Non-psych background, what should I do to prepare?

[makingmoves]

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Hi all,

I'm hoping to apply for a PhD in Clinical Psychology in the fall (along with PsyD programs, though $ is a big concern) but, as it stands, I have very little psychology background. I took a couple psych classes as an undergrad, but graduated with a humanities degree. I went to an Ivy League school and graduated with a 3.75 GPA, and have a GRE score of 760q, 720v, 5.5w. But again, little psych background.

I'm planning on taking the balance of psych prerequisites in the summer and fall, but my concern is on the research end: how can I acquire research experience? I'd love to start volunteering in a lab tomorrow, but I really don't know how to go about doing so. I'm in NYC, so there should, conceivably, be a lot of opportunities available--I just don't really know how to go about finding them. (My current plan is to wait until I start taking classes in the summer and then talking to professors about it, but there's a lot of dead time between now and then that I'd like to use productively...)

Any recommendations re: what I can do? Also, are there other ways of enhancing my application as a non-traditional psych applicant? (BTW, my work experience since graduating from college has been pretty patchwork--writing and traveling and teaching and babysitting and otherwise odd-jobbing...)

Thanks so much for any advice you might have!

 

[KayJay85]

If you don't mind the question, what made you decide on clinical psych at this stage of the game?

In terms of your question, your GREs are excellent and your GPA should be adequate with the Ivy League boost. You will need to make sure you take the required psych courses for the programs you'd like to attend. Then, you will likely need to take a year or more after your bachelors to work in a research lab if you want to be a viable PhD applicant. There is really not enough time between now and the fall to start fresh into research without even a strong psych course foundation and be productive. Also, extra time will give you a chance to see if this is a field you will really enjoy.

 

[nessa34]

if you are looking at volunteering (e.g. working for free), I'd assume there would be a lab in the area that wouldn't mind training you. Do you have an idea, however broad, of what you want to study? Look up the psych faculty at the schools nearby, find any doing that kind of work, and email a cover letter & resume/CV explaining you're interested in the field, want to volunteer for experience, etc. You might have to send out quite a few, but don't get discouraged!
Once you impress people as a volunteer, you will (hopefully) be able to get a paid position, either in the same lab or another one. Most positions open in the mid to late summer as people leave for grad school, so if you get some solid volunteer work in now you could be competitive for those positions.

 

[psychmama]

I can tell you what I did, as I was in a similar situation to you. I enrolled as a non-degree candidate at a nearby state university and took about 20 credits of undergrad psych courses to satisfy the prerequisites for grad school admission. Once I was in these classes I approached profs about research opportunities, and also got to know a few of them so they could write me decent letters of recommendation. This was especially important since I'd been out of undergrad for some time. I also did some clinically-related volunteer work. The whole process took me two years start to finish, but it might have been quicker if I wasn't doing it part-time while raising three kids. Then again, getting enough research experience takes some time. As it was, I was rejected from most of the PhD programs I applied to, but accepted at my first choice -- a university based PsyD program. I think I'd have been more competitive at the PhD programs if I'd been an RA or something; my research experience was limited at best. It all worked out for me, but I think more research time would have been much wiser.