How many programs to apply to?

[joetro]

Hello.

I am planning to apply to research-oriented clinical psychology PhD programs. My general GRE scores and GPA are both very good and in all cases higher than the statistics for all of my programs, including many high-profile programs. I feel like I would be in a position to have solid letters of recommendation. I have authorship on two posters at a national conference, I am writing an honors senior thesis and taking a graduate-level statistics course. I am choosing programs based on good matches with faculty and feel that I could write compelling personal statements that indicate this match. I have a good amount of research experience compared to other undergrads.

In short, I feel like I would have a good shot at making the first cut at many of the programs I would apply to, but my real concern is the interview. Compared to students who might have taken time off after graduating, I may not have as much research and especially supervisory experience as they would have.

I currently have 14 schools on my list but I am hoping to narrow to 12 for sure and hopefully 8-10, many of which again would be uber-competitive. Is this foolish? How many programs would be good in my situation. I would want to try to streamline the application and potential interview process as much as possible, so I'm just not interested in making 15-20 applications if I want to hand-tailor each personal statement.

Thanks!

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[psych101]

Sounds like your application will look greats o I'm sure you won't have a problem getting interviews. My general advice to anyone is to apply to as many places as you can afford to. Tailoring the individual applications might take a little time, but often not too much in the grand scheme of things. It's better to apply to too many programs and get asked on too many interviews than to have to wait around another year because you submitted too few or weren't a good fit for the ones you applied to. You can always decline the interviews if you get invited to too many, but I think interviews are the real deciding factor. Meeting the people you will be stuck with for the next however many years. You can try to see if really feels like a good fit. So go on as many as you can! Yes, the whole process is ridiculously expensive. Wait until you have to apply for internship, that's just as bad if not worse. Good luck - hope you end up where you want to be!

 

[LM02]

Wait until you have to apply for internship, that's just as bad if not worse. Good luck - hope you end up where you want to be!

Oh, internship is much worse.

 

[Noah333]

There have been several references on the board to the trauma associated with the internship application process. As I prepare to apply this fall, I would like to have as much information as possible about what I am getting myself into! Would you mind elaborating on why this process is so awful? (I assume from the comment above that there is a great expense associated with interviewing - yes?) What else? Thanks.

 

[LM02]

There have been several references on the board to the trauma associated with the internship application process. As I prepare to apply this fall, I would like to have as much information as possible about what I am getting myself into! Would you mind elaborating on why this process is so awful? (I assume from the comment above that there is a great expense associated with interviewing - yes?) What else? Thanks.

For me, there were a few painful aspects, although overall it wasn't agonizing (how's that for encouragement?).

1. The cost is quite high. I spent somewhere in the ballpark of $3000 when all was said and done. The majority of the cost was on airfare, hotel, and rental cars. But with all of the travel comes having to buy meals, pay for cabs, etc. I also sent all of my applications via FedEx so that i could track them - the FedEx bill alone was over $100.

On the plus side, I did get lots of frequent flyer miles from all the plane travel and hotel stays. I would definitely recommend signing up for any points programs you can. We're going to use the miles for a free trip to Hawaii.

2. The essays. I was so tired of writing all of those essays when all was said and done. There are the 4 essays that can be submitted everywhere, but there's that 5th essay that has to be tailored to each site. I applied to 10 programs - that means I wrote the 4 essays + 10 individualzed essays + 10 cover letters. That part was a bit torturous.

3. The APPIC rules. I found that the "rules" of the match were overly constraining when it came time to interact with the interviewers. First, I found that it was very difficult to gauge what they thought of me during and after the interviews, b/c they're all so worried about saying "too much" about how they feel about the individual applicants. Further, I myself didn't want to inadvertently appear to be breaking the rules by saying too much about what I thought about any particular program. So you get stuck playing these games, talking about how sites are "a good match." But it was all about reading in between the lines (which I find artificial).

Luckily, for those applying to graduate school, everything is a lot more up front and direct. If you're somebody's top choice, they're likely to tell you that. But in the match, they can't.

In the end, I was incredibly satisfied with the internship matching process. It's stressful, especially when it comes close to match day. But I think the current system is a huge improvement over the way it used to be (if that's any consolation). Good luck!

 

[Noah333]

Thanks for the information. It is really helpful. One question. What factors seem to weigh heavily in the process? Your grades in grad school? the focus of you dissertation/the professor with whom one is working? the (stilted) interview?

 

[joetro]

Any more thoughts on the original question?

 

[SaraL124]

I would recommend applying to between 12-15 programs. But make sure you are only applying to schools you would be willing to go to. You don't want to spend the money and effort and then get into programs you know you would not be happy going to. It never hurts to overapply, especially since you have a lot of time if you start doing your personal statements now...and especially if you are coming straight out of undergrad. I am a first year grad student and out of 13 new students, only 3 came directly from undergrad (one from the same school's undergrad program). And the average age in my program of the rest of the people is about 27.

Good luck and apply widely!!!

 

[psychanon]

I second Sara's advice.... your qualifications seem good but remember that there are hundreds of people just like you applying for the same few slots. Don't be overconfident because your GRE scores are above the mean-- that really doesn't mean much (usually as long as your scores are above a certain threshold, they're not given much consideration). The admissions process in clinical psychology is capricious and very difficult to predict--professors often have a particular student profile in mind, like having certain skills or particular interests. This isn't to discourage you-- your vita seems great and you're likely to do well-- but you really ought to hedge your bets and apply to at least 10 programs (and 12-15 is better).

I agree, also, that you shouldn't bother applying to programs to which you absolutely couldn't see yourself going.