2013-2014 APPIC (internship) interview thread

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CONGRATS everyone!

It's so bizarre to think that the system now has all the data it needs, but we won't hear until the 21st. Then again, we all know how long data checking can take.... Now to employ all our coping strategies until the 21st 🙂

Plus I'm pretty sure they run the Match algorithm at least a few days before we get the results, since they have to spend time preparing them and also getting the list of Phase 2 sites together.
 
Plus I'm pretty sure they run the Match algorithm at least a few days before we get the results, since they have to spend time preparing them and also getting the list of Phase 2 sites together.

Yep, and I believe there's also some checking of the algorithm's results by hand (and by other data integrity programs) to be sure the sites and applicants are matched as accurately as possible based on their rankings.
 
Congrats on finishing Phase 1! I'll be in all of your shoes in about four or five years - I'm starting a Counseling Psych program in the fall. I've been reading the applicant surveys from past years, and have a question about reported practicum hours on the AAPI: I'm finishing up a Masters in Counseling this year at a completely different school - am I allowed to report my current practicum/internship hours when applying for the pre-doctoral internship if my Masters is from a terminal program and not earned en-route to the PhD? If so, what additional information should I be documenting now other than number of hours worked across Intervention, Assessment, and Supervision?
 
Congrats on finishing Phase 1! I'll be in all of your shoes in about four or five years - I'm starting a Counseling Psych program in the fall. I've been reading the applicant surveys from past years, and have a question about reported practicum hours on the AAPI: I'm finishing up a Masters in Counseling this year at a completely different school - am I allowed to report my current practicum/internship hours when applying for the pre-doctoral internship if my Masters is from a terminal program and not earned en-route to the PhD? If so, what additional information should I be documenting now other than number of hours worked across Intervention, Assessment, and Supervision?

There's a separate section on the application for hours earned in terminal masters programs. However, those hours typically aren't given a whole lot of weight, and they won't count toward any face-to-face assessment hour minimums that individual internship sites might have.

Off the top of my head, just the number of hours and perhaps who was supervising you (e.g., psychologist, social worker, etc.) should be sufficient. You can also try to keep track of the number of patients seen as well as their demographics, but that's probably overkill, as I don't think that's reported on the application anywhere and I'd doubt many folks will ask about it during interviews.
 
i have rent song lyrics stuck in my head, but instead of 525,600 minutes, according to the lovely countdown someone else created we have 21,463. ish. but who is counting?

I'll definitely be thinking of "One Day More" from Les Mis on Feb 20!
 
Congrats on finishing Phase 1! I'll be in all of your shoes in about four or five years - I'm starting a Counseling Psych program in the fall. I've been reading the applicant surveys from past years, and have a question about reported practicum hours on the AAPI: I'm finishing up a Masters in Counseling this year at a completely different school - am I allowed to report my current practicum/internship hours when applying for the pre-doctoral internship if my Masters is from a terminal program and not earned en-route to the PhD? If so, what additional information should I be documenting now other than number of hours worked across Intervention, Assessment, and Supervision?

There's a separate section on the application for hours earned in terminal masters programs. However, those hours typically aren't given a whole lot of weight, and they won't count toward any face-to-face assessment hour minimums that individual internship sites might have. Off the top of my head, just the number of hours and perhaps who was supervising you (e.g., psychologist, social worker, etc.) should be sufficient. You can also try to keep track of the number of patients seen as well as their demographics, but that's probably overkill, as I don't think that's reported on the application anywhere and I'd doubt many folks will ask about it during interviews.

Whoops - that's not quite right 🙂
If you look at pages 5-11 of the sample AAPI, you can see how you're asked to report your hours ( https://www.appic.org/Portals/0/downloads/AAPI_Sample_PDF.pdf ).

YES - you should be keeping track of your hours in this way from your terminal masters. They break down indiv tx, career, group, family, couple, school, and other therapy by age group. If you used any assessment measures, those count too. You're also expected to report race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and gender of all clients you've seen. Are you using Time2Track or something similar now? If not, you should! It's incredibly helpful when it comes to filling out your AAPI.
 
Whoops - that's not quite right 🙂
If you look at pages 5-11 of the sample AAPI, you can see how you're asked to report your hours ( https://www.appic.org/Portals/0/downloads/AAPI_Sample_PDF.pdf ).

YES - you should be keeping track of your hours in this way from your terminal masters. They break down indiv tx, career, group, family, couple, school, and other therapy by age group. If you used any assessment measures, those count too. You're also expected to report race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and gender of all clients you've seen. Are you using Time2Track or something similar now? If not, you should! It's incredibly helpful when it comes to filling out your AAPI.

I stand corrected, thank you. I can say that in general, the hours aren't typically given much "weight" overall, at least in my experiences. But having the proper information for the hours would of course be helpful, and would make the application process that much less stressful.
 
Whoops - that's not quite right 🙂
If you look at pages 5-11 of the sample AAPI, you can see how you're asked to report your hours ( https://www.appic.org/Portals/0/downloads/AAPI_Sample_PDF.pdf ).

YES - you should be keeping track of your hours in this way from your terminal masters. They break down indiv tx, career, group, family, couple, school, and other therapy by age group. If you used any assessment measures, those count too. You're also expected to report race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and gender of all clients you've seen. Are you using Time2Track or something similar now? If not, you should! It's incredibly helpful when it comes to filling out your AAPI.
Thanks a bunch for the sample AAPI! Not sure how I missed that in my earlier research. I've been keeping track of hours on my own, but I can tell I'll be switching over to Time2Track soon - especially now that I need to backtrack through all my clients to gather additional data. :smack: I know how I'll be spending spring break (womp womp).
 
Thanks a bunch for the sample AAPI! Not sure how I missed that in my earlier research. I've been keeping track of hours on my own, but I can tell I'll be switching over to Time2Track soon - especially now that I need to backtrack through all my clients to gather additional data. :smack: I know how I'll be spending spring break (womp womp).

Personally, I wouldn't spend too much time sweating the details, at least for the masters hours. I didn't keep track of much all throughout grad school (which, btw, I do NOT recommend), but it ended up only taking me a few hours to ballpark the numbers about which I hadn't kept in-depth records. When in doubt, I just underestimated anything I wasn't sure of to avoid inflating anything and then I moved on.

I'd definitely recommend either using time2track or a similar site, or developing your own spreadsheet for use in grad school, though. If nothing else, it just makes that aspect of the AAPI all that much easier to complete.
 
I went through a terminal masters program and I *strongly* recommend spending the money for a Time2Track subscription and keep track of everything. Your DCT will have to verify your masters hours in the AAPI . If you have not kept good records or do not have signatures from your supervisors, this may be difficult for the DCT to verify. Several of the VA sites that I applied to said they consider masters hours. Better to be safe now, rather than sorry later. 🙂
 
I went through a terminal masters program and I *strongly* recommend spending the money for a Time2Track subscription and keep track of everything. Your DCT will have to verify your masters hours in the AAPI . If you have not kept good records or do not have signatures from your supervisors, this may be difficult for the DCT to verify. Several of the VA sites that I applied to said they consider masters hours. Better to be safe now, rather than sorry later. 🙂

I agree. Time2Track, initially feeling very tedious, was a huge resource in the end. Like you, I completed a terminal masters and did not have a systematic way of tracking my hours. In the end, I had to contact my state regulatory board for a copy of my submitted hours in order to complete my APPI. A complete time-wasting hassle. However, my doctoral hours were always at my fingertips...
 
Sometimes a just google "apa internship" and read for an hour. It's getting really pathetic.

FYI the website timer i posted is set to nuclear atomic speed of light space quantum time. So it basically knows when you'll get your email before it's even sent. Use it wisely.
 
Well, I meant the ones on APPIC's website. As far as I know, that's the only year they surveyed people about it. But I did recently reread last year's SDN thread as well!
 
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I'm warning you: they are SUPER depressing and anxiety-provoking. I'm trying to view it as exposure 😉
 
How is the waiting going for everyone? I wonder if they ran the algorithm yet and APPIC knows are fate 😕

I am in this weird stage in the program where I am done with courses...just taking a class for fun, waiting on my IRB to get approved, not teaching---just supervising masters students for my GA....so I've been watching TV shows and reading for fun. Although, I do have two manuscripts that I need to get back to writing so I can submit it by May but I am just being lazy while I wait till the 21st.....
 
I'm warning you: they are SUPER depressing and anxiety-provoking. I'm trying to view it as exposure 😉

I always liked a good depressing and anxious read 🙂

I'm not sure if this is the best approach but I've managed to convince myself that I'll match and so the anxiety is really just about where. I even planned a party. Yes there is potentially a huge flaw in my plan.
 
I always liked a good depressing and anxious read 🙂

I'm not sure if this is the best approach but I've managed to convince myself that I'll match and so the anxiety is really just about where. I even planned a party. Yes there is potentially a huge flaw in my plan.

Does this party involve an aluminum pole? Internship match gives everyone many grievances to air...
 
I always liked a good depressing and anxious read 🙂

I'm not sure if this is the best approach but I've managed to convince myself that I'll match and so the anxiety is really just about where. I even planned a party. Yes there is potentially a huge flaw in my plan.
that's also my strategy. I figure, why be miserable before match day? I'd rather live in LaLa Land. If I have to face the facts, I'll do it after Match day haha 🙂
 
My anxiety is not as high...there are some anxiety that I am experiencing in terms of where I will be moving to. I am just following the statistics from last year based on the # of interviews. If I were to follow that, I have a good chance of matching somewhere!
 
See, I'm taking the opposite approach. I'm planning on reapplying next year, and if I do match, it will be happy surprise. 😉 I like to prepare for the worst!
 
Like many of you I'm anxious about match day but not nearly as stressed/anxious as I was before submitting and certifying my ROL! Anyway, while we are all waiting I'm just wondering where everyone is excited about moving? While the possibility of moving to some locations is a little unnerving I'm spending time researching different areas and finding things that I would enjoy doing on my weekends (because I might actually have some free time for a change!!!) what about everyone else?
 
I have been biding my time by attending an ill-timed conference (because MORE travel is exactly what I wanted to do with my time...) . This provided a delightful opportunity to have to have slightly awkward meetings with half the folks I interviewed with as we dance around the "Its good to see you, but I don't know if we'll be working together or not!" issue. It also had the unfortunate side effect of causing enormous volatility in my happiness regarding how I wound up ranking things. Saw a really cool presentation by one group....shoot, why didn't I rank them first! Saw a really cool presentation by the place I did...phew, glad I put them first. Had a really nice meeting with someone from the place I ranked in the middle...damn, should have put them higher.

I guess the good news is that there are pluses and minuses to all of these places, but with no clear winners I can't be too disappointed if I don't get my #1.
 
Like many of you I'm anxious about match day but not nearly as stressed/anxious as I was before submitting and certifying my ROL! Anyway, while we are all waiting I'm just wondering where everyone is excited about moving? While the possibility of moving to some locations is a little unnerving I'm spending time researching different areas and finding things that I would enjoy doing on my weekends (because I might actually have some free time for a change!!!) what about everyone else?

I am completely avoiding doing that because I just know I'll fall in love with someplace in particular and then feel sad when I don't match there. Someone I know from my program did that last year and was certain where she was going, had her new rental place all picked out. Match day hit her hard when that was not the case. I want to do that but I'm avoiding it because I don't want my heart anywhere until that's where I know I'm going.

I swear, time has never moved this slowly before. I'm relatively busy and I am catching up on as much HBOgo as I can but next Friday still feels like it's never going to get here! I have repeatedly "read" emails in my mind for each of the places I ranked saying I've matched there, not just my favorites, in the hope that none will surprise me too much. I haven't visualized the not matching email though I'm still worried about that too. I'm guessing my brain will get there by next week...
 
I am completely avoiding doing that because I just know I'll fall in love with someplace in particular and then feel sad when I don't match there. Someone I know from my program did that last year and was certain where she was going, had her new rental place all picked out. Match day hit her hard when that was not the case. I want to do that but I'm avoiding it because I don't want my heart anywhere until that's where I know I'm going.

I suppose that's one way to look at it, by this point I have already fallen in love with my top choices so I guess for me if I don't match there I'll feel the same whether or not I know more about the area! I've also looked at some of my last choice places hoping that if I do match there at least I can be excited about things in the area.
 
I have been biding my time by attending an ill-timed conference (because MORE travel is exactly what I wanted to do with my time...) . This provided a delightful opportunity to have to have slightly awkward meetings with half the folks I interviewed with as we dance around the "Its good to see you, but I don't know if we'll be working together or not!" issue. It also had the unfortunate side effect of causing enormous volatility in my happiness regarding how I wound up ranking things. Saw a really cool presentation by one group....shoot, why didn't I rank them first! Saw a really cool presentation by the place I did...phew, glad I put them first. Had a really nice meeting with someone from the place I ranked in the middle...damn, should have put them higher.

I guess the good news is that there are pluses and minuses to all of these places, but with no clear winners I can't be too disappointed if I don't get my #1.


eek sounds awkward. I never know what to do in situations like that.
 
I know that the statistics suggest I should, but I just *feel* like I'm not going to. Then again, I am a "plan for the worst" kind of gal. I just wish it were next Friday already so I'd know. I think my husband is thisclose to asking me to go stay in a hotel until it's all over...
 
I know that the statistics suggest I should, but I just *feel* like I'm not going to. Then again, I am a "plan for the worst" kind of gal. I just wish it were next Friday already so I'd know. I think my husband is thisclose to asking me to go stay in a hotel until it's all over...

Some nights I am surprised when my husband gets home from work, I half expect him to call saying he is going to just stay in a hotel until the 21st! 😉 When I tell him a "new" statistic or something "new" I have heard, he informs me that yes, I have told him this already. Three times. 😉 All joking aside, he has been so incredibly supportive throughout this process. This process is so hard on those of us going through it, but it is also very hard on our families. Whether or not our spouses can or can not move with us, or if we don't match - it impacts them nearly as much.
 
Some nights I am surprised when my husband gets home from work, I half expect him to call saying he is going to just stay in a hotel until the 21st! 😉 When I tell him a "new" statistic or something "new" I have heard, he informs me that yes, I have told him this already. Three times. 😉 All joking aside, he has been so incredibly supportive throughout this process. This process is so hard on those of us going through it, but it is also very hard on our families. Whether or not our spouses can or can not move with us, or if we don't match - it impacts them nearly as much.

Haha, I just asked my husband if he wants to stay in a hotel until the 21st and he said "No... too much money!"

I think he's more anxious about it than I am, actually. He's lived here even longer than I have and he's dying to move somewhere else.
 
My poor honey is just used to me being an overall terrible human being at this point.
 
In all fairness to my SO, he is actually incredibly supportive and wonderful. And he acknowledges I've been handling it better than we expected, and he fully admits he would never go into this field because he could not handle this kind of process. That said, I'm starting to show the cracks as we get closer, and I'm actually only half-joking when I think we should move in with my in-laws so I can just not interact with my kids too much with my stress level where it is. Most of the time I'm fine, but getting out of the house in the mornings I have waaaaaaay less patience than usual...
 
My mind has been otherwise occupied. My father had a stroke on the 3rd and passed away the other day. I was just glad that I was done with interviews and could be with my family. The funeral is Wednesday and then by the time I blink it will be Match Day. This is not the way I was planning on passing this time...
 
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My mind has been otherwise occupied. My father had a stoke on the 3rd and passed away the other day. I was just glad that I was done with interviews and could be with my family. The funeral is Wednesday and then by the time I blink it will be Match Day. This is not the way I was planning on passing this time...

I am so incredibly sorry LightBulb. 🙁 So sorry.
 
My mind has been otherwise occupied. My father had a stoke on the 3rd and passed away the other day. I was just glad that I was done with interviews and could be with my family. The funeral is Wednesday and then by the time I blink it will be Match Day. This is not the way I was planning on passing this time...
@LightBulb I'm so sorry. That's got to be devastating. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers
 
My mind has been otherwise occupied. My father had a stoke on the 3rd and passed away the other day. I was just glad that I was done with interviews and could be with my family. The funeral is Wednesday and then by the time I blink it will be Match Day. This is not the way I was planning on passing this time...

There's some prespective for us all!
 
Thank you all. I didn't want to say anything and bring everyone down and yet we are talking of families and their reactions to the match process. My dad was awesome and incredibly supportive of me. He was looking forward to coming to my graduation also. I think that the match process is scary because where we intern at can affect our whole lives and the career we hope to have. I am glad to be going through this with all of you and I wish us all a great match.
 
My mind has been otherwise occupied. My father had a stroke on the 3rd and passed away the other day. I was just glad that I was done with interviews and could be with my family. The funeral is Wednesday and then by the time I blink it will be Match Day. This is not the way I was planning on passing this time...
I am so so sorry for your loss. Spend time with your family and focus on what matters. I am just sending all the love and sympathy I can right now. Both of my parents are struggling with serious illnesses, but I cannot imagine what you must be feeling right now. There really are no words.
ETA I'm sure your dad was crazy proud of you. (And continues to be, in my opinion.)
 
My mind has been otherwise occupied. My father had a stroke on the 3rd and passed away the other day. I was just glad that I was done with interviews and could be with my family. The funeral is Wednesday and then by the time I blink it will be Match Day. This is not the way I was planning on passing this time...

I am so sorry.
 
My mind has been otherwise occupied. My father had a stroke on the 3rd and passed away the other day. I was just glad that I was done with interviews and could be with my family. The funeral is Wednesday and then by the time I blink it will be Match Day. This is not the way I was planning on passing this time...

I am so sorry to hear about that.
 
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