Chance of getting into Clinical PsyD programs? [CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUES based on stats/exp]

[cakethealpaca]

Members of the Psych Community,

I need your help & guidance in figuring out my chances of being accepted into a clinical PsyD program. My career took an unexpected turn when I had to withdraw from osteopathic medical school (DO), due to my own shortcomings but also the numerous academic scandals that have negatively impacted my cohort (DM for details, need to protect myself). It has always been my dream to tackle the mental health stigma in medicine, and to become a child/adolescent psychiatrist in order to help the youth navigate through life with trauma/disorder/etc. and the healthcare system affecting their care. Sadly, I can no longer afford to pursue this dream -- which brings me to clinical psychology as my next steps for making a difference.

Pursuing clinical psychology would not only allow me to sit with patients to conduct therapy, but I will also gain the skills to conduct psychological assessments (and possibly certification to prescribe medication, depending on the quality & extensiveness of future training).

Below are my stats & experiences. Please give me your honest opinion of my competitiveness getting into PsyD programs (preferably located in CA, open to some out-of-state PsyD suggestions that might be a good fit)!

[NOTES: Currently working part-time as a paraeducator for children with autism in order to expand psych clinical experience, received Community CPR certification 03/25/25]

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[RxPsych]

If you cannot afford DO school, I highly recommend against most PsyD programs unless they are mostly/entirely funded. Though these will be significantly more competitive. They are few and far between, but do exist (Baylor, Indiana State, Rutgers, etc).

For example, University of San Francisco charges about 50k per year just for tuition. You will be there for at least 4 years, Azusa Pacific will be at least 150k, etc. Do the math for the programs you're looking at to see total tuition cost. Then look at average rent prices in the area, grocery prices, etc. It will be very easy to graduate with at least 200k+ in debt. Don't count on loan forgiveness programs.

Unfortunately your CV doesn't look very competitive. Getting more psychology-based research experience will be beneficial. See if you can reach out to prior advisors and volunteer or see if they have any funded research assistant positions.

 

[oliversacks4thewin]

While not attempting to dissuade you form this goal, I am genuinely curious why shifting gears and pursuing PA, OT, or Speech Language Pathology schooling is not an option? These degrees would allow you to still pursue your goals in child and adolescent psychiatry related work and efforts to destigmatize mental health, would require significantly less debt burden and time commitment, and you should already be eligible if you were able to previously enroll in a DO program.

 

[EnPsychlopedia]

Friendly CV tip--the psychological first aid course should not be listed under "Education." Maybe put it under "Extracurriculars" or "Continuing Education," but it's possibly not necessary to have listed at all.

 

[bcliff]

You might also want to be mindful with what identifying information you're posting on this forum - I wouldn't be surprised if faculty you're applying to work with are active on this site.

 

[cakethealpaca]

If you cannot afford DO school, I highly recommend against most PsyD programs unless they are mostly/entirely funded. Though these will be significantly more competitive. They are few and far between, but do exist (Baylor, Indiana State, Rutgers, etc).

For example, University of San Francisco charges about 50k per year just for tuition. You will be there for at least 4 years, Azusa Pacific will be at least 150k, etc. Do the math for the programs you're looking at to see total tuition cost. Then look at average rent prices in the area, grocery prices, etc. It will be very easy to graduate with at least 200k+ in debt. Don't count on loan forgiveness programs.

Unfortunately your CV doesn't look very competitive. Getting more psychology-based research experience will be beneficial. See if you can reach out to prior advisors and volunteer or see if they have any funded research assistant positions.

Hi, thank you for your input! Based on my experience, the 4-yrs tuition I had to pay for going through DO (which was a private OOS) would be much higher than what I am expecting to owe if I went down the 5yrs PsyD route. I am fortunate to have some family support for higher education, but I can't afford to lose anymore than I already have literally (i.e. no degree after struggling for years = financial waste & debt) and figuratively (i.e. time, health & wellbeing).

I'll look into getting involved in psychological research. Although the PsyD program has less emphasis on clinical research than a PhD, would you consider having this experience as an "unspoken requirement" for getting admitted?

 

[cakethealpaca]

While not attempting to dissuade you form this goal, I am genuinely curious why shifting gears and pursuing PA, OT, or Speech Language Pathology schooling is not an option? These degrees would allow you to still pursue your goals in child and adolescent psychiatry related work and efforts to destigmatize mental health, would require significantly less debt burden and time commitment, and you should already be eligible if you were able to previously enroll in a DO program.

Tbh, I'm probably still traumatized by all the hurdles I had to go through as a 1st gen pre-med w/o an advisor -> med student stuck in a toxic medical education system, so the idea of shifting gears back towards psychology felt safer than pursuing PA (OT and Speech are great alternatives but unfortunately don't seem like a good personal fit for me). Now that I know that my CV isn't as competitive as I thought for applying to PsyD (aka I won't be able to apply immediately for 2025-2026), I might reconsider PA school. It's just really painful to put myself back in the medical environment because of my past exp + the socioeconomic barriers in medicine (*cough* nepotism), but I'm sure that after more time has passed, I'll have a better idea of how to move forward!

 

[futureapppsy2]

Why just consider PsyDs and not also balanced PhD programs?

 

[WisNeuro]

Hi, thank you for your input! Based on my experience, the 4-yrs tuition I had to pay for going through DO (which was a private OOS) would be much higher than what I am expecting to owe if I went down the 5yrs PsyD route. I am fortunate to have some family support for higher education, but I can't afford to lose anymore than I already have literally (i.e. no degree after struggling for years = financial waste & debt) and figuratively (i.e. time, health & wellbeing).

I'll look into getting involved in psychological research. Although the PsyD program has less emphasis on clinical research than a PhD, would you consider having this experience as an "unspoken requirement" for getting admitted?

If you want a degree that is not from a diploma mill, yes.

 

[coffee&CBT]

Hi, thank you for your input! Based on my experience, the 4-yrs tuition I had to pay for going through DO (which was a private OOS) would be much higher than what I am expecting to owe if I went down the 5yrs PsyD route. I am fortunate to have some family support for higher education, but I can't afford to lose anymore than I already have literally (i.e. no degree after struggling for years = financial waste & debt) and figuratively (i.e. time, health & wellbeing).

I'll look into getting involved in psychological research. Although the PsyD program has less emphasis on clinical research than a PhD, would you consider having this experience as an "unspoken requirement" for getting admitted?

Just want to chime in that the debt to income ratio for a DO vs. PsyD will be significantly different. On average, DOs/MDs make A LOT more money than Clinical Psychologists (PhD or PsyD). Thus, going into a huge amount of debt may not "hurt" as much if you end up making 350,000/year vs. 125,000. Signed, a Clinical PhD with an MD spouse.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Your resume and experience reads very much like someone who wanted to go into medicine and clinical psychology is the backup plan. That will be a narrative you will have to overcome to get into any program that is worth getting into (i.e. not a California diploma mill.) To have a competitive application you are looking at probably two gap years where you do research and gain relevant experience.

Also, what was your psych GPA? What do you want to study during your clinical psych training?

 

[quickpsych]

Members of the Psych Community,

I need your help & guidance in figuring out my chances of being accepted into a clinical PsyD program. My career took an unexpected turn when I had to withdraw from osteopathic medical school (DO), due to my own shortcomings but also the numerous academic scandals that have negatively impacted my cohort (DM for details, need to protect myself). It has always been my dream to tackle the mental health stigma in medicine, and to become a child/adolescent psychiatrist in order to help the youth navigate through life with trauma/disorder/etc. and the healthcare system affecting their care. Sadly, I can no longer afford to pursue this dream -- which brings me to clinical psychology as my next steps for making a difference.

Pursuing clinical psychology would not only allow me to sit with patients to conduct therapy, but I will also gain the skills to conduct psychological assessments (and possibly certification to prescribe medication, depending on the quality & extensiveness of future training).

Below are my stats & experiences. Please give me your honest opinion of my competitiveness getting into PsyD programs (preferably located in CA, open to some out-of-state PsyD suggestions that might be a good fit)!

[NOTES: Currently working part-time as a paraeducator for children with autism in order to expand psych clinical experience, received Community CPR certification 03/25/25]

Just my two cents:

My main concern is that when interviewed you WILL be asked why you left medical school (and depending on how well known this "scandal" is or if you were named in it, will be asked how you plan to move forward and not let history repeat itself in a PsyD or PhD program). Not to be a downer but this kind of situation depending on your involvement can be a death knell for graduate school acceptance. In any interviews a key strategy here is going to be how to carefully frame the experience (if it is known to schools you are applying to), what you learned from it, how you will avoid doing it again, and why you left medicine to pursue psychology.

In terms of finances, yes DO/MD schooling costs more than even some of the most expensive reputable PsyDs (and obviously a lot more than funded PhD programs), however as others noted DO/MDs tend to make more than most psychologists, psychiatrists make more than psychologists. So the increased cost of medical school is offset by the significantly increased earnings.

Unfortunately California seems to have a number of diploma mill "PsyD" programs outthere to avoid, but even reputable PsyD programs are on average taking less students per cohort than medical school and will want to see some type of experience in psychology (at the very least they may require you show you took additional coursework in psychology especially if your undergrad had zero psychology courses). And PhD (or funded PsyDs) are going to be even more competitive and will want to see research experience in addition.

Honestly, I would reassess if you really want to close the chapter on medical school or if you want to consider applying to another medical school down the line to pursue psychiatry. I would strongly reassess why you feel can no longer pursue medical school; if you realized you didn't enjoy it or couldn't pass the courses even with a lot of effort and work this is more understandable than the financial concerns of medical school (as in medical school vs PsyD is going to involve loans either way but least with medical school you'll make more to offset that). In other words I don't think the financial cost should be the defining reason you don't try another go at medical school.

 

[chicandtoughness]

I hate to be “that person” but if you have no qualms about paying for a full cost PsyD…. Why not apply Caribbean?

Agree that your leaving med school may already be a red flag for many programs.

Not to scare you off, but our colleagues in the psychology world have lower acceptance rates than we do in medicine, assuming you want to get into a funded and reputable psych program.