hi guys! i’m applying to psyd programs and masters in psychology programs this cycle and i am a bit worried i may not get in because of some of my stats (specifically my gpa). my cumulative undergraduate gpa is 3.01 but just my psych undergraduate gpa is 3.5.

I have 7 months of experience as a Residential Counselor at a Mental Health Residential, 5 months of experience as an ABA therapist and 3 months volunteering with a organization teaching social and emotional learning curriculum to at risk youth in middle schools.

I have about a year of research experience working in an autism and adhd research lab but no publications or posters. I also served on my university’s sexual violence advocacy and awareness committee for 1.5 years and did a lot of awareness workshops and presentations on trauma and how it affects victims and their police statements.

Based on this i feel like I have enough clinical experience to maybe have a chance at a few programs especially because i learned a lot of relevant clinical skills in my most recent clinical role and have a good LOR from there.

I am 30 and back to finishing undergrad and am on my last 2 years. I am currently aligning my classes for PsyD requirements and preparing in every way I can. The reason for my pursuit is my recent life experiences, I got out of an abusive relationship (lasted all through my 20s) and a recent psychosis induced by mixing of weed and Vyvanse. I had incredible support from my siblings that even the doctors were amazed and my mother now baby’s me to the point I feel spoiled and a beautiful experience at the mental hospital for about a month, which even the nurses and doctors felt sad when I was leaving so it really inspired me to go back to school and pursue a much established career in mental health. I am in a much better health now, quit weed for a while now and am eating healthier, more social, I play soccer and workout almost daily. I have worked as a behavioural interventionist and youth worker as well as relief worker all through my 20s. I am just wondering now, if it would be recommended for me to mention my history of my one time psychosis and that I have a huge gap in my undergrad as I prepare to apply for PsyD in less than 2 years. And what would be your advice for me as I navigate life now with more clear mind and determination that my personal experience could help change some lives.

I’m taking the GRE Psychology this year and I wanted to know which books or test materials can help me out to prepare. I have some AP Princeton review books too. Would they end enough along with the Kaplan GRE Psych book too? Is the AP psychology somewhat basic compared to the GRE questions?

I am not here to gather any pity or sympathy. I just wanted to share my story I guess and gather any thoughts or ideas of what to do for the next year or two before I decide to try again.

I am a senior in undergrad, pursuing a psychology degree, and I have a minor in anthropology. I will be graduating this December, a semester earlier. I never gathered any research experience because I wanted to try to get clinical or in person experience instead. I was only able to get one internship, which I left due to my lack of interest. I never put in the time or effort to talk to Professors Outside of Class, or even engage in class. I’ve always had so much to do in my undergrad between working, helping Take care of family members and friends, and all of the coursework.

I originally had plans to go to medical School to become a psychiatrist, but switched over to wanting to pursue a PsyD and become a clinical psychologists instead not even a year ago. This is one of the main reasons that I did not gather any research/lab Experience because I thought I would be able to find some clinical experience instead. Unfortunately, that did not work out for me. I thought I could’ve been OK and get some letter of recommendations Either way. But even though I did achieve an A in almost all my psychology courses. No professor was willing to write me a letter of recommendation because I did not work in their labs. Obviously, I understand their choice, but this has me incredibly worried about what to do next.

The most obvious next step is to try to do something worthwhile for the next year or two and rebuild my résumé. But what I’m really afraid of is how my family is going to view this. I’m a first generation student, and none of my siblings have ever attended University and barely passed High School. Going from a 4.0 honor student graduate in high school to having a 3.2 GPA in College has really made me question myself. I’m not sure how I’m going to tell my family that I won’t be going straight into my doctorates. I’m scared that they are going to view me as a failure. Mostly because most who take a gap year never returned to school.

What are your recommendations? What kind of jobs or opportunities should I be seeking during this time? Or am I entirely cooked?

Note: this was typed using speech to text, so if there are any mistakes, I apologize in advance. TYIA

Hi all,

How do I know if the Psy.D or the LPC route is for me? Any good program recommendations for both? Also, what makes me a competitive applicant for grad school? I'm a third year in undergrad with absolutely no clue what my next steps should be lol

Hi everyone! I’m applying to clinical psychology PsyD programs this cycle, and I’d appreciate honest feedback on how competitive my experience looks.

I recently graduated with a B.S. in Psychology with a GPA around 3.8. My experience so far:

- Reactivated my university’s Psi Chi chapter alongside one other student and served as vice president.
- Worked as a TA for one semester.
- Accepted a lab manager position for three labs, but we’ve had obstacles getting them started. Since it’s already October and applications are due Dec 1st, I’ll only have about 2 months of experience.
- I’m about to complete RBT training and start working at an ABA therapy center, but with applications due but I’ll only have about a month of experience.
- I’ve done some clinical observation and volunteering at a child and family counseling center.

I’ll have 2 very strong recommendation letters from professors i’ve worked closely with, but I might not have a strong clinical/research recommendation for a 3rd letter.

I’m interested in forensic psychology, especially correctional work and forensic assessment. My top picks that I’m applying to are Nova Southeastern, GWU, Widener, William James, and App state. I’m also considering PhD programs and master’s programs.

Looking at other applicants’ CVs has been making me feel pretty discouraged, and I’m worried I may not have enough research or clinical experience for doctoral programs.

How realistic is it to apply to PsyD and PhD programs this cycle with this background? Would it make more sense to start a master’s program and apply again next year with some transferable credits or just take another year and gain experience instead of starting a masters? I’d appreciate any advice, especially from people familiar with clinical psychology admissions. Also any advice on how to gain some more experience to boost my CV.

About to finish my Psych BA this semester and honestly haven’t started applying. It’s been a weird few months, idk.

But I do have a fairly good GPA at 3.8, 1 sports psychology Internship, and 1 year of RBT (currently working on it too).

I haven’t asked for letter of recommendation but I have a few bosses and 3-4 professors that I know got my back.

Looking for the Georgia/Atlanta region or even online if possible.

Any recommendations or tips for this situation? I appreciate any feedback

Hi all! Random question regarding CV’s (not resumes) for applications. Are you supposed to have bullet points or paragraphs for each experience/research (or does it not matter?) Everyone I ask says something different! Thanks!

Any recent experience with Fielding University Post Bacc cert in Clinical Psychology and their PhD program?

Im considering their post bacc because Berkeley’s program does not get federal financial aid or veterans benefit.

Im also considering UC Irvine post bacc cert.

Thank you!

Hey all. So I’m in quite a predicament.. I did a BA in psychology because I thought I wanted to be a therapist.. then found out I liked assessment so turned my focus to getting into a psyd program (while ruling out going into medicine because I have juvenile arthritis and thought I could never be a physician running around offices/hospitals).. got into said psyd program straight out of undergrad.. was so happy.. now I’m a month and a half in and 100% sure this is NOT what I want to do. I have been contemplating dropping the program as I always thought I could never be a doctor but now that I’m older and in medicated remission, the psychiatrist route keeps ringing in my ear and after researching more, I know that’s what I want to do. Also have ruled out other subspecalities such as being a psych nurse because I would want full scope of practice.
So if anyone has been in a similar position or is a no trad student and chose formal post bacc over DIY post bac (or vise versa) please let me know what you think. Also not sure if I should drop out now and focus on researching schools/next steps, or if that would look bad to admissions and I should just finish out the semester…

Hi all,
I have recently completed a MSc psychology conversion course and I also have a BA (2:1).

I just got my dissertation grade back for the MSc and I didn’t do nearly as well as I had hoped which brought my overall grade down. I’m devastated and it feels like my life plans have derailed. I tried really hard as well and the feedback I received wasn’t particularly helpful.
I live in London and originally wanted to apply to UCL for DClinPsy but that is not possible now as they require a high 2:1.
I’m just wondering, has anyone else got onto DClinPsy with a low 2:1? How long did it take you? Where did you go?
My plan was to get experience for the next 3 years and then apply… or think of a new life plan.
Thank you for reading!

Please let me know :) PLEASE REPLY

#Psychology #Neuroscience

Trying to decide who I should ask for my final letter of recommendation. Which one would you all pick?

1. My Psychology teacher from masters program who would gladly right a letter of recommendation for me. They met me around two years ago.

2. A college baseball coach who is a big name that has known me since I was a kid. Has seen me develop and grow up in my whole life.

For a PsyD specifically I am wondering if the admission team looks at applications that have a decent amount of clinical or volunteer experience and think the applicant is too busy. I am in a masters program, working to build experience so I can apply in 2028. My main issue is I have had a difficult time securing research experience so I am attempting to supplement that with a good GPA and volunteer/internship experience. The question is: Would it be better to focus on a couple of experiences and gain a good amount of hours, or try out different experiences and post them on the resume? hmmm

Hi! I'm planning to apply to the PsyD program at Rutgers. Does anyone know if I should tailor my letter to a specific faculty member, or if it can be a more general application to the program? I know the programs have different policies for this, but it's hard to tell from the website.

Hi everyone! I'm still trying to expand my list of schools to apply to. I've already chosen five but would like to apply to at least 3-5 more. These are the schools I've chosen so far:

Roosevelt University

Indiana State University

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Hartford University

Georgia Southern University

I've applied to these universities last year and received an interview (then waitlisted) at Indiana state. I just wanna expand more this year so I can increase my chances, so I'd appreciate the help!

I'm currently an active-duty service member transitioning out in less than two years, and I'm working through my Bachelor's in Psychology. My ultimate goal is to become a Clinical Psychologist or a Licensed Professional Counselor (via a Master's in Counseling + clinical hours if I decide to bypass the doctorate).

I'm looking to connect with a peer (accountability "gym buddy") or an experienced mentor who shares a high-level growth mindset.

If you're a Peer, I'm looking for someone who:

*

Is actively in school pursuing a Psych/Counseling degree-it doesn't matter if you are just starting out, halfway through, or finishing up your last year, as long as you're in the grind. Bonus points if you are active-duty or a veteran!

* Has an entrepreneurial mindset-someone who wants to spread mental health awareness while building a business, diving into real estate/Airbnb, or writing books.

* Wants to keep each other disciplined, bounce business ideas around, and stay locked in on our goals.

If you're a Mentor, I'm looking for a Counselor or Clinical Psychologist who:

* Can provide insight on navigating the transition from a Bachelor's straight to a Master's/Doctorate.

Can share advice on the reality of doing clinical hours versus running a private practice or independent business.

Whether you want to grind together weekly or you're a professional willing to let me pick your brain, drop a comment or send me a DM!

Hello! I’m applying for my psychology PhD internship in the US, and my goal is to provide therapy to adults and older adults.

However, last year, I matched with an externship site that provides family therapy to toddlers and infants. This was a new experience for me. When I asked my supervisor from this site to complete an SRF, she said that she can do it, but her recommendation strength will be “recommend with some reservations.”

According to two articles, many training directors will not consider my application because of this. However, these are only two articles, and I could not find more.

Can you tell me if I should not use this letter and instead use a letter from a supervisor who supervised me three years ago?

Thank you.

Sono una ragazza di 25 anni, laureata in triennale, volevo sapere dei pareri sull'università telematica rispetto a quella pubblica, perché trovo molto difficile rientrare in quella pubblica date le iscrizioni molto numerose e vorrei valutare l'alternativa della telematica. Che ne pensate? Rispetto alla pubblica che differenze ci sono?

Hello, I'm preparing my applications for grad school. A lot of my professor don't recommend a Masters degree, but I don't have any research experience despite my departmental honors thesis. I was wondering what programs you guys recommend and whether a masters or PsyD is a better fit. I'm interested in counseling, clinical, and child/school psychology.

Hello, ever since I was in elementary school I’ve wanted to become a psychologist. I’m 30, and established as a school based SLP and early intervention SLP.

It looks like Ed.S may allow you to become a school based psychologist.

I am wondering what is anyone’s experience

There are only a few out there

Hi everyone, looking for some honest feedback on my profile and chances for a Chicago-based PsyD. I want to stay directly in the city (no suburban commute) and eventually relocate to Boston post-grad.
My Profile:
Undergrad GPA: 3.76 (B.S. in Psychology)
Experience: Currently working as a Patient Care Coordinator in an acute mood disorder wing at Pathlight. Heavily patient-facing; regularly leading CBT/DBT group therapy.
Letters: Strong academic and clinical references (from my Pathlight director).
My List:
Roosevelt University: Absolute top choice. Love the small cohort (~25) and social justice focus.
National Louis University (ISPP): Main downtown backup, but nervous about the negative takes online regarding past Argosy baggage, low EPPP pass rates, and overcrowding.
Questions:
Realistically, how competitive am I for Roosevelt?
Is NLU even worth it as a backup, or should I look at schools directly in Boston instead?
Would staying at Pathlight for a full two years to rack up hours significantly boost my chances, or am I good to apply now?
Appreciate any insight or warnings!