Psy.d program in New York & advice

[jayemarr91]

I'm currently attending Stony Brook University and will complete my B.A. in psychology hopefully by Spring 2015. I have researched masters programs and ph.d/psy.d programs for awhile now and have recently seen that a masters program isn't always necessary. One of my questions is do you think going straight into a Psy.d program after my B.A. completion is a good idea? Also, I have seen that CW Post and Pace Universty offers Psy.d programs in the New York area, can you tell me more about these programs? i.e. gpa/experience requirements. Second question is what sort of things would you recommend I do during my undergraduate to enhance my chances of getting accepted to a Psy.d program? I'm open to internships and working but I don't feel I have been provided the resources to find such places. If anyone has any advice for me in terms of furthering my experience and knowledge in clinical psychology I'd really appreciate it.

I'm fairly new to psychology opportunities so any further advice and steps that could help me I'd love to hear.

Thank you so much in advance.

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[psychguy819]

Hi jayemarr,
Entering a clinical psychology PsyD program straight out of undergrad is certainly an ambitious, but doable goal. However, I would recommend taking a year or two after graduation to work or volunteer in order to gain more clinical, work, and research experience. This way, you'll be able to get into a better quality, better funded PsyD program (which of course, I would recommend over a professional school that offers no funding). LIU Post and Pace are both great programs, but from my understanding, both are incredibly expensive. I believe LIU Post offers some funding, though.

Applying to doctoral program in clinical psych in the NY metropolitan area is one of the most competitive regions for these types of programs. Knowing this, it may be in your interest to wait a year or 2 to improve your application. While you're at Stony Brook, I would recommend assisting professors in research and looking for clinical internships. I believe Suffolk County has a crisis hotline called Response where you can become a crisis counselor. Also, make sure to keep your GPA high and study hard for the GREs. It's great that you're thinking about this already!

Best of luck,
PsychGuy

 

[Psychorpsych]

I don't think the OP has provided enough information about him or her self to inform a response that includes specific advice about how to proceed. It is not always true that spending a year or two gathering experience makes sense or is necessary to get into a program. After all, experience will be acquired while in the program. It's unclear how anyone can provide advice about improving ones credentials without knowing anything about them to begin with. As a general rule, graduate programs of any sort like to see evidence that someone is bright, ambitious and has good quantitative skills-even when the graduate program does not necessarily require quantitative skills. Academic psychologists seem impressed by anyone who has them-maybe they think having them is an index of intellect. So even if you intend to go to a practitioner oriented program, showing that you have research experience and/or other academic experience beyond the classroom will probably help more than "working with people" kinds of experience. If you intend to continue to the PhD or PsyD, it may make more sense to do so immediately if you also want to do things like have a family. After all, a PhD or PsyD will take 5 or 6 years if all goes well. How old do you want to be when you complete school?

 

[psychdorkling]

I also attended Stony Brook undergrad and I am currently enrolled at a PsyD. program in the NYC metro area. Personally, I took the route of going straight from undergrad and I am lucky I found a program I enjoy (that also puts a heavy emphasis on research, which is very different from many PsyD. programs).

Psychorpsych is right in that it is difficult to tell you how to proceed (other than the general have a good GPA and study hard for the GRE) without knowing you and your goals better. However, knowing how SBU works and the many many resources available, DEFINITELY become involved with research and try different labs to see what kind of populations and issues you are interested in as well as participate in your own research. There is an honors thesis program within the psychology department that you apply for in your junior year and you get to participate in URECA in your senior year. Join PsiChi on campus, you will have a lot of resources and access to faculty as well.

 

[jayemarr91]

Hi jayemarr,
Entering a clinical psychology PsyD program straight out of undergrad is certainly an ambitious, but doable goal. However, I would recommend taking a year or two after graduation to work or volunteer in order to gain more clinical, work, and research experience. This way, you'll be able to get into a better quality, better funded PsyD program (which of course, I would recommend over a professional school that offers no funding). LIU Post and Pace are both great programs, but from my understanding, both are incredibly expensive. I believe LIU Post offers some funding, though.

Applying to doctoral program in clinical psych in the NY metropolitan area is one of the most competitive regions for these types of programs. Knowing this, it may be in your interest to wait a year or 2 to improve your application. While you're at Stony Brook, I would recommend assisting professors in research and looking for clinical internships. I believe Suffolk County has a crisis hotline called Response where you can become a crisis counselor. Also, make sure to keep your GPA high and study hard for the GREs. It's great that you're thinking about this already!

Best of luck,
PsychGuy

Thank you for your reply! I think the idea of taking a year or two off is definitely a possibility for me. You read my mind when you said that volunteering and getting real life experience would help my chances in getting into a well-funded Psy.d program. I'm very young (22) and I feel like going into a doctorate program by 24 would be selling myself short, for I wouldn't have obtained enough life skills to truly be at my greatest potential. I must be honest that I am nervous about trying to become a research assistant, not just from my own anxiety, but because I am not the most naturally gifted person when it comes to science, let alone hardcore research. I suppose that's why I became hopeful when I started to hear things about the Psy.d program. The crisis hotline idea is great, I have considered it before but never knew if it was a step in the right direction. Thank you again for your response, it's greatly appreciated. And thanks for the last thing you said about it being great that I'm thinking about this all now, it means a lot, really!

 

[jayemarr91]

I don't think the OP has provided enough information about him or her self to inform a response that includes specific advice about how to proceed. It is not always true that spending a year or two gathering experience makes sense or is necessary to get into a program. After all, experience will be acquired while in the program. It's unclear how anyone can provide advice about improving ones credentials without knowing anything about them to begin with. As a general rule, graduate programs of any sort like to see evidence that someone is bright, ambitious and has good quantitative skills-even when the graduate program does not necessarily require quantitative skills. Academic psychologists seem impressed by anyone who has them-maybe they think having them is an index of intellect. So even if you intend to go to a practitioner oriented program, showing that you have research experience and/or other academic experience beyond the classroom will probably help more than "working with people" kinds of experience. If you intend to continue to the PhD or PsyD, it may make more sense to do so immediately if you also want to do things like have a family. After all, a PhD or PsyD will take 5 or 6 years if all goes well. How old do you want to be when you complete school?

I'm sorry I didn't provide enough background information on my experience in terms of research, academics, and goals. It might be that I didn't mention much because I don't have too much. The only thing I have is my associates in psych and I will be done with my full undergrad in the spring of 2015 in psych (b.a). I wanted to perhaps do two internships, one before I graduate and one right afterward. I guess my problem is that I can't find experience that I want. The psy.d programs seems to require a lot of research experience. I much rather work at a youth bureau or volunteer for a crisis hotline as psychguy suggested above. Maybe I am considering the wrong degree? This website really has awakened reservations about the Ph.D./Psy.D programs I never realized I had. I'm also very young and I am trying to remind myself that my interests may change or my confidence might enhance. I guess the science/research aspects of the degree scare me. I know where my strengths and weaknesses play out in my academics, and subjects like physiology/statistics aren't my strong suits. Lastly, to answer your question, I would like to be done with my schooling around 30-33.

 

[jayemarr91]

I also attended Stony Brook undergrad and I am currently enrolled at a PsyD. program in the NYC metro area. Personally, I took the route of going straight from undergrad and I am lucky I found a program I enjoy (that also puts a heavy emphasis on research, which is very different from many PsyD. programs).

Psychorpsych is right in that it is difficult to tell you how to proceed (other than the general have a good GPA and study hard for the GRE) without knowing you and your goals better. However, knowing how SBU works and the many many resources available, DEFINITELY become involved with research and try different labs to see what kind of populations and issues you are interested in as well as participate in your own research. There is an honors thesis program within the psychology department that you apply for in your junior year and you get to participate in URECA in your senior year. Join PsiChi on campus, you will have a lot of resources and access to faculty as well.

Thanks for your reply. What sort of things did you do to get accepted into a Psy.d program? Did you do what you suggested me to do, like hold your own research and participate in labs at SBU? What kind of labs are talking about? I had to participate in various experiments as a requirement for a psych class, but I haven't heard anything about labs. I feel like you're right when you say SBU has many resources available to students, but the way to find them seems almost secretive. Thanks for your suggestions, I will consider the honor program.