2011 APPIC Internship Application Thread

[theizzard]

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I am up to 14 rejections, waiting on 2, had one interview today that seemed good and then one in January. Depressed? Not me. Ok need to have a positive attitude. The other week I bought myself one of those cards you send to encourage people. I was going to mail it to myself but hung it up instead. Whatever it takes. 😀

 

[dragonstyle]

anyone heard anything from the University of South Florida CC in Tampa? They were supposed to tell applicants on Friday, but I got no word.

 

[Erely]

I am up to 14 rejections, waiting on 2, had one interview today that seemed good and then one in January. Depressed? Not me. Ok need to have a positive attitude. The other week I bought myself one of those cards you send to encourage people. I was going to mail it to myself but hung it up instead. Whatever it takes. 😀

I love it! What a creative idea! Did it help?

I have 4 interviews, 1 rejection/waitlist (if an interview date opens after the 1st of the yr they will call me), still waiting to hear from 2 sites, and 18 rejections (yes I applied to a lot of sites!). The rejections are depressing (especially the ones from sites I thought I was a very good match for) but I am trying to focus on the interviews that I do have.

 

[Gangreen]

Personalized email invites went out this am. Interview dates 1/10, 1/17, and 1/24. My last one so no more crazy checking!!!

 

[PinkFreud1234]

anyone heard anything from the University of South Florida CC in Tampa? They were supposed to tell applicants on Friday, but I got no word.

They sent invites out via e-mail last week 🙁

 

[Existenz]

For those of you who did not hear anything from a site with a Dec. 15 notification deadline and have e-mailed the site for an update on application status....have responses been relatively prompt? The only site I'm waiting on said they would notify everyone by yesterday (regardless of what the decision was) so I e-mailed the TD this afternoon. I know they sent out a mass e-mail invite but I don't know if they have sent out any rejections (there's just one fellow SDNer that applied there and they got an interview. I don't know anyone else who applied). Checked my spam box, nothing there.

In other news...had my first interview today! 🙂 I think it went pretty well. All the fellow applicants were very nice as were the psychologists and interns. By FAR the most popular question was "what do you see yourself doing in 5-10 years?". In second place was probably questions regarding what I liked most about the site. They seemed pretty darn familiar with my application (the TD accurately named my current program when I introduced myself using my name only, a few interviewers knew what my dissertation was about and some talked about specific practicum sites). There weren't any questions that were terribly out of the ordinary and no "frowned upon" questions. I think the most interesting question I got was something along the lines of "If a person was diagnosed with X and was receiving significant services for it but you strongly disagreed with the diagnosis and whatever assessments you do confirm your diagnosis/refute diagnosis X but that would mean the person would no longer receive the services they have now, what would you do and how would you do it?"

oh nice, at which site did you interview? I've done 3 interviews so far..losing endurance already

 

[aventurine]

1) Should we rank all the sites even if they did not mention they would be ranking all applicants? (the ones who reject you for an interview)
2) IF you end up being in the 2nd match, can you reapply to sites that you either didn't match at or get an interview at (if they have vacancies of course...and of course they will because they are missing me!!😍)

1) Don't bother. If they rejected you for an interview, they are not going to rank you.
2) Yes, you can. They may or may not consider you, though.

 

[YorkUgrad]

Now that the interview scheduling is almost over, I was hoping we could discuss potential interview questions. Has anyone had any experience with ethical vignettes they could share? Or difficult questions they have been asked?

 

[aventurine]

Here is some advice I saved:

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

STANDARD: Why this program? What are you looking for in an internship (goals)? What are your strengths and weaknesses (try to talk about areas of experience in which you're weak, not personal qualities!)? What you learned from a case? Populations with whom you're most and least comfortable working? Countertransference experiences? Positive and negative supervision experiences? Cases that went well or didn't go well? What do you see yourself doing in the future? What's your theoretical orientation and why? What's your doctoral research topic and why? Do you like your program? Why clinical psychology? Clinical interests? How are you different from other applicants? Types of patients you prefer (internalizing vs. externalizing) and why? Goals for internship year? Ethical dilemmas you've encountered? How do you deal with a patient who says you're not helping? What do you do in your spare time? What would you like us to know about you that's not apparent?

MORE DIFFICULT (AND MORE RARE): What books in psychology influenced you? Mistakes you've made as a therapist? Questions about particular psychodynamic or CBT theories? What qualities do you have that might impede the therapy process? What about your upbringing made you choose your research topic or clinical interests? Pleasure books? Psychopharmacology as relating to patients you've treated? Who are you, as a person? How would your friends describe you? Are you in therapy and how does this affect your clinical learning? Interpret this [Rorschach/MMPI/WAIS/whatever] protocol? Questions about differential diagnosis?


INTERVIEW TIPS

~ Be familiar with all site materials and have a few questions specific to the site
~ Be familiar with anything mentioned in or submitted with your application
~ Think through your cases you may want to talk about and answers to FAQs
~ Be prepared to briefly present a couple of cases (one that went well and one that didn't)
~ Case presentations: demographics, diagnosis, intervention, outcome, what you learned from it, etc...
~ Dress professionally (suit or nicely coordinated separates, for women, are fine) - nothing fancy/flashy/weird
~ Usually, there's a group welcome, 1-2 individual interviews, a tour, and a chance to meet w/interns
~ Be on time (needless to say!)
~ The person interviewing you may not have read your application, so be prepared to repeat
~ Stress things that will give them a sense of yourself as a good match for them
~ Emphasize your good points, but take care NOT to appear boastful or full of yourself
~ Don't take out notes or write anything down
~ Try to flow with the conversation style of the interviewer
~ Be prepared to tell them why you want to train there, specifically
~ Don't be defensive if they express a different opinion about a clinical/testing issue
~ Save any quality-of-life questions for informal conversations with the interns
~ Take some notes after each interview to help you with ranking later on

Although I was presented with clinical vignettes, I was never presented with ethical vignettes. Rather, I was asked about a dilemma I had faced.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Here are some additional sites that have extended interview invites:

Northwestern UCC
U of Memphis CC
Virginia Commonwealth UCC
U of Maine CC
U of New Hampshire CC
Penn State CC
University of Rochester UCC
UTenn Knoxville CC

 

[Existenz]

Now that the interview scheduling is almost over, I was hoping we could discuss potential interview questions. Has anyone had any experience with ethical vignettes they could share? Or difficult questions they have been asked?

so far on my 3 interviews the questions have been fairly pedestrian. I'm kinda hoping for some interesting questions.

 

[JockNerd]

Here is some advice I saved:

(snip)
~ Don't take out notes or write anything down

Bwa??

 

[PsychS]

1) Don't bother. If they rejected you for an interview, they are not going to rank you.
2) Yes, you can. They may or may not consider you, though.

This is not necessarily true. It depends on the site. Many sites rank applicants that they do not interview as a back up. One site that rejected me asked that I consider ranking them on my list still because they do this and they stated that they had interns in the past who they did not interview but that they ranked.

 

[aventurine]

This is not necessarily true. It depends on the site. Many sites rank applicants that they do not interview as a back up. One site that rejected me asked that I consider ranking them on my list still because they do this and they stated that they had interns in the past who they did not interview but that they ranked.

I interned in an extremely competitive area, so this advice may not be universally applicable.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Bwa??

First time I've heard that as well. While I could definitely see why you wouldn't want to have your nose in a notebook for the entire interview, or to be reading responses straight from prepared and printed out statements, I'd see nothing wrong with jotting down a key point here and there (which I did during my first interview). Heck, of the four faculty interviewing me, three did the same themselves. A colleague who interviewed at the same location was even complimented for having a list of site-specific questions written up and ready to ask.

 

[aventurine]

Of course, you should have site-specific questions at the ready. But you will probably make a better impression if you just know them than if you have to look them up. This underscores your interest in and knowledge of the program. The internship interview is not an equal exchange. Just because your interviewer does something doesn't mean you should, too. I've interviewed many applicants and I have never had one pull out a notebook. IMHO, it's better to prep before and take notes after....but, agreed, if you're going to take/read notes during, keep it to a minimum.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Of course, you should have site-specific questions at the ready. But you will probably make a better impression if you just know them than if you have to look them up. This underscores your interest in and knowledge of the program. The internship interview is not an equal exchange. Just because your interviewer does something doesn't mean you should, too. I've interviewed many applicants and I have never had one pull out a notebook. IMHO, it's better to prep before and take notes after....but, agreed, if you're going to take/read notes during, keep it to a minimum.

Point taken. And yes, it definitely makes more sense for interviewers to take notes if for no other reason than the larger number of individuals with whom they'll be meeting (and the fact that many of them have likely been doing it for years).

As for the notebook, perhaps it was just the site itself, as the majority of other applicants I saw went into and came out of the faculty members' rooms with notebooks in hand. Not that this would indicate it's going to leave a positive impression, but it didn't seem out of the norm, at least during this particular interview.

That being said, I of course agree that it's best to prepare ahead of time, and to save the serious note-taking for afterward.

 

[StrongArm]

I emailed the TD since I have not received notification of interview status, either way. The TD indicated that Gildner will be notifying applicants some time this week. FYI for anyone still waiting on them.

 

[Erely]

Has anyone heard from Central Texas Clinical and Forensic? Their deadline was 12/15 and I still haven't heard anything. I have thought about contacting them but don't want to seem pushy. Has anyone heard anything from them?

 

[JeNeSaisQuoi]

Here is some advice I saved:

~ Don't take out notes or write anything down

I've heard conflicting things about this. For example, you could appear disinterested if you don't take notes. And that it's ok to refer to your notes for questions based on info you obtained earlier.

 

[RingoStarr]

Is anyone else still compulsively checking their emails even though they've heard back from all their sites?

I have to keep reminding myself that I already heard back from all my sites.

 

[Aribbean05]

Anyone also not heard back from Trinitas and/or Horney clinic?
I emailed Horney last week given that they had a 15th deadline and still nothing. Trinitas' is today, and it's already 230pm EST. These are my final two and I'm just getting impatient to be done with it all!

 

[nononora]

Anyone also not heard back from Trinitas and/or Horney clinic?
I emailed Horney last week given that they had a 15th deadline and still nothing. Trinitas' is today, and it's already 230pm EST. These are my final two and I'm just getting impatient to be done with it all!

Try checking your spam folder. That was where Karen Horney's email ended up for me.

 

[Aribbean05]

Try checking your spam folder. That was where Karen Horney's email ended up for me.

Thanks. I have been (incessantly), but nothing in there either. Two emails to them later and still nothing...So not cool.

 

[theizzard]

I guess around match time this board will be crazy crazy with posts. good luck to all and to all a good night or day.😀

 

[ThisIsCrazy]

Yeah it's kinda sad that the board died after Dec 15th, but I figure that's to be expected. 🙂 Good luck everyone!!!!!

 

[arsesta]

Yes! Same here. I need to develop a new compulsive habit. Checking airfare deals just doesn't cut it for me. I was hoping ppl would share their interview experience with the forum but I guess ppl are busy w/ the holidays?

Is anyone else still compulsively checking their emails even though they've heard back from all their sites?

I have to keep reminding myself that I already heard back from all my sites.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Yeah it's kinda sad that the board died after Dec 15th, but I figure that's to be expected. 🙂 Good luck everyone!!!!!

This thread definitely slows down, but IIRC the thread picks back up when interviews happen.

Best of luck to everyone. Try and enjoy whatever holiday time you have, and don't stress too much about thie interviews....they usually work out for most people.

 

[arsesta]

To those of you who are still checking the forum...anyone going to interview at VA Atlanta on 1/10 or the open house at SCPPI (Southwest Consortium in New Mexico) on 1/19 and would consider splitting a car rental with me (and if you're female, a hotel room too?)? Msg me if you are willing to consider! 😀

 

[YorkUgrad]

hi,

I had a question... Does anyone know how much internship experience plays a role in your declared area of competence during registration?

For example, if during your internship you have experience working with adolescents, but not children, can you still claim you are competent to work with children as well given you have practicum experience with children and the related course work? What if you were to receive additional training working with children during your 1 year of supervised practice?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I think York is referring to licensure in Canada, as I believe they require people to declare one or more areas of competence. It is an interesting idea, though I admittedly am not well versed in the particulars.

 

[ClinPsyD917]

Some sites are still sending notifications... VA Brooklyn had said they would notify today, and I just got my rejection from them. Ugh, but at least I've finally *almost* heard from everyone... just waiting on VA Hudson Valley. If anyone has received a rejection from Hudson Valley, please let me know... and is anyone else still waiting? They had such a strange notification deadline--appic's site said 12/15, and the brochure said the "deadline for scheduling interviews is 12/31." I figure that means I should wait until 12/31 but if I need to go to NY I'd really like to know... If anyone has advice/recommendations on if I should get in touch with them, I'd love to hear it 🙂.

 

[erg923]

For all those interviewing at Bureau of Prisons sites...the Bureau sent me a slew of forms to fill out prior to my first interview, however they sent them all in a PDF where you would have to hand write all the info. Would this be acceptable? I have no idea where to find all these forms online (there's like 8 different ones) to see if any are in a format where you can type in your responses. Anyone else running into this?

 

[Shadas29]

This thread definitely slows down, but IIRC the thread picks back up when interviews happen.

Best of luck to everyone. Try and enjoy whatever holiday time you have, and don't stress too much about thie interviews....they usually work out for most people.

What is the IIRC thread and do you have the link to it?

 

[cervello]

What is the IIRC thread and do you have the link to it?

IIRC = if I recall correctly

 

[Psych66]

For all those interviewing at Bureau of Prisons sites...the Bureau sent me a slew of forms to fill out prior to my first interview, however they sent them all in a PDF where you would have to hand write all the info. Would this be acceptable? I have no idea where to find all these forms online (there's like 8 different ones) to see if any are in a format where you can type in your responses. Anyone else running into this?

I wasn't able to type into the forms either, so I printed, handwrote, and scanned the documents and that was fine. The good news is, the sites share the info so you only need to fill it out once!

 

[theizzard]

I actually heard from a site this week inviting me to interview. First phone call I received. I still have 2 I have not heard from and one is my top choice.
Happy Christmas fellow hopeful Internshipees!😀

 

[IsItOver]

Hi all!! I've been mia b/c of interviews and thought I would be like 10 pages behind, but it REALLY has gotten quiet! There were a few things I had wanted to comment on. If I am repeating anything that had already been said, I apologize.

WHEW! So glad the waiting game is O-V-E-R! I heard from my last 2 sites today, and I hope it is getting close for most of you as well. It's been emotionally draining (have I had a good night of sleep since 11/1?) and challenging, bringing up so many insecurities and fears I have (did I pick the wrong profession? do I love clinical work or research or hate both?!). You guys have been awesome, supportive, insightful, and wherever you end up, you will shine and become great psychologists! I really value how honest and open many of you have been on the forum. It's something my cohort hasn't really provided in this process (since many of us are competing for the same sites).

👍
I just wanted to echo this b/c I think the forum has been great this year. Thank you to everyone for keeping it positive and supportive, and I hope we can keep it going through match 🙂

here's my question, if i go through the match and rank the one site, and don't match, can i still try again next year? or do i have to withdraw prior to ranking...

Absolutely!! No harm can come from going through match.

They say: "Applicants who are offered interviews will be called or e-mailed by Dec. 15. Applicants who are not invited for an interview will be notified by letter or e-mail. Please, do not call to check on your interview status; we will call you immediately if and when we determine that we will be interviewing you."

I am thus assuming I will not be receiving an invitation to interview. I do think it is a little heartless to not bother e-mailing rejections by the deadline, as they obviously must have notified anyone they're interviewing if they are following their own guidelines.

I just want to say that this site sounds like jerks. Really? We can't even check our status?!!?

It has come to my attention that individuals are now paying professionals hundreds of dollars an hour to review their internship applications. Does this infuriate anyone else? I've certainly had supervisors and professors look over my materials for FREE - but how could this be allowed by the APA? This puts richer students at a huge advantage. Additionally, it is appalling to me that fellow psychologists would profit off of us - this process is already costing hundreds in applications fees, and will cost me close to one thousand in travel expenses. 😡

I feel that "packaging" students for profit is really unethical and unfair.

One thing to keep in mind is that having your application looked over by a paid professional would not necessarily significantly increase your competitiveness. A lot of what sites look at are experience/hrs (which is static and cannot be altered, unless you lie) and your personality via your essays. All a professional will do is fix errors and maybe advise you as to what you should/shouldn't include, much as our professors, etc, do. IMHO, it is possible to OVER prepare you app. I know people who had 4-5 others read their essays and it ends up stressful and not particularly helpful. I kept my readers down to 2, b/c ultimately I want my essays to reflect me not my readers. As per APA allowing this practice, they can't really stop it. How would they know if someone paid a professional or not? Unfortunately, this is one of those things that happens and we will prob run into similar issues throughout our careers while competing for jobs, etc.


I am still waiting to hear back from the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center, Charleston. I REALLY, REALLY want that site! They don't issue invites, but you can request a site visit and they MAY then invite you to one of 3 open houses. I e-mailed the TD on Dec. 9th requesting to visit, and then again on the 22nd asking him to confirm receipt of my earlier e-mail. No word back, which surprises me b/c they seem super friendly in their brochure. Has anyone heard from them????

Hope everyone is enjoying their respective holidays and that interviews are going well!

 

[clinpsych]

Hey SDNers! Happy two months until Match Day!

 

[NorCalPhD25]

Happy Boxing Day everyone!

I was wondering if anyone was going to be interviewing in the Miami area on Jan 4th or the Syracuse area on Jan 13th and 14th. I know this is a long shot but, in an effort to cut costs, would you be interested in splitting a hotel room?

I'm a very lovely (but poor) grad student from the Bay Area (i.e., laid-back) and I don't bite. Message me back if you are interested 🙂

 

[edieb]

Hi all!! I've been mia b/c of interviews and thought I would be like 10 pages behind, but it REALLY has gotten quiet! There were a few things I had wanted to comment on. If I am repeating anything that had already been said, I apologize.

👍
I just wanted to echo this b/c I think the forum has been great this year. Thank you to everyone for keeping it positive and supportive, and I hope we can keep it going through match 🙂


Absolutely!! No harm can come from going through match.



I just want to say that this site sounds like jerks. Really? We can't even check our status?!!?



One thing to keep in mind is that having your application looked over by a paid professional would not necessarily significantly increase your competitiveness. A lot of what sites look at are experience/hrs (which is static and cannot be altered, unless you lie) and your personality via your essays. All a professional will do is fix errors and maybe advise you as to what you should/shouldn't include, much as our professors, etc, do. IMHO, it is possible to OVER prepare you app. I know people who had 4-5 others read their essays and it ends up stressful and not particularly helpful. I kept my readers down to 2, b/c ultimately I want my essays to reflect me not my readers. As per APA allowing this practice, they can't really stop it. How would they know if someone paid a professional or not? Unfortunately, this is one of those things that happens and we will prob run into similar issues throughout our careers while competing for jobs, etc.


I am still waiting to hear back from the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center, Charleston. I REALLY, REALLY want that site! They don't issue invites, but you can request a site visit and they MAY then invite you to one of 3 open houses. I e-mailed the TD on Dec. 9th requesting to visit, and then again on the 22nd asking him to confirm receipt of my earlier e-mail. No word back, which surprises me b/c they seem super friendly in their brochure. Has anyone heard from them????

Hope everyone is enjoying their respective holidays and that interviews are going well!

A colleague from my cohort paid a professional and, from what I could tell, it was VERY worth the money she spent. In fact, she ended up matching at Yale School of Medicine and said that if it weren't for the extra help she received refining her application and interview skills, she does not think she would have been landed such a good internship.

As far as this giving the rich an upper hand in the process, I think it is about your priorities. If you really want to pay a consultant, then you will find the money by cutting other things out. In my opinion, a good consultant very wise investment, espeically given the current supply-demand imbalance
and the associated costs with not matching...

 

[psychmama]

A colleague from my cohort paid a professional and, from what I could tell, it was VERY worth the money she spent. In fact, she ended up matching at Yale School of Medicine and said that if it weren't for the extra help she received refining her application and interview skills, she does not think she would have been landed such a good internship.

As far as this giving the rich an upper hand in the process, I think it is about your priorities. If you really want to pay a consultant, then you will find the money by cutting other things out. In my opinion, a good consultant very wise investment, espeically given the current supply-demand imbalance
and the associated costs with not matching...

I'm sorry, but I find this anecdote depressing and slightly infuriating. Poor graduate students should not have to resort to "packaging" themselves with the help of professionals in order to be successful in the match. This is just another of the endless "hoops" we students in psychology must jump through to eventually obtain the privilege of calling ourselves "psychologist". Frankly, it makes me very angry.😡

Further, I can cite numerous examples where people I know didn't use consultants and did just as well as your friend did in the match. The problem is the supply/demand imbalance, made worse by some schools out there that, in my opinion, don't adequately prepare their students for internship. And where's the evidence that a "prestigious" internship makes you more successful in your career? Or for that matter, that you'll be any happier? 😕

 

[cervello]

Is anyone going to the open house next week? I ultimately decided I couldn't justify spending hundreds of dollars to travel for an optional 4-hour seminar.

Also, did anyone request to talk with a current intern there? I did on the 15th, and I still haven't heard anything from an intern. Feeling a little disillusioned about the site now...

 

[erg923]

I am still waiting to hear back from the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center, Charleston. I REALLY, REALLY want that site! They don't issue invites, but you can request a site visit and they MAY then invite you to one of 3 open houses. I e-mailed the TD on Dec. 9th requesting to visit, and then again on the 22nd asking him to confirm receipt of my earlier e-mail. No word back, which surprises me b/c they seem super friendly in their brochure. Has anyone heard from them????

I actually did here back from them. They told me they wanted to telephone interview me. TD has been out of town so it was the department secretary (or something similar) that responded to my request. I do not know if this means that I am ranking (thus far) behind the people who they granted the "in-persons" to? Not sure, but that seems like it would be biased more by a first come first serve kinda thing? Idk. Love the site, but their interview system sure is confusing.

 

[sukurux]

Has anybody contacted or heard back from them?

 

[arsesta]

Has anybody contacted or heard back from them?

I heard from them a while back via phone (called by dept secretary). My interview is this week (although with the snow storm, I don't know if it's happening!).

 

[LizphD]

Has anybody contacted or heard back from them?

I emailed them. Asked to please be notified of my application status. No word. It's been a couple weeks. I'm sure it's a rejection, but I still think they should have notified applicants that took the time to apply to their site.

 

[erg923]

Was wondering if anyone would want to share or give insights about interviewing with BOP sites. I ask because I managed to secure several interviews with BOP sites (mostly FMCs) without any forensic experience. I didn't really expect much from them but am very interested. However, I mostly applied due to the opps for behavioral med and the post-internship job security, rather than the forensic aspect. Although I will still be happy to take one of the forensic assessment rotations, as I do have alot of assessment and npsych assessment experience.

Anyway, I guess I am little nervous for these interviews (more than my others) because they are def "out my element." I never really considered BOP as an option until i was looking at internship sites in the fall. Thus, I don't know whether to play up the fact that I'm not really into forensic psychology per se and focus on my match with their b-med stuff.....or whether to play it like although I don't have that experience, I am very interested gaining that experience. I guess I think that if I did the former (which is probably closer to the actual truth), they might think I wasnt a good enough fit. IDK. Also, anyone know if one could expect certain questions from BOP sites that may be unique. Anything or any questions I should brush up on that might be unique to BOP sites?

 

[JeNeSaisQuoi]

Is anyone going to the open house next week? I ultimately decided I couldn't justify spending hundreds of dollars to travel for an optional 4-hour seminar.

Also, did anyone request to talk with a current intern there? I did on the 15th, and I still haven't heard anything from an intern. Feeling a little disillusioned about the site now...

I feel the same way so I won't be making the trip. Just doesn't seem worth it and I'd have to squeeze it in between 2 Cali interviews. Not worth the stress. If anyone does go I'd love to hear about their impressions.

 

[JeNeSaisQuoi]

If anyone is interested in sharing hotels, transportation, etc. to cut down on expenses, I will be these places on the following dates. Send me a private message if interested:

night of 1/3-1/5 San Fran
night of 1/6 Los Angeles

night of 1/9 Minneapolis
night of 1/10-1/13 Madison, WI

night of 1/17 Rochester
night of 1/18 Pittsburgh