PsyD PhD Grad School Advice Needed ASAP Please

[Imkay]

To begin I am an extremely hard worker, I would like to consider myself conscientiousness, determined and goal driven. I am currently in my senior year of undergraduate work and am still unsure of my plans next year. My dream has been to obtain a terminal degree (PhD. or PsyD) in clinical psychology. I have a 3.69 GPA, a little above average GRE scores, Excellent Letters of Rec, Excellent clinical experience, and research experience in a great lab at my university.

I was only able to apply to 7 PhD programs and 2 PsyD programs and 1 MA program as I was hospitalized for a prolong period recently.

I have been denied from 4 PhD programs, 1 PsyD Program. I have been waitlisted at 1 PhD program and 1 PsyD program, and am yet to hear back from the Ma Program and a few PhD programs.

I have had no intention or desire to take a year off but I am at that point where I truly do not know what to do.
I really want to obtain a PsyD as clinical practice is what I hope to be doing. If I take a year off I worry I won't make any money, and will be rejected once again, waisting a year of my early 20's where I should be making some sort of money or moving in a direction to do so...

I also worry about re-applying to these PsyD programs of which I was previously rejected. Would that hurt my chances?
Can anyone give me some advice please! I feel my handwork composed of countless hours studying, stressing, applying, and researching has been a waste as everyone my age already has jobs and plans for next year and I'm sitting here almost in shock as I did not anticipate this situation...

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[Wendi22]

Hello,

I will try to be of some help. Like you I always knew I wanted a phd or psyd. I went into a masters after obtaining my BA in psychology in order to increase my chances but this is not for everyone. I simply say that to let you know that I went that route and it helped me a a lot. I learned a lot about myself and what I want out of my career. I also built up my vita with research so I certainly value those two years. I also met professors that are invaluable mentors. I then worked in the field for two years acquiring more research experience and clinical experience. I did not plan those two years, but ended up taking them because I simply did not get an offer from a program I truly liked or that was funded (consider money!). Side note, I applied to a psyd program twice and got in the second time so yes it is okay to apply to a program twice. In short, I was accepted this year to a good program and my masters degree and work experience were seen as big assets. I completely understand your panic and desire to "keep on track". However, I am going to a program completely unexpected....and it is better than expected. So do not give up...keep trying but be open to new opportunities. I promise you have time....the only thing I recommend is stay active in the field. I did research on the side for free after working monday through friday at my low paying assessment job....so keep trying it will be worth it!

 

[Indiana_Jane]

One year after undergrad I applied to a PsyD program, was accepted and declined. A professor I had in UG encouraged me to really reflect on where I wanted to be in 10+ years and if this was the right path for me. Looking back, I applied PsyD because I felt I wasn't ready to apply for a PhD program and I felt as though I need to "keep moving." I took a year off and joined her research lab (too many benefits to name!) and had 7 interviews (all at fully funded programs). I cannot stress enough how important it is to remind yourself of where you want to be and keep that in mind. I'll be 30 when I'm done (and I sometimes I thought, "If I started earlier I could've finished at 28). Now, I look at those two extra years as two years that 1) helped me gain research experience 2) prepared me to be a successful graduate student and 3) allowed me to be certain of my path. If this is your dream, don't give up!! Join labs, read literature, practice stats... whatever it takes to keep moving towards the goal. You can also use this time to research PsyD vs. PhD further (if you want) and really take a deeper look into programs to make sure you get the right fit!

 

[deleted760483]

To begin I am an extremely hard worker, I would like to consider myself conscientiousness, determined and goal driven. I am currently in my senior year of undergraduate work and am still unsure of my plans next year. My dream has been to obtain a terminal degree (PhD. or PsyD) in clinical psychology. I have a 3.69 GPA, a little above average GRE scores, Excellent Letters of Rec, Excellent clinical experience, and research experience in a great lab at my university.

I was only able to apply to 7 PhD programs and 2 PsyD programs and 1 MA program as I was hospitalized for a prolong period recently.

I have been denied from 4 PhD programs, 1 PsyD Program. I have been waitlisted at 1 PhD program and 1 PsyD program, and am yet to hear back from the Ma Program and a few PhD programs.

I have had no intention or desire to take a year off but I am at that point where I truly do not know what to do.
I really want to obtain a PsyD as clinical practice is what I hope to be doing. If I take a year off I worry I won't make any money, and will be rejected once again, waisting a year of my early 20's where I should be making some sort of money or moving in a direction to do so...

I also worry about re-applying to these PsyD programs of which I was previously rejected. Would that hurt my chances?
Can anyone give me some advice please! I feel my handwork composed of countless hours studying, stressing, applying, and researching has been a waste as everyone my age already has jobs and plans for next year and I'm sitting here almost in shock as I did not anticipate this situation...

If you're thinking about taking a year off I would strongly encourage you to consider applying to more MA programs instead. In many cases a 2 year MA will give you at least a year's worth of transfer credits, so it functionally only sets you back a year and can save a lot of money. It can also help you get your GPA up and be more competitive for the doctoral programs you want to get into.

 

[smalltownpsych]

If you're thinking about taking a year off I would strongly encourage you to consider applying to more MA programs instead. In many cases a 2 year MA will give you at least a year's worth of transfer credits, so it functionally only sets you back a year and can save a lot of money. It can also help you get your GPA up and be more competitive for the doctoral programs you want to get into.

I don't know if this information is that helpful or accurate. I would think that more research experience over the next year and try to get a publication or some posters would be better for the OPs situation and I don't know if you would get a years worth of credit from the two years either.

 

[deleted343839]

If you're thinking about taking a year off I would strongly encourage you to consider applying to more MA programs instead. In many cases a 2 year MA will give you at least a year's worth of transfer credits, so it functionally only sets you back a year and can save a lot of money.

It's not safe to assume that master's credits will transfer to a doctoral program. That's probably more the exception than the rule.

 

[Wendi22]

It's not safe to assume that master's credits will transfer to a doctoral program. That's probably more the exception than the rule.

Agreed. I got a masters in clinical psychology. In my experience, very few of the credits transfer. These are usually core classes such as developmental psychology or social psychology. I applied to many programs and this was true for the majority. The Denver PsyD was the only program willing to take more courses, which did lower tuition (but still would never go there unless I was rich!). Most programs told me they have a specific training model and would never consider transferring clinical courses. PhD counseling programs requiring a masters degree are usually more willing. My MS was a good choice for me and has been valuable in many ways but not for lessing the course work needed to graduate from my phd.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Relatedly, even if credits transfer, you're still required to take a certain number of credit hours while in residence at the program. Thus, you may not have to take an introductory course (say, intermediate stats), but may still need to make those hours up with a different class (e.g., a more advanced stats class).

 

[Justanothergrad]

I'll offer my experience as an alternative. I transferred about 7 courses at an R1 PhD from a masters program. I also already had a masters and didn't repeat a thesis (this is invaluable) as well as got authorship on several manuscripts. This was the norm from the masters program I went to as it was a feeder program for PhD intent students and all my cohort mates (as well as those in earlier/later years) transferred a similar amount, each to R1 schools. I think it has to do with the quality of the masters program. Mine was very open with this being the norm. This is not true of all programs like others have said, however, and a positive outcome is skewed towards programs that emphasize establishing that record with schools.

The hours required for many doctoral degrees at a given university is not an issue since APA accreditation exceeds requirements by excessive amounts. If I recall correctly, for instance, my university requires 120 hours of courework to graduate whereas the school has a 40 hour (or thereabouts) requirement for a doctoral program. They can encourage you to take an advanced course (waived intro stats leads to encouragement to take advanced stats), but you can use your elective credits to do so and it doesn't add time.

Of course, this also depends on schools and some look/consider masters degrees more favorable and others will openly tell you that you will be rejected for having a masters. Schools that align more closely to this later thought process are those more likely to reject all your credits. If you go the MA route, consider this as you explore potential PhD programs.

 

[Wendi22]

I think the discussion here is more about when someone is deciding should they enter a masters program knowing they want to go on to a phd program and do so banking on credits transferring. It is just always good to weigh the pros and cons as a masters degree is 2 years of time and credits are not guaranteed to transfer. I elected to go into a masters program aware of this and I just think it is good for others to consider that as well. I also am not so sure it is always a quality issue. Many programs announced their transferring of credits policy in the manual and on interview day to everyone in the room so they do not appear to be distinguishing certain maters programs. Sometimes it is a max amount of credits and other times it is a policy of not taking any clinical credits (i.e. therapy courses) b/c of a fixed training model (regardless of how high caliber the masters program is). These were R1 schools as well. Even if a masters program has a good reputation or reputation for transferring credits that does not mean it will have that reputation for all phd programs or the programs someone will be interested in going to. I will also note that my masters program was good quality and that was mentioned to me on interviews so I think many schools really do just have a policy about it. I just wanted to note that because I would hate for someone to go into a masters program banking on transferring credits and/or feel limited to picking a phd program (the process is competitive enough as is) that will take credits.

 

[Justanothergrad]

I think the discussion here is more about when someone is deciding should they enter a masters program knowing they want to go on to a phd program and do so banking on credits transferring. It is just always good to weigh the pros and cons as a masters degree is 2 years of time and credits are not guaranteed to transfer. I elected to go into a masters program aware of this and I just think it is good for others consider that as well. I also am not so sure it is always a quality issue. Many programs announced their transferring of credits policy in the manual and on interview day to everyone in the room so they do not appear to be distinguishing certain maters programs. These were R1 schools as well. I will also note that my masters program was good quality and that was mentioned to me on interviews so I think many schools really do have a policy about it. I just wanted to note that because I would hate for someone to go into a masters program banking on transferring credits and/or feel limited to picking a phd program (the process is competitive enough as is) that will take credits.

Agreed entirely.

I have seen folks with masters from other programs/less stringent programs who get credits declined as faculty can review content/training and have wiggle room outside the manual. Most manuals that I've seen have only said things like 'maximum credits allowed to transfer'. The best opportunity is at a MA with a history of transferring them and at schools where they are open to it. Past behavior blah blah blah future behavior.