Reddit reviews Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology: 2016/2017 Edition (Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical & Counseling Psychology)
We found 8 Reddit comments about Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology: 2016/2017 Edition (Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical & Counseling Psychology). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Some of these points aren't quite right for a neuropsychologist. A neuropsychologist typically does a PhD in clinical psychology, with a year-long internship in neuropsych followed by a postdoctoral position in neuropsychology. They then need to get licensed and often board certified.
Clinical psych PhD programs are very competitive, but the good part is that good programs are fully funded, meaning that not only are you not charged tuition but you are paid a stipend for a research or teaching fellowship or a grant requiring no additional work. They pay you to get a PhD. If your grades, test scores, recommendations, and research experience are top notch, it's very easy to finish your PhD with no more debt than you finished undergrad with.
There are also clinical psych PsyD programs, which are like a PhD but more geared toward clinical practice as opposed to research careers. There are a few good PsyD programs, but unfortunately a lot of for profit PsyD programs aren't really worth your time and money. These have high class sizes (a typical incoming PhD class will be around 5 students, whereas it could be 100 or more for a PsyD program), and they typically don't offer full tuition remission or stipends. That is actually a pretty good way to determine if it's a good quality PsyD program: class sizes and amount of funding provided. You should also look at the number of students in the program that match to APA accredited internships on their first try.
The book Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology is the best resource for getting into a clinical psych program.
source: I have a PhD in clinical psychology.
This book has a list of questions: https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1462525725/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487821182&sr=1-1&keywords=insider%27s+guide+to+clinical+and+counseling+psychology
>About half.
Ah, yes, >60% is so rare. As rare as the Hope Diamond.
>And that's this poll.
This "poll" is the APPIC match survey, so it's everyone participating in round one of the match.
Nice try at dismissing data that doesn't agree with your argument. You'll go far in science.
>If you go to actual universities websites and Check around you will see that there are only a handful that are as high as 50% most were in the 20-30% range.
Check Norcross' book.
>There was a thread a while back discussing this with a lot of links and comments from people who choose applicants.
Huh, there's so many threads and links, yet you can't post a single one, but you sure can dismiss the APPIC data I provided. Again, you're quite the scientist.
>Considering most take on 20 or few students and it being hard to get in, . As a BA student your likelihood of getting in is even lower.
Again, the stats don't support your argument. >60% don't have master's degrees prior to admission to doctoral programs, thus their likelihoods of admission were not lower.
>I've never had a professor that got in a PhD program without their masters.
Oh no, you bested me with your anecdotes! I....am.....defeated.....
>However I have friends in other fields who have. It seems much more common in other fields. I think that's because there is less competition.
>
>
>If you are competing with Msc graduates who have a few published papers and you are just a B.A with some side experience, you aren't going to beat them.
Nice false equivalency there. Clinical programs care less about your master's degree and more about the research you've done. All things being equal, having just a BA vs having a master's degree isn't a tie breaker. It comes down to fit, personal characteristics, and what research ideas you bring to the lab.
Finally, as I've alluded to Norcross' book in the past, I thought I'd quote directly from it:
https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1462525725/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510792237&sr=8-1&keywords=Insider%27s+Guide+to+Graduate+Programs+in+Clinical+and+Counseling+Psychology
>A Master’s Degree First?
A common question during our graduate school workshops is whether students should secure a master’s degree before seeking the doctorate. Fortunately, our workshop participants and you realize that no simple answer is possible to such a complex question. Nonetheless, the following are some broad reasons for seeking a master’s degree first.
>Low grade-point average. The vast majority of APA-accredited doctoral programs will not consider applicants with a GPA below 3.0.
>Weak GRE scores. Similarly, most university-based doctoral programs rarely accept bachelor’s-level applicants whose combined Verbal and Quantitative scores fall below 1,000 (or 145 on the revised scale).
>Scarce research or clinical experiences. Doctoral admission committees understandably desire that
you have had some direct experience with those activities you intend to pursue for a lifetime.
>Uncertain career goal. Indecision about your subfield in psychology, or outside of psychology, is a strong indicator for a master’s program initially.
>Late application. Doctoral programs hold to earlier deadlines than do master’s programs, so those students waiting too late to apply will be redirected to master’s programs.
>Terse letters of recommendation. By virtue of late transfer into a university or into the psychology major, some students lack sufficient contact with faculty for them to write positive and detailed letters of recommendation expected by doctoral programs.
>Inadequate coursework in psychology. Doctoral programs require a minimum level of education in the discipline prior to acceptance, typically at least 15 to 18 credits of psychology course work.
>Completing a rigorous master’s program in psychology can correct many of the foregoing impediments to acceptance into a doctoral program. As we describe in Chapter 8, students typically strengthen their grade point average, acquire clinical and research experience, sharpen their career goals, and establish close relationships with faculty during the 2 full-time years of a master’s program. For these and other reasons, many students opt for a master’s degree at one institution before seeking the doctorate at another. Doctoral psychology faculty were surveyed in detail regarding the value of a clinical master’s degree for gaining admission to their programs (Bonifzi, Crespy, & Rieker, 1997). Assuming a good undergraduate GPA and good GREs, the effect of having a master’s degree on the applicant’s chances for admission was negative for 7% of the programs, neutral for 48% of the programs, and positive for 45% of the programs. However, assuming mediocre GPA and mediocre GREs, the effect of having a master’s was more neutral than positive overall. Put another way, it is clearly the applicant’s overall credentials—rather than possession of a master’s degree per se—that carries the day. This same study (Bonifzi et al., 1997) and our own research (Mayne et al., 1994; Norcross et al., 2004) consistently demonstrate that Ph.D. clinical programs hold a positive bias toward baccalaureatelevel applicants. By contrast, Psy.D. clinical, Ph.D. counseling, and Ph.D. school psychology programs view master’s degree recipients more favorably and accept higher proportions of master’s-level applicants. Keep these biases in mind as you consider the selection criteria of graduate schools.
They look at the whole package. Obviously more competitive programs will be... more competitive. So if your gpa is lacking, you will want to make up for it with practical experience, research participation etc.
There was a book that really helped me out quite a bit when I was applying. I would really suggest getting it as it totally walks you through step by step. https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1462525725/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0/139-2244996-0386028?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3020BXQAS2WEY8T4GPNC
There are 2 resources I'd like to refer to you which helped me a lot in my own process.
The Insiders Guide to Programs in Clinical Psych
This PDF
A Ph.D. is indeed often (although not always) a research degree, but Ph.D.s are trained as clinicians (and generally don't pay tuition for graduate school). I am a clinical Ph.D., and I work with patients.
An MSW or any of the other paths to clinical licensure are also clinical degrees.
I would encourage you to look at all of the possibilities before you commit to a specific path. See if your library has this book.
How is your junior/senior GPA? If it's fairly high, above a 3.4 or 3.5, that will show improvement over the years. Research experience, good recommendations, and good scores on the GRE will top it off, giving you a shot.
I'd highly recommend checking out Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology: 2016/2017 Edition by Norcross and Sayette. It details everything you need to prepare your application, breaks down schools by research interests, plus lists all doctorate programs in clinical & counseling psych, gives their average acceptance GPA, GRE scores, requirements, etc. It's a lifesaver.
Wow this is a tough call!
Book- https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1462525725/ref=nodl_