Supposedly not enough clinical experience?

[starvingstatic]

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[WisNeuro]

IME, the clinical experience one can get at the undergrad level is pretty minimal, so as long as someone has something there, not a whole lot is needed. From what you have posted, you have more than the majority of applicants. Was there by chance a mis-match? Looks like you have a lot of focus on developmental disorders, were you applying with the intent to do primarily adult work in a different population?

Also, need more info, have you been in a masters program, or applying from an undergrad degree only?

 

[starvingstatic]

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[WisNeuro]

From what information you have here, I'd chalk it up to this one person's idiosyncrasies. That seems more than enough clinical experience for a Clinical PhD program. If anything we usually tell prospective applicants to not focus on as much clinical experience because it tends to be diminishing returns at that level.

 

[pccgrad]

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[smalltownpsych]

I received very late feedback from someone from the most recent application cycle, and while I guess it makes some intuitive sense, it's still got me scratching my head. Basically, the general theme was that my clinical experience wasn't enough (particularly in comparison to my research, which is very competitive).

Here is what I have listed under that heading, currently:

• 1 year public school developmental-esque practicum
• 2 years working with EBD kids in AmeriCorps
• 1 year in a group home with adults with autism
• 1 year working with homeless youth in housing and developing life skills
• 2 years administering assessments for ADHD and LDs at the university where I got my Masters

What else is a person supposed to have under that heading? Am I supposed to be expected to have clinical experience that's far beyond that of research? Because I thought that wasn't necessarily the case. Also, I'm kind of just miffed because part of me feels like asking what they expect someone without a PhD to be able to do.

Anyway, one thing I thought of was to move a position I had from the "research" heading to the "clinical" one, because in that job at least 50% of it was all clinical assessments for a research study. I'd like to keep it under both, but it's my understanding that that's not kosher.

Any other thoughts about what to put under this heading? For instance, I've done plenty of mock clinical work in any of my graduate behavior therapy classes, but it seemed to me that including that as actual experience on a CV would make me seem like a joke. I've also volunteered for various things related to clinical work or institutions that do a lot of clinical work, but including that doesn't seem appropriate to me, either.

Also, any general thoughts about this particular feedback--that people applying for PhDs in Clinical Psych should focus more on their clinical acumen than research?

That feedback doesn't make sense. That appears to be quite a bit more clinical experience than most doctoral applicants would be expected to have. Did you apply to more places and get rejections, too? How many interviews did you attend Are your GREs in range? What is your research experience and interests and did those match well with the sites? Maybe some of those questions will help guide you for the next step.

 

[cara susanna]

I don't know I've worked with a lot of the same populations you have and none of it was anything near what you would do as a psychologist, from teaching how to eat independently to minimal life skills. What was your ms internship? A standard one would include working with a variety of populations either outpatient, inpatient or both. My internship for instance was inpatient so I got substance abuse, psychosis, older adults, adolescents, both short and long term, group and individual, and even then most other people had way more impressive internships.

You also seem really defensive by saying it was "supposedly" inadequate and seem more to want a lot of reassurance than actual advice on how to get more clinical experience. You're definitely getting empty reassurance. Maybe don't change anything at all and resubmit?

To be fair, very few undergrad experiences are anywhere near what you would do as a psychologist.

 

[pccgrad]

To be fair, very few undergrad experiences are anywhere near what you would do as a psychologist.

He says he has a masters.. that's kind of my point though. It's for sure a stellar resume of someone WITH a BS, but if he was group interviewed in an MS batch he would probably be the odd man out. Which is fine if he applies to very research intensive programs and has first author publications, which I'm fairly certain is not the case.

 

[starvingstatic]

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[pccgrad]

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[cara susanna]

He says he has a masters.. that's kind of my point though. It's for sure a stellar resume of someone WITH a BS, but if he was group interviewed in an MS batch he would probably be the odd man out. Which is fine if he applies to very research intensive programs and has first author publications, which I'm fairly certain is not the case.

Whoops, I missed that the OP is a Master's student. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[starvingstatic]

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[smalltownpsych]

It seems from what you are saying that finding a good fit for your research interests is probably the key. Of course, I didn't make it into a fully-funded PhD program myself so I am not the best to advise you on that path. I ended up choosing the lots of debt path at a PsyD program.

 

[Newropsych]

@starvingstatic I kind of had a similar experience--received feedback from a previous application cycle that I didn't have enough clinical experience, however, the depth and years of my experience are no where near yours. So take this for what you will:

I discussed this comment with the professor giving me feedback. Basically she told me it was more so that I didn't have enough clinical experience compared to the other applicants who applied, especially the students accepted, and not so much that my clinical experience was not sufficient to be accepted to a PhD level program.

I like the idea of resubmitting and trying again I did the same this past year, and was fortunate enough to get in...so there's hope. Best of luck!

 

[starvingstatic]

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[Member1928]

Here is my advice, as someone who went through the graduate school admissions process as a faculty member (for the first time). Be careful what you post online. You provided more than enough information for someone (or multiple someones) to identify you. You do not know who reads these posts but your attitude and reactions on here are not going to help you gain admission in the future and I suspect that if you were identified your responses on here could hurt your chances in the future.

Think about it- how many social psych faculty members mentor Ph.D. students in clinical programs. How many of them recently gave feedback similar to what you just described to an applicant with the qualities you just posted? Academia is small- people talk and they especially are going to talk if they identify someone who almost got into a Ph.D. program and then showed their @ss online.