What do APPIC sites emphasize when evaluating applicants?

[SeaSquirt]

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Clinical hours and the types of externships completed? Letters of recommendation? Research publications? GPA and coursework? Statement of purpose? Interview?

If you had to assign weights or a ranking, what would you say? My stomach is doing flip-flops just reading your thread on the internship process this year, so I'd like to start preparing early.

 

[psychanon]

It varies tremendously by site, but the most important thing is match. I would say that GPA doesn't count for anything, but everything else you list is fair game and will be weighted differently by different sites. If you want to start early, I'd suggest looking at the online directory and starting to think about what types of programs you're most interested, and about what they might be looking for. But don't get yourself too stressed out about it....yet.

 

[orthogonal]

From data that the APPIC board collected in their annual survey of member internship programs regarding the selection criteria internships use in evaluating intern applicants.

The top 5 selection criteria starting with the most important are:

1. Interview
2. Letters of recommendation
3. AAPI essays
4. Number of intervention and assessment hours
5. Cover letter

And another quote from the CUDCP listserv:

And finally from my time attending the APPIC Board meeting as the CUDCP liaison, it is clear that most internship sites are NOT selecting only those students with the highest number of hours, and that number of hours is one of the final things sites look at when making decisions regarding who to interview. The most important thing is the picture of the student that one gets from the packet of materials the students sends. Are the essays well-written and coherent? Do they give the impression of someone who would fit well at the internship site? Is the grammar acceptable? Is the overall presentation, including the letters of recommendation, one that gives a positive impression of the student? If the student presents her/himself well on paper and is from a decent program with a good reputation, she/he is more likely to be asked for an interview, and that is the first step. Then the student must act appropriately during the interview and be able to talk about his/her experience, research, future goals, and so forth in a manner that inspires confidence and communicates the existence of clinical skills. "Odd" or "problematic" behavior during the interview is the next thing that will decrease your student's chances of getting an internship.

Hope that helps.

 

[Cosmo75]

Some will also care if you're from a PhD or PsyD program. Look at the match rates for the past 3 years. If they've never taken a PsyD and you're in a PsyD program for example, the likelihood that you're going to break the trend is quite low. Look at how they rate degrees as "preferred" or "acceptable" as well. I was matched to a PsyD acceptable site, but I wouldn't have applied to all that had that as their information. All of this goes both ways, though PhD students will probably run into this a bit less.

 

[orthogonal]

According to the APPIC Board's annual survey, the top 5 selection criteria starting with the most important are:

1. Interview
2. Letters of recommendation
3. AAPI essays
4. Number of intervention and assessment hours
5. Cover letter



p.s. I already tried posting this and it never went through 😕

 

[pingouin]

p.s. I already tried posting this and it never went through 😕

weird server glitch, now resolved.

 

[orthogonal]

weird server glitch, now resolved.

Thanks! 👍