Low rank programs

[Waldeinsamkeit]

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What are the implications of going to a low ranked program on your career? I understand you probably can’t do academia. What about anything else? Fellowships? Jobs? Is there anyway to try and get around this obstacle?

Thank you for any advice.

 

[Stagg737]

I understand you probably can’t do academia.

This isn't really true for psych. You might not be able to get a position at an elite program, but you can still enter academia. If you want to do a cash only practice it may be harder to attract the wealthy patients if you're not coming out of an elite or at least geographically respected program as well. May also be harder to get into the tippy-top fellowships, but every fellowship field is still wide open. Other than that from everything I've been told and seen most doors are open in psych regardless of where you train.

Don't be concerned about "rank" of program, look at quality and opportunities in relation to what you actually want to do. It will likely serve you far better down the line.

 

[Orgone]

I would even say that every door is still open. Academic centers in the areas I've been working are having to use locums and would hire somebody, anybody permanent in a heartbeat. And even NP's in my area are able to do successful cash only practices.

Not to say prestige never helps, but I would not be concerned about it. If I were applying again I would be more worried about the quality of the people who will be teaching you, and how invested they are in teaching. This will ultimately effect your competence and career more than the program "ranking".

 

[Mass Effect]

Define low-ranked.

 

[deleted736562]

There are a couple of elitist programs who only take people from a couple of other x and y big name places, but for the most part this is a nonfactor. Even for private practice your reputation among colleagues and in the community trumps your "pedigree" every single time. Everyone knows that big name programs have their own share of duds.

I would focus on exploring, finding a passion, challenging yourself, networking and everything else would fall in place.

 

[Marasmus1]

By low rank, I guess you mean bad reputation. And the answer of your question is directly related to what you desire to be. Do you want to make money? Believe me, most of the grads of low rank programs make more than IVY league grads because they are street smart. Do you want status and prestige? Well, you may not be an emeritus professor at Yale or Harvard but you can definitely go to academia and teach or research.

In the end what matters is what you want in your life.

 

[Mass Effect]

There are a couple of elitist programs who only take people from a couple of other x and y big name places

I'm not even sure that's true. Personal reputation will take you far in psych, even at big name places, even without the pedigree.

 

[Waldeinsamkeit]

Define low-ranked.

Not anywhere on doximities like 100+ list of programs, most of my peers are MDs but have red flags, still affiliated with a university.

 

[deleted736562]

I'm not even sure that's true. Personal reputation will take you far in psych, even at big name places, even without the pedigree.

I'm definitely not talking about all or even most big name places. I think there's a subset though that tends to be "incestuous" and tend to focus on grads of similar big name programs. It's really about program culture more than anything else. It's not like it factors much into the overall picture unless one is really bent on targeting a particular program.