Any suggestions for increasing my chances of getting into a PsyD program?

[psychguy10]

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I am planning on applying to PsyD in clinical psychology programs for the 2019 school year. During my undergrad I had a 2.95 GPA, so I knew it was too low to get into any programs straight out of college. I was a student athlete and also worked which hurt my GPA. I decided to pursue a masters degree in counseling psychology from a CAECREP program, and I just graduated and ended up with a 3.8 GPA. In the past I volunteered at a psychiatric hospital, interned at a counseling center, and was an intern at a school for a year and a half for my grad program. I will also be working as a school counselor for the upcoming year before I plan to enroll in a PsyD program. I also plan to prepare for the GRE and retake them to boost my score. Do you all have any recommendations or suggestions for the best way to increase my chances of getting accepted? Thanks!

 

[psych.meout]

How much research experience do you have?

Why PsyD and not PhD?

 

[psychguy10]

Ive conducted research for two undergraduate classes, and presented at the APA convention as well as the EPA convention. I am looking to get into private practice or group practice so I didnt consider a PhD because of the research aspect.

 

[psych.meout]

Ive conducted research for two undergraduate classes, and presented at the APA convention as well as the EPA convention. I am looking to get into private practice or group practice so I didnt consider a PhD because of the research aspect.

You should read through some of the threads here before making any decisions.

Of note:
1. The dichotomy of PsyDs being for people interested in clinical work and PhDs being for people interested in research, TT faculty positions, etc. is a widely held misconception. All PhD programs offer equal or better clinical training to PsyD programs, just check the APPIC stats.

2. Research is a core component of training in clinical psychology. Grad programs without research being at least equal to clinical training (e.g., most of the PsyD programs other than a few outliers like Rutgers and Baylor) have poorer outcomes and provide deficient training.

3. If you just want to go into private practice therapy, a doctoral program is an inefficient way to achieve it. You can get licensed and provide great therapy with a master's level degree. The reimbursement differences are relatively minor for just offering therapy, especially after factoring in the the costs of substantial debt from PsyD programs.

 

[psychguy10]

Thanks for the response that was helpful, and I will look into PhD programs. Ive been reading posts on this site and I am a little hesitant to look into PhD programs because I feel like my research background isn't strong enough. Private practice is definitely a goal of mine, and I do understand that I can achieve that with an LPC. I do feel as though a doctorate degree will give me more opportunities outside of private practice if I decide to make a change. I am also interested in administering assessments, and from my understanding, only psychologists can do that. I also have read that master level therapists make significantly less than psychologists.

 

[Temperance]

Thanks for the response that was helpful, and I will look into PhD programs. Ive been reading posts on this site and I am a little hesitant to look into PhD programs because I feel like my research background isn't strong enough. Private practice is definitely a goal of mine, and I do understand that I can achieve that with an LPC. I do feel as though a doctorate degree will give me more opportunities outside of private practice if I decide to make a change. I am also interested in administering assessments, and from my understanding, only psychologists can do that. I also have read that master level therapists make significantly less than psychologists.

For the PsyD programs that @psych.meout mentioned, you will still need that research experience. It may be worth waiting a year or two to get that strong research background so that you can get the best training.

 

[sfgucadoc]

For the PsyD programs that @psych.meout mentioned, you will still need that research experience. It may be worth waiting a year or two to get that strong research background so that you can get the best training.

Depending on your state's licensure laws, you may be able to find a research position that would give you the opportunity to start counting hours toward your LPC license. Research experience is good. Research experience + having your hours done by the time you start your doctoral program, even better.

 

[psychguy10]

So would you not recommend PsyD programs at all? Should I strictly only look into PhD programs?

 

[WisNeuro]

So would you not recommend PsyD programs at all? Should I strictly only look into PhD programs?

Look at only quality programs, be it PsyD or PhD. Prioritize programs that are fully funded. Also be looking at their APA accredited internship match rate and EPPP passing rates in recent years. Those matter. After that, narrow places down by what opportunities they have. Specifically, what kinds of populations/disorders are you interested in gaining expertise in, and does that site do research and have clinical practica that can get you that.

 

[biscuitsbiscuits]

So would you not recommend PsyD programs at all? Should I strictly only look into PhD programs?

Look for funded programs, of either type. Full and transparent funding will tell you a lot about the quality of the program.

 

[psychguy10]

Okay! So do you have any suggestions as to how to increase my chances of acceptance? Im going to look for some research opportunities, but is there anything else I can do?

 

[WisNeuro]

Do well on the GRE.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agreed: add some more research experience and rock the GRE. Those are the best bets to increase the strength of your application.

Beyond that, spend some time thinking about your research/clinical interests. Start reading some related manuscripts. No one would expect you to be an expert, or even to necessarily have a super-defined idea of exactly what you want to do. However, being able to speak cogently about your interests, and to back that up with knowledge of foundational and recent work in those areas, can go a long way on essays and in interviews.

 

[smalltownpsych]

The first snarky answer that came to my mind from the question in the thread title was, "come up with a lot of money". Unfortunately many of the large cohort PsyD programs don't care that much about the students' abilities to succeed as much as they care about the students' ability to pay. Watch out for that trap.