Clinical Psych PhD: Question from friend

[surftheiop]

(This isn't a "what are my chances", skip to last paragraph if you think it is)

I'm posting a question for a friend who is considering applying to clinical psych PhD programs.

She is a psych major 4.0 major GPA, 3.8 overall (has taken Bio/Chem/Anatomy/Physiology) has volunteered in hospital and currently is a volunteer for a United Way crisis hot-line type thing.

She has been doing neuroscience research under a psych professor for 2 years and will probably have a couple publications by the end of the summer.

When applying to clinical psych PhD programs, will be be necessary for her to only identify possible research mentors that do research closely related to her current work? Her interests have shifted to be more clinical than basic neuroscience, so she was wondering if she can express interest in her applications about topics that are outside of her current research area.

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[jnine]

This seems like a really tough question. I think it has multiple answers depending on her goals.

If the goal is to gain admission to a top program, then my advice is to really focus her networking efforts and SOP on obtaining a research mentorship closely related to her current work. I think highly related research experience is what professors in those programs look for. If her interest in the research is sincere, that's her best way in the front door.

I've heard many times: "don't even mention clinical work when applying to a top R1 program", although i'm not sure how much of that is real, how much urban legend.

If her past experiences aren't really linked to her future interests, it makes things more fuzzy. If she's going to express how her interests have changed, I think she needs to really articulate how this happened in her SOP.

Regardless of what foci she chooses to pursue, she should network with profs prior to applying and see who's potentially interested in her.

Based on what you've posted, her app looks great. If she's not interested in a top R1 program, I think she would gain admission to a possibly better fitting program that isn't super focused on research.

Best,
J9

(This isn't a "what are my chances", skip to last paragraph if you think it is)

I'm posting a question for a friend who is considering applying to clinical psych PhD programs.

She is a psych major 4.0 major GPA, 3.8 overall (has taken Bio/Chem/Anatomy/Physiology) has volunteered in hospital and currently is a volunteer for a United Way crisis hot-line type thing.

She has been doing neuroscience research under a psych professor for 2 years and will probably have a couple publications by the end of the summer.

When applying to clinical psych PhD programs, will be be necessary for her to only identify possible research mentors that do research closely related to her current work? Her interests have shifted to be more clinical than basic neuroscience, so she was wondering if she can express interest in her applications about topics that are outside of her current research area.

 

[researchgirl]

I think I'm interpreting your question different than jnine's - do you mean to say she is now more interested in being a clinician than a researcher, or do you mean that her research interests have shifted from neuroscience to something more clinically relevant. If you mean to say that she still is interested in a research career, but her desired subject of research has shifted - I think she can certainly say in her SOP something like "I enjoyed the research skills I gained in X lab, and learned a lot about XYZ, which sparked my interest in ABC... thus, I am interested in working with professor A researching ABC..."

 

[surftheiop]

I think I'm interpreting your question different than jnine's - do you mean to say she is now more interested in being a clinician than a researcher, or do you mean that her research interests have shifted from neuroscience to something more clinically relevant. If you mean to say that she still is interested in a research career, but her desired subject of research has shifted - I think she can certainly say in her SOP something like "I enjoyed the research skills I gained in X lab, and learned a lot about XYZ, which sparked my interest in ABC... thus, I am interested in working with professor A researching ABC..."

She is still interested in research, just more clinically relevant research than the animal-study, neuroscience stuff she has been doing

As for what tier of program- She isn't really concerned with the "name" of where she goes so long as it is APA accredited, she gets funding, etc.

 

[KillerDiller]

Although it is certainly great for an applicant to have research experience that exactly matches their research interests, most applicants will be applying to do something different. So it is definitely possible to apply schools with more clinical research. Your friend just needs to do a good job explaining what prompted her shift and why the school is a good fit when she writes her statement of purpose.