Non-Traditional Grad School Applicant

[insertfakename]

Hi.

Does anyone have ideas about where to apply for a Clinical Ph.D as a non-traditional (read over 30) applicant? I can't find stats on the average age of students at various programs, but I suspect that some programs are more interested in non-traditional applicants than others.

Thanks in advance!

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[psychmama]

It's hard to generalize. I'd say the psyd programs and more balanced programs get a wider range of ages than do the more researchy phd programs. For one thing, the cohorts tend to be larger in Psyd programs. Having said this, I think it's more important to pick the program that's the right fit for your academic and professional interests.

I'm a nontrad in a psyd program, although not a professional school. I was already in my 40s when I applied, and I'll be close to 50 when I'm done.

I'm also guessing that programs located in cities or metro areas draw a larger percentage of older folk. Why? We're often already settled in those areas from previous career, with mortgages and families that make us less able to move.

Some schools, as you suspect, place a higher value on candidates with "life experience". While this is probably always a plus, many research/academia- heavy phd programs won't be impressed by this unless you also have solid, recent research experience.

 

[Ollie123]

Good question. I'm not sure that this information is widely available anywhere. I know my program (research-focused) has had a decent number of people in their 30's and several people in their 20's with kids, though recent classes have been "younger" than previous ones.

That said, its definitely on the more competitive side of things, and the non-trads all had pretty substantive experience so it isn't like expectations in terms of psychology experience were any different for non-trads.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Montana's clinical PhD program has a *ton* of non-trad students in terms of age, kids, and both!

 

[deleted176373]

Hi.

Does anyone have ideas about where to apply for a Clinical Ph.D as a non-traditional (read over 30) applicant? I can't find stats on the average age of students at various programs, but I suspect that some programs are more interested in non-traditional applicants than others.

Thanks in advance!

Doesn't matter, don't let your age be a factor. I was 40 and applying to programs... granted I was a very young looking 40, but it didn't slow me down too much. Once I figured out how to play the game my success rate improved dramatically from application year 1 to application year 2.

Mark

 

[insertfakename]

Thanks for the info and support. I was also not planning to take the GRE Psych test and limit my applications to programs that do not require it.

Any thoughts? If a program doesn't require the GRE subject test, do they really not evaluate the test scores?