SUGGESTIONS FOR GETTING IN TO PSYCHOLOGY GRAD SCHOOL

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CHOOSING A CAREER IN PSYCHOLOGY or RELATED
FIELDS PREPARING FOR APPLYING TO GRADUATE
SCHOOL
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• This presentation is one view.
• Speak to many people, and utilize many
  references in deciding your future. No single
  person or source can provide all the information
  you need!

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Choosing a Career Area
Finding a career that will be satisfying to you
takes time and effort. Pay attention to Careers
class speakers read text to see what sounds
interesting. Surf career grad school web sites
(posted on Blackboard psychology department web
site) Go through career grad school books
available in Psychology Advising Office
(A209) Check our department website
ltwww.psy.fsu.edugt for additional information
under undergraduate andcareer and graduate
school planning.
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Interview people in careers of possible interest.
Speakers in class might provide names of
recent graduates. Get research experience in
professors labs to see what is interesting
(i.e., Do DIS) Read books and scientific articles
within areas of possible interest. Psych Lit
is good source of articles as are your course
text books that list references at the end
of chapters. Career counselors can suggest
professions you might not have considered.
But only you can decide what career will
work best for you.
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• Ask yourself questions ( answer them) that will
  help you pick the right career
• What is my theoretical orientation? (behavioral
  vs. cognitive service vs. business)
• What topics do I enjoy learning about?
• Do I want to work with children, adults,
  elderly, or families?
• How much does prestige matter to me?
• How important is income and how much do I need?

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• How important is flexibility in hours to me?
• Am I capable of very long hours of work hard?
• Can I sit at a desk for a long period?
• Do I have hobbies I love that I can turn into a
  career?
• Am I going to get depressed listening to
  problems of others?

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When to Apply to Grad School
When you apply depends on the kind of program to
which you are applying--Ph.D vs Masters. In
either case, you need to start considering
schools working on applications 2-4 months
before applications are due
Ph.D. Programs For some highly competitive
Ph.D. programs, such as Clinical Psychology, you
need to apply almost 1 year (9-10 months) prior
to admission date. For example, if you want to
start Fall, 2010, you probably need to submit
applications in November or December 2009.
Deadlines vary across individual schools.
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Masters Degree Programs
For most Masters Programs, deadlines are not as
early. For example, some programs require that
you submit applications in April or May prior to
the Fall in which you start grad school. But
some have deadlines as early as January or
February. Deadlines vary across individual
schools.
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GRE
Virtually all grad schools require general GRE
(quant, verbal, analytic) some also require
subject area (psych). Other professional schools
require similar exams (MCAT, LSAT) Studying
for GRE crucial!!! I recommend taking GRE 6
months prior to when application is due.
This is to allow for possibility you need
to take it 2nd time to improve scores. Go to
www.gre.org For test preparation, go to
www.gre.org/pracmats.htmlgentest
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Points of Clarification re Degrees

• Practicing degree (PD)
• A. Degree that you need to work
  independently (i.e., without requirement of
  supervision).
• B. May still need to pass a licensure exam
  after degree.
• 2. There is more than one route to specific kind
  of career. For example, if interested in
  providing counseling,may choose clinical
  psychology, counselingpsychology, school
  psychology, clinical social work, mental health
  counseling, psychiatry, etc.
• If you want to design educational or
  businessenvironments to improve human
  performance, can
• get degree in human factors, instructional
  design, I/O psych, performance management,
  MBAhuman resources.

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Examples of Professional Degrees (see also list
of Psychology Sample Careers/Jobs

• Masters in Social Work (MSW) (case work or
  clinical SW) MSW is practicing degree (PD)
• Masters in School Psychology (PD)
• Masters in Performance Management (PD)
• Masters in Instructional Design (PD)
• Masters in Industrial Organizational Psychology
  (generally not PD, but can be)
• Masters in Experimental Psychology
  (Specialties Neuroscience, Social, Personality,
  Developmental, Child, Cognitive, etc.) (generally
  not PD)

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Examples of Professional Degrees (continued)

• Masters in Clinical Psychology (PD only in few
  states)
• Masters in Counseling Psychology (PD only in
  a few states)
• Masters in Mental Health Counseling (PD)
• Masters in Marriage Family Therapy (PD)
• Masters in Pastoral Counseling (PD)
• Degrees from some programs will allow one to
  sit for licensure exam for LMHC
• Note If you have PD in non-psychology field,
  cannot call oneself a psychologist. And for
  psychologists, must advertise by type of degree.

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Examples of Professional Degrees continued

• Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (PD)
  (specialties children/adolesc, adult, family,
  substance abuse, forensic, health psych,
  aging, depression, schizophrenia)
• Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology (PD)
  (w/specialties)
• Ph.D. in School Psych or Counseling Psychology
  (PD) (w/specialties, but not severe pathology)
• M.D. in Psychiatry (PD) (w/specialties)
• Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology (neuroscience,
  cognitive, social, industrial-organizational,
  business, developmental, child, etc.) PD for
  research position

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Differences between clinical and counseling
psych 1.Types of problems you are trained
for Clinical deals w/ entire range of
problems. Counseling deals w/ problems of
every day living (e.g., child
non-compliance, marital, depression,
anxiety). Does not deal with severe pathology.
2. Relative emphasis on research
Clinical emphasis on conducting research
evaluating effectiveness of treatments along w/
learning assessment and treatment of problems
(within psychology departments).
Counseling generally less emphasis on research
evaluation (w/in colleges of education) 3.
Individual programs differ.
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Difference between Psy.D. versus Ph.D. in
Clinical 1. Psy.D. generally involves little
if any research training either in terms
of how to do research or how to be a
critical consumer of research. 2. Psy.D.
generally within free-standing
institution. Ph.D. within regular
university 3. Psy.D. generally more
expensiveoften VERY expensiveparticula
rly free standing 4. Easiest to get into
Psy.D. in free standing instit.
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Recommendations regarding Psy.D. vs. Ph.D.
1) Be sure programs in counseling or
clinical are APA approved before you
apply. 2) If apply to Psy.D. program, I
recommend those within a university
(e.g., Rutgers, Colo.) 3) Be aware that
Psy.D. degrees are not as well-
recognized as Ph.D. Thus, may be less
employable with Psy.D. in certain places.
4) Even if you dont want to conduct research,
you want to learn to be a consumer of
research to evaluate the
effectiveness of treatments. This is
advantage of Ph.D.
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How to strengthen credentials for grad school

• Get high GPA.
• Minimum for acceptance 3.0.
• For competitive Ph.D. programs, usually 3.5 or
  higher
• Some schools look mainly at 2 years prior to
  application.
• 2. Study for the GRE (or other entrance exams)
• Minimum 500 verbal 500 math.
• For competitive Ph.D. programs, minimum 1l50,
  
• often 1250, unless your application
  exceptional.
• 3. Need 3 letters of recommendation, at least 2
  of whichshould be very strong. Letters generally
  need to befrom faculty, although some programs
  accept/preferletters from people that supervised
  you in applied settings (schools, crisis
  counseling, nursing homes).

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4. Get experiences to prepare you for graduate
study to earn strong letters Next few slides
suggest ways to get relevant experiences
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DIS (Directed Individual Study) PSY 4911-4914 or
(Research Topics) PSY 4920 most projects 4920

• Work in professors lab doing research forcourse
  credit (pass/fail)3 credits 7-12 hours/wk.
• 2. Allows professor (/or their grad students) to
  observe your work habits quality of your
  workso they can write a strong letter of
  recommend.
• 3. 6 hours total can count toward major in psych
  12 hrs of 4911-14 and 12 hrs. of 4920 count
  toward graduation
• 4. Depending on career goals, may want to do 2
  or more semesters with 2 or more faculty
• 5. Some students get into grad school w/out DIS,
  butGREATLY improve chances with DIS.

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How to Seek out a DIS (4920)
1. Find a faculty member whose research is
interesting -Check out psychology web site
to see each faculty members research
interest 2. Contact that faculty member
-Indicate your interest ask for interview.
-Dont approach prof. by saying I need to do
DIS. 3. Some DIS/4920 involve working with grad
student.This is just as good as long as
professor will co-signletter of recommendation
you like the grad student. 4. Check psych web
site for people actively recruiting DIS
students. www.psy.fsu.edu Undergraduate
Research opportunities DIS opportunities 5. Be
sure to clarify expectations on both sides.
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• Other Ways to Strengthen Your Credentials
• Write an honors thesis, if you qualify (3.2
  overall 3.5 Psych) Generally do DIS first.
  Strongly recommend Honors if want to apply to
  research-oriented program. Some hours count
  toward major.
• If youre interested in applied work, volunteer
  or work with population of interest or potential
  interest.(See list of activities Vary in type
  of commitment.)
• Remember Professors letters are necessary so
  dont count on volunteer supervisors for all
  letters. DIS generally the best way to earn the
  kind of letters you need.

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• Checking out Potential Grad Schools
• Start looking early so you have time to carefully
  consider programs.
• Important different schools within same
  specialty areas may give different training
  so read carefully.
• Check out web sites and books listed in handouts.
• Request written material from programs.
• If you have questions not answered by web or
  written materials, contact graduate secretary or
  head of specific program to which you are
  applyingnot head of psych dept.

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When deciding which grad schools to apply to,
consider type of training (e.g.,
evidence-based vs. eclectic) type of jobs
they say you are likely to get (contact
them about jobs if not clear) financial
assistance cost of living in that location
admission requirements be realistic,
but optimistic geographical location of
school (less important if do out of
state internship and/or want academic
position) deadlines, application
requirements fit with interests of faculty
in program (IMPT!!) ask DIS/4920
supervisor(s) for opinions w/in their
area of expertise.
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Contact professors of interest to 1. Find out
if accepting students (generally for Ph.D
programs with apprenticeship models.) 2. Let
them know you are interested in their research.
Can help you get accepted, but be respectful of
their time.
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• How Many Schools Should You Apply To?
• Depends on how competitive your credentials
  are.
• Depends on how competitive the schools are.
• In general, Id say 10 or more for
  competitive Ph.D. Programs, unless your
  credentials truly exceptional.
• Project 1000 for Hispanics and some other
  disadvantaged minorities might help with
  application costs

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• Filling out application materials
• Avoid spelling or grammar errors in all materials
  communications with department faculty
• Avoid leaving spaces blank
• Avoid mistakes that show you didnt follow
  instructions!!!!!!
• Dont procrastinate out of anxiety or laziness

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Statement of Purpose VERY
important Proof many times and use
spell-check, but never rely on
spell-check Have several people read for
clarity, content, grammar, spelling,
accuracy Can ask DIS supervisor for general
advice Can ask DIS supervisor to read, but
only after its in good shape, you
followed their early advice BE
HONEST!! Dont say you love research just
because that is what you think they want
to hear highlight your great experiences
without misrepresenting what you did.
Highlight your individuality, but do NOT make
it a self-disclosure of personal problems.
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• Interviewing
• Many programs (particularly applied ones)
  encourage top applicants to come interview.
• Dress professionally (goal is to
  look/actprofessionalnot to be trendy or sexy)
• Give thought to what youll say when asked likely
  questions
• 1. Why you want a particular career.
• 2. Why you applied to this particular
  school how high you rank this school.
• 3. Why you think you would be good at this
  career.

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• Interviewing (Continued)
• Come prepared with questions to ask them about
  nature of program
• Jobs that recent graduates have gotten
• Collaboration camaraderie among faculty
• Collaboration camaraderie among students
• Typical time it takes to graduate
• Nature of courses (can usually get from
  materials)
• Types of internships, if relevant.
• If not arranged, ask to interview with
  currentgrads and perhaps get names of those who
  recently completed program. (Ask our speakers for
  names)
• Some questions addressed in program materials,
  but may still want to ask for clarification.

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If Accepted to More than One Program

• Celebrate!!
• Use criteria discussed earlier to choose program