2018-2019 APPIC Internship Interview Thread

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Psyched1515 said:
Full Site Name: Northern Arizona VA
-Track: General
-Invite or rejection: Invite!!
-Date of Notification:12/05/17
-How You Notified: Personal email
-Interview Dates offered: 1/5, 1/19
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SAME! What date did you select, if you don't mind me asking???
 
LateOnArrival_PhD said:
LOL your retail therapy purchases crack me up! I've also totally bought a bunch of random things online that I've convinced myself I *need* over the past month :laugh: I rarely do retail therapy, but I have to admit that fun packages coming to my door have been giving my days some much-needed boosts lately! I'm now waiting on "Meowy Christmas" leggings with kittens in Santa hats all over them :cat::biglove:

Ooh I also meant to share on here that I joined #accunation (or was it #accupressurenation?) It's not as magical for me as it seems to be for some of you (I think I need to stop sitting 10-12 hrs/day and actually do some yoga and exercise to truly heal my back 🤔) but it does feel kinda nice in a really spiky way? :happy: So thanks for that tip everyone! ...are we sure you all don't get commissions on those? :thinking:
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I actually returned the metallic gold tassel today 🙁 . Now that I've started looking into and booking travel I was like "OMG THAT $3 GOLD METALLIC TASSEL HAS GOT. TO. GO, I WILL SAVE SO MUCH MONEY BY RETURNING IT." Then I went to TJ Maxx and bought a profesh tote bag...despite the fact that I had already purchased one from Target... so now I have yet another Target return. Because I make excellent life choices.

YESSSSS, love that you got an acupressure mat! I think it was #acupressurenation but I actually like #acunation better hahah. I find that my mat provides a lot of relief for my tension headaches and feet after I wear heels all day. Hope it brings you more relief too! Probably not as much as the Meowy Christmas leggings will, but hopefully close 😉
 
307Psychology said:
I think there could be other factors at play, too. I have zero VA experience and unexpectedly received invites at every VA I applied to. So I don't think "fit" necessarily means previous experience, but more so how your previous experience and training objectives interact to predict a complementary relationship with the site? I'm probably over-thinking it. I am honestly starting to think that a large percentage of this whole process is just randomness.
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I'm starting to wonder about how much this is random too...not that it makes me feel better about my interview-to-rejection ratio. I thought I had a good breadth of experience, but now I'm wondering if it was too broad for the specific area I'm aiming for? Did I not make a good enough case for how my breadth of experience ties in? Was one year in the setting I want not enough? Or was it too much, and now sites think there's nothing left for me to learn there? I really wish I could get feedback from TDs on why I was rejected from sites that I thought would be an excellent fit...
 
Full Site Name: WestCoast Children's Clinic
-Track: n/a
-Invite or rejection: Invite
-Date of Notification:12/05/17
-How You Notified: Mass email
-Interview Dates offered: This is dicey as the days of the week don't match the numbers but 1/8, 1/10, 1/17 I think.

Edit* I have asked the training director to clarify. *Edit again. Yup those are the dates.
 
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Neurophile210 said:
Can DCTs just rip the band aid off so that I can go eat ice cream and gear up for phase II of the match.
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I feel this SO much. Just today I was complaining to my friend about the gap between invites and rejections. What is the point, it makes no sense! One of my sites for which I'm in limbo has their interview in two days, and historically sends rejections AFTER their interview date - why????
 
drxa said:
I'm starting to wonder about how much this is random too...not that it makes me feel better about my interview-to-rejection ratio. I thought I had a good breadth of experience, but now I'm wondering if it was too broad for the specific area I'm aiming for? Did I not make a good enough case for how my breadth of experience ties in? Was one year in the setting I want not enough? Or was it too much, and now sites think there's nothing left for me to learn there? I really wish I could get feedback from TDs on why I was rejected from sites that I thought would be an excellent fit...
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My DCT has said that if we were rejected from a site that we thought we were a really good fit for, that there was no shame in reaching out to them and asking for feedback.
 
tuneuronerd said:
Well yeah, the other factor is I'm a garbage candidate. Which to be fair, is entirely possible if not likely. Just got to accept that I got some interviews, and in the end will be where I be.
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You're not a garbage candidate! I've been feeling the same way, and trying to convince myself of that too. As someone mentioned above, I think there may be a lot more randomness at play than we think. Assuming some kind of normal distribution, there have to be some poor souls who get stuck in the lower-end tail...I guess this year that's people like us. 😵

[Apparently when I feel discouraged I start making stats references...]
 
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drxa said:
I'm starting to wonder about how much this is random too...not that it makes me feel better about my interview-to-rejection ratio. I thought I had a good breadth of experience, but now I'm wondering if it was too broad for the specific area I'm aiming for? Did I not make a good enough case for how my breadth of experience ties in? Was one year in the setting I want not enough? Or was it too much, and now sites think there's nothing left for me to learn there? I really wish I could get feedback from TDs on why I was rejected from sites that I thought would be an excellent fit...
Click to expand...

Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason and they are just splitting hairs. I was talking to someone about how they rank their applicants during the internship process and they even said there comes a point where they just chose randomly because there is agreement. It's such a crap shoot. I've noticed that some sites I felt a better fit gave me an interview and some that were a better fit did not. Who knows. Don't question your abilities as this is a game of selling oneself and not necessarily the exact experiences we had. For example, the majority of my hours (700+) are in a UCC but I highlighted my medical setting site (300 hours) incredibly and sold those skills as best as I could. Keep your chin up - and that goes for everyone else who feels these rejections hit hard!
 
Has anyone gotten an interview at NC State Counseling Center? I know a couple of people posted about rejections about 2 weeks ago but I haven't seen anything about interviews and I haven't heard anything from them.
 
AlwaysPsyched said:
My DCT has said that if we were rejected from a site that we thought we were a really good fit for, that there was no shame in reaching out to them and asking for feedback.
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Oh for real? For some reason I was under the impression it was improper to ask a TD why you were rejected, although I also have no idea where I got that idea. Thanks for the info! Good to know (although the propsect of actually asking is somewhat intimidating).
 
affectiveH3art said:
Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason and they are just splitting hairs. I was talking to someone about how they rank their applicants during the internship process and they even said there comes a point where they just chose randomly because there is agreement. It's such a crap shoot. I've noticed that some sites I felt a better fit gave me an interview and some that were a better fit did not. Who knows. Don't question your abilities as this is a game of selling oneself and not necessarily the exact experiences we had. For example, the majority of my hours (700+) are in a UCC but I highlighted my medical setting site (300 hours) incredibly and sold those skills as best as I could. Keep your chin up - and that goes for everyone else who feels these rejections hit hard!
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Quite honestly, I find the idea that some of this may be "truly random" reallyyyyy difficult to swallow. I understand and can appreciate the immense difficulty in selecting from a pool of highly similar, highly qualified candidates, AND I'ma need y'all to find something you like about one person better than the other, even if it doesn't work out in my favor. I don't even care what that thing is, I just need it to be something other than "let's flip a coin" because how unbelievably shi**y is it to be on the wrong side of chance after all of this hard work, time, and money? Maybe someday if I'm a TD I'll be singing a different tune. For now, though, I need y'all to reject me because of a typo or something.
 
tuneuronerd said:
Was this for the general or neuropsychology track? Probably another rejection incoming today.

Also, today is just NOT my day.

VA Northern California
Track: Neuropsychology
Rejection (12/5/17)
Mass email
Sanity: Welp, looks like I'll be tapping out on interviews. Man I did not fare well.
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It was the general track!
 
I'm sorry peeps. 🙁 I imagine many of you feeling down are like my fellow classmates who I think the world of and haven't had as many interview invites as they hoped for so far either. Like seriously, some of these people are like saints and I count myself lucky to know them. Here's hoping more good news soon.
 
ToneTone said:
Full Site Name: WestCoast Children's Clinic
-Track: n/a
-Invite or rejection: Invite
-Date of Notification:12/05/17
-How You Notified: Mass email
-Interview Dates offered: This is dicey as the days of the week don't match the numbers but 1/8, 1/10, 1/17 I think. Edit* I have asked the training director to clarify.
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hey! i got that invite as well! :highfive:
i ranked the choices based on the dates haha
 
drxa said:
Oh for real? For some reason I was under the impression it was improper to ask a TD why you were rejected, although I also have no idea where I got that idea. Thanks for the info! Good to know (although the propsect of actually asking is somewhat intimidating).
Click to expand...

When I got my first rejection, I replied and asked for some feedback on my application (our DCT also said this was an okay thing to do-- not all sites will respond but some might). That site did give me some feedback actually and it was a very nicely worded email. BUT. It did make me feel like I may have aimed too high in terms of what sites I applied to. the TD told me how my numbers were in comparison to most of their other applicants and so I felt really inadequate like WHY AM I EVEN APPLYING TO INTERNSHIPS?! hahaha. it was an overreaction on my part, but you know, it was my first rejection (and a site I really wanted) so i took it hard.
 
coffeepsyched said:
When I got my first rejection, I replied and asked for some feedback on my application (our DCT also said this was an okay thing to do-- not all sites will respond but some might). That site did give me some feedback actually and it was a very nicely worded email. BUT. It did make me feel like I may have aimed too high in terms of what sites I applied to. the TD told me how my numbers were in comparison to most of their other applicants and so I felt really inadequate like WHY AM I EVEN APPLYING TO INTERNSHIPS?! hahaha. it was an overreaction on my part, but you know, it was my first rejection (and a site I really wanted) so i took it hard.
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I always wondered about this. Like whether or not sites just toss our apps out based off of numbers. I actually don't have a ton of kids face to face hours but some how I ended up with a few interviews at children sites. I think our school told us anything over like 100 applicants is competitive...which is almost everywhere!
 
saarloos said:
Oh preach!! My grad school has done their best to offer opportunities for practica but there have been limited opportunities here just due to location. At one of the internship prep sessions we had that was focused on essay writing we asked the presenter about this situation where we want to expand to a setting/population where our practica haven't given us experience. He sarcastically said, "Well you'll just have to tell the site how much you need them!" I mouth-vomited a bit...
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I hear they no longer have a forensic rotation next year - which would have been great to know in their dang brochure! So those of us with forensic experience who highlighted that bit probably got the boot automatically.
 
Man today is the worst...not only did I get a rejection but my football team's coach is leaving us to go to another school....ugh. Now what do I have to look forward to in the fall? Too many distractions today:yawn:
 
Segan1 said:
Man today is the worst...not only did I get a rejection but my football team's coach is leaving us to go to another school....ugh. Now what do I have to look forward to in the fall? Too many distractions today:yawn:
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When this is over you'll be looking forward to the internship you were meant to be at! And praying your football team stays solid. I'm assuming this is a good team if you're heartbroken. Hope it's not Cal. Jk.
 
I feel compelled to write as a more recent lurker who applied for and completed internship not all that long ago. This was by far one of the most stressful times in my life (let alone in grad school), so I can empathize with you all (the trauma-response is REAL)!!

As someone who has been involved in intern searches (at UCCs), I think it is important to highlight that there are multiple, multiple factors that go into choosing candidates for an interview. As such, it really can be somewhat of a crapshoot (e.g. depending on who is reading your app, what specific buzz words, qualities, or experiences might make eyes light up, etc).

With that said, I believe that it is important for me to share that there are so, so many qualified applicants. I have struggled with the fact that we can't possibly invite all the applicants that we'd like to for an interview. If we had an unlimited amount of time and resources, I imagine it would be a different story--but we don't...unfortunately.

Please know that your hard work, dedication, passion, and blood, sweat, and tears have not gone unnoticed. I am so impressed with so, so many of the applications/applicants (including ones we decline interview offers to), that I find myself often wondering how I made it through internship/postdoc and now have a real-life job!

In closing, I wish you all the best and feel confident that things will happen the way that they need to. This is a stressful time (and trust me when I say ranking sites will also be stressful), and know that you will all get through it in time. I am happy and lucky to call you colleagues!!
 
I'm scheduled for 1/8 (Monday) for Denver VA interview, but I'm a bind with an invite from another site. Is there anyone that's interviewing on 1/22 or 1/29 that would be willing to switch with me? Feel free to PM me.
 
ToneTone said:
and @tvc ! Yay! Shall we be whispering all the hashtags come interview day? Feel free to msg me if ya'll are flying in and need some advice on the least diciest areas to stay/transportation, etc.[/Quote
are you from that area?
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ellabelle46 said:
Tomorrow is my birthday and all I want is for all of you to get invites! (Unless you don’t want one for some reason)
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Awww @ellabelle46 Happy birthday! So kind of you to use your birthday wish on us 😉 Today is also my BFF's birthday 😍 she now lives in California and I got an invite to a CA site today! I told her that was her bday present since it means we may live in the same state again :clap:
 
I am fairly familiar with the area. I mean I haven’t checked out every neighborhood but happy to answer questions.
 
OpalinePhoenix said:
I fully recognize that you are listing today's date, 12/4, but for a split second when I read this and it said 124, I imagined that it was a count of days. Like, "Day 124 of internship madness. Blinds are tightly shut in the house and office. The only signs of life are a dripping coffee maker and the single mug on the table. Slowly running out of coffee and sanity."
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This made me LOL so hard! Here's to keeping our sanity, or at least getting it back after this brutal process is over!!
 
coffeepsyched said:
When I got my first rejection, I replied and asked for some feedback on my application (our DCT also said this was an okay thing to do-- not all sites will respond but some might). That site did give me some feedback actually and it was a very nicely worded email. BUT. It did make me feel like I may have aimed too high in terms of what sites I applied to. the TD told me how my numbers were in comparison to most of their other applicants and so I felt really inadequate like WHY AM I EVEN APPLYING TO INTERNSHIPS?! hahaha. it was an overreaction on my part, but you know, it was my first rejection (and a site I really wanted) so i took it hard.
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This is what I'm worried about! I haven't been able to figure out if my desire to know where I went wrong is genuinely from a place of "how can I improve" or if it's more morbid curiosity, and if it's the latter do I really want to know if it turns out that the problem was something that's not easily rectifiable?

Perhaps I'll wait until after the 15th to ask, when all I can do is use the information to prepare for phase II / next year.
 
LateOnArrival_PhD said:
This made me LOL so hard! Here's to keeping our sanity, or at least getting it back after this brutal process is over!!
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lmao this is hilarious. but in all seriousness i have a countdown app that says we have 79 days and 5 hours until match day.. i'll call today day -79 lol
 
Has anyone else heard from the UT Dallas Counseling Center? I know they sent out personal emails yesterday but has anyone received emails either way today?
 
Has anyone else been hearing from or about MercyFirst? They seem to have historically done rolling invitations but I've only seen one reported on here so far. Trying to not lose hope!
 
ellabelle46 said:
Tomorrow is my birthday and all I want is for all of you to get invites! (Unless you don’t want one for some reason)
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I meant to wish you happy early birthday yesterday but I don't think I did, so happy current birthday!! Hope it was full of good news and lots of your favorite things!
 
slaney said:
I actually returned the metallic gold tassel today 🙁 . Now that I've started looking into and booking travel I was like "OMG THAT $3 GOLD METALLIC TASSEL HAS GOT. TO. GO, I WILL SAVE SO MUCH MONEY BY RETURNING IT." Then I went to TJ Maxx and bought a profesh tote bag...despite the fact that I had already purchased one from Target... so now I have yet another Target return. Because I make excellent life choices.

YESSSSS, love that you got an acupressure mat! I think it was #acupressurenation but I actually like #acunation better hahah. I find that my mat provides a lot of relief for my tension headaches and feet after I wear heels all day. Hope it brings you more relief too! Probably not as much as the Meowy Christmas leggings will, but hopefully close 😉
Click to expand...

LOL your Target & TJ Maxx adventures seriously crack me uppp. I can't get to a Target that easily and I don't think there are any TJ Maxx's around here (although I grew up close to one so I get the magic :happy:) but if I did, I'm sure some of my online shopping endeavors would be there instead. My housemate did almost get me a "Feliz NaviDOG" sweater recently!

Yup good call on the Meowy Christmas leggings, I think those will be the true lifesaver here :laugh:

On a related note, can I just take a second to appreciate how many of us seem to be animal lovers on here? I see so many adorable animal avatars and people keep mentioning their pets in how you're staying sane... lovin it 😍
 
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