Mentors and time spent in school

[MI2005]

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I am currently in the fortunate position of being able to choose between 2 Ph.D. programs, and I am not done interviewing. I am hoping current and former doctoral students might be willing to comment on what they consider to be the most important factors affecting the time it takes students to get through a program. Because I am returning to school after being out of undergrad for a few years, I do not want to be in a doctoral program for 6-7+ years prior to internship.

I have heard that the most important factor outside of the student's control that influences the time spent in a program is the working style of a student's mentor. Do people on here agree? Additionally, what else would you suggest I look for in programs to find one where I can get through *relatively* quickly? Thanks!!

 

[LM02]

I am currently in the fortunate position of being able to choose between 2 Ph.D. programs, and I am not done interviewing. I am hoping current and former doctoral students might be willing to comment on what they consider to be the most important factors affecting the time it takes students to get through a program. Because I am returning to school after being out of undergrad for a few years, I do not want to be in a doctoral program for 6-7+ years prior to internship.

I have heard that the most important factor outside of the student's control that influences the time spent in a program is the working style of a student's mentor. Do people on here agree? Additionally, what else would you suggest I look for in programs to find one where I can get through *relatively* quickly? Thanks!!

Absolutely - I still collaborate with my graduate school mentor, and I attribute a lot of my success in school to a strong working relationship with him.

The tough thing is that there is no objective ideal set of characteristics for a mentor. Rather, it is the match between your mentor's style and your own. You can certainly get a sense of this from your own interactions, but I would strongly recommend that you talk to a potential mentor's current and/or past grad students. How long is it taking them to get through the program? Where have they matched for internship? What do they say are the strengths and weaknesses of their mentor's work style?

One area to be particularly careful of is assessing whether certain mentors are invested in keeping students around as a source of cheap labor. It may not be an explicit goal, but it may be implicit. I have several friends who have graduated from prestigious clinical PhD programs who had a really hard time getting out of school for this reason.

Good luck - and trust your instincts! 🙂

 

[lazure]

Talk extensively with each professor's current and former students. Talk to other people in the department - see if there have been multiple students who "left" without graduating. Also, look at the prof's publications - how many times do his/her students get first authorship....that's a big one....also, make sure the prof has grants and staff. If there is a paid research coordinator, the grad students don't do the "busy work".
Also, think of back up plans. If this mentorship doesn't work out, is there someone else in the department whose research interests you? Are there opportunities for mentorship from other faculty members?

 

[Psyclops]

Another thing to consider, although almost every student wants to get through as quickly as possible, they may stick around for a year (or two?) to pick up more publications to make them more attractive candidates for the job market. Basically, priorities might change, one more year for a better shot at a coveted placement might sound good 4-5 years frm now. Just a thought.

 

[positivepsych]

Someone recently told me that if you think the competition for clinical psych admissions is bad, wait till you see how competitive academics jobs are in clinical psych. Is this true?

I think it's long enough to spend 6 years in a PhD program, the thought of doing another 2-3 in a post-doc with questionable job prospects makes me woozy. I mean, you spend a decade of your life working hard with little to no status or salary, then have difficulty finding a tenure-track assistant professor job? Someone who is a little older and wiser please shed some light on this and make me feel better here.

 

[50960]

YES positive, it can be negative. This is why WE all need to band together and join our local, state, regional associations and support each other. This profession will die if we do not do this......

 

[codetype4/9]

Probably the most intelligent thing said on this forum in what seems like weeks.

Why does psychology have such an aversion to advocating for itself? Just go to APA, if you agree with what they are selling you put in your name and zip, and it goes to your reps. It's not that painful.

YES positive, it can be negative. This is why WE all need to band together and join our local, state, regional associations and support each other. This profession will die if we do not do this......

 

[MI2005]

I appreciate the responses. It is very helpful to hear ideas from people who have gone before me and know more about specifics to consider, such as whether the professor has paid research coordinators.