Do you think there might be a reason why there is a "bias?"
He's not "off" on his/her observation. More to the point, most of the advice given about what direction to sway in terms of Ph.D. vs. Psy.D. is often presented as anecdotal and the perspectives tend to be personally skewed in one direction (i.e., level of current income, vs. expected income, vs. expected debt, vs. ranking of program, vs. funding of program). My favorite is when people say "why don't you just go to medical school for the amount of time and money you are about to spend," second to that is the idea somehow that, maybe those who don't have children, don't want children, have different financial responsibilities, are geographically restricted or perhaps can't or don't want to enter into a Ph.D. program due to lack in research interests, GPA, test scores, etc. are somehow making a bad decision since it doesn't align with what others have deemed as acceptable from their perspective. Know that simply "providing advice" kind of seems like you are pushing others into a direction "you" have pre-selected as the more conventional or appropriate pathway.
are there any inexpensive psyd programs(APA of coarse) ??
I am a junior in college with a 3.9 gpa double majoring in bio-psychology and have experience as a research assistant, a few internships and I have spearheaded a few programs at my university, like peer counseling. I will be applying next fall for schools-I need to start getting an idea of where I want to go so I can start writing my essays, planning visits, and studying for my GREs.
My hope is that after I get my psyd, I will work in a hospital setting as a clinician, and possibly opening my own practice.
Bottom line- I know there are a lot great programs out there, and I realize that no matter what it will be expensive to receive a Psyd, but I want to know if it is possible to get into a program that is somewhat affordable. I don't want to graduate with heaps of student debt.
I look forward to hearing some suggestions! Thank you for your help!! 🙂
Know that a Psy.D. program will cost you a good chunk of a change (i.e., $150-200K, sometimes even more). Know that at the end of the day, you want to focus on gaining the pertinent training and competencies to function as a psychologist (i.e., assessment, intervention and synthesis of research into practice). Know that if you have research interests, several Psy.D. programs often have faculty engaged in such research and you can supplement the extensive clinical experience often representative of a Psy.D. program. Pick a program with decent APA match rates, sometimes the licensing rates can be ambiguously interpreted because some people often opt to not become licensed or delay the licensing process for whatever reasons (family issues, moving, explored other ways to apply their psychological knowledge in environment that don't require a license, etc.).
Identify Psy.D. programs that have a long standing record of sending students to certain practicum sites, pre-doc and post-doc sites. The university I attend for example has fantastic placement sites for both their forensic and neuropsychology track students. This brings up another thing to consider; when looking at programs that have tracks, while they are used to market their program as a whole, they also have utility. If you opt for a concentration, you will take coursework (4-5+ courses roughly) in a certain track that gives you exposure to a certain area that will help you solidify what you are learning in practicum, it will help market you for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral sites as this information builds upon itself and coagulates with each other between formal courses, practicum and research you may or may not opt to engage in. Additionally, many pre-doctoral sites I've seen (e.g. several VA sites, several APPCN sites) often have in their aplplication requirements, that they either prefer or sometimes require formal coursework in neuropsychology (often accumulated in a program that has a track). Conversely, there are several pre-doctoral internship sites that will only take Ph.D. students or heavily allude to accepting Ph.D. students over Psy.D. students.
I attend a program that has several students that are naive about what being a psychologist will entail, but that is fine, this is the time to iron those things out. Don't feel like you should have an inflated sense of accomplishment or should have achieved a certain amount of things prior to applying to a Psy.D. program. Lastly, have good reason to become a psychologist. I will be the one who goes out on a limb here at say that becoming a psychologist is broadly encompassing, and not liking a certain element of the profession is not detrimental, such as not wanting to engage in research. To add onto that, having several friends and family members who are either medical students, residents or currently practicing physicians; their intent was to become a clinician, some opted for an additional research fellowship so they could publish, etc. Ultimately, they learned (via their single course of biostatistics and research methods) how to assimilate the prevailing information in their respective specialities that allow them to be up to date on interventions and assessments respectively. What I am essentially saying is, don't feel like you have to be research driven or oriented to want to become a psychologist. Personally, I do enjoy research to some extent, but I would say only about 20% of the time.
I hope this might help provide an alternative view from someone currently enrolled in a Psy.D. program. It's not Harvard, it's not Baylor, Rutgers, Indiana, but it was a good fit for me, my goals, my current situation, where I ideally see myself practicing, what engagements I will have, etc. (i.e., a holistic analysis). If you have anymore questions, feel free to message me.
