Non-Traditional Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Applicant with questions.

[california_bears]

Hello everybody,

I am a student graduating from a top California public university in the fall, majoring in Rhetoric. Currently, I have a 3.5 GPA but hope to graduate with around 3.6.

My question pertains to research. As my university is VERY competitive in regards to getting research opportunities, especially in the Clinical Psychology area. If I am unable to secure research in the Clinical area, should I pursue research in a Social Psychology lab or other labs? As I have no prior experience as a researcher, would researching out of my desired field (clinical) help my application and be worth doing to get my foot in the door to clinical research down the line?

If you think that my time would be better spent elsewhere, what else would you recommend that I spend my time on? I have asked to speak with any professors that I am close with, and one suggested learning to code in order to bolster my resume for future research applications.

Thank you in advance for your advice and input.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

My take, although others who actually work in academia can certainly correct me: involvement in some kind of psych research is better than no research. Particularly if you don't yet have much or any research experience. The majority of my undergraduate research experience was in a cognitive psych lab, for example, and to speak to your point of getting your foot in the door--the cognitive psychologist was the one who then also found me an opportunity for some participation in a clinical lab.

 

[conky124]

I had a similar issue and worked in different labs many of which were not clinical psychology. In my experience, it was hard to find clinical psychology RA positions so you may need to get creative looking for other RA jobs that are relatable to your interests and desired skill set.

 

[sfgucadoc]

Agree with Acronym. Work in a lab in an area very close to what you want your dissertation to be would be lovely. But at this stage, the goal is to get a solid understanding of research basics that grad school will build upon. YMMV.