Getting into a Psyd Program with a 3.0

[psyc1234]

I am currently a rising senior at an Ivy league college. The academics are very rigorous and I have a 2.94. In the next term I hope to raise it to a 3.0 before applying to Psyd programs. I would love to pursue a career in clinical psychology and was wondering my chances on getting into any program.

-This summer I am researching alongside one of my professors (research has to do with face perception).
-I have volunteered at a few schools that help children with autism
-I have interned abroad at a psyc service in London (for children with substance abuse)
-Strong letters of recommendation

I am not the best standardized test taker but am extremely passionate about becoming a psychologist. Any help would be great!! Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[modestmousktr]

I'm not really one to give advice, as I'm not in a Psy.D. program, but from reading the boards it sounds like it really depends on what type of Psy.D. program you'd like to be in. I've heard that Rutgers, Baylor, Yeshiva, and Long Island University are competitive programs with good APA match rates and partial to full funding.

There's also universities like Alliant, Argosy, and "Insert Name of City" School of Professional Psychology who do not have such great match rates and cost quite a bit of money.

Seeing as how you are coming from an Ivy league school, I expect you will have great luck at the latter set of schools, even with a 3.0. I know people from my university (a tiny, unheard of, state school) that were accepted to these schools with that GPA, so you will most likely have no problem.

If you're trying to gain acceptance into the first set of schools, I would find graduate students from those schools, and ask them for advice. Grad students (to me, so far) are very forthcoming and helpful. For the record, I know two people who applied to Rutgers for the Psy.D.


Person A) Did undergrad at a UC. Stellar GPA, average GRE. Did M.A. in clinical psychology at substandard FSPS. Worked as a behavior therapist during M.A. Got rejected.

Person B) Did undergrad at a UC. Stellar GPA, stellar GRE. Worked one year as a clinical research coordinator at a prestigious university, and got waitlisted, then subsequently accepted off the waitlist.

 

[PHD12]

I am currently a rising senior at an Ivy league college. The academics are very rigorous and I have a 2.94. In the next term I hope to raise it to a 3.0 before applying to Psyd programs. I would love to pursue a career in clinical psychology and was wondering my chances on getting into any program.

-This summer I am researching alongside one of my professors (research has to do with face perception).
-I have volunteered at a few schools that help children with autism
-I have interned abroad at a psyc service in London (for children with substance abuse)
-Strong letters of recommendation

I am not the best standardized test taker but am extremely passionate about becoming a psychologist. Any help would be great!! Thank you!

Try to raise it to a 3.0 at least if you can. My main advice is not to let desperation cloud your judgement when picking PsyD programs. There are plenty of Devry type of PsyD programs in this country that would easily accept you so you really have to be careful not to end up with a useless and expensive degree. You should only consider PsyD programs that have some funding, small class size (less than 20), good practicum opportunities, solid research experiences, good APA match rates (80% or higher for APA), high EPPP and licensure rates. Rutgers, Baylor and a few other university based programs meet this criteria. You shouldn't settle for anything less. If you find that you can't get into a good enough PsyD program, then I would get an MSW from a state school and also consider more balanced PHD programs. If you want to be a therapist, you don't need a doctoral degree at all. Also, it's not financial sound to take out more than 50-80K in loans for a PsyD program. Unfortunately, this eliminates most of the PsyD programs out there.

Good luck!

Dr. S

 

[PhDToBe]

I am currently a rising senior at an Ivy league college. The academics are very rigorous and I have a 2.94. In the next term I hope to raise it to a 3.0 before applying to Psyd programs. I would love to pursue a career in clinical psychology and was wondering my chances on getting into any program.

-This summer I am researching alongside one of my professors (research has to do with face perception).
-I have volunteered at a few schools that help children with autism
-I have interned abroad at a psyc service in London (for children with substance abuse)
-Strong letters of recommendation

I am not the best standardized test taker but am extremely passionate about becoming a psychologist. Any help would be great!! Thank you!

How did you get into an Ivy league if you're not a good standardized test taker (i.e., the SAT/ ACT)? I know they consider other factors, but I would imagine you would have to have connections or a very unique background to get in to one without a good SAT/ACT score, aside from other political factors. I am just curious!

 

[CaptainCool]

How did you get into an Ivy league if you're not a good standardized test taker (i.e., the SAT/ ACT)? I know they consider other factors, but I would imagine you would have to have connections or a very unique background to get in to one without a good SAT/ACT score, aside from other political factors. I am just curious!

I bet he goes to Brown

 

[PHD12]

I was wondering how one can manage to get below a 3.0 at an Ivy where rampant grade inflation is the norm? I've seen some CV's from Ivy League and other similar schools (stanford) that grade on a 5.0 schedule so graduates can have above a 4.0. OP does not seem to be attending one of those....

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I was wondering how one can manage to get below a 3.0 at an Ivy where rampant grade inflation is the norm? I've seen some CV's from Ivy League and other similar schools (stanford) that grade on a 5.0 schedule so graduates can have above a 4.0. OP does not seem to be attending one of those....

Unless he does and there is something that he is not telling us.

 

[CheetahGirl]

I am currently a rising senior at an Ivy league college. The academics are very rigorous and I have a 2.94. In the next term I hope to raise it to a 3.0 before applying to Psyd programs. I would love to pursue a career in clinical psychology and was wondering my chances on getting into any program.

-This summer I am researching alongside one of my professors (research has to do with face perception).
-I have volunteered at a few schools that help children with autism
-I have interned abroad at a psyc service in London (for children with substance abuse)
-Strong letters of recommendation

I am not the best standardized test taker but am extremely passionate about becoming a psychologist. Any help would be great!! Thank you!

I suggest you FOCUS on raising that GPA...get 4.0 (or your ultimate best) your last semesters (then you can make it part of your "story" on how you learned to prioritize & gain maturity in your last year). You can always take an online course to improve your GREs. After all that's done & if you don't get in the first time around, consider getting a master's degree (costly alternative) and/or some substantial clinical and/or research experience and reapplying.

Although I did not attend an Ivy League undergrad, many graduates of my clinical psych PhD program did (for either undergrad or masters degrees). Just know the best of the best will apply alongside you and compete against you for a PsyD/PhD spot, so you must make your application file the most unique you can possibly achieve. It's a good investment of time, experience, and determination because it doesn't let up in graduate school. Once in a program you start off equally with your cohort, but you'll go through those same struggles of setting yourself apart from others when time comes to apply for externships, internships, postdocs and jobs.

Also, if you're so compassionate about the work, continue to volunteer (maybe diversify the experience, with suicide hotlines or advocacy for domestic violence). For me, it was the single most valuable thing that I did to improve my 'application file' because it gave me legitimate access to people in distressed situations (similar but not equal to 'clinical work'), and my volunteer experiences were discussed in all my interviews. In fact, I'm still active in my volunteer organization (7 years later) and the work has informed my research interests & dissertation.

Good luck!