Resume Building for PSYD/ Clinical PHD

[enayders]

Hi Everybody!

I'm a rising junior in undergrad, and am set on getting either a psyd or a phd, hopefully making the transition to grad school immediately after graduation. The psyd honestly appeals to me more because I'm not that enthused by research, but it concerns me that it is not as well respected as a phd, and the schooling costs a ton of money!

So, now that I want to be a candidate for both the few schools that offer well respected, highly selective, funded psyd programs as well as some clinically focused phd programs I'm thinking a lot about what kind of experiences I need to make myself a good candidate.

So far, I have a lot of clinical experiences under my belt. I have been a member of best buddies for my entire college experience, which entails me working closely with a young person with autism. (I will have had 4 years of this by the time I apply!)

I also am a camp counselor at a seven week sleepaway camp for people with special needs (people with various mental and physical disabilities) I will have two summers of this to put on my resume come time for application.

Also, next semester I have set up an opportunity to teach an art therapy class at a local charter school that provides theraputic support to its students. (I am also an art major) I am hoping to have one or two semesters of this kind of work under my belt for the applications.

What I'm really worried about is research experience. At my college we are required to take two courses where we design and carry out a study, and present a poster at our college's own psych poster fair. I know this can't be nearly enough research experience to be admitted into a phd program. I only have two years left, and for one semester I will be abroad at an institution that offers no psych classes or opportunities.

What can you suggest I can do to increase my research experience in the time I have left? Will asking a professor to be a research assistant for a semester or two be enough? I'm worried!!

Any advice is welcome!

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[enayders]

Well, thanks for harping on me. Let me clarify. I am proficient at understanding and conducting research. I don't hate it, but my career goals are ultimately not to conduct research, but to be a good therapist who digests the new research that is being put out in order to help people. I understand the importance of research, and am interested in deeply understanding how it works. Just because I ultimately don't want to spend my life conducting research doesn't make me believe it's not something important to explore during graduate school.

My real question is what does a phd worthy research background look like? This is the information I wish to glean out of this thread.

 

[cara susanna]

I got accepted straight from undergrad with two years of experience, but I also had really developed research interests and had actually led or managed projects, as opposed to just data entry or running participants. I didn't have any publications, but I did have a few poster presentations.

 

[ClinicalPHD5]

It's been harped on hundreds of times before, but if you have no interest in research, you have no business in a doctoral program. The Psy.D. was not designed to be a "no research" degree. If you are a doctoral level psychologist, regardless of degree, you should be scientifically minded and interested in research such that you can proficiently read and apply research, even if you're not doing it.

If you want to go for fully funded programs, it's highly unlikely that you will be accepted straight out of undergrad, given your limitations in getting adequate research experience. It may be a better bet to apply for Master's programs and this may also more closely allign with your career interests.

I concur that a funded solid PsyD program and balanced PhD is not really a good fit for someone who doesn't care for research. If the program is solid, even if it offers the PsyD, you will have to do a fair amount of research and collect data or use data for your dissertation. At any reputable program, you will be required to complete a dissertation, which often takes 2-3 years and generally involves data collection or at least using already existing data from a grant. It won't be a "dissertation project."

Good PsyD programs will also value research experience and publications in admissions. 2 years of research experience is probably a good amount of time. You would want to at least give some poster presentations at conferences before applying.