be finalized to post to this thread. As your # of acceptances, etc., change, you can just edit your post. : )

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Psych2011]

From a member:

1) Area: Clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 17

3) # of interview invites: 6

4) # of waitlists: 5 after interview (all VERY high alternate, at two of these schools, I was the first choice but the professors were unable to admit anyone when the initial offers went out due to departmental politics)

5) # of rejections: 14

6) # of acceptances: 3

7) GRE score: V: 580 Q: 780 Psych: 780

8) GPA: 4.0

9) Years of clinical experience: Not much. 1.5 years working once a week with population of interest, and some clinical activities within my research positions

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 1 year as an undergrad (although very intensely in three different labs) and 2 years full-time after graduation. I also continued my involvement in two of my undergrad labs during my two years working full time.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 1 publication (not first authored), 5 poster presentations (1 international conference, 2 national conferences, and 2 regional conferences), 1 symposium talk (national conference)

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): After interviews, I picked three schools I said I would love to attend - and those three were the ones I ultimately got into. I did get into the two schools I had had as my top choices since before the application/interview process even started. For me, I only applied to extremely competitive, research heavy programs in mostly desirable locations, although I made some exceptions to this if the research match was exceptional. All schools were in the top 50 on the US news ranking list of clinical programs - not that that means much but it says something about what types of schools I applied to. Even though I was scared for a while that I wouldn't get in anywhere using this strategy, I don't regret my strategy. I want to go into academia and I DO care about where I live as that affects my happiness a lot. My undergraduate mentor also strongly advised me to apply to programs in bigger cities as that would lead to more opportunities for practicums etc. If I wouldn't have gotten in this year, I would have reapplied next year. I think it depends from person to person how much location and the program's track record of producing academic researchers etc. matters. Another important thing to note is that I'm an international student (although I completed my undergraduate degree in the US, at a very respected school), which I know caused some hesitations for some programs (due to funding issues), although I had done my best to eliminate those programs and issues before actually formally applying. My TOEFL iBT score was 120 out of 120. Finally, I did not have a honors thesis to put to my name (for various reasons). Even though nobody mentioned this during interviews, I do think that was a real weakness of my application...

 

[mee26]

1) Area: Clinical and Counseling Psych PhD

2) # of applications submitted: 17 (9 PhD counseling psych, 7 PhD clinical, 1 MA Counseling psych)

3) # of interview invites: 7 and 1 straight acceptance from MA Counseling Psych program

4) # of waitlists: 1 (Clinical) after interview

5) # of rejections: 11

6) # of acceptances: 6 (3 Counseling psych PhD, 1 Clinical, 2 MA Counseling Psych)

7) GRE score: V: 570 Q: 710

8) GPA: 3.8

9) Years of clinical experience: 2 years working 8 hours/week at a rape crisis center, 1 summer working at ASD therapy program

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 2 years undergrad research in one lab (2nd year as lab manager), 1 semester undergrad research at another lab, 1 summer undergrad working in another lab, undergrad honors thesis. No full-time research since I was accepted while I am finishing my senior year.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 12 poster presentations (regional and university wide conferences), 1 publication in progress

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): I didn't rank my schools until after I had gotten acceptances, and I got into my 1st choice counseling and clinical school - an impossible decision. My application is not exemplary, as many others are, and so I think some of the things that helped me include - a high quality of research experience (being a lab manager I had to train and supervise junior RAs as opposed to just entering data); my teaching assistantships (I TAed for 14 classes including stats, research design, and honors thesis seminar) for stats heavy classes, which displayed my knowledge of advanced stats and my love for stats; very close personal relationships with all the professors that wrote me letters of rec; I contacted and kept in touch with my potential POIs via e-mail throughout the application process where possible (5 out of 7 invites were from these professors). I am an international student as well, and while I did not experience any issues with this in regards to funding, etc. I learned that internships at state institutions such as the VA are not possible on a visa (something to keep in mind if you are international).

 

[paramour]

D'oh! I initially thought this was for internship ... I need sleep.

 

[zensouth]

1) Area: counseling psych

2) # of applications submitted 7 (all public university fully-funded PhD programs)

3) # of interview invites 4

4) # of waitlists 1

5) # of rejections 3

6) # of acceptances 3

7) GRE score v570, q600, writing 5

8) GPA Undergrad 3.6 with honors thesis, Graduate 3.8

9) Years of clinical experience 2, experience giving basic career assessments, worked with variety of populations, working post graduate degree as a licensed clinician in a community agency (for one of the 2 years)

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research) 1 year part-time research team member, about 8 months of grant work.

11) Information about publications, presentations 0. Yep, that's a zero.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. Have stellar letters of rec, have a great personal statement. I cannot state the importance of a well written, interesting, and engaging personal statement. Didn't have a top choice going in, got my top choice after comparing interviews. Apply where your research interests match, any other places will probably be a waste. Don't tailor your research interest to the program, find the programs for your research interest. You have to have a real desire in the research area you state otherwise your ideas just come across as flat and mundane.

 

[phillips101]

Please keep these entries coming, they're very helpful to future applicants such as myself.

Thank you!

 

[spafticus]

1) Area: Clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 12

3) # of interview invites: 2

4) # of waitlists: 4 WITHOUT interview

5) # of rejections: 5 Official at the moment

6) # of acceptances: 2

7) GRE score: V: 610 Q: 780

8) GPA: 3.2

9) Years of clinical experience: Been working on a clinical pharmacotherapy treatment study for the last 2 years.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 1.5 years as an undergrad (2 different labs. 1 of them even being paid) and 2 years full-time after graduation.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 3 publications (1 first authored), 13 poster presentations

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): I have a pretty specific area of interest and while I think it's probably a better idea to come in with a broad approach, this approach worked in that the 2 programs that invited me, really liked me. Both POIs stating I was their #1 choice even before the interview. As for ranking the schools, I didn't really rank any of them other than having a sense of who I was really excited about and who I viewed as more of a safety option. I came in almost expecting 2 interviews, one from my top choice because the fit was amazing and the other from my 'safety' school - both of those rejected almost immediately. It's really a crapshoot. Other than improving the objective stuff, I think your time should be spent on finding your interest. This was the most difficult thing for me because you also need to be practical about it. Schools are only becoming more competitive (I think this was a record year for most programs) you not only have to have an interest, but in most cases experiences doing it.

I should stop before I turn this into a novel If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM. And yes, you can get in to a R1 school with a 'low' GPA Good luck everyone!!

 

[szymk1sm]

1) Area: Clinical, Other

2) # of applications submitted: 9 (6 Clinical Psych, 3 Public Health)

3) # of interview invites: 2 (1 Clinical Psych, 1 Public Health)

4) # of waitlists: 2

5) # of rejections: 7

6) # of acceptances: 2

7) GRE score: 540v, 650q, 5.0w, 660psych

8) GPA: 3.83 undergrad, 3.67 master's

9) Years of clinical experience: 9 months volunteering at a domestic violence organization, with an additional 3 months as a legal advocate intern. Most of my clinical experience has been intertwined with my research experience. See below...

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research). Undergrad: 1.0 years working on animal models of Parkinson's disease in a behavioral neuroscience lab. 1.0 years working in a social psych lab--data collection. Masters: 2.0 years working with both animal models of PD and a project investigating motor and cognitive performance in patients with PD, elderly controls, and college students. 2.0 years working in a neuropsych lab--data collection. Full-time research: nearly 3.0 years working full-time as a clinical research assistant for a mood disorders program. Involved with collecting data on an inpatient psychiatric unit, for neuroimaging studies, and for a drug trial. Involved with poster/manuscription preparations and as a liasian for outside collaborators.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 1 publication (2nd author). 2 more being prepared. Approximately 12 presentations (6 national/international conferences, 6 local conferences)

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) Technically this was my 4th application cycle. My first cycle was while I was an undergraduate and was a very rushed attempt. I was rejected from every school and accepted into the Experimental Psychology master's program at my university. I applied again during the 2nd year of my master's, interviewed at 2 places, got accepted into one and was waitlisted at the other. I ultimately decided to decline the acceptance as I wasn't 100% impressed with the program and the research match. I applied again during my 2nd year of working full-time and was waitlisted without interview at 2 places, ending up with rejection. This year I branched out and began looking into public health programs, with an emphasis in mental health or psychiatric epidemiology, in addition to the clinical psych programs. I really sat down and refined what it was I wanted to do and spent a lot of time editing my personal statement. I was interviewed by my top choices in both areas and was accepted to both after initially being on the waitlist. I decided to attend the Clinical Psychology program.

I think the edits to my statement really helped me along this cycle. I also had a manuscript that was accepted for publication and a recent poster presentation at a national/international conference. My GRE scores are below the reported scores for that institution, but I think I made up for that with my research experience and continuing to take non-degree seeking courses while I was working. With this being my 4th application cycle, I was ready to give up and move into another field. This forced me to really think about what it was I wanted to do and took all of the fluff out of my statement. I wouldn't be discouraged by not getting in your 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd time. Nobody is going to care how long it took you to get into grad school. If you have a dream program, then keep applying. The school I will be attending has been my dream program for the past 4-5 years. This was my third time applying to that particular school and I finally got in!

 

[AnnieEllie]

X

 

[psychguy819]

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other: Clinical, PhD and PsyD

2) # of applications submitted: 19

3) # of interview invites: 16, but turned down 5

4) # of waitlists: 2, but turned down both before final admissions decision

5) # of rejections: 7

6) # of acceptances: 5

7) GRE score: 1220

8) GPA: 3.77

9) Years of clinical experience: 2 undergrad, 1.5 years in professional work

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 2 years of undergrad, 1.5 years full-time research.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 0 publications (1 pending), 6 presentations

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): I didn't have an exact ranking, but I did get into one of my top choices. Advice? Apply to 15-18 programs and vary the difficulty of of entry for each program. Although it sounds like a no-brainer, ONLY apply to programs that if it was the only place you were accepted, you would still go (I made this mistake last year). Set your goals high but also be realistic and willing to settle for something that's not your #1 choice...and most importantly, never give up! Good luck, everyone!

 

[mhope]

1) Area: Clinical, 1 Health

2) # of applications submitted 12, although I think only 11 were completed due to a transcript issue

3) # of interview invites 5

4) # of waitlists 1, leading to an acceptance

5) # of rejections all of the schools I did not interview at, and 1 I did interview at, although that professor did not end up taking any students due to funding

6) # of acceptances 4

7) GRE score V - 610/Q - 690/W - 4.5/Subject - 690

8) GPA 4.0

9) Years of clinical experience none - some volunteer mentoring work and working with a specific population through research, but no specific clinical work

10) Years of research experience 2 years undergrad - 3 different grants with the psych department, 1 through the sociology department, significant leadership roles in 2 of the grants

11) Information about publications, presentations 1 paper in progress, 1 poster presentation (although it had not been accepted yet at the time of the interviews), 1 oral presentation at my undergrad research forum

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) Based on my ranking after interviews, I got in to my first choice school, which is... awesome. I've heard a lot about the dangers of coming straight from undergrad, but it worked for me. I think this is in part because my CV & personal statement told a VERY clear story. I have a personal and academic focus on my target population/research questions, and have done all my research in that specific field. I also have part-time jobs, projects, and volunteer work that relate directly to these interests. I think the POIs were able to see this focus, which can be difficult to find even in more experienced candidates I have run across. Also, despite attending a more middle-tier undergrad program, the professor I've worked with is prominent in her field, knew several of my POIs personally, and wrote a strong recommendation letter - and followed up by email after interviews. It's helpful to have someone like that in your corner.

I thought about retaking the GRE and even signed up, but after having made it past the cutoff of 1200 or so, I honestly did not feel like wasting the time to try and boost my scores. I think what helped me the most was the research interest fit - looking back, the schools I got interviews at are about 5 of the 7 that REALLY matched what I was interested. I would say the other 5 were vaguely aligned but maybe not the best choice for me. I also think having positions other than "undergraduate research assistant" made me stand out a bit more than other candidates - I had significant leadership roles in my lab, training both undergraduate and graduate students, and I also had knowledge of software/techniques that will be applicable to other research studies.

 

[napsych8771]

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other: Clinical PhD

2) # of applications submitted: 17

3) # of interview invites: 4

4) # of waitlists: 1, with eventual offer

5) # of rejections: 13 (some of this is assumed from not interviewing there)

6) # of acceptances: 4

7) GRE score: 540v, 690q, 5.5w , 700psych

8) GPA: undergrad:3.58, grad:3.91

9) Years of clinical experience: Clinical work came as part of the research labs I worked in, so approximately 2years, with target population.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 1 year in undergrad lab, 2years in a graduate lab, 2years of full-time work as RA.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 2 publications (1 pending), 4 posters

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): Although I didn't have a specific ranking, I did have tiers. Luckily, I was accepted into a school in my top tier of programs prior to interviews and my top school based on those I got interviewed at. The advice I have is probably more relevant to those looking at PhD programs. This has been stated before, but to reiterate: Apply to schools/labs/programs where you are interested in the work being done in the population you are interested in working with. If you have experience in this area, it will go a long way, if not you will be at a disadvantage. However, some research experience is basically necessary.

The other piece of advice is to start the application process early. Contact potential POIs, research programs, get your transcripts and recs in order, and most importantly leave time to craft a logical and engaging personal statement (much easier said than done). Have professors/mentors/advisors etc critique your statement. It may go through many drafts but its certainly worth it.

 

[Psych2011]

From a member who wants to remain anonymous:

1) Area: Clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 10 to PhD in Clinical and 4 to MS/MA programs in Clinical (as backups)

3) # of interview invites: 4 invites to PhD programs and 1 interview to MS/MA program that I turned down

4) # of waitlists: 4 waitlists, two of which was first alternate and another was "top alternate" and I am not sure about the last

5) # of rejections: 6 rejections

6) # of acceptances: 2 acceptances into PhD in Clinical, 1 acceptance to an Applied Experimental Psychology program (which I did not apply to--I'll explain below), and 3 acceptances into MS/MA programs.

7) GRE score: 480V, 630Q, and 4.5 writing. Shows that you can get acceptances with average GRE scores!

8) GPA: 3.87 overall GPA and 3.98 psych GPA (probably made up some for the GRE scores)

9) Years of clinical experience: Two, 130-hour applied internships

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): Worked heavily in 2 labs in UG and completed an UG thesis

11) Information about publications, presentations: 2 publications in undergraduate research journal (only author), 1 paper under review at a peer-reviewed journal (first author of two), and 2 presentations

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)
What helped me this year, as compared to last year when I received one interview and no offers, was number of applications, really focusing on match with lab/faculty, and contacting faculty in advance to see if they plan on taking students, I would express interest in their work, ask about current/future research plans, etc. (get a dialogue going). Also what helped me, relating to match, was that I took a "bottom up" method rather than a "top down" when choosing schools to apply to. In other words, rather than focusing on the school and where it was located, I started looking at faculty and match, moving up from there. An aspect of the interview process that I feet a lot of students underestimated is the graduate students' inputs into the decisions. Remember that you are being interviewed from the moment you step off the plane--feel free to be yourself but make sure you are being professional (especially if you're staying with a grad student).

I think this point is particularly important as it is possible to, when really connecting with a graduate student, open new opportunities. This is what happened at an interview I attended with a 5th year student that was graduating this spring and had just accepted an academic position. After the interview she contacted me and offered me to come work with her as her first student, the only downside was that the program was Applied Experimental Psych rather than Clinical.

Hope this helps!

 

[snowcherries]

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other: School and clinical PhD (scientist-practitioner)

2) # of applications submitted: 10 applications: 6 clinical, 4 school

3) # of interview invites: 7 (4 school 3 clinical), turned down 1 after acceptance

4) # of waitlists: 5!

5) # of rejections: 1 post-interview, 3 with no interview (all clinical)

6) # of acceptances: 1 initial acceptance, 1 off of waitlist (both school)

7) GRE score: 1440

8) GPA: 3.9

9) Years of clinical experience: about 2, including a year of full-time school-based experience.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 4 years part-time.

11) Information about publications, presentations: honors thesis, no pubs no presentations.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): I went to a very prestigious undergrad school, for what it's worth. I feel that my stats, letters, and personal statement got me lots of interviews but my lack of pubs/presentations and my slightly unfocused research goals were a negative. However, I was admitted to my top choice program!!! School psych is a better fit for me and I'm happy to be going school instead of clinical. Feel free to PM me if you have questions, especially about school psych programs.

 

[Tesseract18]

1) Area: Clinical and Counseling

2) # of applications submitted: 13 total; 11 clinical (2 Canadian) and 2 counseling

3) # of interview invites: 4

4) # of waitlists: 2 (both clinical)

5) # of rejections: 9

6) # of acceptances: 2 (both counseling)

7) GRE score: V - 600; Q - 660; A - 5.5

8) GPA: 3.95

9) Years of clinical experience: Approximately a year of experience working with a local agency that provides case management services for families with children who have mental health needs.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): Approximately 2 years total. One year undergraduate research (i.e. independent study/honors thesis) with my undergrad advisor (no formal psych labs, liberal arts university). One year as an RA in larger, university based lab. Continued to work with undergrad advisor after graduating and oversaw some of his students on a project.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 2 publications (one first author) under review/revisions, 4 posters at university conference, 1 symposium lecture, and 1 paper presentation at regional conference.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?):
This was my second time around and I cannot stress enough the importance of flexibility. Like many others, I did not pre-rank my programs. I waited to see where I received interview invites and took it from there. Consequently, I did not feel disappointed by any of my rejections because I'd sort of tricked myself into not considering them as "real applications" unless I'd received an interview. It really worked well for me. Like many others, I ended up loving programs I didn't think I would and not liking others that I initially thought would be stellar. In general, my entire application map consisted not necessarily of "cool" places but rather places where my research had a semblance of matching with individual researchers (hard for me since my area is a bit narrow). In the end, I accepting an offer someplace closer to home than expected (or initially wanted) and in a type of program I didn't originally plan for. But based on everything I've learned about this process, my new program, and my own research experience and interests I think it will be truly ideal for my personal situation for the next 5-6 years.

I also recommend starting some dialog with POIs before the application season begins to feel out whether they're taking students and interested in your experiences. I'd had contact with the POIs at 3 out of 4 of my interview programs before I ever sent anything in. I think it helps you feel confident that you're targeting the right lab, at the very least. This is a tough process but if you can do your best to objectively look at your application, find the best ways to improve it and then fit that with several different potential programs, I truly do think you can find success! It worked for me!

 

[StellaB]

1) Area: Clinical & Counseling PhD

2) # of applications submitted: 5

3) # of interview invites: 2

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 3, 1 of which was after interview - poor match

6) # of acceptances: 2, 1 of which did not interview

7) GRE score: 168 V (~730 in old scoring), 155 Q (~710), 720 psych

8) GPA: 3.8

9) Years of clinical experience: over 10 years as a contractor with a family law attorney working with foster youth plus 9 months working with state prison inmates

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): not much - one original unpublished experiment in undergrad plus one ongoing extracurricular social psych qualitative study for around 8 months post-graduation.

11) Information about publications, presentations: one panel presentation at a local sociological conference - at the time of my acceptances, my study was accepted for presentation but I had not yet presented.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle: I have worked for four years at a company that makes training materials for therapists. While I only applied to 5 schools, I researched them heavily to determine ahead of time that 1) I had a decent match with at least one professor, 2) I had a good shot at getting in, and 3) that I would actually be able to go (husband would move to this city with me) if I got in. I wrote a totally unique statement of purpose for each school and heavily revised/edited them. One of the schools I was accepted to I had been emailing with my POI for about a year, the other one I hadn't emailed at all. I'm not sure that really makes much of a difference. Ultimately I got into my first choice and I am very happy about it!

I just want to add that at the beginning of this process about a year ago, I thought I had no chance. I didn't think of my foster care work as being "clinical" until I was talking to the lawyer I work for and she asked me if I was including it on my CV - duh! To me, because it wasn't "formal" with specific training and therapeutic direction, I didn't think of it. Throughout this process I've learned that you absolutely have to be yourself and be realistic, otherwise you might not be happy with your results, in or not.

 

[Psych2011]

From another SDN member:

1) Area: Clinical Ph.D.

2) # of applications submitted: 15

3) # of interview invites: 3

4) # of waitlists: 1, but asked to be removed after accepting another offer

5) # of rejections: 11 official; still waiting on 2 but I didn't interview there so they are assumed rejections

6) # of acceptances: 1- remember, if the program is right, it only takes 1!

7) GRE score: 600V, 730Q, 5.5W

8) GPA: 3.62

9) Years of clinical experience: 1.5 years as behavioral aide at children's home, 1.5 years as youth advocate, 6 months as sexual assault advocate, 1 year as neuropsychology technician in a large hospital

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 2 years working in 2 separate labs during undergrad. No full-time experience.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 1 poster presentation

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): As a 2nd time applicant, what definitely got me accepted this year was my raised GRE score (up 110 points from last year) and applicable experience. Being interested in pediatric neuropsych, I had plenty of experience with kids but my neuropsych tech position really showed my interest in the field. Receiving a glowing letter of rec from the neuropsychologist I worked under added to my application and showed my competence in neuropsychology. Also, my initial "rankings" were obliterated after interviews. A school that had long been at the top of my list ended up being a disappointment, and a school that I never much considered I ended up falling in love with (and it's where I will be attending in the fall). Don't consider your rankings final until visiting your desired programs!

 

[thought units]

This is a great idea--thanks for posting, Psych2011!

1) Area: clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 12 (all Ph.D. programs)

3) # of interview invites: 6

4) # of waitlists: 1 (post-interview)

5) # of rejections: 7 (6 without interview, 1 post-interview)

6) # of acceptances: 4 (including 3 R1s)

7) GRE score: 1390 (V: 640, Q: 750), didn't take psych GRE

8) GPA: 3.94

9) Years of clinical experience: 4 months of clinical-ish full-time work (i.e., client care at residential substance abuse treatment facility)

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): Around 5 years total, with some overlap between experiences. Including: 2 years as an undergraduate volunteer research assistant, 1 year doing undergraduate honors thesis, and almost 3 years as full time RA.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 2 pubs published/in press, 3 pubs in preparation, 8 presentations at various national conferences (6 papers presented as full-time RA, 2 posters presented for honors thesis).

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?):

This was my first application cycle and now, in retrospect, I found that it's true what they say--fit with your potential mentor's research is SO important. The four offers that I had were absolutely spot on, fit-wise.

I would also advocate for taking the time to develop your research interests--I've spent the three years since I graduated focusing and refining my interests and, simultaneously, getting some intense/rewarding/thoroughly educational research experience. That time has been absolutely invaluable.

As for ranking my choices, I had three or so tiers in my mind when I was choosing schools to apply, but I didn't create an ordered list until I finished interviewing. Ultimately, I was fortunate enough to get offers from all of my top three.

I also found that it was terrifically helpful to know and regularly see another person who applied at the same time. As it turns out, this whole process is really, really difficult and emotionally taxing. It was incredibly validating and, ultimately, motivating to have someone else trudging through it with me.

Best of luck, everyone!

 

[deliciousgoose]

1) Area: Clinical PhD

2) # of applications submitted: 9 (5 Canada, 4 USA)

3) # of interview invites: 3

4) # of waitlists: 1 - first alternate

5) # of rejections: 8

6) # of acceptances: 1

7) GRE score: V:640 Q:750 A:5.0; Psych: 97th percentile

8) GPA: CGPA: 3.34, Psych GPA: 3.8

9) Years of clinical experience: worked as an assistant in a therapy firm for 5+ years, 2.5 years clinical research

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 2 undergraduate theses, 9 months volunteer RA in top research hospital, 1 year paid study coordinator (part-time) in collaborative clinical pilot study

11) Information about publications, presentations: 1 first authored publication submitted; 1 first author presentation

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) I wish I had done a better job looking at fit. I applied to some researchers just because I was interested in the school rather than applying to the people with whom I had the best fit. I didn't contact any potential POIs before applying which I should have done.

I was lucky to currently work with a well-known researcher in my field who I am sure wrote me very strong letter of recommendation.

The school I was first alternate at, and the school I was accepted at both had by far the best fit. They were also my two top choices. The third school I interviewed at I had a terrible fit with the program and the potential advisor was scathing and awful. Really. The interview was a phone interview and I have thought about writing a general complaint letter to the school about it.

 

[dcc777]

This is probably a stupid question, but can someone explain to me what exactly a presentation is? What counts as this?

 

[Ollie123]

Generally speaking, a poster or talk presented at a professional conference...though some people may include things like the "Undergraduate research fair" at their school as well.

 

[Ettevi05]

1) Area: clinical, counseling, experimental

2) # of applications submitted: 9 (8 PhD, 1 MA Clinical)

3) # of interview invites: 1

4) # of waitlists: 1 - No ranking (turned it down after accepting other offer)

5) # of rejections: 6

6) # of acceptances: 2 (although one was an alternate MA route offer)

7) GRE score 1150, 4

8) GPA Undergrad: 3.6 Psy GPA: 3.95

9) Years of clinical experience: 2 years of working as a student assistant with population of interest.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): Undergrad worked for a year in a lab with interest population collecting data for a pilot study. As well as taking an extensive research methods class that resulted in two poster presentations in Undergraduate research fairs.

11) Information about publications, presentations: 2 poster presentations, 1 training presentation on working with population interest

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)
Being organized when requesting letters of rec, establishing relationship with profs as well as excelling in my student assistant job with clinical population. The program that accepted me where also impressed with my personal statement (which I revised a TON) and LORs. My top 3rd school sent me an MA route so I decided to just go with my top 4th. I didn't know the first two were THAT competitive when I first applied. Remember guys it only takes 1 school to get in!

 

[EverHopeful]

1) Area: Clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 16 (15 Clinical, 1 Counseling)

3) # of interview invites: 9

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 8

6) # of acceptances: I received 1 official acceptance from my first choice early in the cycle and opted to remove myself from consideration from all other schools. Based off of communications from POIs I strongly believe I would have had at least two additional offers.

7) GRE score: 680q, 570v

8) GPA: Overall- 3.72, Last 2yrs: 4.00, Psych: 4.00, also graduated summa cum laude and with distinction

9) Years of clinical experience: Not too much, 1 year doing rape crisis hotline and hospital advocacy, working with adults on the Autism spectrum for 6months.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): I volunteered as an undergraduate for three different labs for a year a piece. One of those turned into a full-time RA position that I have been in for two years.

11) Information about publications, presentations: I had 1 first-authored paper that had been published from my honor's thesis. It also resulted in some media attention and interviews. Beyond that, 5 first-authored posters (4 at international conferences), 1 second-authored poster, 1 first-authored publication under review and two additional publications in process.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)
This was my second-time applying. Last year, I also got a lot of interviews (7 or 8) and I think both years it was due to my letters of rec and statement of purpose. One of my letter writters wrote one of the nicest recommendations possible (it actually made me tear up when he offered to let me read it). He said I was the best RA he had seen in 25 years, etc. He is a very well known researcher and close with many of the POIs I was applying to. Second, I think my statement of purpose very clearly expressed who I am as a person and a researcher. I spent a lot of time on it and one of the the POIs told me it was the best he'd read. I don't say this to brag, but because I think it really impacted my interview offers.
The second time around, I think it was my first-authored publication that pushed me from just getting interviews to getting offers. The topic was right within my long-term research interests so I think POIs could really get a clear picture of what it is I wanted to continue researching. I also talked differently in my interviews. I had a clear goal I was working towards and asked questions that showed this (i.e. I want to go into academics, so I asked about opportunities for advanced statistics, how many students had received F31s and what support there would be for me to pursue one, etc.).
Even though going through this cycle twice was stressful, I am thankful I did. I feel better prepared to actually start graduate school this time around and I couldn't be happier with where I will be going. So as disheartening not getting in is, it could end up a lot better in the long run.

 

[Mianess]

1) Area: Clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 4 (I should mention that I was limited geographically which is why I submitted such a small number of applications. All the programs were APA accredited PhD programs and none of them were professional schools)

3) # of interview invites: 1

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 3

6) # of acceptances: 1 (Top choice!)

7) GRE score: 1220

8) GPA: 3.7

9) Years of clinical experience: A year and a half at a Psychiatric hospital.

10) Years of research experience: 2 years as an undergrad and a year as a graduate in a MA program.

11) Information about publications, presentations: None

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle:
This was my second time applying (the first time I was wait listed and ultimately denied acceptance. In that time I got my MA in a year and a half.). What I think helped me this time was the fact that I got some serious clinical experience at a psychiatric hospital and I retook my GREs and got higher scores. I also really got to know the professors writing my recommendation letters so I know my letters were as strong as possible.
I know I was crazy applying to so few programs, especially in NY. Had I applied to more programs and in different areas I probably would have gotten more interviews/acceptances.

 

[TimeCat]

1) Area: School Psychology

2) # of applications submitted: 9 PhD, 1 MA/EdS

3) # of interview invites: 7 PhD, 1 MA/EdS

4) # of waitlists: 3 PhD; I withdrew my name from 1 before hearing a final decision

5) # of rejections: 7 PhD

6) # of acceptances: 2: 1 PhD, 1 MA/EdS

7) GRE score: Q: 660 (61%), V: 470 (51%), W: 5.0 (87%)

8) GPA: N/A; my undergrad does narrative evaluations only

9) Years of clinical experience: 0 but with ~10 years experience working with kids (camp counselor, after school teacher, etc.). I got the impression that my application would have been much better with real clinical experience.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 3 years undergrad, self-designed study for senior thesis, 1.5 years of professional full-time research at very well-renowned research institute

11) Information about publications, presentations: 6 presentations (4 national, 2 regional), 4 manuscripts in preparation including my senior thesis

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): My greatest downfall was that I didn't feel "fluent" in school psychology. It's still a very new field to me and, especially having never worked in a directly related clinical or research environment, I think it showed in my interviews (despite my very best efforts) that I hadn't yet honed in on what I wanted to do research-wise. With that said, the one PhD program I did get into is a top-ten School Psych program, ranked much higher than any of the other programs I applied to. I got in because the research and professional experience I did have matched perfectly with my POI's. This is a similar story for the programs to which I was waitlisted. Match match match!

As a side note, due to the lack of a GPA and not particularly glowing GRE scores, it was rather easy for me to pick out which programs cared more about numbers vs. experience. I would much rather go to a school that cared more about the latter so it actually helped a lot in forming my own ranking system. Your stats do not define you!

 

[g0708]

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other: Clinical PhD

2) # of applications submitted: 15

3) # of interview invites: 3

4) # of waitlists: 1 (first alternate) I removed myself from this waitlist as soon as I had made my decision back in March

5) # of rejections: Assumed and official: 12

6) # of acceptances: 2

7) GRE score: V+Q: 1260 W: 5.0 Psy: 680 (I think)

8) GPA: Undergrad: 3.37 Grad: 3.64

9) Years of clinical experience: None really, I never did anything "clinical" per se. I did have experience with clinical and at-risk populations for the entire duration of my research experience (almost 6 years now).

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): I went to a small liberal arts college for undergrad and there weren't many opportunities for research--I did 2 years total while an undergrad student, and then 6 months post graduation with the same faculty member. Then I went overseas for 6 months and found some research to work on there. When I came back to the states I did research at a well known University for almost 1 year. Finally, at my graduate school... 2 years full-time research. Almost 6 years total.

11) Information about publications, presentations: No publications, working on one over the summer. 3 posters at national and international conferences.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) First off, this was my 3rd time applying. The second time I applied I had back up masters schools and chose to attend a school that was both funded and would provide me with relevant research experience in the area I wanted to ultimately work in. I do NOT regret the decision to do a masters. It definitely better prepared me for a doctoral program, both at the research and coursework levels. It also helped me learn the ropes--form the right connections, network well, and understand the politics behind this entire process. I was an average student coming out of undergraduate, but the time I took to focus my interests, do independent research, and communicate with faculty I was interested in ultimately working with really singled me out I feel. Also, preparing TONS of questions to ask at interviews that weren't just cliche, and were very program specific I think helped. I picked the programs I applied to knowing there were a couple that were long shots and a couple that were backups. The major bulk of my schools were schools that I had great fits with, had communicated with faculty members at, (I would email first and ask to set up a phone conversation if the individual was taking a student), and felt I had a solid chance at. Keep in mind that not all faculty members are comfortable speaking on the phone prior to you applying...some schools even had policies against it--but many individuals were willing and very nice about it. I applied to research focused PhD programs (many members of APA and APCS), because I ultimately want to do research and be a faculty member. ALL of the schools I interviewed at were schools at which I had contacted the faculty member prior, spoke to over the phone, and connected well with. I cannot stress this enough--KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO...don't make the mistake I did the first time around. I was naive about the process, figured it didn't matter WHAT research I was doing as long as I would get a clinical degree, etc etc. So my applications the first time around were general, my statement sucked, and my research interests would change depending on the school. BAD idea.

Also... I hear this a lot when I talk to undergrads now and ask them what they're interested in researching. Guys... "neuropsychology" is not a research interest...schizophrenia--- ALSO not a research interest. What about neuropsychology and schizophrenia? Why those? Is there a specific process you're interested in? Are you interested in the behavioral aspect of schizophrenia, are interested in the cognitive aspects of it...emotional maybe??? Why is your interest even important for this or any disorder? In terms of neuropsychology... are you looking to develop assessments? Find neuropsychological correlates/implications of behavior in bla bla bla disorder?? Be specific!!! Knowwwww what you're talking about. (Sorry... it's something I had to get off my chest). I REALLY think this is important. Faculty can SENSE immaturity of interest and knowledge--whether it's in your statement or during the interview. Also, having research experience in the area you ultimately what to work is valuable too.

Side note... for those interested in neuroscience research (neuroimaging, etc) who are still undergrads (or even just graduated)... take multiple computer programming courses, go to neuroimaging workshops, DO research in the area--even if it's for free. It will make your CV stand out.

I didn't rank my schools prior to interviewing, but after interviews, and after learning about some of the programs I didn't even interview at, I definitely find myself having chosen my top school to attend. The research fit feels right, the POI is someone i'm super excited to work with, and the students were all happy and very nice. There are also great resources for growth... which is very important to me.

If anyone has ANY questions, please don't hesitate to PM me. I don't know everything about the process, but there is a heck of a lot I've learned in the past couple years, through experience, as well as talking to faculty members, and doctoral students alike.

 

[dcc777]

Generally speaking, a poster or talk presented at a professional conference...though some people may include things like the "Undergraduate research fair" at their school as well.

Does it only count if it's your own research?

 

[Ollie123]

Depends what you mean by "own research". Many people will present posters that are secondary analyses of other projects (i.e. faculty advisors), so they may not have done their own data collection per se. Nothing wrong with that (most of mine fall into that category due to the nature of our lab/research), though as others here have mentioned in other threads, if a junior person expects to take the lead they need to be ready to do so. Of course, many people will help out with a presentation and be included as "nth" author. Which doesn't excuse not knowing about the study, but the expectations are (and should be) a bit lower for the 7th of 9 authors rather than a first author.

Now, it doesn't count as a "presentation" if you aren't included as an author on it (sorry, might be obvious but I'm not sure what you meant by the question).

 

[sacredrage]

Just want to point out that this thread isn't helpful if people aren't giving a sense of the quality of the schools that they've been rejected/accepted/waitlisted at. If you were rejected from, say, Harvard, Penn, UCLA, and Yale but got into15 professional schools (15 accepts, 4 rejects) that can be very misleading information.

 

[emily621]

1) Area: clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 11 Ph.Ds

3) # of interview invites: 5

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 7 with no interview, unsure of 3 that I interviewed at because I withdrew before I heard back

6) # of acceptances: 2

7) GRE score: don't remember the new scores, but my percentiles were - verbal 94, quant 76, analytical 99

8) GPA: overall 3.75, major 3.91

9) Years of clinical experience: senior year internship running groups at a day treatment social rehab program for severe mental illness

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): full time, 5 years in July; undergrad, 1 year (not my own)

11) Information about publications, presentations: a few posters, 1 paper that had been submitted but not accepted at the time of applications, another paper in preparation (none are first author)

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): This was my third year applying, and I got into my first choice school (has been my first choice all three years, but didn't even get an interview the last two years). Apparently in my case, it was re-taking the GRE that made the difference. The two years before, my POI hadn't even seen my application because of their unadvertised GRE cutoff.

Also, I finally really nailed down my research interests in a way that I could succinctly and comprehensively present in my personal statement. My first year, I was all over the place; the second year, I had a better sense and had better responses from schools, but still wasn't as clear as I was this year.

 

[nika751]

Each person should add his/her relevant info to a post:

1) Area: school psychology

2) # of applications submitted- 5 (1 rejection, 1 wait list, 3 acceptance)- all to Ph.D. programs

3) # of interview invites- 3

4) # of waitlists- 1

5) # of rejections-1

6) # of acceptances-3 (all with funding)

7) GRE score- V- 156 (550 on old scale), Q- 156 (720 on old scale)

8) GPA- 3.3

9) Years of clinical experience- 2

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research)- 1 year undergraduate

11) Information about publications, presentations- 1

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)

Got in to first choice- really good program . I have worked with special needs students in the schools for 2 years. Lots of background knowledge in school psychology, strong references, situation to explain a semester of low grades.

 

[walt55054life]

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other: Clinical PhD

2) # of applications submitted: 15

3) # of interview invites: 3

4) # of waitlists: 1 (first alternate) I removed myself from this waitlist as soon as I had made my decision back in March

5) # of rejections: Assumed and official: 12

6) # of acceptances: 2

7) GRE score: V+Q: 1260 W: 5.0 Psy: 680 (I think)

8) GPA: Undergrad: 3.37 Grad: 3.64

9) Years of clinical experience: None really, I never did anything "clinical" per se. I did have experience with clinical and at-risk populations for the entire duration of my research experience (almost 6 years now).

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): I went to a small liberal arts college for undergrad and there weren't many opportunities for research--I did 2 years total while an undergrad student, and then 6 months post graduation with the same faculty member. Then I went overseas for 6 months and found some research to work on there. When I came back to the states I did research at a well known University for almost 1 year. Finally, at my graduate school... 2 years full-time research. Almost 6 years total.

11) Information about publications, presentations: No publications, working on one over the summer. 3 posters at national and international conferences.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) First off, this was my 3rd time applying. The second time I applied I had back up masters schools and chose to attend a school that was both funded and would provide me with relevant research experience in the area I wanted to ultimately work in. I do NOT regret the decision to do a masters. It definitely better prepared me for a doctoral program, both at the research and coursework levels. It also helped me learn the ropes--form the right connections, network well, and understand the politics behind this entire process. I was an average student coming out of undergraduate, but the time I took to focus my interests, do independent research, and communicate with faculty I was interested in ultimately working with really singled me out I feel. Also, preparing TONS of questions to ask at interviews that weren't just cliche, and were very program specific I think helped. I picked the programs I applied to knowing there were a couple that were long shots and a couple that were backups. The major bulk of my schools were schools that I had great fits with, had communicated with faculty members at, (I would email first and ask to set up a phone conversation if the individual was taking a student), and felt I had a solid chance at. Keep in mind that not all faculty members are comfortable speaking on the phone prior to you applying...some schools even had policies against it--but many individuals were willing and very nice about it. I applied to research focused PhD programs (many members of APA and APCS), because I ultimately want to do research and be a faculty member. ALL of the schools I interviewed at were schools at which I had contacted the faculty member prior, spoke to over the phone, and connected well with. I cannot stress this enough--KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO...don't make the mistake I did the first time around. I was naive about the process, figured it didn't matter WHAT research I was doing as long as I would get a clinical degree, etc etc. So my applications the first time around were general, my statement sucked, and my research interests would change depending on the school. BAD idea.

Also... I hear this a lot when I talk to undergrads now and ask them what they're interested in researching. Guys... "neuropsychology" is not a research interest...schizophrenia--- ALSO not a research interest. What about neuropsychology and schizophrenia? Why those? Is there a specific process you're interested in? Are you interested in the behavioral aspect of schizophrenia, are interested in the cognitive aspects of it...emotional maybe??? Why is your interest even important for this or any disorder? In terms of neuropsychology... are you looking to develop assessments? Find neuropsychological correlates/implications of behavior in bla bla bla disorder?? Be specific!!! Knowwwww what you're talking about. (Sorry... it's something I had to get off my chest). I REALLY think this is important. Faculty can SENSE immaturity of interest and knowledge--whether it's in your statement or during the interview. Also, having research experience in the area you ultimately what to work is valuable too.

Side note... for those interested in neuroscience research (neuroimaging, etc) who are still undergrads (or even just graduated)... take multiple computer programming courses, go to neuroimaging workshops, DO research in the area--even if it's for free. It will make your CV stand out.

I didn't rank my schools prior to interviewing, but after interviews, and after learning about some of the programs I didn't even interview at, I definitely find myself having chosen my top school to attend. The research fit feels right, the POI is someone i'm super excited to work with, and the students were all happy and very nice. There are also great resources for growth... which is very important to me.

If anyone has ANY questions, please don't hesitate to PM me. I don't know everything about the process, but there is a heck of a lot I've learned in the past couple years, through experience, as well as talking to faculty members, and doctoral students alike.

I think I should've followed my heart and sent my SOP the way I originally wanted, but my undergraduate research mentor suggest another way and I feel it took ME out of my statement....no acceptances to the 11 clinical programs, but I got in to an I/O psychology program and will make more money and can continue to volunteer since that's what you graduate may be doing in a few years the way the discipline and jobs are looking...BEST of luck and thanks for the advice!

 

[2525]

1) Area: Clinical (although I also applied to some non-clinical programs)

2) # of applications submitted: 10 (5 were clinical, 5 were non-clinical)

3) # of interview invites: 6 (plus an additional 2 phone interviews)

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 4

6) # of acceptances: 4 (I removed myself from consideration at 2 other places before a decision on those applications was made)

7) GRE score: 650 Quant, 660 Verbal, 5.5 Writing, 700 Psych (although I didn’t report it to any schools)

8) GPA: 3.8 undergrad, 4.0 masters

9) Years of clinical experience: 0

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): less than 1 year

11) Information about publications, presentations: 1 poster @ regional conference, 1 (non-empirical) article in publication

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): First time applying. I applied to schools that offer a particular narrow concentration, and I have extensive experience and a prior advanced degree that is very related to that area. I am sure that made up for my low amount of clinical/research experience. I also tailored my search to very specific types of programs in this area and made sure each SOP was written to highlight my specific research interests, how those interests matched the POI’s research, and how my background made me a unique candidate. While I never saw them, I’m pretty sure my recommenders wrote good-to-great LORs.

Start as early as you can because searching for schools and working through the application process takes a long time. Also, the amount of money I spent on applications and going on interviews was daunting. In searching for schools, I first looked at which professors were doing research that interested me, and then looked at the program/school overall (e.g., were there other professors at the school that conducted research of interest to me, what type of clinical opportunities were there, how much are the students publishing/presenting, are their students getting their top internship choices, where are their graduates employed, etc.). I only created “tiers” of schools beforehand, but I did create a ranking list after my interviews. Of note, what I considered to be my “top choice” schools changed a bit after actually visiting the schools and talking to students/faculty there. Will be attending my first choice school in the fall.

 

[CPsychYeah]

1) Area: Clinical and Counseling

2) # of applications submitted: 4

3) # of interview invites: 2

4) # of waitlists: 1

5) # of rejections: 2

6) # of acceptances: 1

7) GRE score: 162 V (630-640 old scale) , 154 Q (690 old scale)

8) GPA: BA - 3.64, MS - 3.9

9) Years of clinical experience: 2 - have been doing family law/forensic work for the past 2 years and have worked with domestic violence victims for the past year

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 2 years undergrad, as the senior research assistant for the 2nd year. Research was in a psych lab, but not related to my area of interest.

11) Information about publications, presentations: none

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle.

...

 

[psychgirl2012]

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other: Clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 12 (11 PhD, 1 PsyD- Baylor)

3) # of interview invites: 5 (4 PhD, 1 PsyD)

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 9

6) # of acceptances: 3 (2 PhD, 1 PsyD)

7) GRE score: 650V, 700Q, 4.5AW

8) GPA: 3.63

9) Years of clinical experience: 1 year hotline, 6 months mental hospital

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 1.5 years social psych research assistant, 1.5 years social psych (different lab) research assistant, 6 months clinical psych research assistant, 1 year honors thesis, 1 summer paid social psych research assistant- many of these years overlap one another

11) Information about publications, presentations: 3 independent research projects where I was the principal investigator- 1 study for my honors thesis project, 1 resulting in a first-author national poster presentation, 1 resulting in a first-author national poster presentation and was currently being written up for publication

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): Utilized the Insider's Guide, sought out advice of professors and graduate students at my school, worked really hard since sophomore year of high school to cover all my bases, and MOST IMPORTANTLY sought out research assistant opportunities where doing my own studies for poster presentations, publication, etc. would be possible and encouraged. Also, I had 3 solid letters of recommendation. I took a year off after undergrad and continued volunteering and working in research labs. This is my first time applying.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I think I should've followed my heart and sent my SOP the way I originally wanted, but my undergraduate research mentor suggest another way and I feel it took ME out of my statement....no acceptances to the 11 clinical programs, but I got in to an I/O psychology program and will make more money and can continue to volunteer since that's what you graduate may be doing in a few years the way the discipline and jobs are looking...BEST of luck and thanks for the advice!

This is actually a rather important point. Getting feedback on personal statements, cover letters, etc. is essential, but so is knowing when to say "no" to someone's input. Using my own internship application as an example (which, indirectly, should show that this issue will continue to come up throughout your grad school career), I had two supervisors look at it, and got two polar opposite responses; one made a few minor edits, and the other suggested I should shift the entire focus. In the end, it was just a judgment call I had to make, as it was my personal statement (which is actually exactly what the second supervisor said after providing feedback).

 

[Psych2011]

From another member:

1) Area: Clinical PhD

2) # of applications: 17 (16 Clinical, 1 Counseling)

3) # of interviews: 8 (Duke, Berkeley, Boston U., Notre Dame, NYU, UCLA, UCSB, UVa)

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 15

6) # of acceptances: 2 (both clinical)

7) GRE score: V-640(92%), Q-720(75%), W-5.0(84%); Psyc-720(90%)

8) GPA: 3.5 BA; 3.7 MS

9) Clinical experience: 2 years part time, approximately 300 hours of individual psychotherapy at a university counseling center (during MS program)

10) Research experience: none as an undergrad, 3.5 years during/after masters program

11) Publications/presentations: 4 publications (plus 4 manuscripts under review); 7 posters

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. I really wish I had dedicated more time/energy to preparing for interviews.

 

[ClinicalPsyPhd]

1) Area: Clinical (1 Counseling)

2) # of applications submitted 21

3) # of interview invites 7 (attended 6)

4) # of waitlists 4

5) # of rejections 1 (total of 16 though, ouch)

6) # of acceptances 1

7) GRE score 700V, 670Q, 730 Psychology

8) GPA 3.69, 3.52 Psychology

9) Years of clinical experience none official, but worked 2.5 years in an addiction lab that does inpatient studies, so I argued that there was a significant clinical aspect to it.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research) 1 year undergrad as a research assistant (6-10 hours per week), 2.5 years full time as a clinical research coordinator

11) Information about publications, presentations 1 submitted publication (not first author), 6 posters, one conference attendance

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) I got my first choice school. Ironically, it was the only one that made its initial offer to me (my second choice put me as first alternate!) I applied twice, and in the second cycle one of my recommenders had become the president of an organization, and another one had become a post-doc at a prestigious university. I believe that this helped, along with my more targeted search for programs that matched my research interests (last year I thought I could spin up my experience in my SOP to fit anything -- wrong!). Also, this sounds silly but spending the time way in advance of each interview to think of thoughtful questions and write them up really helped.

 

[psydhopeful1]

1) Area: PSYD

2) # of applications submitted: 7

3) # of interview invites: 6 (turned down 1)

4) # of wait lists: 1 after interview

5) # of rejections: 1 without interview

6) # of acceptances: 4

7) GRE score: V560 Q650 W4.5

8) GPA: 3.86

9) Years of clinical experience: 2.5 years with direct client contact in 3 different clinical settings

10) Years of research experience: 3years (2 as an undergraduate 1 as a paid professional in a number of different research settings)

11) Information about publications, presentations: 1 publication (book chapter), 3 workshop presentations, about 10 poster presentations

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) I got into my top schools! I was very happy with the outcome. START EARLY!

 

[purelife01]

1) Area: Clinical (2) and Counseling (5) Ph.D. Programs

2) # of applications submitted: 7 Applications

3) # of interview invites: 2 (Both Counseling)

4) # of waitlists 1 Waitlist

5) # of rejections 5 Total Rejections; None following interviews

6) # of acceptances 2 Acceptances following interviews

7) GRE score Verbal - 156 ; Quantitative - 150

8) GPA 3.50 Cumulative; 3.9 Psychology

9) Years of clinical experience None

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research) 3 undergraduate research labs-- 2 in the psychology department, one in the department of human development and family studies. I was a research assistant for nearly two years in all 3 labs.

11) Information about publications, presentations - One presentation at an undergraduate research conference. I won an award for outstanding poster presentation at this conference. No publications.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?) I ended up being accepted off the waitlist at my top pick for counseling psychology. I have two pieces of advice. First, spend an enormous amount of time on your personal statement. I started mine in the summer before the application process and had 5 grad students and 3 professors read over the document. It was 5 pages long and I finalized it in November. Both professors I interviewed with had a lot to say about the PS. Second, make sure your letters of recommendation are awesome (not good, but great). Outstanding letters make a lasting impression on professors, ESPECIALLY if they have a relationship with whoever wrote it. On interview day, be positive and friendly and crack jokes. Show your personality and let them know that you can be both professional and fun. My favorite question on interviews was, "how will you handle the stress of being a grad student / how do you take care of yourself?" I was asked this question at both of my interviews, and it really gave me an opportunity to talk about what I do in my spare time (perfect chance to throw in a joke and relax). My two cents

 

[dumbledoresgirl]

1) Area: Clinical PhD
2) # of applications submitted: 9
3) # of interview invites: 5
4) # of waitlists: 1
5) # of rejections: 5
6) # of acceptances: 4 (1 off waitlist)
7) GRE score: 600 V / 720 Q / 5.5
8) GPA: 3.97 cumulative, 4.0 psychology

9) Years of clinical experience: one semester leading a support group for individuals struggling with disordered eating.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): two years working as an undergraduate research assistant, one of those years was spent also working on a senior honors thesis. A total of 4 years undergrad research experience if I count non-psychology research experience.

11) Information about publications, presentations: no publications, 4 presentations (3 of those not related to psychology).

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)
Starting early definitely helped me. This was my first time applying, so I made sure that I had all of my ducks in order, so to speak. I started looking at schools/POIs early in the summer and was contacting professors by early August. I gave my letter writers packets with all of the information they needed in the beginning of September and gave them all a deadline of November 1st, so that I had an extra month to work on things in case something fell through with one of them. I had my SOP written by the end of the summer and I made sure to tweak it for every school I applied.


To improve, I probably should have taken the GRE again...but my score the first time around was decent enough so I thought I would take my chances. I was also pretty nervous at my first interview, and I think it showed...after that I just accepted a "whatever happens, happens" attitude and started being myself. I think that definitely helped me relax and I was able to show more of my personality in my subsequent interviews.

Other than that, the only thing I can recommend is to make sure to only apply to professors who are a good research fit for you! I applied to professors in a variety of research fields. I really am interested in all of those things, but I think it made it more difficult for me to express my research interests concisely. Basically, even if you are interested in a variety of things, I would recommend narrowing it down before interviews.

 

[PhilAwesome]

1) Area: Clinical

2) # of applications submitted: 10 (Ph.D. only)

3) # of interview invites: 5

4) # of waitlists: 2

5) # of rejections: 8

6) # of acceptances: 2 (one off the waitlist, one immediately after interview)

7) GRE score: 600 V, 800 Q, 4.0 Writing, 830 Psych

8) GPA: 3.87 (math major, psych minor; didn't take any psych courses until my senior year, when I only took psych classes and got the minor)

9) Years of clinical experience: One summer volunteering a few hours a week on an inpatient unit, so...0.1? I later attended trainings in Cognitive Therapy through the Beck Initiative (I was in a unique position to do so with the work I was doing), which probably helped show that I actually care about this whole "clinical" thing.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): Our undergrad psych courses had labs where we did research, so I was able to cite that as time doing research (designing studies, writing APA style papers, that sort of thing), though it was more a "class project" type deal, so we didn't publish anything. Also, I'd worked a year (at the time of application) at a mental health MCO as a quality improvement analyst; it's a research position, but it's different than your typical research settings.

11) Information about publications, presentations: I had one very non-first-author publication...in mathematics. Other than that, nothing.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle:
Oh man, I would do SO much differently. One thing that I'm sure really helped me was stressing my very strong quantitative background, along with the serious time commitment I'd put into the field of psychology after entering it relatively late.

In applying, I was sort of throwing darts at a dartboard; I looked at schools that met my geographic and funding criteria, then eliminated those that didn't have a research mentor whose areas of interest sounded vaguely interesting. I narrowed it down a little further when I realized that I didn't actually want to work with a particular faculty member all that badly (I was originally applying to 13 schools, then narrowed it down to 10). But actually going through the interviews made me think a lot harder about who I wanted to work with and what I might be interested in. How I presented my research interests changed over the course of the interviews (mostly because I learned about research other professors were doing and had my own take on it).

The two schools I got offers for were ones where I clicked VERY well with the people I ended up getting offers to work with, and I had both a very good personal connection and a passion for the things they were talking about (along with a few ideas of my own on what I would like to research). I think that was what was biggest for me; my best interviews were the ones where I was both at my most genuine and at my most creative. So I think finding the sort of person whose work or whose approach to psychology inspires you like that is huge. Ultimately, they're looking for someone who has not only the background and the work ethic to get through the program (which I think most applications who are invited for interviews do), but the passion and the creativity to be able to come up with something truly innovative in the program. So for me, my personality and how well it clicked with the person I was talking to was huge, because it enabled me to have creative ideas during the interview. But I imagine the process is pretty different for different people.

The two schools I got in to were my top two choices, but they weren't the most competitive schools I got interviews at (in terms of big names and insane numbers of applicants). Ultimately, the fit with the mentor and the culture of the department at large was essential for me, because I think that will help me have better ideas than working somewhere with a great reputation but less of a connection to the people I'm working with directly.

tl;dr: Develop your ideas for what you want to research as much as humanly possible before interviews (and possibly while putting together your application), but realize that interests will change and grow during the interviews, and allow that process. Also, fit with the POI (personally and professionally) is even bigger than people are making it sound in terms of likelihood of getting into the program at schools with the mentor model, since you're generally applying as an applicant to work with Professor Z, and Professor Z chooses whoever is best for him/her.

 

[FemmeFeline]

Here's mine!

1) Area: School Psychology

2) # of applications submitted: 7

3) # of interview invites: 5 (1 acceptance without interview)

4) # of waitlists: 0

5) # of rejections: 1

6) # of acceptances: 6

7) GRE score: V: 640 Q: 730 Total: 1370 Writing: 6

8) GPA: 3.6

9) Years of school experience: 1 year volunteering/shadowing school psychologist while in undergrad, 1 year working in school as AmeriCorps member

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research): 1.5-2 years as undergrad RA for 2 labs, 1 year full-time RA for research project at a top-tier university different from my undergrad

11) Information about publications, presentations: None and no senior thesis if you can believe it.

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?): I was (VERY) pleased to be accepted to all of my top choices and offered various financial aid packages. I definitely made sure to provide adequate time and information for my recommendation writers, and I am guessing that they wrote me very strong letters. I also had work experience and research interests very relevant to my school psych interests. I had a strong research fit with most of the faculty, and was sure to research about each individual faculty member and be fluent in their interests and recent research before meeting with them. Having a solid understanding of school psych as well as coming from a top-tier undergrad university probably helped a lot. However, I don't consider myself a remarkable candidate in the least...

 

[member612]

I'm really surprised there aren't more entries in here, especially since graduate school application season is underway yet again! Man, it feels awesome to be done with that.

At any rate, I wish I stumbled upon last year's thread, which would have helped me see what made applicants successful and put things into perspective.

Hopefully my application information will be of help to anybody out there that's applying (now, or in the future). Best of luck to everyone!

Note: I'm more than happy to answer any questions, but I will not reveal any specific professors.

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other
Clinical - PhD only

2) # of applications submitted
15 (BLARGHHH.)

3) # of interview invites
10
(Temple, UCLA, UCSD/SDSU, U of Houston, University of South Florida, UPenn, University of Rhode Island, University of Utah, SUNY-Binghamton, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

4) # of waitlists
0

5) # of rejections
4 post-interview, 5 after my application only (owch!)

6) # of acceptances
6

7) GRE score
750 Quantitative, 700 Verbal

8) GPA
Overall: 3.789, Major: 3.87

9) Years of clinical experience
Ehh, like none? Hahaha.
Honestly, barely any - I just helped out from time to time when they needed confederates.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research)
3 years undergrad (research assistant, lab supervisor)
2 years full-time (research coordinator)

11) Information about publications, presentations
At time of application, I had:
3 poster presentations (2 first author - 1 at a school conference, 1 at a major national conference with a first-place award, 1 non-first author)
2 manuscripts underway (1 first author, 1 second author at a major journal)

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)
I was extremely fortunate to be able to work in a lab full-time that was exactly in my research niche, and was at an extremely competitive and top-ranked university. While it definitely got the foot in the door for me with interview offers, doing well in the interview is completely up to the applicant (i.e., letters of rec can only get you so far). When you are preparing for interviews (especially research-heavy institutions), be prepared to comment on their work and how you may be able to take it further/contribute.

Also, a piece of advice: it's fine to rank your schools in terms of preference, but you'll quickly find (while going on interviews), that the rankings will likely shift dramatically. Don't be stubborn about your rankings and stick to "prestigious" universities - consider research fit and where you will thrive. Sometimes, the best schools for you may or may not be the "top-ranked" schools. I'm not saying this in a bitter manner - rather, I turned down offers from a couple of my original "dream" schools (and feel extremely lucky and honored to have received offers from them, don't get me wrong) in order to go to a university that was less well-known. However, I just knew that my current school would just be a much better match for me when considering the level of research productivity, clinical experience, and mentor fit.

With that said, I received offers from universities that were in my "top 3," but ended up picking a school that was lower on my list. Funny how things work, right? I still know I made the right choice, ultimately.

Oh, and lastly...one thing that I definitely would have changed is (1) not applying to all those darn schools, and (2) not going to every single interview. At the time, I felt it was necessary to apply to all of those schools (i.e., the mentality of "AHHHHH I JUST NEED ONE SCHOOL TO LIKE ME!"), but in retrospect I wouldn't have attended certain schools even if they gave me an offer. For those schools, they typically were ones that were barely matching my research fit (they were just in the same general field), or they did not necessarily have good funding packages (and it was a deal breaker for me to have a school that was fully funded).

 

[psych for path]

I'm really surprised there aren't more entries in here, especially since graduate school application season is underway yet again! Man, it feels awesome to be done with that.

At any rate, I wish I stumbled upon last year's thread, which would have helped me see what made applicants successful and put things into perspective.

Hopefully my application information will be of help to anybody out there that's applying (now, or in the future). Best of luck to everyone!

Note: I'm more than happy to answer any questions, but I will not reveal any specific professors.

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other
Clinical

2) # of applications submitted
15 (BLARGHHH.)

3) # of interview invites
10
(Temple, UCLA, UCSD/SDSU, U of Houston, University of South Florida, UPenn, University of Rhode Island, University of Utah, SUNY-Binghamton, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

4) # of waitlists
0

5) # of rejections
4 post-interview, 5 after my application only (owch!)

6) # of acceptances
6

7) GRE score
750 Quantitative, 700 Verbal

8) GPA
Overall: 3.789, Major: 3.87

9) Years of clinical experience
Ehh, like none? Hahaha.
Honestly, barely any - I just helped out from time to time when they needed confederates.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research)
3 years undergrad (research assistant, lab supervisor)
2 years full-time (research coordinator)

11) Information about publications, presentations
At time of application, I had:
3 poster presentations (2 first author - 1 at a school conference, 1 at a major national conference with a first-place award, 1 non-first author)
2 manuscripts underway (1 first author, 1 second author at a major journal)

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)
I was extremely fortunate to be able to work in a lab full-time that was exactly in my research niche, and was at an extremely competitive and top-ranked university. While it definitely got the foot in the door for me with interview offers, doing well in the interview is completely up to the applicant (i.e., letters of rec can only get you so far). When you are preparing for interviews (especially research-heavy institutions), be prepared to comment on their work and how you may be able to take it further/contribute.

Also, a piece of advice: it's fine to rank your schools in terms of preference, but you'll quickly find (while going on interviews), that the rankings will likely shift dramatically. Don't be stubborn about your rankings and stick to "prestigious" universities - consider research fit and where you will thrive. Sometimes, the best schools for you may or may not be the "top-ranked" schools. I'm not saying this in a bitter manner - rather, I turned down offers from a couple of my original "dream" schools (and feel extremely lucky and honored to have received offers from them, don't get me wrong) in order to go to a university that was less well-known. However, I just knew that my current school would just be a much better match for me when considering the level of research productivity, clinical experience, and mentor fit.

With that said, I received offers from universities that were in my "top 3," but ended up picking a school that was lower on my list. Funny how things work, right? I still know I made the right choice, ultimately.

Oh, and lastly...one thing that I definitely would have changed is (1) not applying to all those darn schools, and (2) not going to every single interview. At the time, I felt it was necessary to apply to all of those schools (i.e., the mentality of "AHHHHH I JUST NEED ONE SCHOOL TO LIKE ME!"), but in retrospect I wouldn't have attended certain schools even if they gave me an offer. For those schools, they typically were ones that were barely matching my research fit (they were just in the same general field), or they did not necessarily have good funding packages (and it was a deal breaker for me to have a school that was fully funded).

Wow! You really cleaned up - congrats on that. I'm applying to 15 as well with the same silly mindset, though i'd probably go to 12 of them minimum. Do you mind sharing who rejected pre-interview?

 

[phillips101]

I'm really surprised there aren't more entries in here, especially since graduate school application season is underway yet again! Man, it feels awesome to be done with that.

At any rate, I wish I stumbled upon last year's thread, which would have helped me see what made applicants successful and put things into perspective.

Hopefully my application information will be of help to anybody out there that's applying (now, or in the future). Best of luck to everyone!

Note: I'm more than happy to answer any questions, but I will not reveal any specific professors.

1) Area: school, clinical, counseling, other
Clinical

2) # of applications submitted
15 (BLARGHHH.)

3) # of interview invites
10
(Temple, UCLA, UCSD/SDSU, U of Houston, University of South Florida, UPenn, University of Rhode Island, University of Utah, SUNY-Binghamton, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

4) # of waitlists
0

5) # of rejections
4 post-interview, 5 after my application only (owch!)

6) # of acceptances
6

7) GRE score
750 Quantitative, 700 Verbal

8) GPA
Overall: 3.789, Major: 3.87

9) Years of clinical experience
Ehh, like none? Hahaha.
Honestly, barely any - I just helped out from time to time when they needed confederates.

10) Years of research experience (undergrad. versus full-time research)
3 years undergrad (research assistant, lab supervisor)
2 years full-time (research coordinator)

11) Information about publications, presentations
At time of application, I had:
3 poster presentations (2 first author - 1 at a school conference, 1 at a major national conference with a first-place award, 1 non-first author)
2 manuscripts underway (1 first author, 1 second author at a major journal)

12) Give any relevant information that you think helped you to do well this cycle or that you feel you could improve on for the next cycle. (Also of interest might be: Did you get into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school?)
I was extremely fortunate to be able to work in a lab full-time that was exactly in my research niche, and was at an extremely competitive and top-ranked university. While it definitely got the foot in the door for me with interview offers, doing well in the interview is completely up to the applicant (i.e., letters of rec can only get you so far). When you are preparing for interviews (especially research-heavy institutions), be prepared to comment on their work and how you may be able to take it further/contribute.

Also, a piece of advice: it's fine to rank your schools in terms of preference, but you'll quickly find (while going on interviews), that the rankings will likely shift dramatically. Don't be stubborn about your rankings and stick to "prestigious" universities - consider research fit and where you will thrive. Sometimes, the best schools for you may or may not be the "top-ranked" schools. I'm not saying this in a bitter manner - rather, I turned down offers from a couple of my original "dream" schools (and feel extremely lucky and honored to have received offers from them, don't get me wrong) in order to go to a university that was less well-known. However, I just knew that my current school would just be a much better match for me when considering the level of research productivity, clinical experience, and mentor fit.

With that said, I received offers from universities that were in my "top 3," but ended up picking a school that was lower on my list. Funny how things work, right? I still know I made the right choice, ultimately.

Oh, and lastly...one thing that I definitely would have changed is (1) not applying to all those darn schools, and (2) not going to every single interview. At the time, I felt it was necessary to apply to all of those schools (i.e., the mentality of "AHHHHH I JUST NEED ONE SCHOOL TO LIKE ME!"), but in retrospect I wouldn't have attended certain schools even if they gave me an offer. For those schools, they typically were ones that were barely matching my research fit (they were just in the same general field), or they did not necessarily have good funding packages (and it was a deal breaker for me to have a school that was fully funded).

Thank you for that. My application package is actually pretty similar to yours (your GPA is .2 points higher though). I applied to some schools you got interviews at (the more competitive ones) and was wondering if you could share which part of your application you thought really made you stand out and got that interview. Was it research in the same area? Your grades? Your GRE? your SOP? etc...
I'm trying NOT to look at this forum, but can't help myself!!!

 

[member612]

Wow! You really cleaned up - congrats on that. I'm applying to 15 as well with the same silly mindset, though i'd probably go to 12 of them minimum. Do you mind sharing who rejected pre-interview?

Thanks! It was a real shock to me, and an extremely humbling experience.

No problem - it's the usual top universities that didn't bat an eyelash at me . Penn State, Northwestern, UNC-Chapel Hill, Florida State University, and another university that was not accepting any students due to funding issues. I unfortunately found out the harsh way - no responses - only got a rejection in writing around March or so.

Hope that helps!

 

[member612]

Thank you for that. My application package is actually pretty similar to yours (your GPA is .2 points higher though). I applied to some schools you got interviews at (the more competitive ones) and was wondering if you could share which part of your application you thought really made you stand out and got that interview. Was it research in the same area? Your grades? Your GRE? your SOP? etc...
I'm trying NOT to look at this forum, but can't help myself!!!

Awesome - glad my post could be of a little help, at least! Again, I really wish I knew about this thread when I applied last year.

Hmm, that's a good question. This will be a bit self-deprecating, but I feel that my boss played a huge role because he/she is a prominent figure in the research field. However, again, his/her letter of rec only got my foot in the door and I had to carry it out from there on (and felt an immense amount of self-imposed pressure not to misrepresent the program or my boss on interviews!). Beyond that, I think my application showed that I really did my research on each school and professor (i.e., I made sure to articulate what a good match it would be in my personal statement, and showed that I took the time to really consider each one). Additionally, I evidently applied to a lot of research-heavy programs, and I got some really extensive experience working on multiple research studies at my job and getting a few first-authorships to show some initiative. I think the thing people commented the most on during the interview was the amount of research experience I got at my full-time job and how relevant it was to their research too, which was the perfect segue to discuss their research interests and show the match. Remember, grad school is all about match, match, match. Honestly, my GPA and GRE scores aren't really anything spectacular, so I don't think they helped very much...they probably just let me get through the initial round of cuts.

Hope that helps! Good luck everyone!