Better Early Than Late: Advice for a Youngin'

[flanagan10]

Hi Board!

I'm a junior at the University of Chicago in the undergraduate program in Human Development---it's a major that combines sociology, biology, psychology, and anthropology. I am completely certain that after I graduate, I want to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. I'm extremely concerned--everything seems so hard core and intense, and from what I hear from my colleagues that have already been through the process, it's all as evil as horrendous as it sounds.

In any event, I want to do it. I'm working hard in my classes. I have a lower GPA than I would ideally want, but I think that has a lot to do with the large amount of core classes we have to take. I'm working on bringing it up. We're a notoriously difficult school. I've been preparing for my GRE already. I'm doing very well. And, I've been getting involved in research with a professor, working on some of my own projects. She's given me excellent opportunities---opportunities to work on publication, data collection, excellent training, and formation of my own studies and publishable research. She notoriously has an excellent record of getting students into clinical programs.

Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone had a suggestion for how I could improve my chances of admission, et. cetera. I probably will take a few years off before I actually enter a program, just to prepare myself, obtain a few publications, and gain some experience. I want to pair myself up with a researcher, or maybe even stay in the lab I'm in now.

Anyone have suggestions, comments, anything? I just don't want to regret things later, and wish I had known something.

Please post! This could be a fun little thread!

Best,
TJF

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[lazure]

get quality research experience i.e. running studies and publications, conference presentations etc. also, go volunteer at a distress/crisis line - this won't necessarily help you get in but will tell you whether you are able to listen to other people's problems (both trite and tragic).... good luck...

 

[psychgeek]

Start researching programs you would eventually like to attend and try to get a job working for a professor in these programs now. This isn't as hard to do as you might think; you'll probably have to look at no more than 10 programs to find a job as a research assistant. If you are successful you'll have an advantage when you apply to the program in question, and the prof's connections might give you a similar advantage at other schools. Ridiculous as this advice might sound, it works. I am in a competitive program in Chicago and 60% of my class had some prior professional exposure to one of the professors before they were offered an interview. In addition, 100% of the people who applied to graduate school while they were employed in my research mentor's lab were accepted last year.