Applying to Clinical Programs - So Many Loose Ends

[mandak]

Hey everyone -

As everyone knows, the clinical program applications have so many loose ends and are extremely unorganized. Whether it is requiring a graduate application and in fine print requiring a department application as well, having to look in FAQ to find minor supplemental forms you are required to fill out, needing 2 copies of transcripts instead of one, etc. It's no big deal, and it requires some organization. I created a giant spreadsheet (3, actually) and thought I had all the minor details compiled and loose ends tied up.

Well, apparently not. There are more applications than I would like to admit that I forgot some obscure requirement. One of them, for example, had a PDF document for a psychology department application that I completed but apparently I was supposed to put it in place of the personal statement in the applynow graduate application. There are several other extremely dumb and embarrassing mistakes I made similar to that one.

My question is - how much do you think it matters when someone makes a mistake like this? It seems minor, but I also feel like they could be thinking "if they can't even do the application correctly, how can we expect them to be in our program doing scientific research?"

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[MCParent]

Yup, it looks bad. Typically most applicants do not miss application materials, or the faculty would have realized they were not organized well or were not obvious enough. More common is applicants asking about things that are clearly spelled out on the web site under "admission," so yes, generally, it does make it look like you didn't really look at the application instructions, to be honest.

 

[Spydra]

Wow 3 spreadsheets? And I thought I was obsessed with excel hehehe. I feel your pain as I too am applying this season. All I can say is that if the deadline hasn't passed then you can still get things done, even if that means contacting the graduate coordinator or admissions department and admitting you hit submit prematurely and have one more thing to add. While it may make you look disorganized initially I think it looks better that you caught the error in time versus the deadline passing and then you noticed.

 

[bcliff]

The program I'm currently attending required 2 official transcripts, and I sent both copies, but one either got lost in admissions, or didn't make it, so the department asked me to send another copy. It ended up not being a big deal, but I panicked.