Do I have a chance?

[PsychoEm]

I'm applying for clinical phd programs this fall but i'm starting to talk myself out of it because they are so competitive. I tried applying my senior year of college but didnt get in anywhere. My undergrad gpa at a top 30 liberal arts college was about a 3.79, psych gpa about a 3.95. I got my masters in developmental psych at columbia finishing a semester ahead of schedule, gpa was 3.8. The first time i took the gre i got a 700q, 650v, 690 subject. I'm taking it again this fall because i think i can do significantly better. I have a book chapter published as the sole author and i have a article under review in a highly prestigious journal as the lead author. right now i'm project coordinator for a psychiatry study at yale doing a combination of clinical and research.
I think I'm an average candidate, but i need to be more than average to get into a good program.
any recommendations how to improve my application???

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JatPenn]

Is this a joke? You'll be fine.

 

[PsychoEm]

uhhh no, its not a joke, and i didnt get in the first time around with those stats. which is why i was looking for advice. but thanks for your support.

 

[JatPenn]

did you get interviews last time around? sometimes when I see people with high stats/research/etc who fail to gain admission, their downfall is that they "turn off" faculty at interviews for one reason or another.

(i just ask cause your reply seemed a bit caustic)

 

[twiggers]

Gosh...I wish I had stats like yours going in (I might have gotten my top choice). Nonetheless.....I wouldn't advise retaking the GRE...you're just wasting your time....your scores are fine, and there is always the slim chance you could do worse. I would spend the time contacting schools and faculty members. Did you do that the first time around? If not....then I would highly recommend that...the faculty will remember you come application time. I got accepted to several schools and had lower GRE scores than you (about the same GPA). I did make sure I only applied to schools with same interests and faculty who were definitely taking students.
Maybe it was your personal statement or letters of rec????? Thats about the only other two things I can think of.

 

[ChildPsych]

Hi there. Your credentials are very impressive! I think you will find the second time around will bring you a lot of interviews/admissions as long as you do what twiggers suggested- contact professors, make sure they are taking students and there is a match in terms of interest. Something I always recommend is doing a psychinfo lit search to see who is prolific in your area of interest to get an idea of who to apply to work with.

I have also heard it is very difficult to get in right from undergrad. (so nearly impossible) So I would think that now that you have some research experience you will do very well in the admissions process. It is my guess that in undergrad you didn't have quite as much research experience and that could have hurt you.

Anyway don't talk yourself out of it if it is what you want to do! Something will come through. Good Luck.

 

[PsychoEm]

thanks childpsych and twiggers for your helpful suggestions!!!

 

[twiggers]

No problem! Good luck this year....don't give up hope...I got in to a couple clinical programs right out of undergrad with minimal research experience, but I researched professors heavily. I got my potential list of schools down to 20 by simply doing contacting profs.

 

[cmuhooligan]

I just want to echo previous posters, to not give up hope, I was very lucky to have been accepted into a PhD clinical program straight out of undergrad and i even graduated a year early, which i thought was a positive but turned out to be sort of a negative, but enough about me, goodluck with your plans!

 

[ProZackMI]

I'm applying for clinical phd programs this fall but i'm starting to talk myself out of it because they are so competitive. I tried applying my senior year of college but didnt get in anywhere. My undergrad gpa at a top 30 liberal arts college was about a 3.79, psych gpa about a 3.95. I got my masters in developmental psych at columbia finishing a semester ahead of schedule, gpa was 3.8. The first time i took the gre i got a 700q, 650v, 690 subject. I'm taking it again this fall because i think i can do significantly better. I have a book chapter published as the sole author and i have a article under review in a highly prestigious journal as the lead author. right now i'm project coordinator for a psychiatry study at yale doing a combination of clinical and research.
I think I'm an average candidate, but i need to be more than average to get into a good program.
any recommendations how to improve my application???

You should be able to get into a good PhD program with those stats. Where do you want to go? Where did you apply?

 

[DryDoc]

At research oriented PhD programs, admissions is quite often more about fit between your research interests and a faculty member's than about GPAs and GREs. Whoever suggested researching faculty members research interests carefully and presenting your fit with these interests in your personal statement and interview is exactly right.