PsyD interview at Alliant University, Los Angeles

[ace222]

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I recently was invited for an interview to Alliants PsyD program. I was wondering if anyone has any recent experience with the process? Its suppose to be a group and individual interview, but Im just curious as to what type of questions I should be expecting. Thanks!

 

[JeyRo]

I recently was invited for an interview to Alliants PsyD program. I was wondering if anyone has any recent experience with the process? Its suppose to be a group and individual interview, but Im just curious as to what type of questions I should be expecting. Thanks!

I hate to see your question go unanswered.

I think they really only care if you have a wallet and a pulse. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[deleted407083]

I recently was invited for an interview to Alliants PsyD program. I was wondering if anyone has any recent experience with the process? Its suppose to be a group and individual interview, but Im just curious as to what type of questions I should be expecting. Thanks!

I've never interviewed there, but here's my advice for general interviews at PsyDs.

Individual- be yourself, know your resume and personal statement inside and out. It's likely they'll focus on that. Try to be comfortable and personable with the person. They are most likely judging fitness with your future cohort as well as your own qualities you bring.

Group- again, be yourself. Either they will fire questions out and go around in order or just expect you to answer. Whatever they do, don't be too overpowering, let others take a turn, but also make sure to make yourself stand out, just don't sound like you're bragging. Finally, some schools do this thing were they have you pair up and interview each other. In this case, make your partner look really good. They don't want to see you bring down your future cohort.

Cheers.

 

[psyman]

I hate to see your question go unanswered.

I think they really only care if you have a wallet and a pulse. I wouldn't sweat it.

Ug, I was waiting for this response. It really gets old guys.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Interviews aren't really about knowledge so much as they are about presentation. They want to see that you are mature, fun, and interesting. While many have talked about these programs in a negative light, the faculty there want to get the best candidates they can and they are likely still selecting based on the usual criteria. I'd be prepared to answer why you want to be a psychologist, why you applied to Alliant, what kind of practice you envision for yourself, where you want to be in 10 years, what kind of roles do you expect psychologists to assume as the mental health field evolves, what kind of experience you've had in mental health settings so far, etc. . .

+1

While what you say is important, how you say it is equally crucial, particularly for grad school interviews as opposed to those for internship, postdoc, and employment. I would recommend against memorizing your responses, as that could come across as sounding highly scripted and could also interfere if the question isn't asked exactly how you'd expected. However, having mental talking points that you'll plan to address in response to questions similar to those JS mentions above would be a good start.

 

[bmedclinic]

Ug, I was waiting for this response. It really gets old guys.

Is the answer old, or is the question old?
Virtually every day, I see a thread on here that goes like this (no offense OP)...
"I'm applying to ___ for profit school and want some tips. I know nothing about it."

I'm clearly biased, but if I was in charge of this board (and I shouldnt be).. I'd do my best to find a way to block any thread trying to be created with certain well known school names in the title.

I suspect you dont like JeyRo's response... but consider.. does the field of psychology as a whole like these programs? And what are the implications of that...Are all these other people truly elitist? I'm certainly not. But I do have legitimate fear for our field as a whole, and one of my fears goes directly through these schools (training, professionalism, adequate knowledge base, being stretched through the process). Dislike my response all you want, but you cant argue what I witnessed as I interviewed with some of these people during the internship cycle.

 

[PsychMama23]

Is the answer old, or is the question old?
Virtually every day, I see a thread on here that goes like this (no offense OP)...
"I'm applying to ___ for profit school and want some tips. I know nothing about it."

I'm clearly biased, but if I was in charge of this board (and I shouldnt be).. I'd do my best to find a way to block any thread trying to be created with certain well known school names in the title.

I suspect you dont like JeyRo's response... but consider.. does the field of psychology as a whole like these programs? And what are the implications of that...Are all these other people truly elitist? I'm certainly not. But I do have legitimate fear for our field as a whole, and one of my fears goes directly through these schools (training, professionalism, adequate knowledge base, being stretched through the process). Dislike my response all you want, but you cant argue what I witnessed as I interviewed with some of these people during the internship cycle.

What I am witnessing now is just as ugly and frightening. I know it's annoying to see the same arguments going round and round, but expressing yourself rudely is not helpful either.

 

[bmedclinic]

What I am witnessing now is just as ugly and frightening. I know it's annoying to see the same arguments going round and round, but expressing yourself rudely is not helpful either.

I promise you I'm not at all trying to be rude, and I apologize if I came across that way. I know that sometimes in written communication I do have that potential. My intention is not to be rude as much to say this is a problem, and like you say- it's frightening that it's happening. Let me stress again- I know many good psychologist from professional schools, and I've heard that there are good psychologists from places that have a reputation of being diploma mills.

 

[PHD12]

I know that people sometimes pick Alliant because they want to stay in CA. One thing you guys should know is that CA is the most saturated state for psychologists. I know several psychologists who are on hiring committees here and they typically get over 100 applicants for 1 spot. The competition is similarly keen with post-doc and APA internships in the area. How do you expect to compete coming from a 3rd or 4th tier institution? Its the same thing with law or business school. 4th tier institutions are never really a good idea.

 

[jenna1]

To the old therapists who keep vomiting on these threads: The times they are a changin.

 

[PHD12]

To the old therapists who keep vomiting on these threads: The times they are a changin.

They sure are changing. The job market is more competitive now. There is less tolerance for 3rd or 4th tier institutions. Wake up.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Things are definitely changing....
1. The competition is far far fiercer than 10-15 years ago...particularly for jobs.
2. Formal Post-Docs & Fellowships are becoming the expectation for pretty much all specialities, not just neuro.
3. Tuition is even higher, funding is becoming tighter, and debt is becoming more and more of a problem.
4. I'm also early career....and to make it you need to wear multiple hats and have far more flexibility than even 10 years ago, or so I have been told.

OP...I wish you the best of luck trying to find the right fit, just make sure to do your research and talk to a lot of different professionals that current do what you want to do.

 

[pretzels]

Things are definitely changing....
1. The competition is far far fiercer than 10-15 years ago...particularly for jobs.

I can't but think this is a good thing for any field. Competition facilitates excellence. Psychology as a science can only become more esteemed from increasingly rigorous expectations. Its for this very reason that not getting into the upper tier grad schools does not discourage me but only motivates me, as i hope it motivates others. I would be wary of any school with lower standards for the same reasoning.

 

[kyril]

I'll say it again; when we start out I think almost all of us look at the obstacles facing us as a challenge. they can feel like an exciting, personal development part of your journey to become a psychologist. these obstacles can be the warning of 80-90 hour workweeks, or unpleasantly competitive environments, poor mentorship, poor funding, crushing debt, or yes, the hurdles facing folks that go to some of these large cohort professional schools, or who go to non accredited ones. we hear these warnings, but i think many of us don't really hear it. 5 years down the road, most people i know are in a different headspace. hustling almost had a glamour to it, when we were trying to get into school. but now, we no longer want to have to sell and hustle the education we worked so hard for. we want people to see us and our work for what it is. you get exhausted proving yourself. you get exhausted from the challenges facing our field, our subordinate role compared to medicine, the internship crisis, the incredible competitiveness, the crush of debt, the lack of cultural awareness of the importance of mental health care and the obstacles presented by our healthcare system to providing those servies and making a living at doing so.

to have to hustle the hard work of all those years in graduate school is unpleasant in a way that is hard to understand without the weight of those years under your belt. the hopeful mindset of a want to be psychologist hesitates to hold how draining this experience will become. 4-6 years later, the glamor, the shine of doing battle and proving yourself, it has worn off. and when you do practica alongside students at programs with more resources, without the crippling debt of going to a tuition school, who do not have to worry about reputation, you think differently about your own experience.

yes, you can do it. you can do almost anything. as a clinician, we in fact see people overcome obstacles all the time. but to willingly walk into an obstacle; all i can say is that it may seem like another challenge you can and will overcome at the beginning of your career, but many many folks, even ones that end up getting their doctorate and doing well, later end up saying "why did i do that??? if i had it to do over again i would have done more on the front end to attend an xyz school, or made a different choice all together". my 8 days before internship match 2 cents

 

[ResearchGirlie]

I'll say it again; when we start out I think almost all of us look at the obstacles facing us as a challenge. they can feel like an exciting, personal development part of your journey to become a psychologist. these obstacles can be the warning of 80-90 hour workweeks, or unpleasantly competitive environments, poor mentorship, poor funding, crushing debt, or yes, the hurdles facing folks that go to some of these large cohort professional schools, or who go to non accredited ones. we hear these warnings, but i think many of us don't really hear it. 5 years down the road, most people i know are in a different headspace. hustling almost had a glamour to it, when we were trying to get into school. but now, we no longer want to have to sell and hustle the education we worked so hard for. we want people to see us and our work for what it is. you get exhausted proving yourself. you get exhausted from the challenges facing our field, our subordinate role compared to medicine, the internship crisis, the incredible competitiveness, the crush of debt, the lack of cultural awareness of the importance of mental health care and the obstacles presented by our healthcare system to providing those servies and making a living at doing so.

100% agree with your post. Each year during interview weekend, grad students try to warn incoming applicants about X faculty member or Y issue with the program and year after year they ignore our advice and are shocked once they get here and face the same issues. I get it. I likely ignored the same advice thinking that of course it will be different or that it's ok because getting in is the last hurdle to getting into this field. How I wish I could go back and knock some sense into grad applicant me. I likely wouldn't change many things, as I've had a pretty good ride, but I'd definitely think harder about it if I could. While prior to grad school I couldn't imagine a different career, grad student me has come up with a dozen other careers that would likely be fulfilling and less consistently demanding.

 

[PsychMama23]

I promise you I'm not at all trying to be rude, and I apologize if I came across that way. I know that sometimes in written communication I do have that potential. My intention is not to be rude as much to say this is a problem, and like you say- it's frightening that it's happening. Let me stress again- I know many good psychologist from professional schools, and I've heard that there are good psychologists from places that have a reputation of being diploma mills.

Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I can't but think this is a good thing for any field. Competition facilitates excellence. Psychology as a science can only become more esteemed from increasingly rigorous expectations. Its for this very reason that not getting into the upper tier grad schools does not discourage me but only motivates me, as i hope it motivates others. I would be wary of any school with lower standards for the same reasoning.

If the reason for the increased competition is greater supply than demand...it usually isn't a good thing for anyone in the "over-supply" group. Competition is fine, but not when it is for dwindling reimbursements and under-market salaries. It is hard to do quality work when you worry about making enough money to get by, let alone starting a family. Too many students come out the other end of training woefully underprepared/unprepared for the "real life" day to day work. It isn't all doom and gloom, but there are a lot of pitfalls along the way to a livable wage, particularly with enormous debt. I feel fortunate for securing a job I enjoy and can afford me a comfortable lifestyle, but I feel like the exception these days. I think most posters on here just want to make sure students go in with their eyes wide open.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

I can't but think this is a good thing for any field. Competition facilitates excellence. Psychology as a science can only become more esteemed from increasingly rigorous expectations. Its for this very reason that not getting into the upper tier grad schools does not discourage me but only motivates me, as i hope it motivates others. I would be wary of any school with lower standards for the same reasoning.

That is a beautiful sentiment, but I disagree. Along with market saturation, as suggested above, one of the reasons for the competition for jobs is how psychologists (and mental health) are devalued. Many places would much rather hire an MSW that they can pay less. Or they simply have very few mental health resources at all. Even more disheartening to me, are the types of people who end up being "successful" in this profession. Many (most?) times it isn't the best psychologists who do the best work. It is psychologists like the guy who owns my practice. He takes advantage of other psychologists financially and could care less about clinical care. He just thinks about the bottom line. Or the folks who cut corners to cram in and crank out a million evaluations. This is not necessarily a profession where being good at what you do is rewarded.

Best,
Dr. E

 

[cara susanna]

To the old therapists who keep vomiting on these threads: The times they are a changin.

You haven't even graduated yet. Spend five years on the job market and then see if you still feel this way.

(Disclaimer: I haven't graduated yet, either and I know that sometimes I make assertions about the state of the field, too. But, really, we students shouldn't talk about things paying off yet--we're pretty safely ensconced in our programs right now).

 

[Pragma]

You haven't even graduated yet. Spend five years on the job market and then see if you still feel this way.

(Disclaimer: I haven't graduated yet, either and I know that sometimes I make assertions about the state of the field, too. But, really, we students shouldn't talk about things paying off yet--we're pretty safely ensconced in our programs right now).

The nest is pretty comfortable - occasionally I wished that I had stuck around an extra year or two before *&^% got real 😳

Absolutely. I completely agree. Mental health fields in general are suffering from multiple malignancies. Schools like Alliant are just one of them.

>50% new clin psych from programs like these.
>50% don't meet the previous minimum standards (e.g., APA internship)

Our field is dumbing itself down. We have lots of glorified masters degree students running around calling themselves "doctor." For the profits of shareholders, "professors" who couldn't get real academic jobs or wanted to live in California or Florida or Chicago (etc. . .) and to serve the desires of students who didn't do the pre-work necessary to get into a real school, we are diminishing our standards of entry into the field and changing the modal psychologist to someone who wouldn't have been able to get in the door 20 years ago. Meanwhile, our advocacy groups are splintered and our responsibilities are further eroded in the medical workspace with nurses and social workers taking over what used to be our workspace. Now, we have undereducated people implementing god knows what kind of malarkey (old person word that I like) and pimping it out to unsuspecting consumers as "treatment." Great for the patient. Oh yes, the times, they are changin. You say that like it's some sort of evolution and not the devolution for the sake of profit that it is.

Slow clap....

 

[Qwerk]

...our responsibilities are further eroded in the medical workspace with nurses and social workers taking over what used to be our workspace. Now, we have undereducated people implementing god knows what kind of malarkey (old person word that I like) and pimping it out to unsuspecting consumers as "treatment."

Completely agree with your post, but I'd add that reform at the doctoral level needs to go hand-in-hand with master's-level reform. Master's-level clinical social workers (and nurse practitioners/counselors/MFTs/whoever) can be effective when trained in evidence-based practices, fluent in research skills, and practicing within their scope of competence. This is obviously not what's happening now. At both the doctoral and master's level, degrees are getting watered down solely because flunking or not admitting bad students doesn't translate into more tuition dollars. It's not so much scope creep as it is perverse financial incentives for schools to offer crappy training to underprepared students who don't know or care about pesky stuff like ethics and evidence.

(TL;DR version: don't blame the social workers -- the competent ones hate the state of the therapeutic professions as much as you do.)

 

[ace222]

Please don't waste 3 seconds of my life next time. Thanks!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Please don't waste 3 seconds of my life next time. Thanks!

There is no need to be snippy. You asked for feedback; it may not be what you wanted to hear, but that doesn't make it any less valid than other feedback.

 

[PHD12]

Please don't waste 3 seconds of my life next time. Thanks!

This made me laugh because I was thinking that if 3 seconds are so valuable to you, wouldn't you want to weigh the pros and cons before potentially wasting 5 years of your life?

To anyone else interested, Alliant LA's APA match rate is 1%. Only 10-20% of the students do paid, unaccredited internships...rest of them are doing unpaid, unaccredited ones. Even for a professional school, I haven't seen numbers quite this bad before.

 

[erg923]

Please don't waste 3 seconds of my life next time. Thanks!

I am concerned that you are not willing to devote 3 seconds (preferably more) to critically evaluating (and listening to professional opinions of) the institution that will cost you a couple hundred thousands dollar and will be responsible for opening or closing doors to your entire professional life.

Does that not strike you as defensive, or at least professionally immature/naive?

 

[ResearchGirlie]

This made me laugh because I was thinking that if 3 seconds are so valuable to you, wouldn't you want to weigh the pros and cons before potentially wasting 5 years of your life?

To anyone else interested, Alliant LA's APA match rate is 1%. Only 10-20% of the students do paid, unaccredited internships...rest of them are doing unpaid, unaccredited ones. Even for a professional school, I haven't seen numbers quite this bad before.

Wow, that's horrifying. And this is an APA approved program??

 

[Pragma]

I wonder how many total seconds have been wasted if we add up all of the individual 3 second increments wasted in this thread. 😀

 

[JeyRo]

Wow, that's horrifying. And this is an APA approved program??

We recently spent multiple pages being harshly critical of many aspects of PAU (another hugely expensive California pro-school) but it's worth noting their APA match rates are fifty to seventy times better than Alliant-LA.

I don't think my initial comment was wildly inappropriate when viewed from this lens. And I don't take back anything I said about PAU.

 

[PHD12]

Wow, that's horrifying. And this is an APA approved program??

Yep. The APA has swooped to a new low in my book. I think it's criminal for them to accredit a program with a 1% APA match rate and where 90% of the students are doing unaccredited, unpaid positions.

 

[bum]

Yep. The APA has swooped to a new low in my book. I think it's criminal for them to accredit a program with a 1% APA match rate and where 90% of the students are doing unaccredited, unpaid positions.

Well it's not quite that low. Up until a year ago, the program did funnel students through CAPIC. However, the programs changed due to APA recommendations and guideline changes. A subset from each the Psy.D. and Ph.D. programs (15 each?) entered the match last year and approximately 60% matched to APA/APPIC (50% APA). As I understand it, now all students are required to apply to APA/APPIC. I don't have any further details on that. I'm not advocating for the program, nor is the match rate acceptable, but it's not 1% (at least not anymore).

 

[PHD12]

Well it's not quite that low. Up until a year ago, the program did funnel students through CAPIC. However, the programs changed due to APA recommendations and guideline changes. A subset from each the Psy.D. and Ph.D. programs (15 each?) entered the match last year and approximately 60% matched to APA/APPIC (50% APA). As I understand it, now all students are required to apply to APA/APPIC. I don't have any further details on that. I'm not advocating for the program, nor is the match rate acceptable, but it's not 1% (at least not anymore).

There is nothing near 60% on the program's website where they are required to post outcome data. You have to check out the PsyD program's outcomes on the LA Alliant website. Maybe you are talking about a different alliant program? The PsyD has an APA match rate of between 0-3% over the past 5 years. The APPIC rate is not really any better. It doesn't seem to be going up over time.

 

[bum]

There is nothing near 60% on the program's website where they are required to post outcome data. You have to check out the PsyD program's outcomes on the LA Alliant website. Maybe you are talking about a different alliant program? The PsyD has an APA match rate of between 0-3% over the past 5 years. The APPIC rate is not really any better. It doesn't seem to be going up over time.

I took a look and see what you're saying. I wonder how many students actually tried for APPIC/APA. Going for an APPIC/APA internship in their old program structure meant staying an additional optional year. That data doesn't include 2012-2013, which is what I was referring to in my post. However, I agree that the data on the website does/did look beyond abysmal!

 

[modestmousktr]

Yep. The APA has swooped to a new low in my book. I think it's criminal for them to accredit a program with a 1% APA match rate and where 90% of the students are doing unaccredited, unpaid positions.

How is this accredited and John Jay isn't? Not even being critical, I am actually curious.

 

[JeyRo]

How is this accredited and John Jay isn't? Not even being critical, I am actually curious.

Bribes?

(Kidding!)

(Sort of)

 

[AcronymAllergy]

How is this accredited and John Jay isn't? Not even being critical, I am actually curious.

John Jay's program is a specialized or track-based one or something, isn't it? If so, the APA has been very hesitant to accredit those...although I agree, I don't know how Alliant LA is still accredited, either. Actually, I have my guesses, my I'll keep them to myself.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

John Jay's program is a specialized or track-based one or something, isn't it?.

That was my understanding. Being too narrow in focus and training is a very fair criticism. I am wholly against tracked degrees bc a forensic/neuro/health psychologist is a psychologist first, and then a specialist. Most professionals will identify as a specialist (I know i do), but the generalist training is still there in day to day practice. I'm not sure any of the tracked programs really have addressed this shortcoming.

 

[bmedclinic]

Bribes?

(Kidding!)

(Sort of)

Come now, it's more about lying and posturing than bribery.

Bribes only work when other teams bribe the refs in games against my team.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

For anyone interested, the outcome data for the PsyD program is available here:

http://www.alliant.edu/documents/cspp/domain-g/lapsyddomaingv2.pdf

And no, PHD12 was not exaggerating when they said only 1% of internship applicants land in APA-accredited spots, nor when saying that <1/3 to <1/5 obtained any type of paid internship. The mean program completion time of 4 years likely has something to do with that in a variety of respects.

The PhD program doesn't seem to be much better, btw:

http://www.alliant.edu/documents/cspp/domain-g/laphddomaing.pdf

The APA-accredited internship match rate there is hovering between 5-10% it seems, with roughly ~1/3 landing paid spots of any sort.

And all of this with a tuition cost of $30k/year in either program.

 

[JeyRo]

For anyone interested, the outcome data for the PsyD program is available here:

http://www.alliant.edu/documents/cspp/domain-g/lapsyddomaingv2.pdf

And no, PHD12 was not exaggerating when they said only 1% of internship applicants land in APA-accredited spots, nor when saying that <1/3 to <1/5 obtained any type of paid internship. The mean program completion time of 4 years likely has something to do with that in a variety of respects.

The PhD program doesn't seem to be much better, btw:

http://www.alliant.edu/documents/cspp/domain-g/laphddomaing.pdf

The APA-accredited internship match rate there is hovering between 5-10% it seems, with roughly ~1/3 landing paid spots of any sort.

And all of this with a tuition cost of $30k/year in either program.

This is my point. At least with Palo Alto University (formerly PGSP) they can promise something approaching reasonable outcomes, although it comes at a similarly-unconscionable price point.

Alliant-LA clearly is an outfit that would not be in existence were in not for federal loan programs. It's completely a corporatist creature designed to feed off of people's desperation and taxpayers monies. PAU, in contrast, might actually exist without federal loan programs, albeit in highly scaled-back, much more cost-competitive form, as it actually seems like it might feed a legitimate market niche - although I recommend neither program. I think my comment was very measured (albeit slightly snide, I admit) when viewed in this context.