How do my credentials to get into a PhD program look?

[PhDHopeful89]

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I am currently a junior who is interested in applying to a PhD child-clinical psychology program after undergraduate school. I know clinical psychology programs are very competitive so I have been working very hard to build an impressive resume. I'm not sure which graduate schools I will be applying to but I'm just looking for a general opinion on my work so far. I also plan to continually add more to my resume.

- Psychology major, sociology minor: 3.803 GPA

- Research assistant for qualitative study on Latino children with depression

- Conducting own qualitative experiment on Latinos who live in substance abuse housing and will present findings this year at the Eco Conference

- Worked in a preschool for a school year

- Volunteer for a group session for children who suffer from separation anxiety

- Volunteer for a group session for girls age 9-11 to help with social skills building

-I am going to take the GRE this winter

 

[leavingprov]

I am currently a junior who is interested in applying to a PhD child-clinical psychology program after undergraduate school. I know clinical psychology programs are very competitive so I have been working very hard to build an impressive resume. I'm not sure which graduate schools I will be applying to but I'm just looking for a general opinion on my work so far. I also plan to continually add more to my resume.

- Psychology major, sociology minor: 3.803 GPA

- Research assistant for qualitative study on Latino children with depression

- Conducting own qualitative experiment on Latinos who live in substance abuse housing and will present findings this year at the Eco Conference

- Worked in a preschool for a school year

- Volunteer for a group session for children who suffer from separation anxiety

- Volunteer for a group session for girls age 9-11 to help with social skills building

-I am going to take the GRE this winter

You sound like you're on a great track with a lot of amazing experiences in both research and clinical areas! Your application sounds like it will be very strong. Do you have a specifice area of research or clinical interest? Good luck on the GREs.

 

[PrisonPsych]

Sounding pretty good!

 

[PhDHopeful89]

Thank you both for the positive feedback! I would also really appreciate it if others wrote their thoughts as well.

 

[PrisonPsych]

You're going to get pretty much the same answer from everyone else. Your stats are fine. The important things are maximizing your research, and applying to programs where you will be a good fit with one or more of the professors' research interests.

If there are professors at your school doing the kind of research you're interested in, talk to them about their suggestions for some schools/programs to look into. Get the APA Guide to Graduate Study in Psychology and the other major guide (Barron's? can't remember right now) to the different programs and go through them with a fine toothed comb to look for potential matches.

Start taking practice GRE's to get a feel for what you may end up scoring when you take it "for real," and study up on areas where you're weak.