What were some mistakes you made along the way? What skills do you see as fundamental for getting through the clinical psych admissions process?

[gohogwild]

Developing scientific writing skills/writing in APA? Diving into methodology? Learning 'R'? Independent research studies along the way??

What's fundamental and what is efficient to focus on?

Thank you

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[singasongofjoy]

Learn how to be a generally personable person who doesn't come across as creepy-weird, narcissistic/hubristic, or lacking in emotional and social intelligence- in other words, comport yourself like someone that is generally enjoyable/easy to work with. That goes a long way in the interview process (oh, the stories the folks on this board could tell....).

research experience (not just data entry) paired with writing experience, and publications/posters etc or at least some submitted for review.

Willingness to chase the good training based on lab/mentor/interest fit and individual program level, not chasing the "good" geographical locations or "brand names" when you apply, and show you've done your research by not asking stupid questions that could easily be answered with a website search.

Saving up money because applications and interviews are expensive.

 

[R. Matey]

In undergrad, I worked on several projects that didn't lead to any publications because I didn't really understand how to advocate for myself. Getting course credit or money isn't nearly as important as getting your name on something.

R makes your life a lot easier once you get past the learning curve.

 

[chicandtoughness]

Research output is much more valuable than research experience (although both are valuable). I had over 6 years of experience but very little output besides posters/presentations. Someone with my duration of commitment should have had a paper or two already (I have one in review now, finally!) and I do believe it decreased my chances for acceptance. It also helps if the research output is concentrated to your field of interest. Mine was all over the place

 

[gohogwild]

Research output is much more valuable than research experience (although both are valuable). I had over 6 years of experience but very little output besides posters/presentations. Someone with my duration of commitment should have had a paper or two already (I have one in review now, finally!) and I do believe it decreased my chances for acceptance. It also helps if the research output is concentrated to your field of interest. Mine was all over the place

Was this due to willingness to revise and resubmit? Congrats on the paper in review!!

 

[gohogwild]

In undergrad, I worked on several projects that didn't lead to any publications because I didn't really understand how to advocate for myself. Getting course credit or money isn't nearly as important as getting your name on something.

R makes your life a lot easier once you get past the learning curve.

Noted, thank you. How would you recommend someone go about recognizing situations where one should advocate for themselves?

 

[R. Matey]

Noted, thank you. How would you recommend someone go about recognizing situations where one should advocate for themselves?

"Hey Dr. Whatever, I'd be happy to work on this project developing chemical x to test on unsuspecting children. Since I do have aspirations of going to graduate school, I'm wondering what an authorship level contribution would look like either on a poster or a publication." Smooches -You.

 

[chicandtoughness]

Was this due to willingness to revise and resubmit? Congrats on the paper in review!!

I'm a little unclear on your question. I simply wasn't on the author lists for the papers

 

[Spydra]

"Hey Dr. Whatever, I'd be happy to work on this project developing chemical x to test on unsuspecting children. Since I do have aspirations of going to graduate school, I'm wondering what an authorship level contribution would look like either on a poster or a publication." Smooches -You.

And I would add ",,,,,and because I am still learning, what kind of training and mentorship can I expect from you and/or *insert lab members/postdocs* to support my success on the poster/publication? And are there any additional training opportunities or resources you would suggest I review either through campus or another source you deem appropriate?"

This is tremendously important because not all opportunities are equal. You may be told you will be giving everything you need to succeed and that turns out to be you left to drown. Clarifying early that you need training and mentorship is key and then observing what is or is not made available and by whom is important. In grad school you will have to learn to cut your losses with faculty who aren't stepping up to do their job in terms of mentorship (and possibly other things) and gather your resources and supports elsewhere. Learning some of that now will save you some time and headache.

 

[gohogwild]

And I would add ",,,,,and because I am still learning, what kind of training and mentorship can I expect from you and/or *insert lab members/postdocs* to support my success on the poster/publication? And are there any additional training opportunities or resources you would suggest I review either through campus or another source you deem appropriate?"

This is tremendously important because not all opportunities are equal. You may be told you will be giving everything you need to succeed and that turns out to be you left to drown. Clarifying early that you need training and mentorship is key and then observing what is or is not made available and by whom is important. In grad school you will have to learn to cut your losses with faculty who aren't stepping up to do their job in terms of mentorship (and possibly other things) and gather your resources and supports elsewhere. Learning some of that now will save you some time and headache.

That is so helpful, thank you!

 

[BuckeyeLove]

In grad school you will have to learn to cut your losses with faculty who aren't stepping up to do their job in terms of mentorship (and possibly other things) and gather your resources and supports elsewhere.

Is this common? I never had this experience but I've heard of many who have, some leading to leaving a program entirely.

 

[WisNeuro]

Is this common? I never had this experience but I've heard of many who have, some leading to leaving a program entirely.

I'd imagine that this is much more common in PsyDs and large cohort programs, where the faculty/student ratio is not great.

 

[PsyDr]

Essential skills:

1) Keeping a demeanor that is somewhere between admiration and complete sycophant.
2) Appearing warm, friendly, and ALWAYS personally busy. Add in giving zero meaningful information about your personal life.
3) Using a boilerplate format for everything.
4) Avoiding lab-cest. Super avoid concurrent indiscretions. That does NOT go over well.
5) You can hide a yawn by clenching your jaw, and tilting your nose up.
6) Have excuses ready at all times, because other people will if you don’t.
7) Repeat after me, " (long pause)....I'm not sure I fully understood the question. Can you say a bit more about that or rephrase the question?". That will get you far.
8) When a class discussion starts using feeling words, conversation over. You’re not going anywhere productive.
9) If you’re a dude, and working in a female predominant practica with one bathroom, try not to look at what happens when you lift the toilet lid. Sometimes people don’t clean where they don’t look.
10) If you are in a medical training setting, and hear the term “debridement” , run. I don’t care what they say, it doesn’t work. And get ready to vomit.
11) Forensics seems to attract the "horse girls" of the profession. Not 100%, but enough to notice.
12) Carefully look at the advice you're given. Take it all in with a grain of salt, but keep your mouth shut about any doubts. The profession makes all sorts of self important statements that don't seem to be as common as they think. Ever hear of someone getting an APA ethics complaint? Me either.
13) Dress at least slightly business-y. Avoid students who are trying to delay adulthood by wearing college clothes.

 

[Spydra]

Is this common? I never had this experience but I've heard of many who have, some leading to leaving a program entirely.

I'd imagine that this is much more common in PsyDs and large cohort programs, where the faculty/student ratio is not great.

From what I am learning this is common for minority and marginalized students regardless of what type of program one attends. Although I do not know how the OP identifies themselves, I figured this might be helpful to know. Regardless of one's identity this could also just happen if one's mentor turns out to suck.

 

[WisNeuro]

Essential skills:

1) Keeping a demeanor that is somewhere between admiration and complete sycophant.
2) Appearing warm, friendly, and ALWAYS personally busy. Add in giving zero meaningful information about your personal life.
3) Using a boilerplate format for everything.
4) Avoiding lab-cest. Super avoid concurrent indiscretions. That does NOT go over well.
5) You can hide a yawn by clenching your jaw, and tilting your nose up.
6) Have excuses ready at all times, because other people will if you don’t.
7) Repeat after me, " (long pause)....I'm not sure I fully understood the question. Can you say a bit more about that or rephrase the question?". That will get you far.
8) When a class discussion starts using feeling words, conversation over. You’re not going anywhere productive.
9) If you’re a dude, and working in a female predominant practica with one bathroom, try not to look at what happens when you lift the toilet lid. Sometimes people don’t clean where they don’t look.
10) If you are in a medical training setting, and hear the term “debridement” , run. I don’t care what they say, it doesn’t work. And get ready to vomit.
11) Forensics seems to attract the "horse girls" of the profession. Not 100%, but enough to notice.
12) Carefully look at the advice you're given. Take it all in with a grain of salt, but keep your mouth shut about any doubts. The profession makes all sorts of self important statements that don't seem to be as common as they think. Ever hear of someone getting an APA ethics complaint? Me either.
13) Dress at least slightly business-y. Avoid students who are trying to delay adulthood by wearing college clothes.

and always wear sunscreen

 

[BuckeyeLove]

and ALWAYS personally busy.

The Costanza "looking at papers confused look" works wonders here.

 

[Sanman]

Essential skills:
4) Avoiding lab-cest. Super avoid concurrent indiscretions. That does NOT go over well.

God, this brought up a lot of college and grad school memories.

 

[Sanman]

From what I am learning this is common for minority and marginalized students regardless of what type of program one attends. Although I do not know how the OP identifies themselves, I figured this might be helpful to know. Regardless of one's identity this could also just happen if one's mentor turns out to suck.

Not sure whether this is due to minority status or personal experience. but I have worked with several people with some level of success and notoriety in some professional circles and some that were fairly anonymous, I have found the that the bigger the reputation, the bigger the jerk most often. I will say that my most horrific professional interaction was with a nobody VA psychologist with a poorly hidden personality disorder.

 

[ExecutiveDysfunction]

11) Forensics seems to attract the "horse girls" of the profession. Not 100%, but enough to notice.

Unbelievably accurate

 

[BuckeyeLove]

Unbelievably accurate

I dated one.

 

[gohogwild]

Essential skills:

1) Keeping a demeanor that is somewhere between admiration and complete sycophant.
2) Appearing warm, friendly, and ALWAYS personally busy. Add in giving zero meaningful information about your personal life.
3) Using a boilerplate format for everything.
4) Avoiding lab-cest. Super avoid concurrent indiscretions. That does NOT go over well.
5) You can hide a yawn by clenching your jaw, and tilting your nose up.
6) Have excuses ready at all times, because other people will if you don’t.
7) Repeat after me, " (long pause)....I'm not sure I fully understood the question. Can you say a bit more about that or rephrase the question?". That will get you far.
8) When a class discussion starts using feeling words, conversation over. You’re not going anywhere productive.
9) If you’re a dude, and working in a female predominant practica with one bathroom, try not to look at what happens when you lift the toilet lid. Sometimes people don’t clean where they don’t look.
10) If you are in a medical training setting, and hear the term “debridement” , run. I don’t care what they say, it doesn’t work. And get ready to vomit.
11) Forensics seems to attract the "horse girls" of the profession. Not 100%, but enough to notice.
12) Carefully look at the advice you're given. Take it all in with a grain of salt, but keep your mouth shut about any doubts. The profession makes all sorts of self important statements that don't seem to be as common as they think. Ever hear of someone getting an APA ethics complaint? Me either.
13) Dress at least slightly business-y. Avoid students who are trying to delay adulthood by wearing college clothes.

Willing to write a clinical psych version of The House of God? Because I'm here for it.

 

[Sanman]

I dated one.

Anyone care to give me an operational definition of the term "horse girl"

 

[Dazen]

Anyone care to give me an operational definition of the term "horse girl"

Urban Dictionary is your friend

 

[Sanman]

Urban Dictionary is your friend

Actually it was rather vague in this case. Other than suggesting it was a girl who likes horses a lot, or may have a horse, or likes my little pony too much.

 

[gohogwild]

Actually it was rather vague in this case. Other than suggesting it was a girl who likes horses a lot, or may have a horse, or likes my little pony too much.

The state of being extroverted and obsessive about any given topic (originating with the topic of horses in that one girl in 8th grade, named something like Sarah or Rachel).

 

[singasongofjoy]

Is this common? I never had this experience but I've heard of many who have, some leading to leaving a program entirely.

Hopefully not common in funded programs with smaller ratios than other programs, but yep, very much was a thing in my program with 2 faculty in particular. It was infuriating but fortunately within a fairly large program other people were willing to step in when students took initiative to seek it out. Unfortunate for those "good," involved informal mentors because they shouldn't be picking up others' slack, but I'm grateful to have been the beneficiary of their kindness.

 

[singasongofjoy]

Expectations for level of formality of interview wear vary from program to program, but general good rule of thumb: Don't stand out TOO much. Don't wear 4-inch heels or a neon tie. If in doubt, err on side of more neutral and more formal. True story, I know someone who interviewed at the same program (twice!) and both times wore something just a little too "much" (the first time a pretty short skirt, second time red 4-inch snakeskin pattern heels with a slightly longer skirt) and primary faculty member just wrote her off immediately for poor judgment. Of course, if you want to weed out places where people are going to be all persnickety about attire (e.g., in my program we had to dress up more than most any time we were in the campus clinic or any time our DCT came to visit externship sites even though everyone else there was super casual all the time) then maybe you DO want to stand out so you know which ones not to attend- pick your approach I guess.

 

[LadyHalcyon]

Essential skills:
11) Forensics seems to attract the "horse girls" of the profession. Not 100%, but enough to notice.

That has NOT been my experience. I will have to look a bit more closely

 

[bluecolourskies]

The state of being extroverted and obsessive about any given topic (originating with the topic of horses in that one girl in 8th grade, named something like Sarah or Rachel).

And has social media account for her horse

 

[ClinicalABA]

Essential skills:
...
2) Appearing warm, friendly, and ALWAYS personally busy...

Maybe even try to actually BE (rather than just "appear") warm, friendly, and personally busy. Working hard and, generally, not being a jerk will get you far- both professionally and personally.

 

[albatross_at_crossroads]

Essential skills:

1) Keeping a demeanor that is somewhere between admiration and complete sycophant.
2) Appearing warm, friendly, and ALWAYS personally busy. Add in giving zero meaningful information about your personal life.
3) Using a boilerplate format for everything.
4) Avoiding lab-cest. Super avoid concurrent indiscretions. That does NOT go over well.
5) You can hide a yawn by clenching your jaw, and tilting your nose up.
6) Have excuses ready at all times, because other people will if you don’t.
7) Repeat after me, " (long pause)....I'm not sure I fully understood the question. Can you say a bit more about that or rephrase the question?". That will get you far.
8) When a class discussion starts using feeling words, conversation over. You’re not going anywhere productive.
9) If you’re a dude, and working in a female predominant practica with one bathroom, try not to look at what happens when you lift the toilet lid. Sometimes people don’t clean where they don’t look.
10) If you are in a medical training setting, and hear the term “debridement” , run. I don’t care what they say, it doesn’t work. And get ready to vomit.
11) Forensics seems to attract the "horse girls" of the profession. Not 100%, but enough to notice.
12) Carefully look at the advice you're given. Take it all in with a grain of salt, but keep your mouth shut about any doubts. The profession makes all sorts of self important statements that don't seem to be as common as they think. Ever hear of someone getting an APA ethics complaint? Me either.
13) Dress at least slightly business-y. Avoid students who are trying to delay adulthood by wearing college clothes.

This is awesome advice! The ones on dressing more as an adult, class discussions on feelings and appearing friendly have served me well over the years. And 12) I definitely saw in practice during my time away from academia (and now back in)

I don't really understand 3) using a boilerplate format - what do you mean?

 

[PsyDr]

@albatross_at_crossroads I create a format for everything. Report, articles, emails, whatever. I get a sample. Literally 4th grade diaphragm that ISH. Subject, verb, predicate. Paragraph one: subject. Sentence one: structure, purpose. Do that for each sentence. Then when I’m trying to write, it’s all plug and play. Different words, different subject, same structure. Create some macros in clinical stuff, create some cheat sheets, things go very quickly. It’s like how every top 40 song is the same structure. Introduce with a minor chord. Add in some 4/4 rhythm. Switch to a major chord, using a 1464 progression. Move to harmony in 3rds. Move into the chorus, followed by verse. Change to minor key if it’s winter or if you’re in the indie market. Speed up to like 80-90bpm in the summer and say something about being sexy and having fun, because humans definitely have a mating cycle even though we act like there’s not a most common birth month.


@ClinicalABA I thought the smile literature, and Hawthorne said something about how you can’t fake something for long until you actually become what you’re faking. And I believe Wilde said that a true friend stabs you in the front. None of this would matter if our profession didn’t rely upon indirect and covert aggression as a matter of process, which is really just collusion. But I’m willing to tell people the truth and let the chips fall where they may.

@ part of life is understanding the source of advice. Anything I write is like reading Sherlock Holmes fanfic written by Forest Gump.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

12) Carefully look at the advice you're given. Take it all in with a grain of salt, but keep your mouth shut about any doubts. The profession makes all sorts of self important statements that don't seem to be as common as they think. Ever hear of someone getting an APA ethics complaint? Me either.

7) Repeat after me, " (long pause)....I'm not sure I fully understood the question. Can you say a bit more about that or rephrase the question?". That will get you far.

Can you say a bit more about that (#12) or rephrase ? From someone that may or may not need to work on keeping their mouth shut