Internship advice for a 2nd year?

1. Make sure to gain a range of experience, while also being aware if you are targeting a specific placement, you need direct experience in that area and related classwork/research/etc. to be competitive.

2. Research each place you are considering, and really tailor your Essay #5 to the particulars of each site. Do the same with your cover letter, and make sure to be realistic about how well you match/don't match their training.

3 Apply to a range of programs. I made the mistake of only applying to pretty competitive places, and although I got a bunch of interviews, I still missed out. There really aren't 'backup' sites per se, but be open to looking outside of major cities, prestigious spots, etc.

I am a fourth year who is planning internship apps for next year.
Do you have a sense of what kind of internships you want to apply for? Not specific sites, but in general-- clinical science/ research oriented vs. not, what populations, inpatient vs. outpatient, children vs. adult? Any specific competitive locations in mind (NYC is the biggie). There are different things you can do to prep depending on these.

Although it's good to be thinking ahead, I don't think you should stress out about it yet. You are probably on the right track if you are doing everything that your program requires you to do. Most people who don't match do so because 1) they're geographically limited or they don't rank a lot of programs (#1 reason), 2) they're bad interviewers, went to a sub-par, or have some other obvious flaw in their application, 3) they had bad luck (also a big factor which unfortunately you can't prepare for).

Psycycle said:

Thanks - I appreciate it. I am already dreading this process: the expense, the pressure...I would like to be a clinician/researcher, but not a professor, at a hospital so I suppose I will be looking to hospitals. Not particularly fussy about location or prestige or urbanicity - locationwise, not to big of a deal except I am wondering if one can stay regional? Does one need to apply nationally? I'd like to be within a 7 hour or so drive of my husband...

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Depending on where you live, this may or may not be a problem. I know a state like Iowa literally has 3 sites, and that is it. If you live in or near a larger city, it could be a bit easier...though as mentioned above, a place like NYC can be ridiculously competitive for sites that may or may not be great training opportunities. Your program may restrict where you are allowed to apply (based on accreditation). My program req. at least APPIC accreditation, though strongly prefers APA accredited sites. Other programs are a bit more lenient, but I'd strongly caution to not consider anything that isn't at least APPIC....because licensing issues may come up later around it.

Psycycle said:

Hi all...as I watch people go through this difficult process, I am getting more concerned for when my number comes up for internship. I'm closing in on the end of my 2nd year of graduate school, and I've seen some pretty remarkable, amazing people not place for internship. I'm wondering, do any of you who have gone through this and either placed or not placed have any thoughts for those of us who are earlier in our programs to help increase the probability of placing? I know some of the standard stuff like trying not to limit oneself geographically, but does anyone else have other advice that they might offer? Anything that they learned through their experiences that they could share?

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I am a 4th year graduate student and recently placed for internship. My advice is that you really need to look for sites that are a good fit for you. I know a lot of students aim for the really well-known sites (e.g., Brown, NYU, Bellevue, etc). What you have to remember is that these sites receive hundreds of applications from very competitive applicants. Some of these applicants know the right people at these sites (And yes, I have witnessed not-so qualified applicants getting into top-tiered sites simply because they interacted with the right people), have multiple research publications (i.e., over 6) in top tiered journals, and have written over 60 integrated assessment reports.

You need to be flexible (as T4C recommended) in where you are willing to go. That includes considering sites that may not be in the most desirable location, but offer great training. You will find more often than not that sites that you thought were so-so are actually great (like a diamond in the ruff). That is what I discovered when going on various interviews. Sites that I originally thought were the best, were really not once I interviewed there. Conversely, sites that I thought were so-so were actually really good once I interviewed.

Given all that I have said, the moral of the story is: (1) apply to sites where you are a perfect fit. Look at the sites training goals, mission statements, and sources of funding. This will give you an idea of the direction in which they plan to go in terms of research or clinical training; (2) be realistic about your own training experiences. This will require a lot of humbleness on your part (which is often difficult for students to do). In other words, if you don't have a lot of assessment experience or if it's mediocre, avoid places which emphasize assessment, or treat these sites as a 'long-shot;' (3) When you go on the interview, you MUST, MUST, MUST know their site inside and out. Study it, know it, and emphasize WHY you are a good fit there. A lot of students I ran into didn't know much about the site EXCEPT what was outlined on the APPIC site. It doesn't matter if you are going on 11 interviews, you treat each interview like it is your first. You communicate your interest in the site as if it is your ONLY interview.

Since you are in your second year, I would start looking at sites that you are interested in now and try to build up your experience to make yourself a good fit. 😉

I think what is important is to figure out the type of site(s) you want, and see what kind of stats get you in consideration for those type of sites (APPIC has the averages listed....which obviously can change, vary, etc). Lining up sites right now might be a bit pre-mature, but getting an idea of what is out there may help.

Perhaps I also begin worrying about the internship early, is it OCD? 🙂.
I appreciate if anyone here knows whether practicum hours that are NOT acquired in the current doctoral program count for internship applications.

I am switiching between programs for next year, going from the non-APA accredited alternative PhD program to the APA-accredited PsyD program. I am currently at the practicum site and will continue till the end of the year even though I will not be enrolled in the PhD program any longer, accumulating total of about 400-500 hrs (not all face-to-face therapy of course).

I wonder if these hours will count later for my APA internship application. THe application says you can only count hours acquired in your CURRENT program (that is in my future PsyD program), or in the terminal MAster's program)

Anyone knows anything about this? Thanks so much, I greatly appreciate any tips.

The APPIC website should have this answer....as I think it's come up before on the internship listserv. I'm not sure if you can get access to the e-mail archives, but it should be in there.