Current Grad Students: Talk about your program

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irish80122

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I promised I would make this thread a while back and I know some people posted about their school in that old thread but I thought I would start a new one so that people could find it. What this thread is all about is current graduate students posting about their school and the research that is being done in their program. If you want to be anonymous, you can PM me your info and I will post it under my name. I just think it would be helpful for the applicants to see where we are, or at least get some info on programs from an inside source!

Current applicants, feel free to ask questions about the programs you see in this thread in the thread.
 
Program: West Virginia University
Specialties: Clinical, Child Clinical, Behavior Analysis, Developmental
Theoretical Bend: Behavioral
Research/Clinical (1 all clinical, 7 all research): 5
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: Yes/Yes
Poster's Specialty: Clinical

Current Research Topics (that I am aware of). Major Topics Bolded (major topics determined by me and my biases)

Most anything behavior, if you like behaviorism, this is your program
Aging (several professors throughout clinical and developmental; Patrick, Fiske, Edelstein)
Aging specialty available
Suicide (Fiske mainly but also somewhat Fremouw and Edelstein)
Forensic Psychology (Fremouw)
Adolescent Substance Abuse (Branstetter)
Health Psychology, especially Mindfulness (Larkin)
Health Psychology specialty available
Animal Learning (lots)
Children and Emotion and Memory (Krackow)
abusive parenting practices and managing the disruptive behaviors of young children in both the home and school settings (S McNeil)
Pain and Anxiety, especially in dentistry (D McNeil)
Sleep (Montgomery-Downs, lab has a large grant)
Developmental Psychopathology, especially Social Anxiety (Morris)
PTSD (Scotti)
Functional Assessment and Behaviorism in Schools (don't know how to describe it but it is cool; St. Peter Pipkin)
Problem Solving and Gender Differences (Strough, Patrick w/ decision making)

Top three things about the program

1. Junior colleague model (it is amazing, ask me about it)
2. You get out on time, 4 years with a masters, 5 years w/o it including internship for Clinical
3. Lots of opportunities to get started early...you start therapy and teaching as a first year!

Bottom three things (suggested by Raynee)

1. Teaching intro to psych has some definite downsides, like proctoring tests and not being able to do anything during that time for about 5 hours a week
2. Having to pay $60 per month in parking not in NYC or Chicago...but in Morgantown, WV
3. Having to pay a boatload for football or basketball tickets.

Yeah, weak complaints, but I really like it here.

Would you recommend your program to a friend?

Absolutely!
 
irish80122 said:
Children and Emotion and Memory (Krackow)
Click to expand...

Now I know where she went! I met with her briefly on interview day at my current university but she went elsewhere afterwards and wasn't too sure where. For those interested, I can vouch that she was quite nice & very enthusiastic in the 10-15 minutes she kidnapped me from the hallway to show off her lab for some reason (I wasn't interviewing w/ her or interested in that particular topic). :laugh: She did have some interesting "schtuff" going on though and her research appeared top quality; also heard nothing but good things about her from other students and applicants.
 
Keeping with Irish's format

Program: University of South Florida
Specialties: Hard to pick one really, but if I had to I'd say health psych since we have at least 4 profs here who fit that description. Only thing there really isn't much of is child psych (only 2 profs I believe)
Theoretical Bend: Almost exclusively CBT (the norm for research universities)
Research/Clinical (1 all clinical, 7 all research): 6
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: Yes (not 100% but close enough as makes no difference)/Yes
Poster's Specialty: Clinical

Not going to list all the research since the department is way too big. Google USF psychology and check the website🙂



Top three things about the program

1. Awesome, awesome people. Admittedly I'm only a month in, but I have yet to meet a faculty member or grad student I didn't like. Very collegial. Not at all competitive, no one is cutthroat. We all help eachother out and are happy to do so. Faculty are the same way, there isn't much politics and professors seem happy to let students explore interests across labs.
2. The department LISTENS to students and really goes to bat for them (like, above and beyond what you could even dream of at most schools). Everyone is very approachable, and will go out of their way to fit the program to what the students want. For example, they have been seriously cutting down the number of required classes because many students complained they didn't have as much time for research as they'd like.
3. Despite being such a research-heavy school I feel like our clinical training is VERY solid. We have tons of opportunities to rack up clinical hours, several professors that do treatment-oriented research with opportunities to specialize in certain areas. We've had very good luck with internships, and many students going on to successful academic careers (increasingly rare these days).

Any are free to PM me if they have any other questions about the program, or specific faculty members.
 
Thanks for replying Ollie, though I am not very happy with your football team right now 🙂. Also, I have also met Dr. Krackow several times and she seems very nice and I think she does good research. She is a great fit at WVU.
 
Can we add top 3 complaints too? That might be helpful for people applying to go in with a good idea of the good and bad.
 
That's fine. I really don't have many complaints yet but I will try to think of some and will add them. Also, add the question "Would you recommend this program to a friend." I just got my teacher evaluations back so I saw a lot of those answers. Luckily most people would recommend me....I don't know what's wrong with them 🙂.
 
Program: Long Island University-Brooklyn campus
Specialties: Attachment research, psychotherapy outcomes research
Theoretical Bend: psychodynamic
Research/Clinical: (1 all clinical, 7 all research) 3
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: Yes (50-100%)/Yes
Poster's Specialty: Clinical


Top four things about the program

1. Wonderful classmates and professors. I can't say enough about the fantastic job the department does in selecting the entering class. My classmates are warm, genuine people and competition is non-existant.
2. For me, the fact that the theoretical orientation is psychodynamic is a HUGE plus. We do have extensive training in CBT and other modalities as well, but the opportunity to get a solid foundation in psychodynamic theory/practice was extremely appealing!
3. Research requirements include research assistantships for the first three years, a quantitative/qualitative Second Year Project, and of course the dissertation. Unlike other clinical psych PhD programs, we didn't have to apply to work with one particular professor. We apply to the program and then are assigned to a professor loosely based on research interests. You have the option to float between professors if your interests change. This is, in my opinion, due mostly to #4:
4. There is heavy focus on clinical training...it starts early..the first semester of 1st year you have an externship, second year you see patients in the school's clinic, third year you have another externship. In the past five years, all students who applied have matched to APA accredited internships.
 
psicologa said:
Program: Long Island University-Brooklyn campus
Specialties: Attachment research, psychotherapy outcomes research
Theoretical Bend: psychodynamic
Research/Clinical: (1 all clinical, 7 all research) 3
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: Yes (50-100%)/Yes
Poster's Specialty: Clinical


Top four things about the program

1. Wonderful classmates and professors. I can't say enough about the fantastic job the department does in selecting the entering class. My classmates are warm, genuine people and competition is non-existant.
2. For me, the fact that the theoretical orientation is psychodynamic is a HUGE plus. We do have extensive training in CBT and other modalities as well, but the opportunity to get a solid foundation in psychodynamic theory/practice was extremely appealing!
3. Research requirements include research assistantships for the first three years, a quantitative/qualitative Second Year Project, and of course the dissertation. Unlike other clinical psych PhD programs, we didn't have to apply to work with one particular professor. We apply to the program and then are assigned to a professor loosely based on research interests. You have the option to float between professors if your interests change. This is, in my opinion, due mostly to #4:
4. There is heavy focus on clinical training...it starts early..the first semester of 1st year you have an externship, second year you see patients in the school's clinic, third year you have another externship. In the past five years, all students who applied have matched to APA accredited internships.
Click to expand...


Can you tell me a little bit about the difference between the PhD program (http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/psych/psy_clin.html) and the PsyD program (http://www.cwpost.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/clas/psych/doctoral/), perhaps in terms of admissions/tuition and financial aid/reputation/whatever you can think of?
 
Program: University of Saskatchewan
Specialties: Clinical, Applied Social, Culture and Human Development, Basic Behavioural Science
Theoretical Bend: The clinical program is hard to figure out. I know that strict behaviourism isn't very well accepted (or so it seems). I'd say so far it seems pretty Humanistic, with a bit of Cog thrown in.
Research/Clinical (1 all clinical, 7 all research): A definite 4 here.
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: If you don't come in with external funding or a Dean's scholarship, you're automatically given $16,000 in return for 260 TA hours. If you're in forensic there are also opportunities to make extra money by working on some projects (there's one about gangs coming up).
Poster's Specialty: Clinical forensics.

Current Research Topics

Neuropsych
Geriatrics
Health Psych
Personality
Depression
Narratives in therapy
Pediatric psych
Childhood pain
Sex offenders
Correctional intervention
Mentally disordered offenders
Young offenders
Bereavement
Gender roles
Parental custody
Sleep disorders
Child/adolescent therapy

Top three things about the program

1) The clinical training. The assessment prof is (in my opinion) one of the most brilliant clinicians in the field. He's tough, he makes no excuses for you, and you'll go home from supervision crying until you realize that you just had the most valuable experience of your whole career. Plus, clinical training is put to the test in a variety of practicum sites that are very diverse and (from what I hear) pretty damn awesome.
2) Tuition is only $2000! The cost of living used to be really cheap here and it's skyrocketed lately but I hear it's calming down.
3) There is real openness between profs and students. They come to parties, they disclose personal information, they all seem to be genuinely nice people.

Bottom three things

1. First year is insanely course-heavy so while they're saying "focus on research" you're thinking "I would if you'd just give me FIVE MINUTES of not reading a textbook". Assignments are designed so that you can't have study groups and assign readings, you have to do it all yourself.
2) Some advisors are too disorganized to be very helpful. I have yet to get a yes or no answer out of mine for instance, about whether or not my research ideas are good. This will of course vary by prof and if you're interested in someone let me know and I'll ask about 'em for you.
3) 260 TA hours is unmanageable, especially since this year there was a shortage and a first year (i.e., me) got stuck teaching a stats class that I'm unprepared for. Aim for a scholarship.

Would you recommend your program to a friend?

That really all depends. I have recommended it to two people on the board, with a list of pros/cons regarding the city and the school itself. I would not recommend my advisor even though he's a great guy. I would recommend the school itself though, as the atmosphere outside of the forensic lab is really quite great. If you're going to move to Saskatoon though you need a) a car b) a lot of time to find an apartment (but I can help if you need) c) a determination not to hate living in a small city for four years.
 
Program: Seton Hall
Specialties: Neuropsych, Multicultural, Vocational, Social Justice (good international opportunities)
Theoretical Bend: A good blend, really depends on the class and the teacher. Probably a fairly even split between humanistic and cognitive behavioral.
Research/Clinical (1 all clinical, 7 all research): 4
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: Yes, but you've gotta work for it. 🙂 Everyone gets a graduate assistantship that covers tuition and provides a small ($500/month) stipend. Some assistantships are more interesting than others - I really lucked out in this department, and work off-site in a failing public school.
Poster's Specialty: Social justice & multicultural psych

Top three things about the program

1) The people - All of the professors and students are terrific. It's a super diverse group, and everyone brings something unique to the table. There is a strong sense of being part of a team, and very little of the "you have to pay your dues" mentality.
2) The opportunities - There are seemingly endless opportunities to publish and present, and tons of encouragement to do so.
3) The location - we are about 25 minutes outside Manhattan, but in a really pretty and much more affordable area.

Bottom three things

1. It's a LOT to juggle - 20 hours of a GA, 10 hours of internship, 10 hours of research, then classes. I'm sure this is true of every program, but holy crap, it's an adjustment.
2) It's still a new program - Seton Hall used to be a clinical program, then switched seven years ago to a counseling program. For that reason, there's not a ton of info about the program out there yet, and the professors seem to have a chip on their shoulder about this. They encourage us to "raise the national visibility of the program," which is cool in some ways because it means lots of opportunities (see above), but also means there is constant pressure to "get out there!" - even in the first two weeks of school.
3) The expense - this really has to do with the location, which is a plus. But living around here is costly, though WAY cheaper than living in any of the NYC boroughs.

Would you recommend your program to a friend?

Absolutely! I really love it so far. It's challenging, but that's what I signed on for.
 
Program: University of Michigan
Specialties: Clinical, Social, P&SC, Neuro, Bio, Cognitive...
Theoretical Bend: Heavy focus on cultural psychology
Research/Clinical (1 all clinical, 7 all research): 5.5
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: yes

Top three things about the program

1. The faculty here are both extremely competent and extremely open to helping graduate students acheive their goals.

2. we have garunteed placements for clinical internships in Ann Arbor, so you only have to do National Match if you want to.

3. Ann Arbor is a wonderful town and there is so much to do...and distract you...

Bottom three things

1. there is significant pressure to acheive a lot research-wise. Afterall, U of M does have an excellent progam...and you are expected to help the program live up to its name

2. you are STRONGLY encouraged to finish your PhD in no more than five years, and thus, you must acheive candidacy by the end of your 4th semester.

3. ummm...can't think of anything else....

Would you recommend your program to a friend?

Yes, I would. I love it.
 
I just wanted to thank irish for starting this thread-- as an undergrad not yet going through the application process (I'm only a sophomore), this is really helping me figure out which programs I want to look at further.
 
Program: Nova Southeastern University
Specialties: Clinical, Neuro, Child, Health, Psychodynamic (they may have one more area, but I forget)
Theoretical Bend: CBT, Behavioral, a few Psychodynamic and Other
Research/Clinical (1 all clinical, 7 all research): Ph.D.: 4, Psy.D: 3
Tuition Waiver/Stipend Available: No/No, though some small funding through TA/RA is available.
Poster's Specialty: Clinical

Current Research Topics: Too many to list, but off the top of my head....

Substance Abuse (Sobell & Sobell)
ADHD/Behaviorial Interventions (Reitman)
Forensic Psychology (Shapiro, Walker)
Pediatric Health (Faust)
Neuro (Golden, Mittenberg)

Top three things about the program

1. Great variety in training
2. Good @ keeping people on track, even though it isn't a bad place to spend 4-5 years. 😀
3. Excellent mentors....if you seek them out.

Bottom three things

1. Funding stinks.
2. Teaching opportunities are not integrated...though there is some movement with this.
3. Too big, even with 2 programs.

Would you recommend your program to a friend?

If it had better funding....absolutely. When I started it wasn't too bad, as credit hours were managable and you could string together some RA/TA $, but now it is unacceptable. Too bad, as the training is very good, there are solid research opportunities for both Psy.D. and Ph.D. candidates, and the faculty is great.
 
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Hey T4C, why don't you suggest to the site admins that they make up a student review section for schools? There's a section for interview feedback, but how useful is that really? Anonymous posting from students in the program would be better.
 
Feel free to PM me if you wish to know more. I'm not sure I can be as detailed yet as others, as we've only really had the first full week of classes this past week.
 
I am new to the forum and I'm not sure if there is a thread for this already, so bear with me. Is there a way to contact people who are in a certain Clinical Psych program or going to be in certain Clinical Psych programs so we have an easier way to network with them? I would like ao make it easier to talk to EVERYONE who is in/or going to be in certain Clinical programs I am looking at. Thanks!
 
*NewPsychStudent I merge your thread with this one.*

JockNerd said:
Hey T4C, why don't you suggest to the site admins that they make up a student review section for schools? There's a section for interview feedback, but how useful is that really? Anonymous posting from students in the program would be better.
Click to expand...

We started a feedback section for doctoral program; the link should be in the "Interview" thread.
 
Razzled: I always thought U of Michigan was really research-focused. Would you say that it also offers solid clinical training, though?
 
PM me if you have any questions 🙂
 
Yes Michigan is research focused, but you can definitely acquire incredible clinical training here as well. There is guaranteed placement and plenty of practicum/training opportunities through our new Depression Center - a beautiful comprehensive mental health center with 280 faculty. I believe it cost over $40 million to build. See the link below for pictures. I love it at Michigan by the way.

(http://images.google.com/imgres?img...g&hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_en-USUS294US304&sa=G&um=1)
 
Since this post is coming back, and I'm sure more people will start posting, I just want to remind everyone who is posting specifics about their program and particular faculty (the good and the bad, especially) that:

At our clinical orientation the other day we discussed how internship sites are now searching websites like these to try to see who is on them/try to figure out who is who by their stats and what they post about themselves and their programs. If they try hard enough and dig deep enough, with many people on this forum, I'm sure it is pretty easy to figure out who you are given the right information. You might want to keep that in mind when saying anything truly specific about yourself and/or a professor, program, or internship site. We were told some horror stories about complications with internship, the general happiness of a person's program after they read certain things on these types of websites, and programs actually personally e-mailing all of the internship placements asking them not to accept their student!

I only say this because I wouldn't want anyone to get in trouble/ have an intership site find this and judge you on it. So just be careful and thoughtful. It seems that everyone has so far, but it's just something to think about when writing up your posts on this thread.:idea:
 
AryaStark,

I was thinking the very same thing and biting my fingers as I was reading some of the previous posts. Thanks for keeping everyone safe and thinking maturely! 😉
 
PM me if you want to hear details about my program, haha.
 
Sorry, thought most everyone here knew. I attend University of North Dakota's Clinical program 😉
 
I'm a first year at Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Prof. Psych. (Clinical Psy.D.) program and would be happy to answer any questions people have about the program to the best of my knowledge. Feel free to PM!
 
There's also the interview feedback forum to get some info on schools, but there are many schools that are not included or properly listed. Grrr.
 
In our igloos, reading the DSM and doing our research by candlelight D: Which isn't easy because the northern wind blows it out and all.
 
cara susanna said:
In our igloos, reading the DSM and doing our research by candlelight D: Which isn't easy because the northern wind blows it out and all.
Click to expand...


You're too funny...People always ask me that about Montana too and I never know what to day :laugh:
 
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