Alliant University- CSPP Different Opinions

[Looking4Answer]

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I'm interested in knowing if anyone out there has anything different to say about the Clinical programs at Alliant. I'm not interested in reading posts from the "usual suspects" that seem to have a very strong opinion about the program. (I've already read most of them). Does anyone have anything good to say about them? Does anyone know any graduates, and how successful they are as practicing psychologists?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I believe good students can come out of them, though those students seem to go above and beyond what is expected. I think the issues have more to do with the other 90% of the students in the program that really aren't at the same level as the people in their cohort and other graduate students.

I've met students at conferences from Alliant/Argosy....and they presented good work and I felt like they would do well. The challenge you will face is the stigma (which may or may not dissipate as you move farther into your professional career), as well as being a competitive applicant for internship and post-doc placements.

 

[PsychCalGal]

I currently work with 2 clinical phd students in this program who just matched for internship; one got their first choice and the other one got second choice. Both interviewed at 8 - 10 sites and were received well. As I've also applied for doctoral programs this year, I've asked them for opinions of Alliant/CSPP, and each said it was the perfect program for them and they have no regrets. They were able to travel to professional conventions, present research, and gain clinical experience through externships/practica in many Bay Area hospitals and clinical settings.

The professional school stigma may be something to consider, but from my limited experience, it seems like the students and graduates are satisfied with their education. I believe the career goals of my colleagues are to be clinicians primarily in hospital or community mental health centers. If your goals are more of a research bend/academic, then it may be a bit more hindering, but I'm not sure. Truthfully, I haven't ever visited the school or anything, but if you are interested, you should contact some students and visit to get the feel if its the right place for you and your career goals.

 

[Jon4PsyD]

Graduates? How about Dr. Miguel Gallardo?
*Current President of the California Psychological Association
*Former President of the California Latina/o Psychological Association
*Done significant research in the multicultural psychology field.
*Currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University

I would say a Psy.D. from CSPP-Los Angeles served him quite well!

Jon

 

[apumic]

Basically, you could do good work after attending Alliant; however, if you'd be among the top 5-10% in your cohort anyway, why wouldn't you simply attend a school that will pay for your education and give you a much more respectable reputation. Sure.... you can get into an internship as a Psy.D. from a professional school, but why stigmatize yourself that way?! I recently interviewed at one of the top, funded Psy.D. programs and even there the students who were applying for internship and in the middle of the match process said that despite their program's overall reputation as head and shoulders above most other university-based (to say nothing of professional school-based) Psy.D. programs, they still experienced a bias against them simply because of the Psy.D. when they applied and interviewed for internship. If students from one of the top Psy.D. programs are experiencing bias, I can't help but wonder what students at the school known very negatively for "turning out half the psychologists in the state of California" experience!
I would suggest that if you're the type of person who would actually succeed post-Alliant, you really shouldn't be there, as you could probably get in at a much more respected institution and come out debt free with likely better training, experience, job opportunities, and connections overall!

 

[psychology198]

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[psychgirl05]

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[Eruca]

I've said this on another thread (so maybe I'm a "usual suspect"). But it seems extremely unsound to compare prof school grads from the 80s (or even 90s) to the prof school grads of today. Those folks graduated in a time when the economy was drastically different, the market was MUCH less saturated, and there were FAR fewer prof schools. Basic economics says that increasing the quantity of something typically devalues that commodity. I would argue this can be applied to the proliferation of prof schools.

We are not talking about the career environment of 20+ years ago. Nothing is the same; not the health insurance system, not the loan system, not even the postal system is the same! Stay contemporary, ask current grads, look at the stats, and think of short- and long-term costs/benefits. What feels right? What do you really want from your degree? There are many sacrifices involved in choosing to pursue a graduate degree...which ones do you want to make?

 

[Ollie123]

The coursework especially with the health track sounds really interesting

I'm definitely one of the "usual suspects" so I'll stay away from the main point of this discussion.

I couldn't let this pass though...I think its a huge mistake to ever make a decision on a grad school based on the coursework. Coursework is a very small percentage of what you should be doing in grad school. It needs to be there to get you enough background to learn things on your own, but that's about it. Supervision, practicums, research...this is where the real learning takes place and they matter 1000x more than course titles.

That's all I'll say on the matter.

 

[Jon4PsyD]

I'm assuming the reference to professional school graduates of 20+ years ago and those of today was in response to me mentioning a graduate of CSPP with a PsyD. If so, the Pepperdine Professor/CPA President I spoke of is a 2001 PsyD graduate of CSPP-LA🙂

Jon

 

[Eruca]

I'm assuming the reference to professional school graduates of 20+ years ago and those of today was in response to me mentioning a graduate of CSPP with a PsyD. If so, the Pepperdine Professor/CPA President I spoke of is a 2001 PsyD graduate of CSPP-LA🙂

Jon

Only partially 😀 I'm also thinking of the clinical supervisors that I have loved that graduated from prof schools some 15-20 years ago. If I used them as an example, I might get a not so accurate prediction of the norm. But I'm glad you clarified because that's good info for the folks considering this option..

 

[Cosmo75]

I can't speak to the Alliant/CSPP campuses, but as a professional school student, I understand concerns voiced about the programs. Even the harshest critics on this board have some valid points about the sizes of the classes being admitted in recent years.

However, I do believe you can get a high quality education at a professional school. I highly recommend if you go that route that you do more than the "average" student. Even if you aren't interested in research as a career, do some anyway. Teach if you have the opportunity. Do extra projects or work on committees or with other organizations. Your dissertation should be rigorous (preferably quantitative), and use more complex stats than a t-test 🙂 These things will help you stand out when your cohort has sometimes 10-20 times the number of students in competing PhD programs. If you just do the bare minimum, I think you'll be one of the prof school students who has a hard time matching for internship and be viewed in that more stigmatizing way.

My $.02

 

[Eruca]

^ Sounds like really solid advice. Really appreciate you sharing your opinions about it.. I'm not in a prof school program, but this is really hitting on my impression of things from the outside, and may be what separates those who do very well, and those who might struggle in an environment of so many students.

 

[KTpsych]

I can't speak to the Alliant/CSPP campuses, but as a professional school student, I understand concerns voiced about the programs. Even the harshest critics on this board have some valid points about the sizes of the classes being admitted in recent years.

However, I do believe you can get a high quality education at a professional school. I highly recommend if you go that route that you do more than the "average" student. Even if you aren't interested in research as a career, do some anyway. Teach if you have the opportunity. Do extra projects or work on committees or with other organizations. Your dissertation should be rigorous (preferably quantitative), and use more complex stats than a t-test 🙂 These things will help you stand out when your cohort has sometimes 10-20 times the number of students in competing PhD programs. If you just do the bare minimum, I think you'll be one of the prof school students who has a hard time matching for internship and be viewed in that more stigmatizing way.

My $.02

Though I have to wonder, if given the choice, wouldn't it better to go to "traditional" program, where you will have support and guidance (and some pushing) to make sure you do the above things (that Cosmo mentioned). The things you mentioned are standard in my program. I suppose that is good advice for people who end up in professional schools anyway. But I think it's worth pointing out that the "optimal" way to get your training through professional schools is is apparently to do things like you would in a funded program (teaching, research, etc.). Which I assume means less time on clinical work, which is what I thought professional schools were supposed to focus on.

(And I understand Cosmo does not speak for everyone, and that others may use their professional school training differently)

 

[Tyness]

I interviewed at CSPP for the child/adolescent track, and I know that I would never consider them for the regular program because they are accepting 75 people compared to the 25 for the C/A track, which is a separate program. I dont see how you can get what you deserve in a cohort of 75 people.

 

[Shay1234]

I got into Alliant as well.. I'm having such a hard time deciding whether to accept or not. I would rather attend a school with a better rep but do not want to wait another year to get started. Has anyone had a good experience in CSPP's SF PsyD program?

 

[apumic]

I got into Alliant as well.. I'm having such a hard time deciding whether to accept or not. I would rather attend a school with a better rep but do not want to wait another year to get started. Has anyone had a good experience in CSPP's SF PsyD program?

I'd strongly advocate waiting the year. Remember, you're going to be in school for a good 4-6 years anyway -- you may as well get into a program where you'll be happy and where your work is going to positively impact the rest of your career! Additionally, considering the price of those schools, you'll save quite a bit more money if you get into even a partially funded program (say, $75-200k before interest!) than you'd make in an extra year of career anyway (only $75-90k)!

 

[PsyDGrrrl]

I went to CSPP and my thoughts:

NOT worth the money. I took extra practica and a half-time internship, as well as an additional year post-internship pre-postdoc, to get what I did not get out of grad school. In the last few years, I have sought out (and paid out of pocket) additional training in all of the areas I wanted a more solid background. Everything I learned in grad school, I did independent of grad school.

 

[AugustPhD]

I'm interested in knowing if anyone out there has anything different to say about the Clinical programs at Alliant. I'm not interested in reading posts from the "usual suspects" that seem to have a very strong opinion about the program. (I've already read most of them). Does anyone have anything good to say about them? Does anyone know any graduates, and how successful they are as practicing psychologists?

Hey there. I am a CSPP/Alliant-L.A. clinical PhD graduate. All I can say is that you really make your own journey- there are many pros and cons.

Cons: expensive. Pros: great clinical training, you don't have to work on someone else's research. All I can say are positive things about the PhD program. I did not apply for an APA internship, mainly because I was working- though I strongly believe that would have been matched. My internships were CAPIC members. I am currently at the Univ. of MN in an APPIC post-doc. I am also an APA MFP Fellow. I can tell you that during my sixth year while I was working on my dissertation, I got a job as director of eval. and research- I competed against an MD and a PhD, one was from UCLA and I was offered the job.

Several of my peers have great jobs- one is a staff psychologist at a corrections facility and is highly involved in psych associations. Others have published. Do a google search for "resume," "california school of professional psychology," or "alliant international university" and you will see the quality of graduates out there. There are individuals that have received internships at Harvard, others have started their own private practice. I know that "CSPPer's" have a great sense of community. I've met people who were graduates from top research universities and I was not impressed, but again, this is variable. I am just as competent as any other PhD in clinical psych- I can do research and clinical work- I have published and I review articles, I have written and been funded for grants. So, don't let anyone discourage you from anything- you drive your own destiny. Goodluck to you! Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[erg923]

Use search function.

 

[WisNeuro]

Not respected at all. I've seen about 50+ something applications from here and other alliant places for internship and postdoc positions in the past 4 years. Just terrible by and large, maybe 3-4 that we offered an interview for the general tracks, they ended up not being ranked in the end when it came down to it. Apply at your own risk.

 

[erg923]

I don't think you will find anybody on her who thinks it's a "good" idea, only different degrees of bad. I think the modal outcome is 6 figure debt for double digit income. With stigma to boot...