Where should I apply?

[Tgamlen]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Okay I need some help here. I am currently in my senior year studying Psychology and I am trying to get a list of about 5-10 programs to apply to nationwide that are in my academic range. Here's what my application looks like:

B.S. in Psychology & Social Action (3.2 GPA..most likely graduate with 3.5/6)
A.A. in Social Science
2nd author on a I/O Psychology paper - In progress
1-year internship with SF Suicide Prevention as a crisis counselor
T.A. for a professor in Bio Psych and Dev Psych for a year
Volunteered in Emergency room at local hospital
Student council member
APA student affiliate member
2010 Comerica Scholarship award

The schools I am looking at so far are in the SF Bay Area where I live and they include Palo Alto University, Alliant, and The Wright Institute. As I mentioned before I have no problem applying out of state as long as my application is competitive. I am taking the GRE in about 3 weeks and my practice scores have been good so far. I am interested in applying to Clinical Psychology programs with an emphasis in Neuropsychology.

If anyone has any advice that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[AnnoyedByFreud]

In this economy I think it would be unwise to pay for a psychology graduate degree. I'd only consider funded programs.

 

[cara susanna]

What are your specific research interests?

 

[futureapppsy2]

What are your specific research interests?

This. Research match is key at pretty much any PhD program and many university-based PsyD programs, so if we don't know what you're interested in, we can't really give suggestions.

 

[deleted176373]

The schools I am looking at so far are in the SF Bay Area where I live and they include Palo Alto University, Alliant, and The Wright Institute.

So how much debt do you think is prudent to carry as a person who will be making considerably less than $100k in their first job post licensure?

Seriously, you are looking at $160,000 in education for a job that may pay $75,000 a year, best case, immediately following licensure. Consider funded programs both inside and outside your state.

 

[thepug]

So how much debt do you think is prudent to carry as a person who will be making considerably less than $100k in their first job post licensure?

Seriously, you are looking at $160,000 in education for a job that may pay $75,000 a year, best case, immediately following licensure. Consider funded programs both inside and outside your state.

Or go pp neuropsych and make more than most MDs...swish!

 

[deleted176373]

Or go pp neuropsych and make more than most MDs...swish!

Perhaps, but you need to get the training first. 🙂

Private practice is great once you've built a solid clientele, however, initially, things could be pretty lean. Having had run my own business before, I can tell you, it's not easy. Hanging out a shingle with no reputation and no network would be a painful learning experience, and any just licensed professional would be foolish to attempt this when having to struggle with $150k of debt and the standard bills that most people in their 30's deal with.

As an employee for a private practice neuropsych firm, you'll make what the market will bear.

According to the TCN 2005 (The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 20: 325–364, 2006) Salary Survey Clinical Neuropsychologists did do better than their Clinical Psychology brothers and sisters with 0–5 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $76k, 6–10 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $103k, 11–15 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $104k, and 16–20 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $130k. I might add that the mean salary of all participants in the survey working in private practice was $130k and they averaged 11.8 years in the field (mind you this is far better than clinical psychology at around 85-90k). The US Dept of Labor O-Net website claims far different numbers stating that clinical psychologists make on average $66k per year and that clinical neuropsychologists make $89k per year. MD psychiatrists by comparison make $164k on average.

http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3039.01 <-clin psych
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3031.02 <- clin neuropsych
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-1066.00 <- Psychiatrists

That is not making more than most MD's, unless you are near the top 5% and well above the top 25% of clinical neuropsychologists. Swish.

 

[Tgamlen]

Thanks for all of your replies so far...this has been very helpful. As for my research interests, I am interested in Neuro-, cog-, and abnormal psych. I read a lot of stuff by Stuart Hammeroff, Ramachandran, Oliver Sacks, and Ralph Metzner (consciousness studies).

Are they any specific funded schools that anyone could recommend that are within reach for me?

 

[PsychPhDone]

Thanks for all of your replies so far...this has been very helpful. As for my research interests, I am interested in Neuro-, cog-, and abnormal psych. I read a lot of stuff by Stuart Hammeroff, Ramachandran, Oliver Sacks, and Ralph Metzner (consciousness studies).

Are they any specific funded schools that anyone could recommend that are within reach for me?

That's...a spread of research interests.

 

[Tgamlen]

Well I'm not interested in research as much as the Clinical training. So to respond to your comments, no those aren't "specific research interests" that I listed per se because I am not intending on becoming a research psychologist. I am looking for a Ph.D. program that will train me to be a clinician first and fore most, and a scientist/researcher second. If I had to narrow down my interests even more I would mention populations such as schizophrenia, depression, and personality disorders.

 

[Ollie123]

....those aren't really neuropsychology areas though? You had mentioned in your first post you were interested in neuropsych.

I'm very confused about what you are looking for...it sounds like it you are just asking about "Clinical programs you will get into" but that's not really how grad school admissions works. You need research interests beyond "Something clinical-ish", even at most programs that will emphasize clinical training. You don't need a full program of research you have planned out, but they'll expect you to have some experience with it (that's great if you can publish something!) and be able to talk about it intelligently.

Your stats aren't bad as long as you get that GPA up, so you would likely have a shot at legit programs with some work, but I think you need to do a little more research on what grad school is about and what the admissions process is like.

If you want to aim low, there are plenty of "clinically" oriented programs around the country that you are already likely overqualified for....but you will pay >100k to go there. If you want to go to a funded program with at least a mediocre reputation, you are going to need a lot more work to figure out how the process works and what exactly you want to do.

 

[beantownpsych]

Well I'm not interested in research as much as the Clinical training. So to respond to your comments, no those aren't "specific research interests" that I listed per se because I am not intending on becoming a research psychologist. I am looking for a Ph.D. program that will train me to be a clinician first and fore most, and a scientist/researcher second. If I had to narrow down my interests even more I would mention populations such as schizophrenia, depression, and personality disorders.

If you aren't interested in research, I'd reconsider going for a PhD. Based on your stats I'd wait until after you graduate (so that your GPA is higher--3.2 is not competitive) or apply to a MA program to get more experience.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

If anyone has any advice that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

1. You should take some time to read through Helpful Threads, which is stickied to the top of the forum. You need to have a better understanding of the field and also the application process before jumping into the next application cycle.

2. You need to better define your area of research interest. Then you need to identify mentors who study in your area(s) of interest. Most people do this by searching through online databases of journals and learning about their area(s) of research interest.

3. Being involved in research *IS* a major area of training, so expect to If you do not like research and do not have a desire to do research during your training, do not pursue a doctoral degree.

4. Once you do all of this, have a list of mentors (and their associated university), then you should post your stats in the WAMC Thread.

Or go pp neuropsych and make more than most MDs...swish!

Ugh! Please don't steer people towards neuropsych! It is a very specific career path with too many pitfalls for anyone who isn't very dedicated to doing it. Wanting to earn more money is not a good reason to do it, nor does it make good financial sense. If you want to make money, go into business/banking/finance or pursue an MD, as those paths are much more certain as long as you jump through the required hoops. Money in neuropsych is only there for the top %-tiles of people because the competition is rough.

 

[Tgamlen]

Could anyone recommend some schools that have an area of emphasis in Neuropsych?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Could anyone recommend some schools that have an area of emphasis in Neuropsych?

You'll be best served to identify a research topic area within neuropsychology, and then look for universities/programs that have a researcher working in that area. It rarely matters if a university/program offers a "concentration" or similar in Neuropsych, as that is mostly a marketing move by the dept. to attract students in that area/capitialize on a "hot" area psychology. You will gain more of what you need from a mentor working in the area anyway.

I could recommend the University of Florida because they have some of the top names in the neuropsych field working there, but unless you are interested in a specific researcher's area of interest...the recommendation will not be very useful. They are also much more research heavy, so that wouldn't be a good fit for you (based on your prior posts). They do have the sun though....

You'll need to be more specific about what in neuropsychology you are interesting in researching. Neuropsychology covers a huge range of topic areas. It spans populations, though it is typically split into Adult v. Peds populations. Some areas of research apply across the lifespan, though most tend to be more specific because the measures are often different for children and adults. An example of pediatric work would be studying the impact of a specific congenital disorder on cognition. An example of adult work would be identifying neuropsychological assessment measures that can be used to evaluate mTBIs.

You mentioned schizophrenia as an area of interest. An example of research may be studying the impact of long-term second generation anti-psychotic use on cognitive performance (at least that is what I'd want to research if I worked in that area. 😀 ). You don't need to have this level of specificity, but you should at least know:

1. The general population you want to work with (65+ yr old adults)
2. The disorder/medical condition/etc. you want to study (w. diagnosed Schizophrenia)

The particulars after that can vary. Someone who is more interested in behaviorism and schizophrenia may want to look at medication/talk therapy compliance in a community mental health clinic when you implement a Token Economy System or similar incentive-based model. Does an incentive-based model improve compliance? Are there specific areas within an incentive-based model that are more popular than other things? Something like that.

 

[thepug]

Perhaps, but you need to get the training first. 🙂

Private practice is great once you've built a solid clientele, however, initially, things could be pretty lean. Having had run my own business before, I can tell you, it's not easy. Hanging out a shingle with no reputation and no network would be a painful learning experience, and any just licensed professional would be foolish to attempt this when having to struggle with $150k of debt and the standard bills that most people in their 30's deal with.

As an employee for a private practice neuropsych firm, you'll make what the market will bear.

According to the TCN 2005 (The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 20: 325&#8211;364, 2006) Salary Survey Clinical Neuropsychologists did do better than their Clinical Psychology brothers and sisters with 0&#8211;5 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $76k, 6&#8211;10 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $103k, 11&#8211;15 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $104k, and 16&#8211;20 years of experience resulting in a mean salary of $130k. I might add that the mean salary of all participants in the survey working in private practice was $130k and they averaged 11.8 years in the field (mind you this is far better than clinical psychology at around 85-90k). The US Dept of Labor O-Net website claims far different numbers stating that clinical psychologists make on average $66k per year and that clinical neuropsychologists make $89k per year. MD psychiatrists by comparison make $164k on average.

http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3039.01 <-clin psych
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3031.02 <- clin neuropsych
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-1066.00 <- Psychiatrists

That is not making more than most MD's, unless you are near the top 5% and well above the top 25% of clinical neuropsychologists. Swish.

Iv'e read that article. It depends on where you practice.

In a big city, with some psych assistants on the payroll, 200k+ is common. An 8 hr. battery with scoring and a 1 hr follow-up interview runs for 4k. I know people making 400k+ in my neighborhood.

Those studies are crap and not inferential.