2009-2010 Internship Thread

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My program has weekly meetings with our DCT, plus within our practicum supervision course, which provides another perspective from our profs who recently went through the process.
 
Our program has 2-3 meetings similar to what others have mentioned. They've been helpful, to a point, although they've ratcheted up the anxiety level within the group. I think more frequent meetings might be too much. Individual profs vary -- some have been great and full of good advice and support, others not so much.
 
Thanks for all of your responses-- it's interesting to see how much variation there is!
 
Hi guys,

I just wanted to check-in and see where y'all are in the process and how your stress levels are. Right now I'm double (and triple) checking my essays and C.V. I still haven't worked on the APPI yet, but will do so in the next week, as I have my hours pretty well organized, so I don't think it should take more than an afternoon. As for stress, I'm not feeling too bad right now, but things may heat up a bit in the next couple weeks!
 
cmuhooligan said:
Hi guys,

I just wanted to check-in and see where y'all are in the process and how your stress levels are. Right now I'm double (and triple) checking my essays and C.V. I still haven't worked on the APPI yet, but will do so in the next week, as I have my hours pretty well organized, so I don't think it should take more than an afternoon. As for stress, I'm not feeling too bad right now, but things may heat up a bit in the next couple weeks!
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Essays are probably 85% done, just need to tweak. I haven't done my APPI yet, but I did all of my hours (and it takes a lot longer than you'd think). I'm still waiting on my LORs. My CV is up to date, though I'm going to go over it again.

Stress about internship isn't too bad, but I'm still really busy.
 
hmmm have 2 more essays left. CV=done LORs=done AAPI=5-% done. Cover letters are my big thing. Going to an intensive essay workshop this saturday
 
One essay left, plus still need the cover letters. LORs in process. Dissertation proposal done and defended. AAPI about 75% complete.

The biggest obstacle (believe it or not) getting all my clinical notes and reports done. Our school has a rule that this must be up to date and "signed off" before we're allowed to apply.

Why oh why was I such a slacker at the clinic???!!!😳 (sigh)
 
BellaPsyD said:
anyone applying w/o having their dissertation officially proposed yet?
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That actually just came up in one of our meetings.....it seems that a growing number of sites have this as a requirement (most of the sites I looked at have this). As best as I can tell, it is because each site is req. to report how many of their interns get their degrees, licensed, etc.....and the further along applicants are in the process, the better chance they have to have the person complete everything. It is definitely something to check when evaluating sites.
 
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^ I was wondering about that. Only one of mine has this as a requirement. 2 others say it must be proposed by ranking deadline...my questions is, how will they know?!
 
BellaPsyD said:
^ I was wondering about that. Only one of mine has this as a requirement. 2 others say it must be proposed by ranking deadline...my questions is, how will they know?!
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I'd guess you have someone connected to your research as a reference, so it probably isn't hard to call.....though I'm not sure they will verify this. You could probably call your one site and inquire further if you have concerns about the req.
 
BellaPsyD said:
^ I was wondering about that. Only one of mine has this as a requirement. 2 others say it must be proposed by ranking deadline...my questions is, how will they know?!
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I think that if you wait until the March before you leave for internship to defend your proposal, having your internship training director check up on you would not be your only problem. You really want to collect all your data and do as much work as possible before you leave, no?

As for my progress....well, it'll get done eventually, I'm sure. I have rough, rough drafts of all of my essays and a semi-final list of programs to apply to. Still have to count my hours, though.

Question: How much time did you give your recommenders?
 
At least one month. I think the time it takes recommenders varies a lot, but I didn't want any of them to feel rushed and resentful.👎
 
at Least one month as well...I have yet to write cover letters bleh
 
Speaking of LOR's....I just found out that one of my intensive supervisors won't be able to get me the signed LORs until 4-5 days before my first deadline!! She is super busy and frequently travels, so I have to catch her in between trips. I really appreciate that she is writing me a letter, but it is stressful cutting it that close, particularly because at least one of my top sites is due first.

I was planning on having everything done by the end of next week, which would give me 2 weeks before most of my apps are due (Nov 8th-15th)...but only a week before my first apps are due. I wish I could have done this a month ago, but my schedule has been hectic to say the least.

Welcome to Internship App Stress.....
 
my first due date is october 30th!!!!! Just have to write my cover letter....which I have been MAJORLY procrastinating on....
 
BellaPsyD said:
my first due date is october 30th!!!!! Just have to write my cover letter....which I have been MAJORLY procrastinating on....
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Ugh, I think my first is Nov 3rd. Surprisingly I don't think I have any Nov 1st, which use to be really popular a couple years ago (I remember my friends going on and on about that date). Nov. 15th is the most popular it seems....which is good, I should have a couple weeks to tweak my cover letters and whatnot and still get everything out with a week or two to spare.

I get paranoid about when they receive the applications. Do they review them as they come in, or wait and do them after the deadline? I almost sent a message to the list serv, but then I realized I was getting neurotic about the little things, which supposedly happens every year. Dr. McCutchen (sp?) recently sent out an e-mail saying that applicants worry about the littlest things when it comes down to the wire....but I still worry. :laugh:
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
Speaking of LOR's....I just found out that one of my intensive supervisors won't be able to get me the signed LORs until 4-5 days before my first deadline!! She is super busy and frequently travels, so I have to catch her in between trips. I really appreciate that she is writing me a letter, but it is stressful cutting it that close, particularly because at least one of my top sites is due first.
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Maybe you could contact your early deadline sites, explain, and ask if that letter could be sent separately so you can be sure everything else arrives on time? Or you could just send applications for those sites express mail-- it's not cheap, but if it's only a few places than it may be worth soothing your anxiety. Even Priority Mail, which is not that expensive, is guaranteed in 2-3 days. In fact, first class mail will usually get to anywhere in the country in less than 5 days, although I understand not wanting to cut it close. Personally, I'll feel lucky if any of my recommenders get my letters with a whole 4-5 day cushion-- knowing one or two of them, I'm just hoping I get it in time.

I don't see why there'd be a benefit to sending it too early. They don't have rolling admissions or anything-- that'd violate APPIC policies. Is that what you're asking.

My first deadline is 10/31, and then the majority are between then and 11/3. I can't believe it's 10/14 already, eek!
 
psychanon said:
Maybe you could contact your early deadline sites, explain, and ask if that letter could be sent separately so you can be sure everything else arrives on time?
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Everything will still get there (I figure I can mail it by the 28th, and send it 2 day to make sure it gets there before Nov 1st). It is only 2-3 sites, so it shouldn't be that costly, as long as I can send the rest of my stuff cheaply. I think I'll send the rest Priority, as I think that is the cheapest with tracking info.

psychanon said:
I don't see why there'd be a benefit to sending it too early. They don't have rolling admissions or anything-- that'd violate APPIC policies. Is that what you're asking.
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With some places getting 300+ apps, I've wondered if they start reviewing them as they get them, or if they wait until the deadline.

psychanon said:
My first deadline is 10/31, and then the majority are between then and 11/3. I can't believe it's 10/14 already, eek!
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Good luck!
 
I've noticed a coastal pattern to my sites 🙂 California, Hawaii, New York, Florida, Texas ... apparently I need warmer weather (minus the NY apps) !
 
BellaPsyD said:
mailing off my first application today! 😀
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Congrats!!

I'm still waiting on a couple of LORs, need to tighten up my essays, etc. Today is going to be a good day though....productivity!! I am tutoring this afternoon, so hopefully that will be enough of a "break" that I can come back and finish up my stuff.
 
How is everyone doing?

I am slowly progressing along (too many other things going on to get enough time to finish my apps!). I actually went back to my site list and moved a couple things around, but now I think I finally have my final list.
 
all I have left is my cover letters. Something I appear to be doing right before I mail off my app instead of doing them all at once. oh well, whatever works!
 
Things are going well here. I have pretty much everything I can do, done. I'm just waiting (and waiting...) on one more letter of rec., with hopes of sending some apps off on Thursday.
 
where is everyone applying? or do we want to wait and only talk about where we are interviewing- in order to not curse our luck?! 😀
 
BellaPsyD said:
where is everyone applying? or do we want to wait and only talk about where we are interviewing- in order to not curse our luck?! 😀
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McLean
Mass. General
Cornell
Columbia
Brown
UIC
UCLA Semel
Seattle VA
Maryland VA
Medical College of Georgia
U of Florida
U of Wisconsin
Florida Mental Health Institute
Centre for Mental Health and Addiction
Albert Einstein
Boston Consortium
Emory

*I'm a bit worried that I won't match, given the competitiveness of these sites. I guess reapplying next year wouldn't be that bad for my situation...time will tell!
 
Bellevue
Columbia
Beth Israel
UMDNJ Newark
NJ VA
Manhattan VA
Brooklyn VA
Montefiore
Jacobi
Trinitas
Pace
Bronx Psychiatric Center
Greystone
UMDNJ-RWJ
Gouveneur
Interfaith
Maimonides
Lenox Hill
St Lukes Roosevlet
Kings County Hosp
 
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psychmama, we have a number in common. I have a couple that I'm on the fence, but we'll see. It was hard picking "Safety" sites because there really is no such thing. I'm going to go with what I have, and hope for the best.
 
I'd rather not post my list publicly for whatever weird paranoid reason, but I'm totally happy to share it with whoever is interested (just PM me and I'll send it). About ten overlap with cmuhooligan (we're obviously aiming for similar sites) and one or two with psychmama.

I can't wait until everything is in! I will feel much better when I have all my letters and part 2 in hand....i hate having to rely on others to do important things for me.

I think this emoticon effectively sums up my feelings on the internship application process: :barf:
 
lots of my sites have additional essays (yes plural) to send with them! Like I didn't do enough for the AAPI, etc.!

I'll post my list soon...this may sound funny but I don't have them all memorized- just in a big binder. I did just mail one to Tarzana Treatment Centers
 
psychanon said:
About ten overlap with cmuhooligan (we're obviously aiming for similar sites) and one or two with psychmama.
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I have 3 with cmu and 6 with pyschmama. I'm not sharing my list, but maybe I'll see some of ya'll on the interview path. We should have an SDN hand signal.....flash it around to random people, and see if anyone responds. 😀

This happened to me during the 2008 orientation, a couple people brought up SDN around me and were like, 'You are T4C, right?' It's interesting when worlds collide.
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
psychmama, we have a number in common. I have a couple that I'm on the fence, but we'll see. It was hard picking "Safety" sites because there really is no such thing. I'm going to go with what I have, and hope for the best.
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T4C - I'm in agreement about picking "safeties". I'm just planning to throw a lot of applications out and see what sticks. With the insane number of applicants at some of these sites, it's anyone's guess.

Good luck to you, and to all who apply!
 
I'm a postdoc who still remembers who stressful the internship application process was. I'm currently searching for jobs and found a wiki for psychology jobs. It is a nice way to get updates on the job search process (e.g., schools that have contacted their short list). The wiki is updated by fellow job seekers, and can be found here: http://psychjobs.wikidot.com/

So why is am I posting this here? I thought the that predoctoral students applying for internship might benefit from creating their own wiki for internship applications. I know that people generally post this information here, but using a wiki does have a few advantages (centrally located, easy to update by all, easy to track changes, easy to search). Of course, someone here would have to create an account and set up the wiki. I see that SDN has a wiki, and it may be possible to host the wiki here. Apologies in advance if my suggestion is not helpful to most.

BTW, T4C asked when applications are reviewed. Although I am not on the review committee so I can't give specific details, our site receives >300 applications and starts the review process 2 days after the deadline. I'm pretty sure that my internship site reviewed applications after the deadline as well.
 
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psychmama said:
T4C - I'm in agreement about picking "safeties". I'm just planning to throw a lot of applications out and see what sticks. With the insane number of applicants at some of these sites, it's anyone's guess.

Good luck to you, and to all who apply!
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I agree that there's really no such thing as a safety....I threw in a few sites that are sort of safeties that are in geographical areas that I like, but I really think I have a better chance of matching at one of the uber-competitive research-oriented places (e.g., Brown, Mass General, etc.) than I do at the "safeties" that I chose, simply because my qualifications are a better match for the research-oriented places.

PSYPAQ said:
I thought the that predoctoral students applying for internship might benefit from creating their own wiki for internship applications. I know that people generally post this information here, but using a wiki does have a few advantages (centrally located, easy to update by all, easy to track changes, easy to search). Of course, someone here would have to create an account and set up the wiki. I see that SDN has a wiki, and it may be possible to host the wiki here. Apologies in advance if my suggestion is not helpful to most.
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I would love something like that! I would do it myself, but 1) as an internship applicant, I have zero time, and 2) Perhaps I am outing myself as an ignoramus, but I am not quite sure what a Wiki is, let alone how to make one. It's like Wikipedia, right? So bottom line: Great idea! Someone else should do it.
 
psychanon said:
I would love something like that! I would do it myself, but 1) as an internship applicant, I have zero time, and 2) Perhaps I am outing myself as an ignoramus, but I am not quite sure what a Wiki is, let alone how to make one. It's like Wikipedia, right? So bottom line: Great idea! Someone else should do it.
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Yes, that's exactly what a wiki is. It doesn't take much time, really. Someone just needs to create the wiki (which usually means just signing up for an account). After the account is created, the SDN community updates the wiki as they learn more. Good luck with the apps!
 
cmuhooligan said:
McLean
Mass. General
Cornell
Columbia
Brown
UIC
UCLA Semel
Seattle VA
Maryland VA
Medical College of Georgia
U of Florida
U of Wisconsin
Florida Mental Health Institute
Centre for Mental Health and Addiction
Albert Einstein
Boston Consortium
Emory
Click to expand...

Buyer beware when it comes to Emory! I actually don't know much about the internship, per se, but their chair of psychiatry (Charlie Nemeroff) was just forced to resign amid some very serious ethics charges re: disclosure of income from big pharma and undue influence. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, I know some people who are in the system there, and it is a complete s*itstorm right now. May not be the best time to join that department...

If you want more info, you can google it easily. The story has made national news.

p.s. Good luck to all! I've been on here so long... You never know, I may actually interview some of you. 🙂
 
Nemeroff has been in the middle of that kind of stuff for a few years. I have nothing against the guy, but there have been rumblings about people using his name to get stuff through (sponsored by big pharma).
 
So, it seems like most sites state that they will notify applicants regarding interviews by Dec. 15th. When do sites actually start letting us know, end of the month, first week of Dec., or do they really wait right up till the 15th?
 
cmuhooligan said:
So, it seems like most sites state that they will notify applicants regarding interviews by Dec. 15th. When do sites actually start letting us know, end of the month, first week of Dec., or do they really wait right up till the 15th?
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I think it depends on how many apps they get. A site that gets 350 apps are probably much closer to Dec 15th. Some places actually tell people much later, most seem to be 1st week of Dec. or so.
 
Quick question for you guys: I had several 11/1 due dates and had to overnight a couple of applications. One application was overnighted on 10/30 and USPS.com shows that a notice was left at the internship site on 10/31. There has been no update on usps.com since then. Should I contact the internship director to alert him/her that an application is at the post office?
 
PsyD123 said:
Quick question for you guys: I had several 11/1 due dates and had to overnight a couple of applications. One application was overnighted on 10/30 and USPS.com shows that a notice was left at the internship site on 10/31. There has been no update on usps.com since then. Should I contact the internship director to alert him/her that an application is at the post office?
Click to expand...

I unfortunately had this happen to me. In fact, I had several applications where this notice was left on a Saturday. Although, all but one of the applications were redelivered the next Monday. I called regarding the site in question, and the post office informed me that they attempted to deliver the package on Saturday (at 5:30pm) and no one was their to accept, so they had it at the post office and informed me that the receiver would have to come down to pick it up, or call to have it redelivered. I called the site and they said they didn't have the notice, so they couldn't call about it. This was frustrating to say the least. So, I scrambled to recreate the application and sent it via UPS, where it safely arrived the next day. So, you're not alone in your USPS troubles. If I were you I would contact who ever is listed on your sites APPI page (sometimes this is the training director, other times it is an administrative assistant) and at least find out if they have received the notification. I'm sorry to say that if they have not redelivered the package, it may be because your site doesn't have the notification. Best of luck
 
I've been having good luck so far with FEDEX 2 day delivery. They have been notifying me by email when the package is signed for in the recipient's mailroom.

All my apps are due on or before 11/15, except for one that's 12/1. I'm hoping it all runs smoothly -- although odds are at least one app will be screwed up! 😀
 
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