Tips on how best to research doctoral programs

[lbny]

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I will be applying to schools for a 2011 Fall start date. I will have my Master's in School Psychology and would like to begin researching doctoral programs in three areas: School Pysch, Counseling, Combined (can be Clinical in the combo). For those who have applied for a 2010 Fall start date, how did you research your schools to narrow down your choices? Did you visit school before your interview to talk to professors or did you just email them?

PS -- Did any of you consider non-accredited programs? Why/Why not?

 

[buzzworm]

I will be applying to schools for a 2011 Fall start date. I will have my Master's in School Psychology and would like to begin researching doctoral programs in three areas: School Pysch, Counseling, Combined (can be Clinical in the combo). For those who have applied for a 2010 Fall start date, how did you research your schools to narrow down your choices? Did you visit school before your interview to talk to professors or did you just email them?

PS -- Did any of you consider non-accredited programs? Why/Why not?

To start, I'd recommend getting the Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. It has a lot of statistics about every accredited program -- how research-focused vs. clinically-focused, theoretical orientations of the faculty, mean GRE scores, etc. It's more of a jumping-off point, though; no real descriptions to give you a feel for what each program is like.

In terms of non-accredited programs, I was thinking about applying to one but got persuaded not to by a psychologist in the field. He said that this makes it much harder to secure an internship later and that it really isn't worth it. The Insider's Guide also recommends against it.

 

[PhDClinical]

I will be applying to schools for a 2011 Fall start date. I will have my Master's in School Psychology and would like to begin researching doctoral programs in three areas: School Pysch, Counseling, Combined (can be Clinical in the combo). For those who have applied for a 2010 Fall start date, how did you research your schools to narrow down your choices? Did you visit school before your interview to talk to professors or did you just email them?

PS -- Did any of you consider non-accredited programs? Why/Why not?

• I started with a firm grasp of my research interest and the Insider's Guide.
• I then visited the website of EVERY clinical program to see if there was a research match. This took a really long time, but I am happy that I knew I had performed an exhaustive search.
• I kept a spreadsheet of good matches and so-so matches.
• Once I knew how many schools I had matches with, I went back and widdled the list down based on location, research/practice balance, funding, and other various factors (you should decide which you value most).
• Then, I emailed professors to see if they will be accepting students, which narrowed my list down considerably.
• My list was still pretty long after emailing professors, so I had to narrow it down some more. I did a Subjective Expected Utility analysis at this point, which actually helped me sort through which factors I value most.
• I ended with 19 schools (which is a lot, but I have two closely related research interests, and am trying to overlap with a law-school-applying fiance).

I did not consider unaccredited programs. If I am going to invest a good chuck of my life in a program, I want to maximize my expected returns. I want every advantage possible when applying for internships, etc.

 

[PrisonPsych]

• I started with a firm grasp of my research interest and the Insider's Guide.
• I then visited the website of EVERY clinical program to see if there was a research match. This took a really long time, but I am happy that I knew I had performed an exhaustive search.
• I kept a spreadsheet of good matches and so-so matches.
• Once I knew how many schools I had matches with, I went back and widdled the list down based on location, research/practice balance, funding, and other various factors (you should decide which you value most).
• Then, I emailed professors to see if they will be accepting students, which narrowed my list down considerably.
• My list was still pretty long after emailing professors, so I had to narrow it down some more. I did a Subjective Expected Utility analysis at this point, which actually helped me sort through which factors I value most.
• I ended with 19 schools (which is a lot, but I have two closely related research interests, and am trying to overlap with a law-school-applying fiance).

I did not consider unaccredited programs. If I am going to invest a good chuck of my life in a program, I want to maximize my expected returns. I want every advantage possible when applying for internships, etc.

Did I create a user account under a different name? Or are you just my long-lost twin in anal-retention? (My final list was 24, after the same process)

 

[cara susanna]

I sort of did similar. First I did a PsycInfo search of my research interests and checked to see if those schools were a match. Then, after I had my final GRE scores, I went into the APA Guide to Graduate Study in Psych and wrote down all of the schools where I met the GRE requirements/cutoffs. Then I went to those websites to see if there was a training and research match.

 

[PsychPhDone]

Did I create a user account under a different name? Or are you just my long-lost twin in anal-retention? (My final list was 24, after the same process)

long lost triplets?

 

[jenn1015]

Did I create a user account under a different name? Or are you just my long-lost twin in anal-retention? (My final list was 24, after the same process)

Haha me too.

 

[summerssun]

I read the Insider's Guide first as a foundation of knowledge. Then I narrowed my schools by location (which was one of my more important factors, although it was not limited to city, state or region), then by research/clinical balance. From there, I narrowed it by research match with the faculty.

 

[researchgirl]

1. I started with well formed research interests and goals.
2. I started with this (http://www.socialpsychology.org/clinrank2005.htm) list of clinical programs (as research as my main interest and this list attempts to provide readers with an understanding of where a large amount of research is done).
3. I crossed off programs in places I knew I would refuse to move to. (I wasn't limited of where I could move, but I knew I would be unhappy in certain places and the program strength wouldn't be worth the trade off in quality of life).
4. I went to each department's website and looked at each faculty member to see what their research interests were. If they were a "great" match or a "good/decent" match, I put the name of the school, its website, the name of the professor(s) who matched my interests, a brief description of their interests, and the school's average GRE and GPA scores into a spreadsheet.
5. I had 20-30 schools - I e-mailed the professors I was interested in working with to ask if they were taking students and if there was anyone in their lab I could talk to about the program. I also talked to multiple people in the field I knew about each of these programs to gather information.
6. After hearing from some professors, talking with some of their students, and talking with people in the field they knew, I cut some schools that I thought I would be unhappy at (or where there wasn't a spot for me).
7. 14 applications + 5 interviews = one very satisfied first year student.

 

[chasingadream]

Did I create a user account under a different name? Or are you just my long-lost twin in anal-retention? (My final list was 24, after the same process)

haha ditto for me to! the only other word of advice I would add to that would be to think about your focus and do some research through that. I am interested in joint clinical/community programs and i found a site that listed all the joint programs which was a huge help in being sure I was comprehensive. If you go this route be sure you keep in mind those are the only programs that offer training in specific areas they just have defined specializations. Good luck!