Fordham School Psych PhD program

[amanda12202]

I have recently been invited to an interview for Fordham's school psych PhD program. I am very nervous as this is my top choice for graduate school. Has anybody previously been invited to an interview at Fordham? If so, do you have any advice? What kinds of questions were asked? What was the format of the interview? Also, does anybody know the approximate percentage of students who are admitted to the program after the interview?

My other concern is funding. What does a typical financial aid package from Fordham look like? I know students are funded for 1 course per semester, but am hoping to be offered more.

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[FadedC]

At Fordham they pay for one class for every GA you do, up to a maximum of 3 (which would be about 75% of your tuition). They are guaranteed to find you one GA, the other 2 you have to find on your own by talking to people and seeing what is available. I don't know how difficult that is, but my understanding is that a lot of people who want 3 GAs get them.

 

[willialr]

Congratulations! I will be interviewing as well. I am also interested in what the interview format looks like.

 

[amanda12202]

Thank you Faded C for the information!

 

[amanda12202]

Congratulations! I will be interviewing as well. I am also interested in what the interview format looks like.

I heard it is a large group discussion w/current grad students, followed by a small group interview, and then applicants do a writing sample stating their impression of the interview. I think applicants also get a tour. Good luck to you as well!

 

[athenax]

I interviewed at Fordham last year, and I have to say I wasn't impressed. The major issue is that it is located in NYC and a LOT of people want to be there just for the city itself. The funding is a joke (one-three classes maybe, with NO stipend?!) compared to other programs I applied to and was accepted at. Keep in mind how expensive living in NYC will be and the debt that will pile up. A lot of it seemed to be centered around the "privilege" and great opportunity of working in NYC... umm no thanks, it just isn't worth it. You can find diversity in any city, so what's the draw other than the lifestyle?? They also inform you that any internships in the NYC schools are unfunded as well... so it won't get any better.

There were two interview days, if I remember correctly, and were done in a large group format. Very impersonal, you meet with one faculty member (with one or two other students AT THE SAME TIME) in the same large room while everyone else is ALSO TALKING. You then have to write an essay about your research interests, I believe, which was the only place that required such an odd task. Overall, you can clearly see I wasn't into it! I really value the one on one interactions and relationships with my professors and advisor, especially, and I did not feel like they conveyed any emphasis on this at all. However, if you really do want to be in NYC and are willing to make all the sacrifices, go for it. I can tell you, though, that in my experience from the first semester at my fully funded program that having 3 GA's while doing research and your course work seems even more incredibly insane than it did at the time I was considering Fordham. Sheesh! Of course, I don't actually go there, so if someone does and would like to offer a positive counter argument, please do!!

 

[FadedC]

My understanding is that the purpose of the essay was just to have a measure of English language ability. But yeah it's definitely important to consider the high cost of living, lower funding, and unpaid school internships you find in the city, or tri-state area in general. On the plus side there are a huge number of opportunities in NYC, and there's a very high demand for interns in school settings. But on the flip side if you want to leave the school setting and apply to clinical/hospital sites, while there are also a huge number of great opportunities (many of which are extremely school psych friendly), there is also a huge amount of competition for those spots.

Overall pursuing a school psych degree in NYC is going to be most attractive if you know that you want to practice/live in NYC or the nearby area.

 

[amanda12202]

I interviewed at Fordham last year, and I have to say I wasn't impressed. The major issue is that it is located in NYC and a LOT of people want to be there just for the city itself. The funding is a joke (one-three classes maybe, with NO stipend?!)

Thank you for the input. I have lived in NYC before, and am aware of the high cost of living; however, after graduating I would like to stay in the city, which is one of the reasons I think it would be beneficial for me to be there for my externships and internships. The lack of funding at Fordham does concern me, but I had limited options when applying to grad school due to my major, which was not in psychology. Because of that fact, I did not meet the pre-req requirements for a majority of the schools. I also applied to University of Maryland. They offer substancial funding; however, I am inclined to believe that I did not get in because I have not been contacted for an interview.

Although it is expensive, I really like the program at Fordham because there seems to be a lot of options in regards to shaping the program to fit your interests both through the choice of masters, and the cognate classes. Although it's an appealing program I am unsettled about how I would manage all of my coursework and research with 3 GA's. Like you were saying, I'm not entirely sure it's feasible. Where did you end up going?

Also I had read on another thread that someone was offered 1/2 their tuition with a $14,000 stipend, but that doen't seem to be typical.

 

[O Gurl]

As my heading suggests, my comment will not elucidate much in regards to Fordham interviews. I never applied nor interviewed there. My only observations are in regards to an intern cohortmate who attended Fordham's counseling psych program. Quick run-down is that she passed her dissertation proposal with a project that could not conceivably be completed in a year and half (time from proposal until the end of internship). She received little if any support from her chair or committee in terms of addressing issues with recruitment that were holding her up. As such, she was unable to take a job or postdoc after internship and as far as I know is unemployed (working on dissertation from Texas) and starting to pay back her >200K in loans. Of course, this is just one case and there were plenty of individual factors involved, but the whole thing left me wary of the program and risk of going into astronomical debt for a doctorate in psychology in order to attend a relatively large program where your POI and other essential mentors may or may not be as attentive as they should be.

Just my two cents. But if you are dead set on it as your top choice, please be prudent in your choice of mentor and have a financial plan.

 

[451780]

Congratulations! I'm interviewing for the School Psychology program at Fordham on March 7th. I've been reliably informed that the interview is, as stated above, a group interview followed by a writing sample. I was told to be prepared to answer questions about myself, my interests, my research, and my future career and education plans, and to also be prepared to ask questions. I would think that information about the number of students admitted and the attrition rate can be found on their website, but I haven't looked. I'm pretty nervous too! Don't worry, I'm sure it will be fine. Are you from the area?

Fingers crossed! Good luck!!

xxE

 

[amanda12202]

My understanding is that the purpose of the essay was just to have a measure of English language ability. But yeah it's definitely important to consider the high cost of living, lower funding, and unpaid school internships you find in the city, or tri-state area in general. On the plus side there are a huge number of opportunities in NYC, and there's a very high demand for interns in school settings. But on the flip side if you want to leave the school setting and apply to clinical/hospital sites, while there are also a huge number of great opportunities (many of which are extremely school psych friendly), there is also a huge amount of competition for those spots.

Overall pursuing a school psych degree in NYC is going to be most attractive if you know that you want to practice/live in NYC or the nearby area.

I am not fond of the lack of funding; however, I am hoping my husband's job will cover all living expenses, and that I can get enough assistance to cover at least half of the tuition. I am planning to stay in NYC after graduating, and work in a hospital or clinic setting, preferably in autism as that is my expertise. Do you know if most of the hospital/clinic internships are funded? It looks like some years the majority of Fordham students get funding, and in other years only half or less than half do. That is not great compared to other schools. How highly regarded is the Fordham program compared to other NYC school psychology programs?

 

[amanda12202]

As my heading suggests, my comment will not elucidate much in regards to Fordham interviews. I never applied nor interviewed there. My only observations are in regards to an intern cohortmate who attended Fordham's counseling psych program.

I've not heard anything like that about the school psych program, but do wonder if it is run similarly to the counseling program.

 

[amanda12202]

Congratulations! I'm interviewing for the School Psychology program at Fordham on March 7th. I've been reliably informed that the interview is, as stated above, a group interview followed by a writing sample.

Fingers crossed! Good luck!!

xxE

Congratulations to you too! Where else did you apply? I interview on the 8th. I recently moved from the area, and am currently living in Austin...What about you??

 

[FadedC]

If you want a funded internship in NYC or the surrounding area then you need a APA internship (which still pays less then you'd make working at McDonalds). They are extremely competitive to get in general, and can be harder for people in school psych because some hospitals prefer clinical psychologists. But in NYC the competition for them is much fiercer then anywhere else. As a result, the number of people who apply for them from school psych programs can be very small in some places, which leads to high fluctuation of numbers from year to year. Somewhere I think there is a website which gives overall percentage over 10 years, which is probably more usefull.

I am not fond of the lack of funding; however, I am hoping my husband's job will cover all living expenses, and that I can get enough assistance to cover at least half of the tuition. I am planning to stay in NYC after graduating, and work in a hospital or clinic setting, preferably in autism as that is my expertise. Do you know if most of the hospital/clinic internships are funded? It looks like some years the majority of Fordham students get funding, and in other years only half or less than half do. That is not great compared to other schools. How highly regarded is the Fordham program compared to other NYC school psychology programs?

 

[451780]

Congratulations to you too! Where else did you apply? I interview on the 8th. I recently moved from the area, and am currently living in Austin...What about you??

Thanks! I'll be sure to update you on how the interview format went so that you can do any last minute preparing!

I applied to and am interviewing at Hofstra, Fordham, and Saint John's. How about you? I'm from New York; I lived in the city until moving to Long Island two years ago. I'd imagine Austin is quite a change! Are you flying in just for the interview?

 

[451780]

If you want a funded internship in NYC or the surrounding area then you need a APA internship (which still pays less then you'd make working at McDonalds). They are extremely competitive to get in general, and can be harder for people in school psych because some hospitals prefer clinical psychologists. But in NYC the competition for them is much fiercer then anywhere else. As a result, the number of people who apply for them from school psych programs can be very small in some places, which leads to high fluctuation of numbers from year to year. Somewhere I think there is a website which gives overall percentage over 10 years, which is probably more usefull.

I've heard a lot of the same; internships in NYC have always been competitive and are especially difficult to get right now, especially funded internships. Long Island is having a similar problem. In fact, the Times did an article on this just recently, I think.

 

[amanda12202]

Thanks! I'll be sure to update you on how the interview format went so that you can do any last minute preparing!

I applied to Fordham, Maryland, and Texas, but the Texas program is for a masters in Autism and Developmental Disabilities & Applied Behavior Analysis. I haven't heard anything from Maryland, so I doubt I got in and Texas is my safety school. Austin is a great city, but too hot and too small for my taste. I am originally from Houston, but have moved a lot in the last several years (Houston, Syracuse, Brooklyn, and now Austin), but want to settle in NYC. I am flying in just for the interview, but luckily had flight credit from a cancelled flight earlier this year, so it wasn't too expensive, and I will be staying with a friend. What is your top choice?

 

[451780]

Wow! New York to Texas is such a change! My husband's brother moved from Brooklyn to Austin about four years ago; it's quite hot there, so I was surprised that they got snow every now and then. Were you in NY for undergrad/grad; hopefully you'll be coming back!!

My first choice is Hofstra, definitely. Why did you apply to only one schools in each of three different states?

 

[FadedC]

I forgot the one exception to my statement about funded internships, and that is if you happen to be a billingual school psychologist. They are in extremely high demand in NYC and they can obtain school based internships that are not only funded, but which are funded far better then any APA internship. Obviously though there is still competition for those spots, and the demand for you can depend a lot on what language you speak.

I've also had reasonable luck obtaining paid externship work in NYC and sometimes that pays pretty well too, though it's usually just a day or two a week for a limited time so even if the hourly rate is decent, I'm not exactly going to get rich off of it.

 

[amanda12202]

Wow! New York to Texas is such a change! My husband's brother moved from Brooklyn to Austin about four years ago; it's quite hot there, so I was surprised that they got snow every now and then. Were you in NY for undergrad/grad; hopefully you'll be coming back!!

My first choice is Hofstra, definitely. Why did you apply to only one schools in each of three different states?

I applied to UT simply because I am already in the area, and it is a short program. I currently work at an autism clinic, and could get all my internship hours there. Although it's a great program, it is my last choice because I would prefer to get a phd, and get a school psychologist license along with becoming a certified psychologist. My undergrad, which I got in TX, is not in psychology, so I did not have the pre-reqs required for a majority of the school-psych programs. My husband did his masters in NY, which is why we moved there, but we both miss it and would LOVE to go back. His degree is in architecture, and he luckily got a job in Austin, but it is not a job he wants to keep forever. Because he does architecture, which is a career that took a big hit when the economy crashed, there are limited places where we could live where he could work. After looking at the programs I wanted to apply for, and which I had the pre-reqs for, we had to pick the cities in which he would likely get a job fairly quickly. After all that criteria was met, those were the programs I was left with. If I don't get into Maryland or Fordham, I will probably go to Texas so I can get my ABA certificate, and then take the required pre-reqs and try again. Sorry for the long drawn out details, but I couldn't figure out how to explain the situation in fewer words.

 

[amanda12202]

I forgot the one exception to my statement about funded internships, and that is if you happen to be a billingual school psychologist.

I didn't realize externships were ever funded. Even if it's not much, at least it's better than nothing. I'm not bilingual, but I can see how that would be a plus.

 

[451780]

I applied to UT simply because I am already in the area, and it is a short program. I currently work at an autism clinic, and could get all my internship hours there. Although it's a great program, it is my last choice because I would prefer to get a phd, and get a school psychologist license along with becoming a certified psychologist. My undergrad, which I got in TX, is not in psychology, so I did not have the pre-reqs required for a majority of the school-psych programs. My husband did his masters in NY, which is why we moved there, but we both miss it and would LOVE to go back. His degree is in architecture, and he luckily got a job in Austin, but it is not a job he wants to keep forever. Because he does architecture, which is a career that took a big hit when the economy crashed, there are limited places where we could live where he could work. After looking at the programs I wanted to apply for, and which I had the pre-reqs for, we had to pick the cities in which he would likely get a job fairly quickly. After all that criteria was met, those were the programs I was left with. If I don't get into Maryland or Fordham, I will probably go to Texas so I can get my ABA certificate, and then take the required pre-reqs and try again. Sorry for the long drawn out details, but I couldn't figure out how to explain the situation in fewer words.

Oh, okay, I get it. Oh my gosh, I seriously hope you get to move back here. Here is an idea. I have my BA in Psychology and my ABA certification, but right now I'm working on accumulating my 1500 hours required to sit for the BCBA exam. I think you're going in the same direction, no? In New York, I'm told, you're not eligible for licensing as a behavior analyst without a degree in Special Ed, but you can become Board Certified. You can begin working towards your hours as soon as you begin an ABA program (1000 hours for a Bachelor's level assistant, and 1500 at the Master's level to be an analyst - there are very odd rules and I think a 10-yr waiting period if you do it at the doctorate level). Anyway, I truly hope that you get into Fordham. As a plan B or C, would you consider applying to the ABA certification program at Queens College or CW Post so that you can start that way and maybe grab a position at QSAC or DDI, where you can work and maybe find a BCBA to supervise your hours at the same time? Then, I'm thinking, you could also work on prerequisite classes. It's just an idea that popped into my head when I read your response.

xxE

 

[amanda12202]

Oh, okay, I get it. Oh my gosh, I seriously hope you get to move back here. Here is an idea. I have my BA in Psychology and my ABA certification, but right now I'm working on accumulating my 1500 hours required to sit for the BCBA exam. I think you're going in the same direction, no? In New York, I'm told, you're not eligible for licensing as a behavior analyst without a degree in Special Ed, but you can become Board Certified. You can begin working towards your hours as soon as you begin an ABA program (1000 hours for a Bachelor's level assistant, and 1500 at the Master's level to be an analyst - there are very odd rules and I think a 10-yr waiting period if you do it at the doctorate level). Anyway, I truly hope that you get into Fordham. As a plan B or C, would you consider applying to the ABA certification program at Queens College or CW Post so that you can start that way and maybe grab a position at QSAC or DDI, where you can work and maybe find a BCBA to supervise your hours at the same time? Then, I'm thinking, you could also work on prerequisite classes. It's just an idea that popped into my head when I read your response.

xxE

It definitely sounds like we are doing similar things. My undergrad degree is actually in special education, so I would be ok there. I work as an ABA therapist now... too bad I can't start counting hours until I'm enrolled in a BCBA course . Oh well. I've looked into a few different options for my BCBA. If I go to Fordham... I haven't decided if I would take my BABA classes after graduating, or just wait and do the 10 year thing. If I don't get in, I'll go to UT for my BCBA... their program is only a year(pretty inexpensive too) and I can get supervision at my current job which is convenient, and then probably move to NYC and work on my per-reqs, and re-apply to schools. Are you wanting to work primarily in the field of autism???

 

[coldsweat]

Another reason why I would avoid Fordham is because if you're interested in working outside of the schools, Fordham has a poor APA-internship match rate - for example, in the 2011-2012 school year, only 2/12 students received an APA-accredited internship. Multiple reasons could explain this match rate - perhaps most of the students are only interested in working in the schools, and therefore an APA-accredited internship isn't necessary. However, perhaps more students are interested in obtaining APA-accredited internships, but their training does not prepare them to obtain one. Another red flag when reading the program outcome data is that the mean years of completion has ranged from 7 to 10 years, which is extremely high. Considering that Fordham is a private school, and tuition is expensive, you will definitely be in significant debt if you're spending that amount of time there.

 

[451780]

Well, I'm currently an intern in the School Psychology department of a school that caters exclusively to students with special needs, and I intend to remain working with the same population in a school setting. I love school psychology because of the school component. If you're working as an ABA therapist and don't want to work in a school, why not continue down that path? From what I've heard, it's pretty difficult to segue into private practice with a degree in school psychology because it's pretty limited and internships outside of the school systems are hard to come by. Hofstra used to have a dual clinical-school psychology program for people who wanted to do that, but it was actually phased out.

 

[FadedC]

Fordham School psych does not have a poor APA match rate, their overall APA match rate is 82% over 10 years which is significantly higher then any other NY based school psych program. However like most school psych programs, only a small number of people actually apply to APA every year.

Another reason why I would avoid Fordham is because if you're interested in working outside of the schools, Fordham has a poor APA-internship match rate - for example, in the 2011-2012 school year, only 2/12 students received an APA-accredited internship. Multiple reasons could explain this match rate - perhaps most of the students are only interested in working in the schools, and therefore an APA-accredited internship isn't necessary. However, perhaps more students are interested in obtaining APA-accredited internships, but their training does not prepare them to obtain one.

 

[amanda12202]

Fordham School psych does not have a poor APA match rate, their overall APA match rate is 82% over 10 years which is significantly higher then any other NY based school psych program. However like most school psych programs, only a small number of people actually apply to APA every year.

From what I understand APA internships in school psychology programs are generally low due to lack of applicants. When looking at Fordham's website, it appears that their APA match rate is only about 12% since 2003. Where did you get 82%? Is that the number of APA applicants who received APA internships?

 

[FadedC]

Yep the APA match rate is the percentage of APA applicants who succesfully recieve internships. It's a measure of how succesfull people are at receiving APA internships, so it doesn't include people who don't even try in the first place. It's often viewed as a measure of program quality, although that may be less the the case for school psych programs.

You can find Match rate statistics here

http://www.appic.org/Match/Match-Statistics

You'll note that the vast majority of school psych programs have very few APA internships applicants, but that most also have match rates much closer to the 50% range.

From what I understand APA internships in school psychology programs are generally low due to lack of applicants. When looking at Fordham's website, it appears that their APA match rate is only about 12% since 2003. Where did you get 82%? Is that the number of APA applicants who received APA internships?

 

[willialr]

I saw a rejection posted on TGC. Has anyone heard anything after interview?