Interview Anxiety

[MayJuneJulie]

Hi guys, just wanting to share my thoughts here because I don't have many people in my life who understand what I'm going through right now. I applied to 6 Clinical Psyc PhD programs (didn't have the funds for more applications sadly) and secured one interview. It is coming up very soon and I feel well-prepared, but the anxiety is really weighing on me. I just found out that they are interviewing at least 25 students for maybe 6 spots, and this doesn't include Skype interviews. I have worked very hard for this opportunity, but I am imagine that every other person there is going to be just as qualified or more qualified (I'm coming straight from undergrad and Master's students will be interviewing) and I don't know how I am going to stand out from the rest. I have excelled in undergrad and have impressed all of my professors thus far, but now I'm going up against people who are just like me.

I'm going to be confident and will do my best, but I am trying to prepare for rejection. Most of all I will hate having to tell all my family, professors, and friends that I wasn't good enough. It will be humiliating.

Anyway, if any of you are feeling similar (and I'm sure many of you are), please let me know how you are handling your stress. And let's all find solace in knowing that it will all be over soon!!

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[smalltownpsych]

Many people don't make it in their first application cycle, I didn't. Family and friends do not understand this process at all, in my experience, so don't expect much from them. They will just be confused as to why someone as capable as yourself is even worried at all throughout the process since they have no idea how competitive and rigorous the process of becoming a psychologist is. Good luck with your interview! 😉

 

[mishpug]

Hi guys, just wanting to share my thoughts here because I don't have many people in my life who understand what I'm going through right now. I applied to 6 Clinical Psyc PhD programs (didn't have the funds for more applications sadly) and secured one interview. It is coming up very soon and I feel well-prepared, but the anxiety is really weighing on me. I just found out that they are interviewing at least 25 students for maybe 6 spots, and this doesn't include Skype interviews. I have worked very hard for this opportunity, but I am imagine that every other person there is going to be just as qualified or more qualified (I'm coming straight from undergrad and Master's students will be interviewing) and I don't know how I am going to stand out from the rest. I have excelled in undergrad and have impressed all of my professors thus far, but now I'm going up against people who are just like me.

I'm going to be confident and will do my best, but I am trying to prepare for rejection. Most of all I will hate having to tell all my family, professors, and friends that I wasn't good enough. It will be humiliating.

Anyway, if any of you are feeling similar (and I'm sure many of you are), please let me know how you are handling your stress. And let's all find solace in knowing that it will all be over soon!!

Applying for doctoral programs is a very hard process and it is especially challenging when you are coming straight from doing your undergraduate work and are used to being consistently successful and recognized for your abilities. As you mentioned, you then end up in a room with 24 other students who are also very hardworking and talented. Often, acceptance comes down to who is the best fit for that program/professor/lab at that moment, so even if you do not get an acceptance it does not mean that you were not good enough. It means that there was someone else who was a better fit at that moment, though I realize that may still feel horrible. Focus on showing them who you are and good luck with the interview!

If it doesn't work out, you can make plans to be an even stronger candidate next year, but please do not feel that you were not good enough. Many, many people on these boards applied more than once.

 

[Member6677]

I didn't make it in my first cycle, but made it in my second, off of one interview. You only need one!

 

[WisNeuro]

Just remember, if this whole clinical psych interview thing doesn't work out, there's always money in the banana stand.

 

[psych.meout]

Just remember, if this whole clinical psych interview thing doesn't work out, there's always money in the banana stand.

Or in online doctoral programs. By which I mean that you could make money by starting an online doctoral program, not if you attend one.

 

[psych.meout]

Hi guys, just wanting to share my thoughts here because I don't have many people in my life who understand what I'm going through right now. I applied to 6 Clinical Psyc PhD programs (didn't have the funds for more applications sadly) and secured one interview. It is coming up very soon and I feel well-prepared, but the anxiety is really weighing on me. I just found out that they are interviewing at least 25 students for maybe 6 spots, and this doesn't include Skype interviews. I have worked very hard for this opportunity, but I am imagine that every other person there is going to be just as qualified or more qualified (I'm coming straight from undergrad and Master's students will be interviewing) and I don't know how I am going to stand out from the rest. I have excelled in undergrad and have impressed all of my professors thus far, but now I'm going up against people who are just like me.

I'm going to be confident and will do my best, but I am trying to prepare for rejection. Most of all I will hate having to tell all my family, professors, and friends that I wasn't good enough. It will be humiliating.

Anyway, if any of you are feeling similar (and I'm sure many of you are), please let me know how you are handling your stress. And let's all find solace in knowing that it will all be over soon!!

It's ok to feel anxious about this if it's important to you, but you can't be so down on yourself if you happen to not be admitted this time. It would not be because you "[weren't] good enough" to be admitted. If you get invited to an interview, you are definitely qualified to for the program, which is what many DCTs and faculty explicitly say during interviews. Interviews are more about fit than anything else, as others here have noted. Sometimes the program isn't right for you and sometimes it's that the POI you chose isn't right for you. You shouldn't really get too down on yourself for this, because no matter how much you want to do to grad school, you really don't want to end up somewhere you don't actually fit. It would make grad school miserable, which may affect your performance and complicate or even endanger your outcomes from the program. The thing is, when the fit is there, you'll totally feel it. It's this intangible quality that is so visceral and comforting that it's unmistakable.

If you do end up not getting admitted this time, don't let it deter you completely from reapplying. Use it as an opportunity for next time. Ask for feedback about your application and performance and use the interim between then and the next time you apply to improve your application. Also, build off of the interviewing experience for next time. I had quite a few interviews this time and I noticed that by the time I had my interview with my first choice program, I had honed my narrative about how my research and clinical experience dovetail together into a coherent plan about what I want to do in grad school and for a career and how they fit into the overall program and with my POI.

Pay attention to what you and your fellow interviewees say and how faculty respond. Use this to inform upon what you say and how you behave in the future. If it seems like faculty and current students respond favorably to certain well-thought-out questions and comments about the program and doctoral training, make sure to bring them up in the future. If they respond poorly, don't do it again!

 

[deleted760483]

Have you tried staying calm and not getting so worked up about things?

 

[WisNeuro]

Have you tried staying calm and not getting so worked up about things?

This is SDN. I imagine half of the people on this site can't pick out which breakfast cereal they are going to eat without a benzo.

 

[Beezlebub]

This is SDN. I imagine half of the people on this site can't pick out which breakfast cereal they are going to eat without a benzo.

I cant even tell the day with my calendar opened. Every day feels like a monday.

 

[WisNeuro]

I cant even tell the day with my calendar opened. Every day feels like a monday.

I wish it were Sunday. 'Cause that's my fun day.