Good day everyone.
I studied psychology in undergrads, and was accepted to a respectable and highly research oriented APA-accredited PhD program in clinical psychology. Then I quit in the middle of the program, never completing even my masters. That was 8-9 years ago.
The reason I quit was "health reason" but the real reason that kept me from going back was a family emergency that turned into something pretty chronic and the whole thing traumatized me. Literally. Funny how studying about such things in school is quite different from facing them in a very personal way in your own life. Eventually when all settled, I ended up going for therapy myself for several years and I think I'm 90% of my old self now, so to speak. In my late 30s now and needing to start over, I have looked at various options but my therapist, one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, really urged me to not give up on my dream of pursuing academic and professional training in clinical psychology.
In terms of clinical psychology as an area of study and also future career, I have been considering various factors, such as stress (possibility of vicarious traumatization and more generally, burnout), the heavy workload (academic AND clinical work), uncertain future in terms of turf wars, finances, etc. However, even more important is knowing my chances of getting in. Naturally I will need to spend some time taking some undergrad courses, do some research, and get back in the game, and to show the admitting committee that I do have at least the minimum intelligence and work ethic required to succeed in this field. But I also do recall from ten year ago, about how competitive clinical programs were. My classmates would not believe it when had I told them it would be easier to get into medical school!
For those of you who are currently in a graduate program or recently graduated, I imagine some of you have had some involvement with the admission committee and their process (I never did get the chance to do so in my PhD program but this was something we were supposed to slowly get involved with). I'm hoping you can give me some suggestion and guidance. As a "mature" student, what are my chances? How bad is it that I quit a clinical program, and how bad is it that I have not been doing anything academic in the last ten years and now a big hole remains in the middle of my CV? Can good GRE or grades, assuming I obtain them, make up for any of this or should I just give up and pursue a non-PhD degree, perhaps a graduate degree from a professional psychology school, given that those accredited PhD programs that offer free tuition are presumably less likely to take a chance on someone like me, and instead invest in people with essentially flawless academic records?
Thank you for your help, I appreciate your feedback, and constructive advice.
I studied psychology in undergrads, and was accepted to a respectable and highly research oriented APA-accredited PhD program in clinical psychology. Then I quit in the middle of the program, never completing even my masters. That was 8-9 years ago.
The reason I quit was "health reason" but the real reason that kept me from going back was a family emergency that turned into something pretty chronic and the whole thing traumatized me. Literally. Funny how studying about such things in school is quite different from facing them in a very personal way in your own life. Eventually when all settled, I ended up going for therapy myself for several years and I think I'm 90% of my old self now, so to speak. In my late 30s now and needing to start over, I have looked at various options but my therapist, one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, really urged me to not give up on my dream of pursuing academic and professional training in clinical psychology.
In terms of clinical psychology as an area of study and also future career, I have been considering various factors, such as stress (possibility of vicarious traumatization and more generally, burnout), the heavy workload (academic AND clinical work), uncertain future in terms of turf wars, finances, etc. However, even more important is knowing my chances of getting in. Naturally I will need to spend some time taking some undergrad courses, do some research, and get back in the game, and to show the admitting committee that I do have at least the minimum intelligence and work ethic required to succeed in this field. But I also do recall from ten year ago, about how competitive clinical programs were. My classmates would not believe it when had I told them it would be easier to get into medical school!
For those of you who are currently in a graduate program or recently graduated, I imagine some of you have had some involvement with the admission committee and their process (I never did get the chance to do so in my PhD program but this was something we were supposed to slowly get involved with). I'm hoping you can give me some suggestion and guidance. As a "mature" student, what are my chances? How bad is it that I quit a clinical program, and how bad is it that I have not been doing anything academic in the last ten years and now a big hole remains in the middle of my CV? Can good GRE or grades, assuming I obtain them, make up for any of this or should I just give up and pursue a non-PhD degree, perhaps a graduate degree from a professional psychology school, given that those accredited PhD programs that offer free tuition are presumably less likely to take a chance on someone like me, and instead invest in people with essentially flawless academic records?
Thank you for your help, I appreciate your feedback, and constructive advice.
