Silly question, but what should I expect from my Psy.D program?

[Groupthink]

More so what to expect from graduate school... the basics. I am heading off to a program with which I'm very happy, but I am also very nervous because I have no idea what to expect. I'm moving out to a city and finally getting to study what I waited all four years of my undergrad career to learn.

Yet, what will classes actually be like? Are they more like seminars than classes?

What is homework like? I always remember the adage we were told growing up, "If you think the work in middle school is hard, wait til you get to high school!" Then, "High school? Pssh, just wait until college." While that proved only somewhat true, I would expect from a program that purports to train me in the skills necessary to be a clinician and to make me adept at consuming the literature that the work load will be very different than undergrad.

I realize that "bad grades" are not an option in graduate school, but I have little clue just what material I will be graded on. Traditional tests and lengthy essays? Or will I be watched by my entire cohort as I implement a specific therapy, and each individual student grades me on my efficacy? 😛

Then I hear all this hullabaloo about making sure you don't "appear disloyal" to your program and such. All these unspoken rules of being a professional that I guess I am just going to have to pick up on along the way.

I realize that little is universal between programs. However, I just feel at a disadvantage coming straight out of undergrad when a good chunk of students attending my program already understand the rigors and methods of graduate programs because they already have their Masters.

Any tips, please? 🙂

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[Therapist4Chnge]

One of the dirty secrets of graduate training is that grades really don't matter at the doctoral level (or MS if you aren't using it as a stepping stone to a Ph.D./Psy.D.). "B = Ph.D." (or Psy.D. in this case), though you'll want to at least get more A's than B's. Anything else is not really an option, though it'd take some work to realistically get into that position.

Pass your classes, do well in your practica placements, and display an ability to understand and work with research...and you are most of the way to a good education. If you get a 4.0 but sacrafice other training experiences to do so, you will do more harm to your overall training (and internship app) than if you took a B and used the extra time to work on a weaker part of your training. Internship, post-doc, and jobs may request your transcripts for verification of status/degree conferral...but they aren't that interested in your grade in a first year class.

 

[Groupthink]

One of the dirty secrets of graduate training is that grades really don't matter at the doctoral level (or MS if you aren't using it as a stepping stone to a Ph.D./Psy.D.). "B = Ph.D." (or Psy.D. in this case), though you'll want to at least get more A's than B's. Anything else is not really an option, though it'd take some work to realistically get into that position.

Pass your classes, do well in your practica placements, and display an ability to understand and work with research...and you are most of the way to a good education. If you get a 4.0 but sacrafice other training experiences to do so, you will do more harm to your overall training (and internship app) than if you took a B and used the extra time to work on a weaker part of your training. Internship, post-doc, and jobs may request your transcripts for verification of status/degree conferral...but they aren't that interested in your grade in a first year class.

I could *never* settle for a B. though I was reading one of the stickies and it basically said get used to getting below As... I don't know if I can do that lol. Nearly graduated valedictorian, had I not gotten one A-...

So are you saying that internship placement sites look more for well-roundedness than for good grades?

At my program, the first year course load seems a bit light so I am going to be taking an extra class. I am now wondering if that time would be better spent involving myself in faculty research.

 

[Pragma]

I could *never* settle for a B. though I was reading one of the stickies and it basically said get used to getting below As... I don't know if I can do that lol. Nearly graduated valedictorian, had I not gotten one A-...

So are you saying that internship placement sites look more for well-roundedness than for good grades?

At my program, the first year course load seems a bit light so I am going to be taking an extra class. I am now wondering if that time would be better spent involving myself in faculty research.

I don't think most internship sites care about grades if you are meeting standards.

Yes...research, although getting a class out of the way to free you up later isn't necessarily a bad thing

 

[Ollie123]

Classes don't matter. Yes, obviously meet requirements, put in effort, and do well in them. I certainly wouldn't encourage you to neglect coursework, nor do I think anyone else here would. Just keep things in perspective.

A 4.0 GPA in grad school is meaningless though, since it is such a small part of what you should be doing, and what you learn in class should be a small fraction of what you learn outside of class. Look at it this way...it is entirely possible to have a 4.0 GPA and be the "worst" student in the department. That is how little GPA matters relative to other factors.

 

[voyeurofthemind]

Agree with everything that has been said. Grades are not the best metric of your personal level of preparedness to practice as a doctoral level psychologist. One faculty member in my program says, "Show me a doc student with a 4.0 and I'll show you someone who hasn't done anything while they were here."

I'm PsyD as well but heavy on research -- I have to admit that while classes give me a good addition to my knowledge in that area every semester it is best consolidated and expanded on when I actually have to work with it clinically or through research.

 

[vivaloca]

Another thing to keep in mind is that many aspects of graduate school require you to be okay with not doing things perfectly.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Another thing to keep in mind is that many aspects of graduate school require you to be okay with not doing things perfectly.

This. Grad school generally ends up being a practice in juggling a half-dozen different projects simultaneously, while coming to the understanding that in attempting to do them all perfectly, you'll never get any of them done. Often times, you'll have to be ok with putting out something that's "good enough" rather than your best work, and class work is usually the first type of output that's thrown on the chopping block.

I'd personally suggest aiming to be closer to a 4.0 than a 3.0 (i.e., 3.5+), but beyond that, shooting for a 4.0 is just going to cause you excess needless stress.

 

[Pragma]

I will note that SOME sources of funding (some scholarships) may take your graduate GPA into account. But overall, if you are getting straight As and putting in huge effort towards classes, you probably are not dedicating enough energy to other areas.

 

[PsyDLICSW]

I will note that SOME sources of funding (some scholarships) may take your graduate GPA into account. But overall, if you are getting straight As and putting in huge effort towards classes, you probably are not dedicating enough energy to other areas.

What about grade inflation in graduate school? I am not getting straight As, but I have gotten more As than Bs and I'd like to hope that I am dedicating time to practicum. I am doing an optional summer practicum and extra research in a lab (I am in a small, 10 people per cohort University Based PsyD program with research components/doctoral research project requirement). I don't really want to worry about not doing enough because the psychology field already sends a clear message that one is not doing enough. You are not doing enough to get in to grad school, you are not doing enough to get an internship in this cutthroat market, you are not doing enough to get a job, you are not good enough if you are not doing a post doc, etc. I think it depends on the program, but there is grade inflation in grad school, meaning that they do not give out too may bad grades because they want to retain students in the program and giving bad grades reflects badly on the program. So while someone with straight As may not be seeing the bigger picture and putting effort towards other things, this may not be the case from everyone from every program.

 

[Pragma]

What about grade inflation in graduate school? I am not getting straight As, but I have gotten more As than Bs and I'd like to hope that I am dedicating time to practicum. I am doing an optional summer practicum and extra research in a lab (I am in a small, 10 people per cohort University Based PsyD program with research components/doctoral research project requirement). I don't really want to worry about not doing enough because the psychology field already sends a clear message that one is not doing enough. You are not doing enough to get in to grad school, you are not doing enough to get an internship in this cutthroat market, you are not doing enough to get a job, you are not good enough if you are not doing a post doc, etc. I think it depends on the program, but there is grade inflation in grad school, meaning that they do not give out too may bad grades because they want to retain students in the program and giving bad grades reflects badly on the program. So while someone with straight As may not be seeing the bigger picture and putting effort towards other things, this may not be the case from everyone from every program.

I'm not sure about grade inflation as it pertains to individual programs, but there were certainly people that did not gets As and Bs in my graduate courses if they did not perform adequately in classes. It's a tough thing to measure considering the fact that most people that get into these highly competitive programs are top-notch students to begin with, but I knew someone in my cohort who was under review for getting a bad grade in stats.

My point was that if you are putting in a huge amount of effort into classes, such that they are not your lowest priority, then you are being inefficient with your time.

I had a hard time with the concept at first myself. But I recall one term during my second year where it was time to finish a big grant I was working on for my lab, publish a couple of papers, and do some guest lecturing to get some teaching experience. I proudly will tell you that I got an A- in my social psychology course that term. Not because I don't find social psychology fascinating or important, but these other activities were more important for a) my career, b) my relationship with my mentor, and c) my standing within the department. So I set a time limit on how long I could spend writing the papers and studying for the exams in the class, and stopped when that time was up regardless of if I felt underprepared. "Good enough" as AA put it.

I'm glad I did too. I've never discussed my graduate GPA in any context on any interview for any position I have had from graduate school to internship to postdoc to tenure-track job. But I still get inquires about the publications, and I was able to leverage the guest lecturing experience into a nice adjuncting career that I kept going on the side even during all of my clinical years. I learned a lot more teaching about social psychology than I did taking the class myself.

So no, I don't think your grades matter (as long as they aren't terrible).

 

[Groupthink]

Specifically to my program, then, what should I spend my time working towards during my first year? I will be taking three courses plus one extra my first semester in my PsyD program, because I will not be working in the in-house clinic until the first Summer semester. Should I devote all of that extra time to working on faculty research?

I just feel that being told that classes aren't as important as my other work is hard to do when there isn't any other work during the first semester or two. Or perhaps I am just not aware of what other work there may be...

Additionally, in one of the stickies someone recommended, "Treat Grad School like a job; don't bring it home with you." Is this really doable? I can't imagine going home and not doing classwork or research...

 

[Pragma]

Specifically to my program, then, what should I spend my time working towards during my first year? I will be taking three courses plus one extra my first semester in my PsyD program, because I will not be working in the in-house clinic until the first Summer semester. Should I devote all of that extra time to working on faculty research?

I just feel that being told that classes aren't as important as my other work is hard to do when there isn't any other work during the first semester or two. Or perhaps I am just not aware of what other work there may be...

Additionally, in one of the stickies someone recommended, "Treat Grad School like a job; don't bring it home with you." Is this really doable? I can't imagine going home and not doing classwork or research...

Well, it does depend on your program's requirements. Keep in mind there is a bit of an adjustment period too - you need energy just to get acclimated and get the lay of the land.

Is there a research component to your Psy.D. degree? Is there some project that would be comparable to a PhD Master's thesis that you can start working on? Outside of getting a jump on program requirements (which for most PhD students would initially be their major research endeavors like theses, later on comps and dissertation), I'd suggest that any form of networking that you can do will be useful. Go to conferences, try to meet other psychologists. Make friends with your cohort and get to know "elder" students who can give you input about clinical placements. These things may pay off down the line when it comes time to look for internships and jobs.

Another idea is to see if you can get some funding. Learn to write grants - even a travel grant to go to a conference or CE workshop or something. It is good experience to have.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I just feel that being told that classes aren't as important as my other work is hard to do when there isn't any other work during the first semester or two. Or perhaps I am just not aware of what other work there may be...

There are almost always opportunities out there for additional work, you just need to dig around. During my first semester of classes I found out about a multi-dept research study (outside of my area of research) that needed some basic psychometrician work. I spent 95% of my time administering assessments and fending off toddler/child meltdowns, but it got me involved with some senior faculty and provided a nice foundation for my assessment training. IIRC I think I got a poster presentation out of it. There was a bit of a learning curve at first (WJ-III and a few other measures), but it was well worth the training and opportunity.

Additionally, in one of the stickies someone recommended, "Treat Grad School like a job; don't bring it home with you." Is this really doable? I can't imagine going home and not doing classwork or research...

It is a job in the sense that it needs to get done, regardless of how many hours it takes to get everything done. I almost always took work home with me, though I reserved at least 1/2 of my Sunday for pure relaxation...and/or NFL viewing. 😀 A couple people in my cohort had families, so their priorities were different, but I think most students (at least in the first 3 or so years) will need to take a lot of their work home.

 

[KillerDiller]

It is a job in the sense that it needs to get done, regardless of how many hours it takes to get everything done. I almost always took work home with me, though I reserved at least 1/2 of my Sunday for pure relaxation...and/or NFL viewing. 😀 A couple people in my cohort had families, so their priorities were different, but I think most students (at least in the first 3 or so years) will need to take a lot of their work home.

Yeah, this. It's not realistic to expect grad school to be like a job in the sense that you can go in at 9, leave at 5, take a lunch, and be done for the day. Even your concrete obligations like practicum and classes will take you outside of the normal work-a-day world's hours. However, you can still have a life and have other interests, you just have to figure out how to best manage your own time and priorities.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Like others have said, do well enough (more A's than B's) in coursework, but it shouldn't be your top priority.

Get used to feeling like you're never doing enough. I have nine journal articles (seven of which were submitted after I started grad school two years ago), other publications,and bunch more under review, and some in prep, and I still feel like a research slacker sometimes, honestly. The bar is very high, and that's good, but sometimes it can be crushingly so.

Clinical work is a learning curve, and you won't always know what to do with a client in session and what you try to do won't always work. Use supervision and hope that it's good supervision that you fit with.

Your research and/or clinical interests may change (shockingly).

Write term papers with an eye towards submitting them for publication after revision, esp. if they're in your area of interest. Similarly, the more you can curve your coursework around your research interests/thesis topic/dissertation, the more productive you'll be.

Make friends outside of AND within your cohort and program, if at all possible. IMO, it's good to have both.

Similarly, find at least one hobby or activity outside of psychology and make it priority to fit it into your (sometimes overcrowded, insane) schedule.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Get used to feeling like you're never doing enough. I have nine journal articles (seven of which were submitted after I started grad school two years ago), other publications,and bunch more under review, and some in prep, and I still feel like a research slacker sometimes, honestly. The bar is very high, and that's good, but sometimes it can be crushingly so.

Yeah...you make me feel like a slacker! I'm hoping I have students/interns with your productivity goals at my next job...😀 I love clinical research, but I won't have the time to mine the massive amounts of standardized data I plan on producing via my clinical work. Research Thunderdome for first authorship!