What 'is' a good fit?

[BiopsychStudent]

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From what I've been told my my mentors, and the general sense I've been getting in my graduate school search is that your perceived fit into a given Clinical PhD program is important; meaning your general philosophy and research interests.

My concern is exactly how close of a fit your research interests ought to be best to consider programs and faculty members who (For example)...
-Share a research interest in... TBI.
-Share a research interest in... memory impairment due to TBI.
-Share a research interest in... behavioral prosthetics and technological interventions to remediate memory impairment due to TBI.

I have a fairly strong undergrad background in neurobiology and genetics in addition to psychology. One program in clinical neuropsychology I'm looking at has faculty members whose interests include genetic factors in impuslivity and aggression, and another faculty member who is doing studies of electrophysiology and addiction and withdrawal. In this situation would I be better off discussing how my interests and education closely match their program's use of physiological methods and measures to study psychopathology? Or need I be more specific?

I'm unsure how specific I'd ought to narrow down my research interests as I ultimately decide where to apply. I feel that if I refine my research interests too greatly I may risk being excluded if a given faculty member isn't taking students a given year, though if I'm too broad and express interest in working with multiple faculty members (Whose projects may or may not be related) it might be perceived as a lack of focus or dedication.

And Is it considered pushy to contact faculty members whose research interests you ahead of time?

 

[braaaiiinnnsss]

I'm curious to know the answer to this question as well.

 

[neurogirl23]

I am finding it hard to locate individuals studying exactly what I want to study. Some are med school professors or practicing physicians. Is it feasible to get a Grad School mentor who is an MD? Do we all just need to be more broad in our search?

 

[deleted176373]

Fit = someone you could work with for 5+ years and not want to choke the living daylights out of because they annoy you at 3.5 years through the process. 🙂

Seriously, program fit is elusive, and much like dating and marriage. It's a process that ends in a fairly long term commitment to each other in the hopes that it ends well.

Mark

 

[jnine]

It's not pushy to contact faculty members prior to applying. Indeed, it's part of gaining admission. Just don't write a pushy e-mail and you're fine 🙂.

A lot of these philosophical (e.g. should I narrow my interests or not) questions have been discussed on these forums and by spending a couple of hours searching you could get some solid info. It is probably worth your time because getting in is hard and you want to put together the strongest application possible. Feel free to PM me with a question or two and ill reply if I have time.

Best,
J9

 

[KillerDiller]

My concern is exactly how close of a fit your research interests ought to be best to consider programs and faculty members who (For example)...
-Share a research interest in... TBI.
-Share a research interest in... memory impairment due to TBI.
-Share a research interest in... behavioral prosthetics and technological interventions to remediate memory impairment due to TBI.

This is simply an opinion, but I would say that the first option isn't specific enough, the second option is a fairly solid fit, and the third option is more a topic you would frame as a potential project, but you are best off not being wedded to this level of detail at the time of application.

I have a fairly strong undergrad background in neurobiology and genetics in addition to psychology. One program in clinical neuropsychology I'm looking at has faculty members whose interests include genetic factors in impuslivity and aggression, and another faculty member who is doing studies of electrophysiology and addiction and withdrawal. In this situation would I be better off discussing how my interests and education closely match their program's use of physiological methods and measures to study psychopathology? Or need I be more specific?

Well, this depends on what you actually are interested in studying. If these programs share a specific methodology in the way they look at these questions and this is what you have experience with/interest in, then that could constitute a match. Was TBI just an example, or is that the topic you find most appealing? Ask yourself if you would be willing to spend 5-7 years studying what these researchers are doing. If the answer is yes then try building a case for how your past work shows that you are dedicated to the professor's particular research path. If the only argument you can come up with is "I have interest in biopsych and so do you", then it is probably best not to move on and look for other programs.

 

[BiopsychStudent]

My past undergraduate research mostly dealt with the neural mechanisms of reward-seeking behavior and learning and memory, so I've mostly gravitated toward programs which study that topic relative to psychopathology. I've grown comfortable studying the topic and could certainly see myself conducting research using some of those methods years down the line...

Though sometimes I come across a researcher whose work looks very interesting, but falls outside the scope of the research I did as an undergrad. I have some background in genetics from my minor, for example, but no actual research experience in the area; so while I think I could happily conduct research in the genetic and epigenetic factors that influence impulsiveness and aggression... it seems as though it would be harder to sufficiently justify in a personal statement.

 

[VeggieDelight]

My past undergraduate research mostly dealt with the neural mechanisms of reward-seeking behavior and learning and memory, so I've mostly gravitated toward programs which study that topic relative to psychopathology. I've grown comfortable studying the topic and could certainly see myself conducting research using some of those methods years down the line...

Though sometimes I come across a researcher whose work looks very interesting, but falls outside the scope of the research I did as an undergrad. I have some background in genetics from my minor, for example, but no actual research experience in the area; so while I think I could happily conduct research in the genetic and epigenetic factors that influence impulsiveness and aggression... it seems as though it would be harder to sufficiently justify in a personal statement.

I don't think this is the way to go about it (i.e., fitting your interests to your specific experience). Your research experiences should guide your interests, but that doesn't mean you have be interested in and apply to work in the same research areas. Like you, most of my work in undergrad was in the realm of behavioral pharmacology and addiction. After getting my degree, I read about and became really intrigued by neurological disorders, so I pursued RA positions in that. Now, I'm in graduate school studying TBI.

What I think is key (as a previous poster mentioned) is methodology and sort of generalizing or globalizing your experiences. Just because you didn't do genetics work doesn't mean you can't show interest in it. True, you can't go in there just being, "wow that's SO cool"; you have to have more to offer. Read up on the literature and specifically that POI's work. Find what aspects of your experiences can contribute to the POI's research projects (assessment skills, imaging, working with clinical populations in general, etc.), and what techniques you are interested in using that you have not used before and why (e.g., would they help answer some of your research questions?). You might also put a spin on your experiences. Perhaps you found the POIs research interesting because you know aggressiveness can be a feature of drug-seeking behavior, and that got you thinking about possible genetic differences between individuals in their tendencies to aggressively drug-seek. This may not actually have run through your mind, but I'm just throwing some approaches out there.