School Tier Rankings?

[Dazen]

Short time lurker, first time poster, applying for PhD programs in clinical psych. I've seen a bunch of people reference school tiers or relative competitiveness of programs. I know I could derive approximate buckets myself, but was wondering if there were general guidelines you suggest for figuring out what tier a school is in? Asking mostly because I'm concerned that I'm applying to too many high ranking schools without enough more likely options (although I know it's a bit of a crapshoot everywhere). Thanks!

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[WisNeuro]

Tiers/rankings are largely irrelevant.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Only needed ranking system:
1. Accreddited programs at not for profit schools
2. For profit and unaccredited programs

 

[Kadhir]

Prestige is all about who you work for and what you do... more and more the latter as you get further into your training and career.

A convenient list of general "top-tier" programs could be the PCSAS-accredited programs (Accredited Programs – PCSAS), given their research productivity. But not on that list are plenty of reputable programs with well known faculty.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Prestige is all about who you work for and what you do... more and more the latter as you get further into your training and career.

A convenient list of general "top-tier" programs could be the PCSAS-accredited programs (Accredited Programs – PCSAS), given their research productivity. But not on that list are plenty of reputable programs with well known faculty.

Or ANY counseling program since they are largely unable to get PCSAS accreditation by design.

 

[Kadhir]

Or ANY counseling program since they are largely unable to get PCSAS accreditation by design.

This is true, although OP did ask about clinical psych specifically.

 

[Justanothergrad]

This is true, although OP did ask about clinical psych specifically.

Fair - I generally assume people mean "clinical" rather than "Clinical" and have a poor sense of the difference between the health service psychology specialties. Not that there is much difference anyway.

 

[WJPSYCH]

You can get a good sense of competitiveness by looking at APA reporting stats. Look at how many applications for how many spots over the past few years. Some good schools (e.g., funded, accredited, high match and licensure rates, respected research programs) in more rural areas/smaller states/smaller cities have fewer applicants per slot. I would recommend a balance to include some of these schools if you have not already.