Changes to the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D program

[psi123]

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I just visited the schools today and so these are information that I heard directly from the director of admissions at PGSP concerning the admission process and also the psy.d curriculum--just thought it's worth sharing:

Changes to:

Admission Process-
-no longer reviewing apps on a rolling basis. The deadline is January 15th and all apps will be considered no matter when you send the app (as long as it's before the deadline)
-the admissions committee now highly recommends that applicants take the Subject Psychology GRE test (until now it was not a requirement at all). They eventually plan to make it one of the admission requirements.
-before the APA accreditation, on average the program received approx 180 apps per year with a cap of 30 offers for each incoming class. Now, after the accreditation, they anticipate approx 300 apps with the same cap of 30 (or 40..see below) offers for the incoming class. Not as competitive as some funded Ph.D programs...but still... X[

Curriculum-
-this seems to still be in the planning stages, but until now the Psy.D curriculum did not include any emphases or special tracks that students can take; each class took the same exact classes each year as a cohort and so came the advantages/disadv to this approach. They're considering now, on adding a Child Track (woohoo for me!!) and raising the cap to 40 students for the next incoming class so that ten students can take the child track while the other 30 take the same scheduled classes with their cohort as previous years had. I think we just need to keep checking the website for updates since it's not set on stone yet.

Location-
-From next Fall, the PGSP campus is no longer going to be in its current Palo Alto location. It's going to move to a temporary location in Redwood City right next to the new Stanford Medical Center that's currently under construction. The move will last for 1.5 years, which is when the stanford medical center plans to finish it's remodeling of those two huge buildings (you can see them right off of 101 for those who live in the Bay Area). After that, they plan to find a permanent location with some wider space, but will still stay within the same area since they can't be too far away from the Stanford campus nor the PGSP clinic in Palo Alto.

Tuition-
-alot cheaper!..............ok just kidding X( I wish!!!!!!!!!! no change to the tuition. It's about $35,000 per year and the tuition actually goes up along with inflation so there may be like a 3% increase per year.. The average debt that graduates deal with is around $150,000 - $200,000 depending on living expenses, etc. ...i kno......

The rest is info that I thought is helpful and it's not available on insider's since it wasn't accredited at the time the book was published...
-Match Rate: even at the time when the program wasn't accredited, they got a 68% match rate. The Ph.D students (they're program has been accredited for some time) matched much higher so now with the accreditation Psy.D students are expected to do much better.
-Faculty ratings: according to a 2003 ranking of the quality of faculty members, PGSP's psy.D faculty ranked above some of the funded Ph.D programs' faculty like U of Florida...or was it Florida State...I forget~... and this was before they had Dr. Zimbardo or Dr. Breckenridge join the faculty--also the ranking had alot to do with research production which obviously doesn't apply to a psy.D program.
-Theoretical Orientation: they take the biopsychosocial approach and heavily utilize evidence-based treatment--which is available on the website, but what I also learned is that most faculty are either for integrative or the CBT orientation..if they had to choose.
-Classes: 50% of classes will be taught by PGSP faculty at the PGSP campus, and the rest will be given by Stanford faculty at the Stanford campus.


mmm yeah I think that's about it! all of it sounded good to me, but please do share your thoughts on these changes/info and whether I should think differently about any of it (I think we all know and realize how insane the tuition and debt will be so no point in pointing that out..unless you have some great advice on financial aid *v*) Good luck all!!!!!!!

 

[amy203]

I've asked this question before and never got a reply. Do Dr. Zimbardo or Dr. Breckenridge actually teach classes, mentor students, serve on dissertation committees, or co-author papers with students? I guess the cynical side of me could see how it would be a great business plan to bring on a couple of really famous but semi-retired faculty members with the promise that they don't have to do any more than an Emeritus faculty member at another university, thus improving the reputation (at least in the minds of impressionable applicants) of the school but not really benefitting the students themselves. But I hope this isn't the case.

Does anyone know?

 

[Ollie123]

After checking their website it appears that they are teaching to some extent at least:
Zimbardo teaches "Foundation of Psy. Sci II: Exploration in Human Behavior"
and Breckenridge teaches "Research Colloquium for Dissertation Preparation" (whatever that means...).

I'm less interested in who is teaching though, because frankly, having a famous researcher as a course instructor really doesn't mean a whole lot. If you're working with them outside of classes too - that's a much a bigger deal. I mean, certainly it allows for networking opportunities, but I'd think its more a matter of what students do outside class that would matter. I'd love to sit in on a Zimbardo lecture as much as anyone else, but unless he's helping me publish a paper I wrote for his class, I don't think it will mean terribly much.

 

[JockNerd]

"Teaches" a colloquium? How does one "teach" a colloquium when

colloquium👎1. an academic meeting or seminar usually led by a different lecturer and on a different topic at each meeting

Zimbardo is actually fairly active still, but he mostly writes book chapters and commentary now. A quick search shows some collaboration but I don't know whether the coauthors are students or what. I would assume that an absence of journal articles with student coauthors means he's not supervising anyone, unless anyone else know different.

That Zimbardo class has the most vague title I've ever heard 😛

 

[positivepsych]

They can make all the changes they want, but graduating with $200K debt (including cost of living) in this field is just plain dumb, because you'll be paying it off for the rest of your life.

 

[yikes]

i know dr zimbardo is teaching a social psych class to the first years

 

[SFPsyd]

Having served as a consultant to the program in the past, I keep pretty up to date on a lot of what's been happening, and thought I should clarify a few things.

-As far as Dr. Zimbardo goes, he is a faculty member now in the consortium. He teaches all 1st year students for an entire year. More importantly, he is available for students to conduct research with, and can serve on people's dissertation committees. The same holds true for Dr. Breckenridge, and any other faculty members as far as I can tell.

-Overall, the quality of the faculty may be second to none. Almost definitely as far as PsyD programs are concerned, and I would put it up against any funded PhD programs as well (of course there may be exceptions based on particular areas of interest).

-A lot has been said about the program's connection (or lack thereof) to Stanford, and it seems like there has been a lot of confusion about this issue. Let me clarify: this is primarily a Stanford University program. Meaning, the majority of classes, faculty, and research opportunities come from Stanford. All students have great opportunities to work closely with the faculty at Stanford.

-Yes, the debt is extensive. However, so are a lot of things in life. Have plans on owning a home? That will cost you a LOT more in general than having 100+K in student loans that you will have 30 years to pay off. Is it optimal? No. Is it doable: YES.

-Upon graduation, in addition to the debt that everyone seems so hung up on, graduates of the program will have learned under some of the best clinicians and researchers in the field, will have gained outstanding experience in their practicums, and will be nicely set up to compete with graduates from every program (except for jobs within academia). Should you choose to practice in the bay area, you will have established numerous connections at places like Stanford, the Palo Alto VA, Packard Children's Hospital, etc. This will help you both in terms of obtaining jobs and having a large referral base for your private practice.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Thanks for the info!

-t

 

[pengy]

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