Interview process at Alliant SF

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albpsych85

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Hey everyone, I just got invited for an interview at the San Francisco PhD in Clinical Psychology Program (Alliant, CSPP). I haven't heard back from my admission counselor yet so I was wondering if anyone has gone through the process or knows of it. Any recommendations or tips on how to prepare for the interview or what to expect are highly appreciated. Thanks.

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Step 1: secure loan funding for a gajilion dollars
Step 2: Be comfortable with not being able to pay it off for the entirety of your career.
Step 3: Be ok with the fact that they have not placed a student in an APA accredited internship in forever

*edit, the accredited thing was for the PsyD program, not the PhD.
 
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Step 1: secure loan funding for a gajilion dollars
Step 2: Be comfortable with not being able to pay it off for the entirety of your career.
Step 3: Be ok with the fact that they have not placed a student in an APA accredited internship in forever
Paying for it shouldn't be an issue since I'll be using the GI bill. I understand the risks I'm taking with it being a professional school (I've read the threads) but I'm more interested on how to prepare for the interview.
 
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Any recommendations or tips on how to prepare for the interview or what to expect are highly appreciated.

Agreed with three steps above. (Use your GI bill wisely...a good APA internship match rate is vital for keeping future employment options wide open.)

Congratulations on the interview. I would suggest using this one as a 'dress rehearsal' to the others that will come your way (...seriously).

You can search old threads for common interview questions to be asked of you and for you to ask. Good luck with the entire 2016-2017 interview process. :luck:
 
Well, the PhD is slightly better than the PsyD at Alliant San Fran, but that is not saying much. I'd prepare for it as you would any interview, varied depending on your career interests. I'd also be curious to what they say if you ask why their licensure percentage is so low, considering their training model.
 
CheetahGirl, thank you. And, I have looked at most threads that talk about interviews but nothing substantive. I only saw one thread with question examples form an Argosy interview.
 
I'd also be curious to what they say if you ask why their licensure percentage is so low, considering their training model.

Good point, I'll definitely have that as one of my questions.
 
Also, make sure you are up to date on all of the fine print of the GI Bill benefits. This program has a high attrition rate. In some circumstances, if you drop out of classes or a program, you can be responsible for some or all of the fees. Things like this have happened to several of my patients along the years.
 
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Also, make sure you are up to date on all of the fine print of the GI Bill benefits. This program has a high attrition rate. In some circumstances, if you drop out of classes or a program, you can be responsible for some or all of the fees. Things like this have happened to several of my patients along the years.

Dropping out is not an option but I have done my research on the benefits and what could happen.
 
If I recall the correct way to prepare is to be associated with a racist organization, get convicted of false imprisonment and felonious assault, create a new holiday, and attend one year of courses after you get out of prison.

At least that is how Alliant granted a phd to the founder of kwanza.
 
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Oh, @PSYDR...you are incorrigible.

First @albpsych85 - Make sure you thoroughly read each program's brochure...don't ask questions about info that is already printed. Reading the brochures gives you a jumping off point for asking individualized relevant questions, and definitely shows you've done your homework (it's the beginning to the end...just kidding), and shows your deepened interest in that particular program.

So, some good questions for doctoral program admissions (it's been a while for me...), for any program, are:

1) Do you begin an externship in the first year? (Some programs don't; but mine did...I personally liked starting in the 1st year b/c you jumped into the clinical work).

2) In relation to the model of the program (i.e., scientist-practitioner, scholar-professional, etc. - Know this about each place you interview...if it not clear, ask...), how does this program mainly train you, and where are most of the graduates? (e.g., university-based professors, clinicians in private practice, clinicians/ researchers in academic medical centers/ AMCs, etc.).

3) What qualities are they looking for in an applicant? (This assesses for what existing qualities they want you to possess coming in...and you can consider if you actually are demonstrating those qualities in the interview- Wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

4) What are the available opportunities to publish and contribute to scholarly work? (This is a personal favorite b/c if you are interviewing at a slacker program, they will not have anything to say or you will smell the BS miles away. However, if the program is solid, they will be confident in their scholarly contributions to the field, and then, you learn and get excited about the chance to work with someone who trained with Edna Foa/trauma, or Nancy McWilliams/psychodiagnostics...some of my personal favorite researchers/ authors/contributors).

5) Again, if it is not clear, ask about the conceptual models (i.e., are you going to be trained in a foundation of behavioral theories, psychodynamic theories, more cognitive theories) and is there any flexibility? My program would've said 'we'll train you psychodynamic conceptualization, but we will expect you to pursue and enhance your cognitive-behavioral techniques'). Because, to me, at the end of the day... when these approaches are combined, they become useful to understand the most effective way to build an alliance and to develop interventions with the patient you are treating. There is never a one-size-fits-all in psychology.

Programs will have strength in one main area or another, but you want that clearly defined up front to align with your existing worldview (i.e., my business-minded husband would suck at a psychodynamic program b/c he's all about 'get over that, move on'...but, that's his worldview, so I would recommend a more behavioral program for him, if he pursued a second career. But, no worries. He's not.)

That's all I can come up with for now (in addition to the sage advice from above). If anything else compelling pops up, I'll be back.‎
 
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@CheetahGirl , really appreciate the depth in your response. I have gone through the entire website and have a good idea of what kind of program they are running but I'll def go back and read their emphasis on what you mentioned above. I'll also look more in depth into the professors' individual merits and publications and hopefully I can find someone that matches up with my interests. Thanks again for your response :)
 
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For any interview for grad school or internship I found it exceedingly helpful to talk to current students. If they give the opportunity to do this, take it!! If they don't, consider it a red flag. If students are successful and happy in a program the administration will be eager to show you. If they don't provide that opportunity, what are they hiding? Questions to ask students (and get several different students' perspectives on the same question) include their most and least favorite aspects of the program, what were the biggest surprises, how does the cohort get along (is it cooperative, competitive, indifferent?), different supervisory styles / do they get along OK with their supervisors, and what they have to say about what recent graduates of the program are doing/where they are on internship (and if those internships are accredited). The upper year students are probably looking ahead to preparing for internship applications and probably have a pretty good idea of what the students a year or two ahead of them are doing and if they had a hard time matching or finding a job and you might get better qualitative info from students than the admin regarding that, especially if there are issues. ALso consider how many years people take to graduate, EPPP pass rates, etc. Taking a bunch of years to graduate is not necessarily a hallmark of better / more training... I agree w/ Cheetah in treating this as a practice run for other interviews :)
 
Good points @singasongofjoy. I'll look to see if there are any students available to chat on the school's website.
You could probably also ask during interviews or ask the person who emailed you about the interview invite if there will be an opportunity to talk to current students. Many programs build that into their interview day schedule.
 
Hey everyone, I just got invited for an interview at the San Francisco PhD in Clinical Psychology Program (Alliant, CSPP). I haven't heard back from my admission counselor yet so I was wondering if anyone has gone through the process or knows of it. Any recommendations or tips on how to prepare for the interview or what to expect are highly appreciated. Thanks.

There are some great professors at Alliant SF in the Ph.D. program, which by the way has great APA accredited internship match rates. It's also a university that is a part of the Yellow Ribbon Program (https://www.alliant.edu/admissions/veterans-military-adms/yellow_ribbon_program/) and really pushes multicultural diversity and understanding how this impacts treatment (which a lot of schools don't do very well). What I enjoyed most is the cluster groups of the program. You are matched with a professor to complete a thesis and then your dissertation. It gave me the opportunity to develop and implement my own studies, which helped me to land some pretty sweet research positions. I've learned how to not only use SPSS, but I'm fairly proficient in STATA. They also set you up with getting ready for licensure, etc.

When I went to the interview, it was group format led by a professor and a grad student from their research cluster. Questions were posed to the groups (research interests, etc) and they allowed you to answer.
 
There are some great professors at Alliant SF in the Ph.D. program, which by the way has great APA accredited internship match rates. It's also a university that is a part of the Yellow Ribbon Program (https://www.alliant.edu/admissions/veterans-military-adms/yellow_ribbon_program/) and really pushes multicultural diversity and understanding how this impacts treatment (which a lot of schools don't do very well). What I enjoyed most is the cluster groups of the program. You are matched with a professor to complete a thesis and then your dissertation. It gave me the opportunity to develop and implement my own studies, which helped me to land some pretty sweet research positions. I've learned how to not only use SPSS, but I'm fairly proficient in STATA. They also set you up with getting ready for licensure, etc.

When I went to the interview, it was group format led by a professor and a grad student from their research cluster. Questions were posed to the groups (research interests, etc) and they allowed you to answer.

Milking the government for every dollar you can and classes in "diversity"...sounds just great. What does that program cost again (for non-veterans)? What is the median salary for a psychologist again?
 
I see 62-73% for accredited sites between '11 and '16 ...............

Well, I guess it depends on your definition of "great." Maybe it's in the same vein as "Make America Great Again." In which case, more than 20% below what I would define as even acceptable is great to some people. :)
 
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Milking the government for every dollar you can and classes in "diversity"...sounds just great. What does that program cost again (for non-veterans)? What is the median salary for a psychologist again?
I'm seeing about $35,000/year for the first year, but I can't tell what it would be for subsequent years, because their website doesn't work well to see which courses one would take.

I see 62-73% for accredited sites between '11 and '16 ...............

I'm seeing 38% to 88% for that time span.

https://www.alliant.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SF-PhD-C-20.pdf
 
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