clinical psychology graduate schools?

Question

i plan on getting a bachelors in psychology and afterwards going to graduate school for clinical psychology..do you know of a good graduate school for me?..preferably in missouri..

Answer 1

Keep in mind that getting into a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology is actually tougher than getting into medical school (more competition for fewer spots)! Let's break things down for you. You'll need several things to get into a Ph.D. program:

1) GRE scores-at least 1200 to be competitive, though 1100 and above might be acceptable.

2) GPA- I won't give a hard and fast number on this one. Consideration of GPA will usually differ by faculty member, but most consider it to be a more stable measure of your ability and effort (important) over time than how you did once on the GRE.

3) Clinical experience - the age old question...how do I get clinical experience when I have to have a degree to provide services! The answer is, unfortunately, doing the low level work (e.g., camp counselor at a camp for emotionally challenged kids, work/volunteer at after school programs, etc.). This also can overlap with #4.

4) Research experience- do you have any? As an undergrad, you should, at a minimum, have worked for several semesters (better yet, years) in one of the psych professor's research labs helping out any way you can (library runs, data entry, scoring, etc.). If you work this into #3 you can get a job on a research grant or project and work for a year or two after undergrad to get the experience you need. Better yet, have some conference presentations (ask your professors!). These involve taking on a project of your own and getting it accepted, then presenting it, at a national conference on psychology. Best yet, be a coauthor on a publication (typically unheard of for an undergrad, but impressive when it happens). Of these, the most realistic are to work in a psychology lab and also get some conference experience. The applicants are getting increasingly more competitive and you won't make it in at any PhD programs without at least some conference citations to your name--at least in clinical. ...and, because I know you'll ask...why do I need to do research, I just want to help people? Answer: to stay current on the best practices in the field, understand quackery when you see it, and in order to obtain the best possible continuing education on your own. Think about it--you wouldn't want your family doctor to say, "I just learned how to talk to my patients. I never learned if this pill works, how, why, or even if it's still a good idea to give it to you." Research, even if your goal is to be a private practitioner, is an important requirement.

5) References: everybody's got 'em so they won't distinguish you...unless they're bad or from the wrong people (i.e., they should be from psychology professors--not the grad student you helped out, not an English professor, and not a shift supervisor at McDonald's, etc.). Result, they won't help you but can hurt you.

6) Personal statement: Don't go on and on about how your friends all say that you're easy to talk to and everyone has always told you their problems, etc. That's what everyone says! If you must, start that way but change over pretty soon to why you want to work with XXXX disorder and why XXXX University's psychology program would be such a great fit for your work, especially given all the research work and clinical experience you have with XXXXX.

Also, give serious thought to going the masters route... Keep in mind getting a masters might be a great way to up your application qualifications into a PhD program in two years. A low GPA and a respectable GRE will probably get you into a masters program at this stage. However, what you do there will determine your future. For example, if you come out of a masters program with the same low gpa, same GREs, and no research experience, then you've pretty much sealed the deal and proven you can't hack it at the graduate level of work. However, if you come out with a much better GPA, a thesis, conference presentations, and a publication, you'll be at the top of the list of PhD applicants.

In addition, one of the more important things to keep in mind is "match." If all your work, experience, and research is in memory and you're applying to work with a professor in a PhD program who does depression work, you're out. Why? because there are about 10-20 other applicants with the same scores as you (or better) who did their work in the area that professor specializes in and have a better fit. As a result, give careful consideration to who you want to work with (e.g., children? adults? elderly?) and what you want to work with (e.g., anxiety? depression? dementia? etc.). These will have an impact on your acceptance.

Lastly, if you're not even this far along...and don't know the difference, say, between counseling, clinical, community, social work, etc. then you're way behind, especially if you're a senior. To find out what you need to do and what programs you have a chance at, I recommend 2 books put out by APA: "Getting In: A step by step plan..." and "Graduate Study in Psychology: 2008." Also, you're already on the wrong track by limiting your location selection and going with a university's reputation instead of an individual psychology researcher's reputation (e.g., saying you're going to Princeton, Harvard, [insert prestigious school name here], etc. may sound good to those not in the loop, but what do you know about how good their psychology department is in treating/researching the disorder you're interested in? You need to put a bit more work into it than what US News & World Report says or where it might seem "cool" or "convenient" to go. The best link for ratings of clinical psychology programs is http://www.socialpsychology.org/clinrank.htm

Best of luck.

Answer 2

Psychology Undergraduate Advising Office

Location: 110 Stadler Hall
Phone: [phone]
send us e-mail: [e-mail]

Changes in Psychology Degree Requirements Effective Fall 2006
The following changes in the Psychology BA degree requirements will become effective for Fall 2006.

Two required courses have been added:

Psychology 1000, Careers in Psychology (1 credit)
Psychology 4999, Integrated Psychology (2 credits)
There are also new distribution requirements. Students must now take one course from each of the following three areas:

Biological and Cognitive Psychology
Psychology 2111, Introduction to Biological Psychology or
Psychology 2212, Principles of Learning
Social and Developmental Psychology
Psychology 2160, Social Psychology or
Psychology 2270, Developmental Psychology: Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence
Personality and Abnormal Psychology
Psychology 2216, Personality Theory or
Psychology 2245, Abnormal Psychology
Although these new requirements only apply to students (transfer and first time freshmen) who are admitted to UM-St. Louis in the Fall of 2006 or after, we encourage all psychology majors to choose courses that meet these new requirements.

Psychology 4999 is a particularly important course for preparing students for the exit exam and the Graduate Record Exam Advanced Test in Psychology.

Answer 3

You have to ask a more specific question: "What is a good graduate school for ______" because it really is going to depend on what you want to go to school for. The "good" research schools aren't going to be the same as the "good" applied schools. Even then, maybe none of those schools are "good" for you because of location, financial aid, research v. applied focus, research being conducted at the school etc. When I applied to clinical psychology programs, I applied to 11 schools which is around the minimum you should apply to. They were all "good" in ways that suited my needs such as research focus and program format. If you aren't a good match with the program, it doesn't matter what your grades/GRE's/Research experience is, they won't accept you. Clinical psychology programs are VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYY competitive, they are more competitive than medical school and have an acceptance rate of around 5-8%. Your chances of getting into a clinical program if you limit yourself to just one state will be very slim. Take a lot of time searching for schools that fit your needs and interests and be willing to move out of state if needed. Best of luck!