How much research is enough to get into Grad School?

[marcopolo0919]

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Before this year I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but now I want to go to grad school for clinical psychology. I know what the requirements for the most part are. Right now I have a 3.7 GPA from the school I transferred from and I feel that I can continue my success at my new school. My dilemma is how much research do I need in order to be considered for admission. I just started working in a research lab and it is my junior year. I interviewed for a second one but I didn't hear back yet. So now I am a year away from having to apply grad school and at the most I will have one year of research assistantship and a summer internship hopefully. Is this enough research experience that grad? And how do I get letters of recommendation with such little time to make relationships?

 

[psych.meout]

Before this year I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but now I want to go to grad school for clinical psychology. I know what the requirements for the most part are. Right now I have a 3.7 GPA from the school I transferred from and I feel that I can continue my success at my new school. My dilemma is how much research do I need in order to be considered for admission. I just started working in a research lab and it is my junior year. I interviewed for a second one but I didn't hear back yet. So now I am a year away from having to apply grad school and at the most I will have one year of research assistantship and a summer internship hopefully. Is this enough research experience that grad? And how do I get letters of recommendation with such little time to make relationships?

It's probably not enough, though that depends on what your actual responsibilities are in the lab (e.g., grunt work vs more advanced tasks leading to posters and pubs), but you don't have to apply right out of undergrad. Some undergrad labs will let you continue after you graduate if you communicate to them that you want to apply for grad school, though this would likely be unpaid. You could also get a paid research assistant gig after you graduate.

 

[Seven_Costanza]

Before this year I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but now I want to go to grad school for clinical psychology. I know what the requirements for the most part are. Right now I have a 3.7 GPA from the school I transferred from and I feel that I can continue my success at my new school. My dilemma is how much research do I need in order to be considered for admission. I just started working in a research lab and it is my junior year. I interviewed for a second one but I didn't hear back yet. So now I am a year away from having to apply grad school and at the most I will have one year of research assistantship and a summer internship hopefully. Is this enough research experience that grad? And how do I get letters of recommendation with such little time to make relationships?

I’d say the majority of folks don’t get involved with research until their Junior year, so you aren’t necessarily late to the game. However, most people don’t apply to grad school (or get in) during their senior year. Most have to take a gap year or 2.

 

[Justanothergrad]

The answer is "it depends". A lot of it will depend on the competitiveness of your entire application (GRE, who the letters are from, how strong they are, where you apply, how well you fit, etc.). Time is a bad marker for research letters because ultimately what we want to see is that you can contribute to a lab. If you spend 3 years doing basic data entry and you are competing against someone who did a year and a half of research, including managing to get their name on a poster.. the first doesnt stack up. Quality, not quantity, is what matters.

You have plenty of time from where you are at now. Your GPA is over the threshold.

 

[MTLDR]

Before this year I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but now I want to go to grad school for clinical psychology. I know what the requirements for the most part are. Right now I have a 3.7 GPA from the school I transferred from and I feel that I can continue my success at my new school. My dilemma is how much research do I need in order to be considered for admission. I just started working in a research lab and it is my junior year. I interviewed for a second one but I didn't hear back yet. So now I am a year away from having to apply grad school and at the most I will have one year of research assistantship and a summer internship hopefully. Is this enough research experience that grad? And how do I get letters of recommendation with such little time to make relationships?

I would do your best to submit a poster to a conference or give a small talk to the faculty, maybe based on the work being done in your lab.