My question is kind of tri-fold. 1.) What are my chances, as is (based on info below except lets pretend I raise my GRE scores because the score I have is sans studying) and 2.) Is it beneficial/worthy it/advisable to put the tremendous added stress of trying to submit a research paper to an open-access journal in the next few weeks... [see below]......... 3.) another option is instead of trying to publish another paper, I could see how I do on the Psyche GRE and study for it......
Thank you to any and all who read!
How important is it to have a publication (accepted manuscript, published, etc.) on your CV prior to applying to a Clinical or Counseling PhD program. I've heard tons of conflicting information, and obviously there's no exact science to and we're basically all just speculating and going off of the luck of the draw... Clearly it's ideal to have a paper published, but how truly important is it.... I've worked in a schizophrenia research lab for the past year, and from that Lab, I was on a paper but my name is far down the list among 20 authors. The journal it was published in was the Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Science, which is a high-impact journal. Other than that, I do not have any papers or posters published. I am half-thinking about fixing up one of my papers from school and submitting it to an open-access journal (even though for open access journals you have to pay $2000-$4000 to be published!) just so that I have something else to put on my CV. Don't get me wrong, I love writing (why else would I want to go for a PhD) but I am currently working two jobs, trying to study for the GRE, manage all of these applications and learn about programs and POI's..... I am already busy and beyond stressed out. Wondering if spending a ton of time and effort trying to get a paper out in the next few weeks is worth it (it would be a literature review). You'll see below that my GRE scores need work... Lets say hypothetically I bring those scores up to 165 V 160 Q....
My research interests are schizophrenia (particularly newly emerging medications with, non-D2 receptor chemical mechanisms), and, separately, positive psychology interventions and the science of positive emotions. I am also interested in biomarkers of social anxiety disorder vs. paranoia in schizophrenia. It would be easiest to write the Literature Review for the open access journal on "positive psychology" since I already have good baseline of background research done on it that I could potentially make a paper with (in the 2-3 week timeframe that I would have if I started writing now). But at the same time, then it makes my research interest less clear. Is it positive psychology, or schizophrenia? On the other hand, is anything published a good thing, even if it makes your research interest seem less focused?
This will be my first year applying because I just finished a Masters in Clinical Psychology in May 2020. I have also heard that due to budget cuts there will be fewer spots. That is definitely nerve-wracking, but also just something we all have to accept... If I don't get in this round, I definitely intend to apply again.
Undergrad: I didn't major in Psyche as an undergrad (I studies Literary Arts [writing] and Modern Culture & Media [digital writing])—but also attended college from age 16-age 20 so I simply had no idea what I wanted to do as a career.... Once I decided on psychology 2 years post-undergrad, I applied and enrolled in a Masters degree program in Clinical Psychology.
M.A.: I took all the prerequisites for PhD programs during my Masters program
GPA: and finished my M.A. with a 3.9 GPA.
Research Experience: I have 2 years of research experience: 2018-2019, asthma education intervention research (I took the position because I didn't have a lot of options but needed the research experience); 2019-present: The past year I have been working in schizophrenia research... From that Lab, I was on a paper but my name is far down the list among 20 authors. The journal it was published in was the Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Science, which is a high-impact journal. However, I don't have any other publications other than that and I don't have any poster presentations.
Volunteer hours: I have 120 hours of volunteer experience in a psychiatric ER and hospital setting.
Letter of Recommendation: My letters of recommendation will come from the PI at the schizophrenia lab, another administrator, associated with the lab, and 1 or 2 professors.
GRE: I took the GRE completely blindly last weekend (meaning Zero studying or looking into the structure of the test, I just wanted to get a baseline)— and I got 155 V, 149 Q, 4.5 AW. I plan on bringing those scores up quite a bit in the next 3 months and am going to take the GRE 4 more times.
Random other writing: In addition I'm almost done writing a book (it's structured more like a glossary)— of 700+ terms from the fields of "psychology and spirituality". Several sections in it function like a Lit Review. While it does contain strong writing samples, it won't be published in a peer-reviewed journal article obviously.
I would feel a lot better if I had a few more papers out, but would my application be considered competitive in spite of this? I'm so stressed out about it that part of me wants to skip this cycle so I can actually enjoy writing papers in the meantime, while waiting for the next cycle. But then I feel like I mind as well try to apply this year regardless.
