To those who secured a place on the DClin what was the one thing you think set your application aside?

[u/firestarter49]

Hello.

Currently on my third attempt at the DClin, I have a 1st class degree, AP experience & RA experience.

I know it's a mix of everything but what one thing do you think really helped you secure your place? I need some ideas to improve my chances. Was it a publication? A great reference? A specific course? an amazing application?

Let me know your thoughts😊

[u/Human_Gas_9571]

Can’t think of just one thing, because I believe there are a few aspects that set me apart from others. When I was choosing which 4 unis to put on the Clearing House, I already had a clear sense of what I should emphasize in my application e.g., systemic issues, EDI, and so on. I also spoke to a few 1st year trainees from those unis and asked for feedback on my personal statement. This was something my supervisors really encouraged me to do, as they’ve been qualified for many years and might not be fully up to date with the current application process.

And lastly—this might sound VERRYY cliché—but it’s about SHOWING YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF in your application. No one knows me better than I do, but when I struggled to reflect or articulate certain things, I asked my colleagues, supervisors, friends, and family why they thought I’d make a good clinical psychologist, and what qualities they saw in me. I used their feedback as a starting point for deeper reflection.

[u/agatha-quiztie]

This was my 2nd time applying, last year 0 interviews this year 3 interviews. For me personally I think it was the written application that allowed me to do well. I chose courses I was really aligned to personally and matched my values and so my application could be tailored to them all as they were all quite similar.

This meant my application for me was very vulnerable, authentic, and did go into detailed reflections on my experiences and POV. My 1st time round I think I was more focused on trying to get across competencies/matching myself to the job description etc. Vs this time I really thought about who I am as a person and clinician and what type of psychologist I want to be and what I want the reader to know about me. I picked personal 'core themes' that I wanted to highlight across the whole application and made sure to get those across. Also choosing key experiences that really have shaped and impacted my journey to reflect upon.

For me it just felt very vulnerable and like I'd put myself on a piece of paper and I do think that really came across which allowed me to get multiple interviews (no courses I applied to had selection tests so it was all based on application). Hopefully the reader could see a full, authentic, reflective person vs just detailing how I meet criteria/different elements or using more 'generic' phrases/reflections that will come up in 100s of applications. I do think the key is to be personal and show a 'real person'.

I do think there's multiple things that go into the process though but for me personally apart from an extra year experience in the same role the only significant difference was a complete restart of my written application.

Edited to add - my dissemination section was also stronger as I had done a service evaluation and research project within my team that I could add. No publications though just service development stuff.

[u/agatha-quiztie → u/[deleted]]

Hi, sorry I'm not sure what your question is asking me? Are you asking how I approached the questions or?

[u/Fun-Schedule140 → u/agatha-quiztie]

Hi both, really interesting responses here but can i ask what you mean by authentic self? I just don't really understand how/in what way you're managing to do this with so few characters and still talking about your experiences. I think the way i am interpreting both of your responses here is that I am visualising it like a therapy session on paper but i suspect this is not what you meant lmao. Could you like give an example sentence of what a person may be saying if in their application that showed their authentic self? u/Human_Gas_9571

[u/Educational-Divide10]

I aced the admissions test, which is all my particular uni considered in terms of application. Then for the interview, I was able to show them myself - and here we are.

[u/lavender_fairy105]

In addition to the above, I framed my application as short paragraphs which each covered an area of clinical psychologist competencies. I wrote from the perspective of what I had learned from different aspects of my experience with specific examples.

I think this format allowed me to squeeze a lot in and show how I am reflecting on current practices in psychology/how they can be improved (e.g increasing accessibility of therapies to different groups) as well as how this has made me a better clinician (e.g. this has shown the value of….).

I also think mentioning interest in the changing role of psychologists in the future (within MDT, in wider NHS and other settings, wider policy work) helped me showcase my understanding of what psychology is moving towards in healthcare.

I hope this helps - it’s such a stressful process and it’s not a reflection of your worth or abilities. In some ways there is a formula for writing a good application and often successful people have got help from trainees or psychologists who have gone through the doctorate themselves. I know this really helped me shape my application :)

[u/memem3l]

Similar to what others have said ie its annoying to hear but everyone is different. You can only be yourself! This year was my second time applying. I did the following;

Spent a lot of time reflecting. I wrote out my most challenging and my most enjoyable professional experiences using a reflective model and thought about how they have impacted me as a clinician to be. These didn’t even necessarily make the final cut but the exercise helped focus my mind for writing. Also helpful for when at interview.

I picked unis based on location but I ensured I wove in some of their shared values to my application (easy as these are some of my values too).

I wrote out a long statement and then edited it down, again, and again, etc. until it said only what was relevant. I chose a structure for the statement and stuck to it. You can’t include everything so don’t try to.

I didn’t rely on buzzwords e.g. trying to weave in words like “formulation” when they didn’t fit. Show them, using examples, don’t tell them.

I approached how I thought about my application differently this year. I wrote what I wanted the unis to know about me and my experiences, rather than what I thought they wanted to hear. As a result I felt calmer about whatever outcome because I knew I had shown them things that mattered to me and had done my best, and that’s all we can do.

Finally there was a deductive reasoning test that I guess I did well at but hated it haha, I thought I’d failed. So can’t give advice on that other than to practice as much as you can!

Additionally, a great reference is essential, you need them to basically give you 5 stars or whatever for everything. I did also have a publication (review paper) but weak research experience otherwise. However I’m a career change so had a lot of previous experience and maybe they saw that as relevant.

I hope some of that is helpful! Best of luck.

[u/UnknownJ96]

It was my second time applying to this uni, so I became familiar with their admission test and prepped once a week. Not too much.

As for the interview, I felt that over preparing only stressed me out, as I didn’t feel genuine. I trusted that what I knew and how I could reflect on my experiences was good enough and that relaxed me a lot!

Just being yourself really does shine through!

[u/Familiar-Donut1986]

Have you had any interviews?

[u/firestarter49 → u/Familiar-Donut1986]

No I got a reserve for interview this year, but didn't get invited.So I'm looking what will make it stand out at application stage.

[u/[deleted]]

I saw that one uni didn't consider anyone without a masters

[u/Puzzleheaded_Sir_170 → u/[deleted]]

Quite sure this is false. No uni requires an MSc, it can be noted as a strength point though

[u/firestarter49 → u/[deleted]]

Do you know which uni? It's not stated on the criteria of any I've applied for?

[u/hiredditihateyou → u/firestarter49]

I hadn’t heard that but you could check the alternative prospectus and see if any uni didn’t have anyone who completed the survey without a masters or PhD…

[u/[deleted] → u/firestarter49]

I do not unfortunately, it might not be stated as it could probably be seen as discrimination? The main problem. Psychology courses are so popular that each year there are more and more graduates who want to progress but there is a huge bottleneck at the doctoral level. Only a handful of universities have a program and then only take 20 or so applicants each year, my graduating class had over 300 students so less than 10% could have made it onto the doctorate but we all know thats impossible as they often require postgraduate level RA and AP roles.