What to expect before starting this fall

[me9898]

---

Members don't see this ad.

So I will be attending a clinical Ph.D. program this fall and am beginning to get worried that I haven't heard much from the program since i accepted. Does anyone know if this is normal? I'm wondering when we typically sign up for classes and hear about assistantships? Also, is there anything that I should be doing to prepare for my first year??

Thanks!

 

[PsychPhDone]

If I recall correctly, I first heard from my program in late May/early June about what classes to register for in the fall. We got more information about parking/orientation/etc in early August. If it would make you feel better, you could email the DCT and ask if there's any way to get in contact with your cohort and when you might hear more about classes/assistantships for the fall.

My biggest suggestion to prepare for first year is to spend your summer relaxing!

 

[hockey99]

My biggest suggestion to prepare for first year is to spend your summer relaxing!

I was told this too, but ultimately caved to the prospect of absurdly high cortisol levels and poor pay at a summer internship. To be fair, I was incredibly bored building radiators to pay the bills and save some cash since graduating last fall. I also found out that I should be able to log this summer on my APPIC application!

Getting back to the topic of the thread -- I have only received one email from my department's secretary about submitting another application to the University's graduate school to become an official student. I have been told by a grad student at my program that we will not likely hear anything until the end of this month.

Either way, it's not like they are going to forget you! If they need anything, they'll let you know.

 

[animaladvocate]

Usually if you look at the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral studies website they will have a list of important dates for graduate students (e.g. what day registration begins). There should probably also be a program sequence or recommended courses for first year somewhere on your department website.

 

[Goodluckchuck]

I too have not heard much from my clinical psychology PhD program. Other than a few things. My advice: Spend this summer relaxing and going out every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night 🙂

 

[perhaps11]

I would recommend contacting your advisor to check in. I did this and he told me everything I needed to know. With regard to class registration, at least in my program this happens as a one-on-one thing with the advisor/student near the beginning of the semester.

 

[Ya Ya]

I remember not communicating with my department until a few weeks before starting. We also didn't register for courses until orientation. Your dept probably has spots allocated for their incoming class so I wouldn't worry about classes filling up.

As far as what you should be doing before starting--relax but also spend time conceptualizing your research interest. I'm not sure if you're more clinically or research oriented but it always helps to be able to move quickly on this. In my program, the thing that really holds people back (e.g. Staying a 7th year) is research.

 

[Ettevi05]

I haven't heard much of my department either. I've sent a couple of emails to the secretary, and my adviser but haven't received anything yet. I only managed to register to a couple of classes from remembering what they said during the interview day and finding the study plan online in the departments website.
I wanted to relax this summer too, but I caved in and got into a paid internship running from mid-June to early-August (16 hours a day/7 days a week, few "rest" days in between internship duties). Hopefully I am not too burnt out, but I actually have been having a hard time coping since graduating this past December and not getting any type of pay (since I am currently an unpaid intern/volunteer in two research labs). I also need the money for the first two months of rent since my assistantship is set up in a biweekly paying method and won't see any kind of money until probably mid September.

 

[wigflip]

As far as what you should be doing before starting--relax but also spend time conceptualizing your research interest. I'm not sure if you're more clinically or research oriented but it always helps to be able to move quickly on this. In my program, the thing that really holds people back (e.g. Staying a 7th year) is research.

This. I spent too much time relaxing and saying goodbye to my freedom, and would have probably benefitted more from getting an early jump on things. At meet and greet I even asked one of the profs if I should spend the summer boning up on stats, and s/he said, "No, don't worry about that--those classes are designed to refresh the basics." Hahahahahahaha!