Doctoral Programs - Advice?

[Epak333]

Hi everyone! I think I have finalized my list of schools I'm planning to apply to this year. This was mostly based on faculty who's research I had an interest in, so there are lots of schools not on this list that I wanted to apply to but nobody was doing research I was extremely interested in (for reference I am mostly forensic/correctional so would be happy doing any sort of research along these lines). If anyone has any suggestions or comments about these schools/can speak about them that would be great!

Auburn U PhD- this program is Psychological Sciences which I'm pretty sure is not the same as Clinical, but I'm really interested in the research here so idk!

Baylor (Clinical PsyD)

East Tennessee State (Clinical PhD)

Georgia Southern (Clinical PsyD) - one of my top choices!

UNC Wilmington (Clinical PhD) - this one is still on contingency and is a relatively newer program, so any input would be helpful. Also one of my top choices!

U of Southern Mississippi (Clinical PhD and Counseling Psych PhD) - will probs apply to both as there are faculty who I would like to work with in either of them.

U of South Florida (Clinical PhD) - one of my top choices!

U of South Alabama (Combined Clinical and Counseling PhD)

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[AcronymAllergy]

A quick note RE: Auburn, as your description made me curious. Their department is called the department of psychological sciences, but they do indeed offer a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I could've sworn they also offered one in counseling psychology, but not sure if it's still there.

I believe many/most applicants aim for 10-15 schools if they can financially handle it, so if you're able to tack on a few more programs, all the better. But from what I know, all of those schools have solid reputations and outcomes.

 

[Epak333]

A quick note RE: Auburn, as your description made me curious. Their department is called the department of psychological sciences, but they do indeed offer a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I could've sworn they also offered one in counseling psychology, but not sure if it's still there.

I believe many/most applicants aim for 10-15 schools if they can financially handle it, so if you're able to tack on a few more programs, all the better. But from what I know, all of those schools have solid reputations and outcomes.

Ahhh okay, they do definitely have counseling psychology and I thought it maybe was clinical psychology but just wanted to make sure. There's so many different links, I must have read it wrong. When I clicked on faculty it said clinical psychological sciences.

I would definitely be interested in adding a few more, so any suggestions would be great. Definitely would prefer ones that are a little easier to get into haha. And more balanced rather than extremely research oriented! I also picked mainly southern ones but would probably like to add 1 or 2 in the northeast (I live in NJ so these would be like my safety schools).

 

[RxPsych]

Great list of schools here! I was accepted to both Auburn and USF two years ago when I applied. I got the impression from both schools that they were very research focused, particularly the advisors to whom I was accepted. I decided to choose a program that was more clinical and assessment focused, which is why I turned down both these schools. Fantastic programs, though, and particularly USF has incredible clinical opportunities due to being in the Tampa area. Feel free to DM me any questions!

 

[Epak333]

Great list of schools here! I was accepted to both Auburn and USF two years ago when I applied. I got the impression from both schools that they were very research focused, particularly the advisors to whom I was accepted. I decided to choose a program that was more clinical and assessment focused, which is why I turned down both these schools. Fantastic programs, though, and particularly USF has incredible clinical opportunities due to being in the Tampa area. Feel free to DM me any questions!

That's super helpful to know! Both are my more research geared schools (as well as Baylor) and I'm definitely looking for more clinical focused but I know it depends on different faculty too! I will absolutely be DMing you, I appreciate it so much!

 

[Epak333]

Update: After doing more digging, I found faculty who's research I'm interested at a few other schools. So, I added WVU, U of Maine, U of Rhode Island, and Northwestern (this is a long shot lol) to the list.

 

[Zazulator]

This is a great list! You may also check out some midwestern universities like U of Nebraska, U of Kansas, and Texas Tech if you haven't already. Also very reputable programs that just get fewer applicants due to location. And I would agree with the above comment to aim for 12-15 schools. If you don't already have a master's, having a few master's programs as back up doesn't hurt either. Best of luck!

 

[Epak333]

This is a great list! You may also check out some midwestern universities like U of Nebraska, U of Kansas, and Texas Tech if you haven't already. Also very reputable programs that just get fewer applicants due to location. And I would agree with the above comment to aim for 12-15 schools. If you don't already have a master's, having a few master's programs as back up doesn't hurt either. Best of luck!

Thank you so much! I'll keep that in mind.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

I could've sworn they also offered one in counseling psychology, but not sure if it's still there.

They did. Friend of mine went there. Not sure if still around though off the top of my head.

 

[Epak333]

They did. Friend of mine went there. Not sure if still around though off the top of my head.

They still do!

 

[R. Matey]

Ahhh okay, they do definitely have counseling psychology and I thought it maybe was clinical psychology but just wanted to make sure. There's so many different links, I must have read it wrong. When I clicked on faculty it said clinical psychological sciences.

It looks like counseling psych is in the college of education--not like it's easy to locate in this deeply Kafkaesque website. I've known one person who went to there and had a good experience. I can't recall their funding situation though.

 

[Epak333]

It looks like counseling psych is in the college of education--not like it's easy to locate in this deeply Kafkaesque website. I've known one person who went to there and had a good experience. I can't recall their funding situation though.

Yes, many of these websites are hard to navigate! I did look into the program but none of the faculty is doing research that I'm super interested in unfortunately.