APPIC Interview Invitation Thread (2021)

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Official Site Name: Aurora Mental Health Center
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): personal email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): Child & Family
Interview Dates Offered: January 4th, 8th, 11th, and 15th
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: hang in there everyone!
 
I am also waiting to hear from Columbia NYP Irving Medical Center, however, I have friends who did receive interviews already, so idk if to just expect a rejection sometime soon. I haven't hear from Mt. Sinai Elmhurst yet either, I think their notification deadline date is 12/18. I received an invite from Rutgers behavioral health in Newark on 12/4. Hope that helps, good luck to you!!
This is really helpful; thanks for sharing! Out of curiosity, was your Rutgers invitation for the Child track?
 
I think we may see an interesting Phase 2 this year. Since MANY students are applying to more than 20 sites (some to 40!!!), the top sites are being overwhelmed by a number of applications and qualified candidates. I bet that these same Tier 1 students will get a lot of interviews, but they will match to only 1 site, which means that possibly there will be plentiful positions unfilled. I predict that we will have many prestigious sities participating in Phase 2. Please refute my hypothesis.

Agree. And, there are most always very competitive sites in Phase II. Hang in there.
 
I don't really know anything about probation, but it sounds like on contingency is just as safe as full accreditation in terms of any risk to applicants/students. I would just make sure any site visits are scheduled for after your start date. If they fail to get full accreditation or withdraw while you are there, you will still be considered to have completed a fully accredited internship (this is according the APA website).

Where is this on the website? I am
not sure this is correct.
 
Where is this on the website? I am
not sure this is correct.

"If you complete a program that is recognized as “accredited, on contingency” effective before your graduation date, you will have completed an APA accredited program. Accreditation is effective as of the date of adjournment of the Commission on Accreditation (CoA) meeting in which the decision was made."
 
I think we may see an interesting Phase 2 this year. Since MANY students are applying to more than 20 sites (some to 40!!!), the top sites are being overwhelmed by a number of applications and qualified candidates. I bet that these same Tier 1 students will get a lot of interviews, but they will match to only 1 site, which means that possibly there will be plentiful positions unfilled. I predict that we will have many prestigious sities participating in Phase 2. Please refute my hypothesis.
This could just be me, but I like to personalize them, include specifics from our conversations, and definitely show my interest and excitement about their site if I truly think it is a good fit! If it's not a good fit, maybe keeping it more simple?
Thank you for the insight!!
 
Where is this on the website? I am
not sure this is correc
I know someone else already shared the text, but here's to link too:
 
Official Site Name: Atlanta VA
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): Unsure, though it seems like a personal email? (apparently they had trouble with sending it through AAPI for some people)
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): General
Interview Dates Offered: January 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: Video games, and binge-watching West Wing (I know I'm late to the party on this one)

Note: The TD expressed that this was a second attempt to reach out, as the first one was a mass email through the AAPI portal yesterday and likely had some issues. I never received the original email, either in inbox or spam/junk, so I'm very glad they reached out again as I'm excited about my potential fit with the site!
 
Official Site Name: Canandaigua VA Medical Center
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums):
Interview Dates Offered: January 8th and 11th
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: still playing with my puppy 🙂
 
"If you complete a program that is recognized as “accredited, on contingency” effective before your graduation date, you will have completed an APA accredited program. Accreditation is effective as of the date of adjournment of the Commission on Accreditation (CoA) meeting in which the decision was made."

Thank you. This makes sense. I misread what the poster was trying to say. Much appreciated!
 
I know someone else already shared the text, but here's to link too:

Thank you! I misunderstood what the op had written.
 
Official Site Name: Atlanta VA
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): Unsure, though it seems like a personal email? (apparently they had trouble with sending it through AAPI for some people)
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): General
Interview Dates Offered: January 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: Video games, and binge-watching West Wing (I know I'm late to the party on this one)

Note: The TD expressed that this was a second attempt to reach out, as the first one was a mass email through the AAPI portal yesterday and likely had some issues. I never received the original email, either in inbox or spam/junk, so I'm very glad they reached out again as I'm excited about my potential fit with the site!
I had the same issue! It wasn’t in my inbox or junk folder.

I also didn’t know there was a way for them to send it out via AAPI, but I guess it makes sense that they’d have functionality we can’t see.
 
Official Site Name: Canandaigua VA Medical Center
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums):
Interview Dates Offered: January 8th and 11th
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: still playing with my puppy 🙂
Me too!
 
Official Site Name: Denver Health
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): Mass Email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums):

117311 – Adult Integrated Substance Use Disorders

117313 – Adult Psychology

117319 – Adult Substance Use and Corrections

Interview Dates Offered:
Tuesday, December 15, 2020 – 8:00am – 12:00pm

Monday, January 4, 2021 – 1:00pm – 5:00pm

Thursday, January 7, 2021 – 8:00am – 12:00pm

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 – 8:00am – 12:00pm
 
Rolling the dice. If it's a VA, much better chance that the accreditation will happen. They usually are not allowed to even initiate the process until everything has been up and running smoothly.
Does it matter if they’re APA before you start, or just by the time you finish?
 
Official Site Name: Centerstone Consortium
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): Centerstone-based site interview
Interview Dates Offered: 12/18, 1/7, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28, 2/4
Same! Congrats!!
 
I think we may see an interesting Phase 2 this year. Since MANY students are applying to more than 20 sites (some to 40!!!), the top sites are being overwhelmed by a number of applications and qualified candidates. I bet that these same Tier 1 students will get a lot of interviews, but they will match to only 1 site, which means that possibly there will be plentiful positions unfilled. I predict that we will have many prestigious sities participating in Phase 2. Please refute my hypothesis.
A few of my sites reported the # of applications they received this year, and they were all equal to or even slightly less than the past few years. Have other sites been saying the opposite (i.e., that they received more apps than usual)?
 
A few of my sites reported the # of applications they received this year, and they were all equal to or even slightly less than the past few years. Have other sites been saying the opposite (i.e., that they received more apps than usual)?
Many of my sites said they received significantly more applicants this year (for example, 400 instead of 300), but others didn’t say how many they got
 
Official Site Name: Kansas City VA
Date Invitation Received: 12/10 @7:07pm EST
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): personal email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): n/a
Interview Dates Offered:
1/11 1/14 1/15
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: attempting to cook tonight (we'll see how it goes... lol)
 
A few of my sites reported the # of applications they received this year, and they were all equal to or even slightly less than the past few years. Have other sites been saying the opposite (i.e., that they received more apps than usual)?
Interesting! Many sites I’ve gotten correspondence from have mentioned the increase in applications this year - I’m applying to mostly adult neuro sites though so maybe there is variation between tracks?
 
Official Site Name: Johns Hopkins University CAPS
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): N/A
Interview Dates Offered: 1/7, 1/11, 1/12, 1/14, 1/15, 1/19
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: Just practicing gratitude 🙏🏽
 
Official Site Name: Northern Illinois University’s Counseling and Consultation Services (CCS)
Date Invitation Received: 12/10, 3:33 PM Central
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): Mass email
Interview Dates Offered: 1/5, 1/6, 1/12, 1/14
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: This forum
 
A few of my sites reported the # of applications they received this year, and they were all equal to or even slightly less than the past few years. Have other sites been saying the opposite (i.e., that they received more apps than usual)?
A few of my sites reported the # of applications they received this year, and they were all equal to or even slightly less than the past few years. Have other sites been saying the opposite (i.e., that they received more apps than usual)?
Most if not all sites that rejected me emhasized the unprecedented number of applications.
 
Just received a rejection from Canandaigua VA and for whatever reason they thought it'd be a great idea to CC our program's TD in the email. As if the sting from the rejection weren't enough🙄

Straight to the trash bin!
They did that last year too -- very strange
 
Has anyone heard from Woodhull Medical Center or the Portland VA? I thought they were meant to be notifying today.
 
Has anyone heard from Woodhull Medical Center or the Portland VA? I thought they were meant to be notifying today.
I have 12/15 down for Portland VA's notification date. Based on last years thread, they notified applicants 12/11 - fingers crossed we hear something tomorrow! 🤞
 
Official Site Name: The Guidance Center (California)
Date Invitation Received: 12/10
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): Mass Email w/ personal name

Dates: January 5, 6, 7, 13, 16, and 17
 
Does anyone know why the Louis Stokes (Cleveland) VA is on probation?
From late breaking email listserv:

APPIC Member #: 1508
Site Name: Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
Location: Cleveland, OH
Training Director: James DeLamatre, Ph.D.; [email protected] - 216-791-38001, Ext 66818

Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center Psychology Internship has moved its application deadline from Mon Nov 2, 2020 to Mon Nov 16, 2020, and will announce invitations to interview by CoB Tue Dec 8th. Staffing changes and COVID related adjustments have created uncertainty for the Oncology/Hospice and Cares Tower Rehab Rotations and the Blind Rehabilitation enrichment for the 2021-2022 year. If we cannot offer those rotations we will still ensure our focus track in rehabilitation psychology by shifting experiences to other rehabilitation settings. Other rotation offerings remain essentially the same; please review our brochure. We will be selecting six interns for the 2021-2022 year.

Applicants have likely noted that last summer APA CoA placed our internship into “Accredited, on probation” status. CoA’s concerns that led to probation were: (1) The supervision information we submitted did not clearly reflect that we met all CoA requirements for the ‘additional’ 2 hours of supervision (of the 4 required hours all interns receive); (2) our competency evaluation tool did not clearly reflect some of the required elements for each competency area; (3) our presentation of outcomes data did not clearly illustrate all of the data required; and (4) information submitted did not clearly describe the methods Psychology Service uses to assess the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to recruit and retain diverse faculty/staff. Please review our brochure or inquire if you would like further information about corrections we have made to address CoA’s concerns. We cannot guarantee any outcome, but we will be reviewed again in the Spring 2021 Accreditation Meeting.

We take the feedback from CoA with the utmost seriousness and appreciation of the concerns that led to probation. There is of course a risk that our accreditation will be revoked and there is no denying that lack of an APA accredited internship closes some doors. In considering the risks of applying, please also note that we have been continuously accredited since 1979, have graduated over 400 interns, and have consistent feedback from alumni that their training here was excellent and their time enjoyable. Our graduates are employed in many industry sectors including the VA, private hospitals, community agencies, and academia. We remain dedicated to providing high quality training in psychology, and most importantly, we remain dedicated to the highest standards of professionalism and training ensured by the APA Standards of Accreditation.
 
Are you a part of the admissions committee somewhere? Do you have any thoughts about reaching out to a TD to inquire as to why you might not have been invited (especially if on paper you seemed like a quality candidate)? Not out of annoyance, but as a way to strengthen your application on the off chance you don't match next year?
Yes; Many of us on SDN are on selection and training committees. I completely agree with what @WisNeuro says below, and would add that asking for sincere feedback on your application a) demonstrates maturity b) shows continued interest should someone else back out or the match not result in all positions being filled c) is a fantastic growth opportunity.

I've given tough feedback (ie: you clearly didn't proofread or get feedback from interested advisors/ peers; your essays demonstrate superficial development/reflection in areas that are critical to success in our program) or feedback as simple as "not enough _____" where anything from reports, instruments, hours, supervision or professional development is plugged in. It's sometimes evident in applications that applicants want any _____ program (neuro, trauma, rehab, surg, peds, etc) and not OUR program, and we do give that feedback. We take fit very seriously; We hope our applicants do, too.

We get maybe a handful of such requests every year. Never hurts to ask in a tactful way. You may receive a variety of answers. I suspect many responses will be a generic "lack of fit" response. This could be due to a variety of reasons, such as the person being very busy, or it being a nice way of saying that the site doesn't take students from certain programs. Sometimes you will get a fairly detailed response about why you didn't receive an interview that can help you prepare for Phase II or next year if you do not happen to match the current cycle.

To the anxiety about programs pre-judging/ranking applicants before interviews.... just remember, you have your top choices/ranking pre-interview too!

And yes, those rankings do change based on our shared meetings. If you make it to an interview with us, and you appear to be as-represented on paper, you are now being ranked based on demonstrating agreement with core values of the program during your interview (minus giant red flags). My program doesn't pity-invite, or interview anyone we wouldn't considering hiring based on their accepted application.
 
I've given tough feedback (ie: you clearly didn't proofread or get feedback from interested advisors/ peers; your essays demonstrate superficial development/reflection in areas that are critical to success in our program) or feedback as simple as "not enough _____" where anything from reports, instruments, hours, supervision or professional development is plugged in. It's sometimes evident in applications that applicants want any _____ program (neuro, trauma, rehab, surg, peds, etc) and not OUR program, and we do give that feedback. We take fit very seriously; We hope our applicants do, too.
Awesome! I would love this kind of feedback.
 
Official Site Name: Columbia Valley Community Health
Date Invitation Received: 12/10/2020 at 3:55 PM EST
Method of Invitation (Phone call, personal/mass email, Snapchat): Mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): N/A
Interview Dates Offered: 1/8, 1/14, 1/18, 1/28
(In honor of years past) If & How you're staying sane: Reading through the new Stormlight Archive novel.
 
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