Are PsyD worth it or is PhD better for what she wants?

[The Last Ankibender]

Posting for my sister,

undergrad 3.8 gpa and a URM
one research experience no publication
teaching certification and a year of teaching experience

She wanted to apply to a PhD but she doesnt thing she is competitive. What can she do?
As a science major myself I dont know what to tell her because biology funded PhD are so easy to get compare to psych. she wanted a clinical \ teaching job in the future

can she have that with a psyD

she knows she can get into one but dropping 150k in tution when salaries barely reach 100k seen stupid

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[Temperance]

Would your sister be willing to post here herself?

Your sister can be more competitive for funded Ph.D. programs (or even the good Psy.D. programs) by acquiring more research experience. You don't list if she has done any conference presentations, but that would be a good start. If she has not yet graduated, then continuing to work in a lab would be helpful. If she already has, then she should look into either applying for full-time research assistant jobs (e.g. here or here) where she can get paid to work on studies and possibly get mentorship on research posters or publications, or volunteering part-time at a lab if she works elsewhere. Many, if not most these days, applicants have taken a couple of gap years to work in this kind of job before going to graduate school.

I would avoid the unfunded Psy.D. programs for the reason you mentioned. Taking a few years off is a drop in the bucket compared to being $150k+ in debt for tuition alone.

 

[Sanman]

We need more details. PsyD programs range from good to terrible. On top of that, teaching and clinical work varies by person. Want to get a primarily clinical job and adjunct teach? This can be achieved by pretty much any doctoral program. Want to be faculty at an r1? You better pick a PhD program and a good one at that.

 

[The Last Ankibender]

Would your sister be willing to post here herself?

Your sister can be more competitive for funded Ph.D. programs (or even the good Psy.D. programs) by acquiring more research experience. You don't list if she has done any conference presentations, but that would be a good start. If she has not yet graduated, then continuing to work in a lab would be helpful. If she already has, then she should look into either applying for full-time research assistant jobs (e.g. here or here) where she can get paid to work on studies and possibly get mentorship on research posters or publications, or volunteering part-time at a lab if she works elsewhere. Many, if not most these days, applicants have taken a couple of gap years to work in this kind of job before going to graduate school.

I would avoid the unfunded Psy.D. programs for the reason you mentioned. Taking a few years off is a drop in the bucket compared to being $150k+ in debt for tuition alone.

I will tell her to make an account. She just asked me because I am already a member.
In the mean time, she still have one year left of undergrad, can extend to two if needed. Our undergrad she is goung basically for free with scholarship. So a extra year there wont cost anything except time.

is there summer research program for psych?

yeah and the school she know she can get in is PHSU in PR in my opinion not a great psyd

 

[The Last Ankibender]

We need more details. PsyD programs range from good to terrible. On top of that, teaching and clinical work varies by person. Want to get a primarily clinical job and adjunct teach? This can be achieved by pretty much any doctoral program. Want to be faculty at an r1? You better pick a PhD program and a good one at that.

Just adjunct professor or maybe a profesor at our undergrad a low tier school.

 

[psych.meout]

Posting for my sister,

undergrad 3.8 gpa and a URM
one research experience no publication
teaching certification and a year of teaching experience

She wanted to apply to a PhD but she doesnt thing she is competitive. What can she do?
As a science major myself I dont know what to tell her because biology funded PhD are so easy to get compare to psych. she wanted a clinical \ teaching job in the future

can she have that with a psyD

she knows she can get into one but dropping 150k in tution when salaries barely reach 100k seen stupid

And that's tuition without fees; living expenses; internship applications, interviews, and moving; and interest for all of this. It's ultimately going to be way more than $150,000.

I will tell her to make an account. She just asked me because I am already a member.
In the mean time, she still have one year left of undergrad, can extend to two if needed. Our undergrad she is goung basically for free with scholarship. So a extra year there wont cost anything except time.

is there summer research program for psych?

Eh, taking an extra year in undergrad just to get more research experience might not be the best idea. She could get more experience and actually get paid for it by graduating and looking for Research Assistant jobs. It's pretty typically to take a gap year or two before applying to grad school.

yeah and the school she know she can get in is PHSU in PR in my opinion not a great psyd

Strongly recommend against that program:

Just adjunct professor or maybe a profesor at our undergrad a low tier school.

Adjuncting is completely different from TT faculty positions even at "low tier" universities or SLACs. Basically anyone can adjunct, but getting a TT position is going to require substantial research productivity and grant track record. Most PsyD programs don't have research training or milestones that set up their graduates to do this.

 

[R. Matey]

Your sister can get a research assistant position or volunteer at the local AMC to get more research experience to be more competitive for a Ph.D. program. The may require 1-2 years of postbacc work. If she wants an academic position, getting a Psy.D. is not the route to go.