Is 18 too many internship sites?

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Spookerella

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Currently putting together my APPIC application. I'm not geographically limited, so I've been looking at sites all over the country. From internet searches, speaking to supervisors and colleagues, I found a number of really interesting sites that would suit my training needs. Narrowing the list down has been very difficult. At this point I have 18 "finalists." Is that too many? Should I keep eliminating programs? If so, how did you decide ultimately which programs to choose?

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As Acronym Allergy said, if you want them all go for it. Statistically you get diminishing returns after 15 but if you’re willing to pay for, and possibly interview, at all of those sites, it won’t hurt your chances.
 
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I applied to 18! I matched so uhhh....I guess it turned out ok?
 
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How strong of a candidate are you, and how specialized are those sites? The balance is now in favor of applicants, in that there are more positions than applicants. While you can turn down interviews if you get too many, that ends up being pretty hard since they all come in at different times.

I applied to 12 and wish I had applied to fewer.
 
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I applied to a similar number (only APA sites), got interviews at all but a handful, and came away from an expensive, two-month, cross-country whirl wishing I had applied only to my top 10. That said, it was a different time re: the looming internship crisis. I agree with @forensic13 that today’s students can afford to cast their net in a narrower fashion.
 
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mostly college counseling centers with a handful of psychiatry departments

The good news is many college campus sites do video interviews rather than requiring you to fly around the country.
 
Currently putting together my APPIC application. I'm not geographically limited, so I've been looking at sites all over the country. From internet searches, speaking to supervisors and colleagues, I found a number of really interesting sites that would suit my training needs. Narrowing the list down has been very difficult. At this point I have 18 "finalists." Is that too many? Should I keep eliminating programs? If so, how did you decide ultimately which programs to choose?
I have been narrowing my big list down to those where I can actually semi-afford to live on the stipend (if money is something that is a factor for you). There were a few awesome ones in California that paid the same as sites in Indiana, Nebraska, etc., so I had to cut them off my list. Just not feasible to live on such a small amount in one of the most expensive states.
 
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I have been narrowing my big list down to those where I can actually semi-afford to live on the stipend (if money is something that is a factor for you). There were a few awesome ones in California that paid the same as sites in Indiana, Nebraska, etc., so I had to cut them off my list. Just not feasible to live on such a small amount in one of the most expensive states.

Depending on where you are in CA, you can make it work. If the sites are a really good fit for you, I'd say look into the CoL for the specific area a little more before totally deciding against it.

Edit: That being said, I totally understand that money is a factor. I personally didn't apply to sites that paid less than $24K if I'm being honest.
 
Agree with @mypointlesspov . When it comes to internship, if it's a great fit and will open doors, keep the CA sites. It's one year, some budgeting and maybe a small loan can get you there. My advice is different for graduate schools in high cost areas, in those cases it is likely not worth it as the stipend is smaller and 5 years of loans in high COL areas is generally a very bad idea long term.
 
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Depending on where you are in CA, you can make it work. If the sites are a really good fit for you, I'd say look into the CoL for the specific area a little more before totally deciding against it.

Edit: That being said, I totally understand that money is a factor. I personally didn't apply to sites that paid less than $24K if I'm being honest.
One site in California only paid $18,000! Do they expect interns to sleep in an empty ward? (I would do it if I was allowed to bring my cats haha)
 
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I did not match in CA but applied there and some other high CoL areas. My strategy was prioritize the training and potential connections to my future postdoc and job. I would have taken out extra student loans as soon as I would have matched to stash away for the internship year and pay back immediately if not needed by the end of the year. And also, live as cheaply as humanly possible (its only 12 months). I ended up not having to do this, but a few years into my career I still think it would have been worth it if I matched at those sites.
 
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I had a similar experience as @msgeorgeeliot. My program encouraged applying to 18-25 sites (which is wrong, don't apply to 25 sites) and I wasn't confident that I would be competitive at the sites that I was applying to, so I applied to 18. Once the interviews started coming in and I realized I would probably match, I started considering turning down a few interviews to save money. If the site wasn't in my top 10, it was no longer worth the money or time to visit. I tried to inform the two programs I changed my mind about pretty early on (no later than December 15th) so that the program could still extend an interview to someone else. Just an option to balance applying to all of those sites with your efforts to not break the bank.
 
mostly college counseling centers with a handful of psychiatry departments

Given the type of sites you’re looking at, yes that’s too many unless one feels they are truly not a competitive applicant at this time (think number of hours and quality of training)think about the number of individual slots you’re applying for. If it’s generalist that’s a ton!


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If postdoc is in the cards for you, narrow your list based on places that offer postdocs you want, or places you could truly see yourself working. Remember it’s also about networking in the area you go to internship/postdoc.


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