Maybe direct your venom toward APPIC, since they're the overarching organization
I do agree that it may be beneficial in discussing this with regard to APPIC.
Personally, I think that the way that APPIC runs this process is completely ****ed and the entire process needs to be revamped.
I would do this through destigmatization of Phase 2. So many doctoral students I've talked to have discussed their anxieties about phase 1, with fears of falling into the the phase 2 hole. Sure there are plenty of people that will come in and be like "Oh, I know people who went through to phase 2 and got a good placement. Hell, even I did that." but you cannot deny there is a stigma about falling into phase 2. I would shift the process to reduce the load on phase 1 and reduce the stigma of phase 2 to paint it as more of a "you can improve and try again in phase 2."
With the current process, if you don't match in phase 1, you just have to scramble to find a phase 2 match (usually by greatly lowering your standards of what you're looking for).
How I would change the process:
1 - Require sites to be more specific on their APPIC listing of what they're looking for. If you require a certain number of specifically therapy hours and you're going to deny assessment heavy people, put that in to stop wasting peoples time. No more "You reached the 500 hour goal, but it was mostly assessment. we wanted mostly therapy." Sites should be far more specific in what they're looking for in applicants.
2 - Remove application fees. Nothing feels ****tier than paying $500-$1000 to get to have a bunch of people reject you. What are application fees even being used for?
3 - Put a limit on phase 1. All applicants can only apply to 10 sites in phase one. This is to counter balance the removal of application fees. You can't have everyone applying everywhere.
4 - Put a hard deadline on sites to give rejections. Set it Dec. 15. All sites
must give their acceptances/rejections by then, or else you don't get to give any.
5 - Require feedback to be given to all rejected applicants. This way they can work on improving their overall package prior to phase 2. Some may need to rethink their cover letters. Others may need to revamp essays. Some still may realize they are better first for different styles of sites (assessment vs therapy).
6 - When moving the phase 2, simple expand the process. Half of the applicants should be matched by now, so there should be less applicants overall. Maybe allow applications for up to 15 sites. A large percentage of good sites will still be around in phase 2, moreso than how the process currently runs.
Overall, I think the major cause of anxiety for a lot of people is the overall stigma of phase 2. Furthermore, when people have a multitude of interviews in phase 1, they're going to be stressed trying to pack that all in (you've all certainly seen it already on this forum). Relax the process a little and destigmatize phase 2.
) that is over a week past the deadline. It is absolutely super frustrating and annoying when sites can't stick to their notification deadlines for whatever reason, especially given all the blood, sweat, tears, and MONEY (y'all, all those dollars 
