First Year of Graduate School

[ginger13]

Could someone describe what the first year is like for a grad student in clinical psychology? How much time do you spend in class vs studying etc? Are you expected to be on campus 9-5 every day?

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[deleted343839]

That's a pretty broad question... though if you're trying to get a sense of the time commitment, it seems reasonable to compare graduate school to a full-time job that regularly "spills over" into nights and weekends. (Though not just in the first year.) Different programs will have different norms for how much face time is expected of their students, etc.

You might find some of the information you're looking for in this old thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/whats-graduate-school-like.1128126/

 

[QAsPsych]

This is going to vary quite a lot depending on the particular program and the advisor, in addition to other factors. It's almost impossible to express to somebody who has not gone through the experience, and the variance is so broad no description is likely to be broadly representative. But I am going to write about it mostly because it is raw for me now.

In my cohort, arriving on campus before 9 AM and staying past midnight is common. It has been suggested to me that this is not simply about the program, but also about the personalities in our particular cohort, but I never imagined myself to be the sort of person to do that and I have been doing it 3+ days a week this semester. Another factor is when classes are offered; this depends on a large number of factors that are completely outside of any one particular person's control and which is going to vary from year to year. I have heard of professors requiring students to be on campus 9-5 M-F, but I don't know anybody personally like that; some students feel implicit pressure to do so, regardless of any official statement from their advisors or others. There's no punch clock, but the psychology of space probably has a lot to do with how much observation there is of your on-campus presence.

I spend more time in class than in my undergraduate training, and spend a significant amount of time on "studying" though it is a completely different thing from undergrad. The source of your funding also defines to a great extent how you will spend your time in addition to when clinical work starts.

Imagine working full time and taking classes full time, but both activities are contained within a single institution that has very few immediate checks and a lot of long-term standards. That is, roughly, the experience and the time commitment.

 

[bmedclinic]

I agree with the first responder, OP. Lots of variance within program, type of program, personality of faculty ( e.g. level of neuroticism), type of funding, and personality of the students. It would seem odd to require that students were on campus from 9-5. But I recall (now 7 years ago) showing up to my office my first year around 7ish and often staying until 7 or 9 some nights. If I had to do it again, I'd focus more on trying to balance my life and stay healthy and ensure I didnt get too sucked into the adademia of working all the time and blowing off everything else. Good luck, if your first year is next year!

 

[Chalupacabra]

This will also vary depending on your funding (since this is typically tied to responsibilities on campus) and type of program (MA/MS vs PhD/PsyD), I'd imagine.

 

[ginger13]

Curious for a scientist-practitioner PhD program. Thanks for all of your responses, just trying to get a sense of what the next year will be like

 

[FLpsychstudent]

It depends on the program and lab. But I think most people come around 9-5 everyday, staying longer sometimes or working on the weekend when necessary. Of course you don't have to be there, but I think people are more successful when they just treat it like a job and come in every day like that. First year is generally less hectic because you're not in the clinic yet (for most programs). More of an emphasis on classes first year typically, but then trying to work on your research and doing whatever you're paid to do (teach, RA, whatever). I think first year is the year you have the most free time but it doesn't feel like it because you are still adjusting to things!

 

[MiniLop]

I'm a first year (in a scientist practitioner program) and being on campus 9-5 is rare for me. I'm there 9-4:30 on Mondays and 11-6 on Wednesdays, but I only come for about 2.5 hours on Tuesdays/Thursdays and not at all on Fridays. I also do most of my schoolwork at home rather than in my office. I say this to reinforce the idea that there is tremendous variability by program and individual personality.

 

[bcliff]

I've heard from current students that year one is pretty light (relatively speaking), and that it's a good opportunity to get involved in research and crank out some pubs and presentations before internal and external prac start in years 2, 3, & 4 (& before getting sucked into your thesis and dissertation).

 

[smalltownpsych]

I've heard from current students that year one is pretty light (relatively speaking), and that it's a good opportunity to get involved in research and crank out some pubs and presentations before internal and external prac start in years 2, 3, & 4 (& before getting sucked into your thesis and dissertation).

My experience and observation is that each year gets more difficult. I think having the expectation that you will be pushed to the breaking point and maybe even past it going into it can help. Self-care and self-awareness doesn't get talked about a lot as we go through the process (some programs used to focus on that more, but there are problems with that model), but it is an essential part of the learning process so do what you can to develop that aspect. Much of that will be on your own. Exercise, healthy eating, entertainment, supportive relationships, psychotherapy, religion, meditation, 12-step group, hobbies, etc. Whatever works to help you cope with the stress. I used to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns to help decompress.

 

[473912]

I've heard from current students that year one is pretty light (relatively speaking), and that it's a good opportunity to get involved in research and crank out some pubs and presentations before internal and external prac start in years 2, 3, & 4 (& before getting sucked into your thesis and dissertation).

I've heard that especially in PsyD programs, anyway, the first year is the hardest because the course load is so heavy. Be prepared to spend all day (and most night) in school.

 

[cara susanna]

I actually found the first semester of first year one of the most stressful and time-consuming times in grad school. This semester had the most intensive classes. It was also filled with a lot of adjustment to graduate school and uncertainty about my ability to succeed. Of course, the second semester of my first year was fine.

The only time that was worse was my third year, but that was because I took on way too much.

 

[kestrelcry]

Not only does it vary from program to program, but it can vary from year to year. In my lab, the student in the cohort above mine had virtually nothing to do first year. In contrast, for some reason my cohort took a crap-ton of classes first year, and I was involved in research right away, so my first year was jam-packed.

 

[energyzzz]

Hey guys. I just finished my degree in electronics engineering(major nanotechnology) but realized belatedly that my heart lies in psychology. Let us assume that I am short on money and can only get a scholarship for a masters program and this scholarship takes into account this degree I just finished(compulsory). This is a broad discipline and was wondering if you guys could give me some opinions on which psychology discipline best meshes with my undergrad filed of study or which psychology discipline I would have a higher chance of getting into, taking into account that I only have the pre- requisites from my electronics engineering degree.(subjects studies include some minor c programming, lots of maths, a bit of chemistry,lots of physics that leans towards lots of quantum mechanical theories, ya, basically that's all..). So what psychology discipline or subdivision should I be looking at with this limited arsenal of academic knowledge on my hands?

 

[Ollie123]

Not sure I'm completely understanding the issue - are you looking to get a masters to help you get into a doctoral program? Most doctoral and some masters programs are funded so what scholarships you qualify for is somewhat irrelevant. Since it is such a broad field, its tough for us to answer without having some idea of what you want to do. Areas of cognitive and neuroscience could be quite a natural fit (e.g. computational cognition/neuro, brain-computer interfacing, etc.) but if your goal is to become a therapist its obviously not very helpful since you wouldn't be able to do that with a degree in either of those areas.

 

[PSYDNEUROGUY]

I am in a Psy.D. program, so I can give you some insight as to what to expect in the first year at Carlos Albizu University. The first semester consists of our ethics/law class, psychopathology 1, cognitive-affective basis of behavior, personality and a clinical interviewing/pre-practicum class. Respectively, this breaks down into 13 hours this semester. At the moment, we have anywhere between 2-3 books per each course plus various peer-reviewed articles. I find myself devoting somewhere between 5-7 hours on most days to complete my readings. In most classes, we have a midterm exam, some have a final exam, but most courses are evaluated based on case presentations, case studies and other papers. Our pre-practicum/interviewing class relies heavily (40% of our grade) on mock intakes and interviews, with 20% based on presenting patient-centric evaluations to colleagues and other health care professionals.

This semester, my classes start at 1pm and typically ends at 8:30pm on Tuesday and 5:30pm on Thursdays. In addition to this, I am also conducting research to present posters at NAN, APA, INS, etc. and will be working on a manuscript, so this will consume more of my time. On a given day, I am typically decompressing (i.e. watching TV, listening to music, surfing the web) by 9PM. There are some nights I might just thumb through some pages from my ethics or interviewing book to further conceptualize the topics.

 

[singasongofjoy]

I second tremendous variability but I think for most programs demands are a little lighter first year as you focus primarily on classes. For me that meant about 50-60 hours a week was devoted to doing school-related things but I was actually on campus or at my off-site externship for about 35. 2nd-4th years varied highly as far as on-campus (I taught for a year so was on campus much more) but total work load including time at home was 70-80 hours a week, and probably varied between 40-60 on campus until my last semester when I dropped some classes, delegated the hell out of responsibilities, and did not teach (and only took 1 class plus practica) so probably on campus about 15-20 hours a week.