Do I have good chances of getting into a Psy.D.?

[tears for susan]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Sorry, i know this is such an obtuse question but i am surrounded by so many people going for Ph.Ds that i know all about how difficult it is to get into those, without knowing anything about getting into Psy.Ds!

So first the schools i am applying to and then I will put down some basic things from my CV about me, and maybe someone can tell me if i am a good candidate? I realize i am eligible and decent, but am ignorant on how fierce the competition is

Schools:
1. Pacific Uni
2. George Fox Uni
3. Uni of Denver
4. John F Kennedy University
5. Virginia Consortium
6. Baylor
7. Rutgers
8. Pacific grad school of psych. stanford consortium

9. Azusa Pacific

10. Indiana Uni of Pennsylvania


About me:
-Current undergrad GPA: 3.81 (3.98 for psych. only)
-1190 on the GRE, 5.0 on the writing


-Current president of the Psi chi chapter
-was vice-pres of psych club one year



-have completed 17 semester psych courses, with more in progress and planned for next semester, a few of them were graduate courses such as advanced statistics and psychometrics.


-Assisted with two labs, and coordinated another. One of the labs i assisted with involved me authoring and psychometrically refining a new scale.



-Three research presentations at the Western Psych. Assoc. conference of the labs i worked in



-two 6-month internships, one for a research center on campus coding survey data, and the other at a behavioral health hospital assisting (but mostly observationl on my part) of group therapy sessions.



-TA'ed intro to psych stats three time, and intermediate psych stats one time. Independent turoring as well.


-Various community service


-Paid: behavioral respite worker, behavioral mod. work for children with autism




So what do you think? Am I relatively competative?

 

[biogirl215]

How important is getting funding to you?

And, just out of curosity, why a PsyD? You seem to have a very strong, very heavy background in research...

 

[tears for susan]

How important is getting funding to you?

And, just out of curosity, why a PsyD? You seem to have a very strong, very heavy background in research...

well funding is very nice, but not a requirement. I plan on living a very thrifty life as it is.

I just dont like research. When it was new i kind of enjoyed it but I have grown bored of it. I certainly dont see myself doing it for the rest of my life, or intensivley during graduate school for that matter. A couple other peers of mine loooove doing research. They have much more motive, passion, and experience with it. I dont see myself doing a Ph.D like they do.

I think part of it has to do with my ADHD. I always need something new and exciting. I cant tolerate spreadsheets and writing articles for too long of periods (this wont be a problem during my graduate studies but i dont want to continuously do it). I get bored very easily. I like the idea of working with an abnormal population regularly because they are not boring. Every case will be interesting. Although there is the chance that what i end up doing will become routine and mundane, but i believe that possibility exists with every type of work.

 

[deleted176373]

Schools:
1. Pacific Uni
2. George Fox Uni
3. Uni of Denver
4. John F Kennedy University
5. Virginia Consortium
6. Baylor
7. Rutgers
8. Pacific grad school of psych. stanford consortium
9. Azusa Pacific
10. Indiana Uni of Pennsylvania


About me:
-Current undergrad GPA: 3.81 (3.98 for psych. only)
-1190 on the GRE, 5.0 on the writing

So what do you think? Am I relatively competative?

Ya, you seem relatively competitive. Although your GRE may be borderline for Baylor, Rutgers, Virginia, and Denver. These are obviously your reach schools and with your other experience I would encourage you to keep the best names in Psy.D. programs on the list.

For the other programs, I think you are a very strong applicant. I don't foresee any difficulty with getting interviews at IUP, PGSP, JFK, George Fox, or some of the others. Obviously I may be wrong in my analysis, but it looks like you are holding a good hand overall.

Your personal statement should highlight your ability to do research but that you've learned that this is not what you want the primary focus of your training to be. At Baylor, solid research experience is helpful and desired.

Mark

 

[SteelMariposa]

**

 

[tears for susan]

I'm a current student at U of Denver - in my view, you're competitive.

Thank you! This boosts my confidence. U of Denver is one of my preferred schools.

 

[SteelMariposa]

**

 

[psydd]

if anyone could also give me their take on my chances of getting into psyd programs based on my very likely credentials by the time graduation rolls around, that would be awesome:

undergrad study: major in psychology (honors/magna cum laude), minor in spanish

undergrad gpa: 3.75 overall, 3.8 psychology

gre: 1200

clinical experience:
1. semester-long internship with a substance abuse counseling program.
2. semester-long mentoring of adolescents in juvenile detainment center.

research experience: honors thesis/independent study (has potential to be published)

clubs/awards: psi chi, dean's list (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009), psychology club

so that's a basic overview of my potential graduating self.

i had actually never written it out like that before. it looks/sounds a lot better than i thought. i like that.

but yeah, so, how competitive do you think this makes me? and do you think i'd have any kind of shot at getting into rutgers, specifically? it would be my first choice if possible, but i'm still assuming it's completely unlikely for me to be accepted.

thanks a lot.

 

[deleted176373]

if anyone could also give me their take on my chances of getting into psyd programs based on my very likely credentials by the time graduation rolls around, that would be awesome:

undergrad study: major in psychology (honors/magna cum laude), minor in spanish

undergrad gpa: 3.75 overall, 3.8 psychology

gre: 1200

clinical experience:
1. semester-long internship with a substance abuse counseling program.
2. semester-long mentoring of adolescents in juvenile detainment center.

research experience: honors thesis/independent study (has potential to be published)

clubs/awards: psi chi, dean's list (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009), psychology club

so that's a basic overview of my potential graduating self.

i had actually never written it out like that before. it looks/sounds a lot better than i thought. i like that.

but yeah, so, how competitive do you think this makes me? and do you think i'd have any kind of shot at getting into rutgers, specifically? it would be my first choice if possible, but i'm still assuming it's completely unlikely for me to be accepted.

thanks a lot.

Very competitive for all but the most competitive programs and still a credible shot at the most competitive programs I would think. There are some intangibles like LOR's and your PS that will make the difference.

Mark

 

[psydd]

the letters of recommendation and personal statement would be factors, of course. but based on the information i presented, would you say that it's really just my gre score that needs to be bolstered at this point?

 

[biogirl215]

if anyone could also give me their take on my chances of getting into psyd programs based on my very likely credentials by the time graduation rolls around, that would be awesome:

undergrad study: major in psychology (honors/magna cum laude), minor in spanish

undergrad gpa: 3.75 overall, 3.8 psychology

gre: 1200

clinical experience:
1. semester-long internship with a substance abuse counseling program.
2. semester-long mentoring of adolescents in juvenile detainment center.

research experience: honors thesis/independent study (has potential to be published)

clubs/awards: psi chi, dean's list (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009), psychology club

so that's a basic overview of my potential graduating self.

i had actually never written it out like that before. it looks/sounds a lot better than i thought. i like that.

but yeah, so, how competitive do you think this makes me? and do you think i'd have any kind of shot at getting into rutgers, specifically? it would be my first choice if possible, but i'm still assuming it's completely unlikely for me to be accepted.

thanks a lot.

I'm struck by the fact that you don't seem to have much research experience outside of your thesis (or maybe you do and didn't list it?)--it seems unusual to jump into that without previous work in professor's lab. Great GRE's and GPA, though, and the potential for publication is very nice as well!

 

[psydd]

well, my honors thesis will be the only research i have. but again, it's a PsyD i'm interested in. not PhD. i was under the impression that doing my thesis should be enough research experience for applying to PsyD programs.

 

[Ollie123]

well, my honors thesis will be the only research i have. but again, it's a PsyD i'm interested in. not PhD. i was under the impression that doing my thesis should be enough research experience for applying to PsyD programs.

It might be, but "enough" gets you in SOMEWHERE, it doesn't necessarily get you into Rutgers😉 For the most competitive programs you pretty much have to be above average across the board.

I'd work on:
1) GREs. I'll have to disagree with biogirl on this one, 1200 is on the low side.
2) Research. Though this depends somewhat on what you mean when you say "publishable". Most things are publishable, and any publication at the undergrad level helps. However, if we're talking you publishing in an APA journal that means a ton more than publishing in something no one has heard of before.
3) Maybe some more clinical work because many people will have more when applying.

GPA, etc. is great
You're a strong candidate and will likely get in somewhere with those credentials.

You've got a chance at Rutgers, but right now I'd say its a pretty long one. Fixing any of the above should definitely improve your odds.

 

[psydd]

alright, cool. thanks.

i'm really not banking on rutgers at all. it would definitely be my first choice, because of the program itself as well as convenience for me geographically. but i'm completely fine with not getting in there.

as for clinical experience, i am probably going to continue volunteering at the substance abuse counseling program beyond my semester-long internship.

also, there is potential for me to continue working in the professor's lab on her own personal research either during or after my thesis is complete. that's not a guarantee, but it's certainly a possibility.