Prepping for graduate school, clinical psychology hopeful!

[potentiallypre]

Hi all! I haven't been on this forum for about a year and since then I've really switched things up and am looking for some advice. I'm a current sophomore in college pursuing a degree in Neuroscience and Psychology. I was originally pre-med, but after becoming a research assistant I had a change of heart and decided to go into Clinical Psychology in hopes of really opening up my options post-grad. I love both working with patients and research. I've been doing research in a clinical/developmental lab for about a year and will start my own project in the fall and eventually go onto write an Honors thesis (at my university the Honor's college offers a Bachelor's of Philosophy program). My research mentor is absolutely amazing and I'm so excited to be able to conduct my own research at their lab. I also work part time at the Psychiatric hospital in my city which has been an amazing opportunity that I plan to continue throughout my undergrad. Outside of psychology, I also work as a student ambassador for my college and volunteer as a mentor at a non-profit. From what I've read, I'm hoping these experiences will help my application later on. However, my GPA is on the lower side (around a 3.6, curse Organic Chem!), and I'm constantly stressing about the GRE. My major GPA is nearly a 4.0, but I'm worried the pre-med classes I took freshman year are going to kill my admission chances in Clinical Psychology since I know how difficult it is to get into programs. What recommendations do you guys have for me that will help me in the long term? Any advice as well is greatly appreciated, I talk to the graduates in my lab often, but I'd love to talk to some people outside of my specific university. Thanks so much in advance!

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[StellaB]

Take a deep breath. A 3.6 is not low enough to be worth freaking out over - think of 3.5 as the floor; above that you will likely meet a general cutoff to have your application reviewed at most programs, at which point other factors become more important. Make sure to take time to develop and maintain friendships, which will help you develop and mature into a well-rounded person (very important to clinical psych, where you will start working as a therapist very quickly after grad school begins). For now, you are doing what you need to on the academic side. Just make sure it is not at the expense of everything else. Applicants who are stellar on paper can be neurotic messes in person, so don't let that be you.

 

[Justanothergrad]

+1 to what StellaB said about the GPA. Plus, you are a sophemore and those early classes (including organic, ugh) lower GPAs. As you move forward, your GPA will go up as you continue to dedicate your time and energy towards being successful academically in your chosen major (clearly something you're doing well with your major GPA).

Otherwise, don't worry about the GRE right now and keep doing what you are doing. Focus on the factors you can control and that means finding a way to get your name on research products (posters, etc), not just being in the lab.

 

[EmotRegulation]

Also note that some programs (my own included) actually only count the last two years GPE toward admission requirements. My university knows that the first two years of undergrad are often about taking classes that are unexpectedly hard/not interesting, and that people have trouble adjusting to college. Like others have said, keep doing well and doing research and you should be fine.