PhD/PsyD Pediatric School Psychology???

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PsychMajorUndergrad18

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So I was looking up the School Psychology PhD program at Lehigh University and it seems that they have a concentration in Pediatric School Psychology. Is this concentration a good opportunity for aspiring doctoral level school psychologist to branch out into clinical psych or is it just a sham/not worth it kind of thing? I'm also curious as to what the general consensus is on SDN about Pediatric School Psychology.

Thanks!
 
My advice is to look and see if it is a dual license program (school psychology and clinical psychology) - because if it is not, then technically all school psychology programs are "pediatric school psychology" because your license would only allow you to perform psychoeducational evaluations and work with ages 3-22. There are programs out there, similar to the one I am from, that will train you formally in school psychology but will allow you to be eligible for the match so you can obtain an APA-approved clinical internship. Once you have that, plus your doctoral degree, you can then begin your post-doc hours for clinical licensure. I hope that helps!
 
So I was looking up the School Psychology PhD program at Lehigh University and it seems that they have a concentration in Pediatric School Psychology. Is this concentration a good opportunity for aspiring doctoral level school psychologist to branch out into clinical psych or is it just a sham/not worth it kind of thing? I'm also curious as to what the general consensus is on SDN about Pediatric School Psychology.

Thanks!

I work at a hospital that occasionally has school psych doctoral trainees. Their role is almost always explicitly in doing testing and evaluations. This being said, choose your doctoral program based on whether or not the majority of it's graduates are doing the type of work you would like to do, not based on a concentration. As mentioned above, the joint Clinical/School programs might be a good fit for you. A good program, with good match rates and an APA approved internship will allow you to do a postdoc in the setting you would like, which will, in turn, allow you to specialize in the area you desire, whether that be a school or hospital setting. It is your internship and postdoc that will help set you on a track of specializing much more than a concentration in graduate school.
 
So I was looking up the School Psychology PhD program at Lehigh University and it seems that they have a concentration in Pediatric School Psychology. Is this concentration a good opportunity for aspiring doctoral level school psychologist to branch out into clinical psych or is it just a sham/not worth it kind of thing? I'm also curious as to what the general consensus is on SDN about Pediatric School Psychology.

Thanks!

Just a heads up - Lehigh is probably the most competitive school psych program in the country (a recent review ranked it as the top one in the US). Not saying it can't be done, but I'd definitely have a back up plan.
 
Just a heads up - Lehigh is probably the most competitive school psych program in the country (a recent review ranked it as the top one in the US). Not saying it can't be done, but I'd definitely have a back up plan.
Its definitely on my list. Here's a list of a few of the programs I am applying to. I would love to get your input on them and if you reccommend other programs:

- Ph.D in School Psychology; Loyola University, Chicago, Illionis

http://www.luc.edu/education/doctoral/school-psychology-phd/

- Ph.D in School Psychology; Fordham University, New York City, NY

http://www.fordham.edu/info/21019/school_psychology/2958/school_psychology_phd

- Ph.D in School Psych; Northeastern University, Boston, MA http://www.fordham.edu/info/21019/school_psychology/2958/school_psychology_phd

- Psy.D in School Psych; Rutgers university, Newark, NJ http://gsappweb.rutgers.edu/programs/school/

- Ph.D in School Psych; Temple University, Philadelphia, PA http://education.temple.edu/schoolpsychology/doctoral-program-phd

- Ph.D in School Psych; Teachers College, New York City, NY http://www.tc.columbia.edu/health-a...hool-psychology/degrees/doctoral-program-phd/

- Ph.D in School Psych; University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ https://www.coe.arizona.edu/dps/scps_phd

- Ph.D in School Psych; University of Rhode Island; Providence, Rhode Island http://web.uri.edu/psychology/school-psychology-ph-d-program/

- Ph.D in School Psych; UConn, Storrs, Conn. http://schoolpsych.education.uconn.edu/

- Ph.D in School Psych; University of Maryland, College Park, MD http://www.education.umd.edu/CHSE/academics/specialization/SchoolPsychology/Accreditation.html

Thanks
 
Hi! I will second Chal and say that Lehigh's program is very well regarded in the school psychology world. It's unique in offering pediatric school psychology as a concentration because of a large grant that funds some students (correct me if I'm wrong).

Regarding your list, just be aware that both Fordham and Columbia TC do not typically offer full funding. I've heard Fordham usually gives about 1/4-1/2 tuition and Columbia TC about 1/2 unless you get a minority/LGBT scholarship. Good luck! 🙂
 
Hi! I will second Chal and say that Lehigh's program is very well regarded in the school psychology world. It's unique in offering pediatric school psychology as a concentration because of a large grant that funds some students (correct me if I'm wrong).

Regarding your list, just be aware that both Fordham and Columbia TC do not typically offer full funding. I've heard Fordham usually gives about 1/4-1/2 tuition and Columbia TC about 1/2 unless you get a minority/LGBT scholarship. Good luck! 🙂

Thanks SchoolPsy! I actually just found a site that listed a good amount of the school psych PhD programs in order from 1-50 based off of EPPP pass rates and other criteria so I am going to add more to my list like University of Georgia-Athens and NC State U. I would ideally want to get into a fully funded top 10 program that has a scientist-practitioner approach or any research intensive programs. This would hopefully give me the most opportunities in the future (not sure if I wanna go the tenure track route immediately or practice as a school psychologist or researcher for a few years before going for a TT position).
 
That's a solid list! Good luck.

Do you reccommend any other programs I should try to apply to? I am hoping to send out 15 to 20 applications my first ( and hopefully last) time around. I also have been toying around with the idea of staying at my UG for a year or two to either do a honors thesis or to get a masters degree in psych while hopefully being a lab manager for my professors lab. Do you think this is a good idea or should I go straight to applying for PhD programs?
 
Syracuse University, UT Austin and Ball State are some programs with good funding and a heavy clinical emphasis, which seems like what you're looking for . U Cincinnati is really good if you're interested in ABA, although they only gave a tuition waiver for funding - at least when I interviewed there.

Based on my anecdotal experience - SP programs are less strict about research; I applied to many of the same programs that you listed and was offered interviews and admission at multiple programs with very minimal research experience. I don't think there's any harm in applying now if you think you're ready.

If you have any more specific questions feel free to PM me - I was woefully unprepared the first time I applied and I know how overwhelming the experience can be.
 
I try to maintain a certain amount of anonymity on the forum, but I'll just be giving myself away with this one, so I might as well reveal it, haha. I am a UCSB doctoral student in the combined Counseling, Clinical, & School Psychology program, and it seems like a great match for your interests. Since you're looking to be a school psychologist with competencies in clinical psychology, this program is excellent as the combined cohort moves through core classes together, in addition to individuals taking classes specific to their emphasis area (either counseling, clinical, or school psychology). For school psych students- in your first year, you would complete a basic practicum with all students learning basic counseling skills (which would serve you well as you consider pursuing a balance between school psychology and clinical psychology), and in your second year, you would begin your advanced practicum at a local K-12 school. School psychology students also have the opportunity to complete an additional advanced practicum at the Hosford Clinic, the student training clinic that counseling and clinical students train at for advanced practicum when the school psychology students begin their practicum at schools. So, you would have the opportunity to preform both school psychology practicum in school settings, and psychotherapy in a clinical population and setting.

The faculty in the School Psych emphasis of the Counseling, Clinical, & School Psychology Ph.D. program at UC Santa Barbara are very prolific, research-wise and in regards to community outreach and engagement. The program is pretty competitive, with an overall 8% acceptance rate, and 1.3% acceptance rate for the school psychology emphasis specifically. The data isn't available yet, but for our current internship year 2015 - 2016 the program had a 100% APA match rate. The prior three years are 92.9%, 90.1%, and 83.3%, respectively.

For the sake of transparency, for some reason, the university does not guarantee funding. I truly don't know, and can't understand, why it doesn't. Other schools I applied to made it clear that all students would receive tuition remission, plus ~17,000 - 22,000 dollars in funding. UCSB told me it would provide a first-year block grant, and two students per cohort receive four years of tuition remission plus an $18,000 stipend (this is in addition to any GSR or GTA positions you would receive). In my experience, funding has not been difficult to obtain. I received a teaching assistantship every quarter of my first-year, and my tuition was covered by the block grant (so the tuition remission I received from the TAship was a nice little bonus check), I am a teaching assistant this summer, and I have a teaching assistantship with an $18,000 stipend and full tuition remission for 2016 - 2017. Anyway, you have to obtain your own funding on a year by year basis (either through teaching, finding faculty with grants and becoming a GSR, or other student assistant positions) which would turn some people off, but this university was my top choice and after speaking to students on interview day, I was confident that the funding wouldn't be an issue. On the plus side, a lot of the school psych faculty are well-funded through program evaluation work, and a lot of school psych students receive GSRs.

Another option you may consider is UC Riverside's School Psychology program. I can't offer as much information since I'm not a student there, but I do know that the faculty I was in contact with had Ph.D. in School Psychology, but did her clinical internship providing psychotherapy (CBT) to children, and her research was on depression after peer victimization, so she was school psych with that clinical bent to it. I know UCR is fully-funded, guaranteed. The professor's name was Dr. Cixin Wang- she is extremely nice.

I hope this was helpful! Good luck!

While UCSB seems like itd be a really good choice for me, I am worried about the funding opportunities, the acceptance rate (since I currently do not have a high GPA and will not have a very high GPA upon graduiating) and also the high cost of living in CA (which is def higher than NJ). I'm still going to put out a application but it wouldn't my top school due to the reasons above
 
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