PhD/PsyD How does the quality of your program/mentor/internship affect salary (outside of academia)?

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thelonious hunk

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Say, for example, that someone is attending a top-tier (e.g. Minnesota/Emory/Stony Brook/Penn State....in that sphere) program with a very well regarded or even famous mentor and goes on to a prestigious internship.

To what degree do their non-academic job prospects differ from someone attending a middling or poor program? What about in comparison to professional schools?

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Just curious as to how you came up with those programs as an example of top tier? Not saying they aren't.

I was trying to provide more variety, I suppose, rather than just UCLA,
Wisconsin, UNC, etc., as is more typical.
 
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If you compare the students at the top tier schools to the students at the lowest tier schools, you might possibly find a correlation. Then it would be a matter of examining all the variables. Is it the reputation? Student characteristics? Quality of education? Connections of the professors? Then again maybe there isn't a correlation. Who knows?
As WisNeuro said, we have no data on this, so this is pure speculation which I enjoy doing. Sometimes I think I prefer coming up with hypotheses as opposed to actually testing them.
 
Hard to say, so I have to rely on anecdotes and what I see as a progression of steps that impacts salary. I suggest asking, "How does the quality of your program/mentor/internship" affect your fit and competitiveness with a given institution/clinical setting. I think this is important to consider as the setting and geographic location has a robust impact on salary. Perhaps this is different for people strictly doing private practice. Below is the sequence that unfolded for me and was similar for people in my cohort and other friends in the field.

1. Land an APA internship. I think the internship application process and eventual match outcome fits students in their deserved slots regardless of mentor and school. I understand this is a generalization.
2. Apply to a fellowship in-line with your area of interest and/or an area of specialty and need. This is often spawned from and reinforced by your internship training. Your supervisors should be able to provide strong letters of reference.
3. I was confident in my training as an intern and secure in the specialty I chose for fellowship (Addiction Psychology). This really helped me craft a well-formed professional narrative that opened up a lot of options for me in the job market.
4. Have a good understanding of the salary ranges across different clinical positions and environments. I had a fuzzy idea of salary ranges and knew what I was willing to accept.
5. The interview. At this point you should feel like you are interviewing places, rather than feeling like a practicum student willing to take anything. I found that geographic flexibility was crucial in this process and opened up so many doors for my career.
6. During your interview - Take yourself seriously, but with an appreciative humility. You are applying as a professional, not a student. Even though I applied to a job as an unlicensed postdoc, I needed to see myself as a licensed psychologist. The interview committee held me to that professional standard and I needed to do the same.

In the end, I felt like the interview committee asked me one question about how my university facilitated what they read on my CV. Otherwise, they were intently focused on my clinical interests, training, and what I saw for myself and the institution. The interview was more about fit that judging what classes I took or who mentored/advised my dissertation.
 
Depends what you mean. Obviously if someone takes insurance, it won't affect hourly rate directly. It certainly could impact job prospects in some salaried positions. VA has pretty set guidelines, but other sorts of salaried settings are probably more likely to hire someone who trained with say...Linehan than someone who trained with someone they've never heard of. In a cash-pay practice, said individual could probably also charge more though it all depends on how they market themselves and a bajillion other factors. I think most of the impact is probably due to what jobs one has the option to pursue rather than the amount one is paid within those jobs. For instance, VAs pay pretty well for junior psychologists and are reasonably competitive positions. Better mentor usually leads to more opportunities and potentially leads to better positions.

Even in academia, its not like a famous mentor is likely to lead directly to higher salaries. Just a (somewhat) greater likelihood of getting an academic position.
 
To what degree do their non-academic job prospects differ from someone attending a middling or poor program? What about in comparison to professional schools?

Nearly none of you mean private practice. Anecdotally i've seen a large range of salaries in PP for early career (<10yr out), some of which has to do with geography and saturation of the market. There are some PPs that hire post-docs for bad/no pay, though they tend to prey upon grads from bottom tier places bc those from mid on up have more options available to them.

There are 100% clinical jobs at hospitals and the like that will req. APA-acred. internship and formal fellowship, so grads from middling and poor programs may get screened out.
 
I know a lot of Psychologists from programs that many consider diploma mills who make $100-160K per year. Some are professors at prestigious universities. A ton will depend on you getting a APA accredited internship, publishing, research, etc. All of that said, it is a heck of a lot easier to get those things if you are from a university that offers such as part of their program vs doing it on your own.

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again as referenced above, anecdotal, but i know a few individuals from the "usual suspect" programs that pull in mad bank and secure amazing contracts (im pretty sure always over drinks), and they tend to be more business as opposed to science minded. They easily make 200 plus a year just from private work, and thats not including any government gigs or passive income. i also know people coming from scientist-practicitoner programs that approach each evaluation as if it were a dissertation, and anxiously perseverate over correlation coefficients utilized in reports from six months ago. These guys dont make quite as much. again, this is all anecdotal. know what you want, find ways to get the training, get it. its that simple. but as Dr.Mike said, just know, it will probably be more difficult to secure said training in a class of 100.
 
Business abilities and networking can overcome poor training and questionable clinical ability. I'm not saying this is the route to take, bc it isn't. I'm merely stating that it is possible.

Be warned that every unique snowflake believes they will be the exception and be a shrink to the stars, work on a professional team, etc. the vast majority of students will be wholly average or worse, so give yourself the best path to be successful and avoid programs that have additional hurdles on their path (e.g. Low match rates, $$$ debt, poor reputation, etc).
 
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