In psychology, it really depends on your background AND the departments to which you are applying. When I visited my program after being admitted straight from undergrad, I found out that in both of my departments, it is uncommon for students to get in without a master's degree (and in the field of public health in general, there are very few programs that let people into Ph.Ds without a master's). But I had two and a half years of research assistantship experience, I had done internships in the field, and I studied abroad and completed an independent study and was completing a senior thesis. (Plus I think I wrote a good personal statement.) My GPA wasn't that high (a 3.4) but I had really high GRE scores. And I know that I had strong recommendations.
Some departments have virtually no one who has a master's before coming; in many, nearly everyone has a master's. You should get familiar with the atmosphere of the department and the particular field. In experimental psychology, I would say it is more uncommon to have a master's first (although this is rapidly changing as it becomes a more popular subfield); in clinical psychology, it is very very common to have a master's first because the field is so damn competitive. You also don't necessarily have to get a master's in psychology -- a recruiter from the University of Virginia clinical program told us that they like MSWs, too (just make sure that whatever master's you are doing, you get research experience and take the thesis option).
4. Anything else I should know about the GREs or trying to skip ahead straight to a PhD?
I would always apply to a few master's programs just in case. In experimental psychology you may even be able to find a few that will fund you.
This may sound like a controversial thing to say, but just like people say that if you can be happy doing anything else besides getting a Ph.D, I will say if you can be happy in any other subfield besides clinical psychology do that subfield. I'm not going into clinical myself, but last year I watched very talented and experienced students, some of whom were being funded for undergrad research, be turned down from 12+ clinical programs. The field is saturated -- saturated isn't even the word. While different subfields in the same school will have 75-100 or less applications for 5 slots, clinical programs routinely have 300-400 applications for 5 slots. Even the second and third tier programs can have 300+ applicants for their 5 slots. (Social psychology is beginning to get competitive like that too, but it's not nearly as bad as clinical.)
I would definitely investigate other subfields and perhaps even other fields in which you can do the research that you want to do -- because really, that's the important part. There are several social psychology hopefuls who could be happy in a sociology program (many of which have social psych concentrations, but with a slightly different approach); plenty of potential clinical candidates who overlook community psych programs; and cognitive, experimental, and quantitative psychology are pretty much neglected at this point. Definitely branch out and investigate subfields besides clinical. If you just MUST counsel -- I mean you really just MUST counsel AND clinical-type research is the only place you can get your fix, then I understand leaving them out, but seeing as you're working in the social work department and the subject of your senior thesis I doubt it.
5. What else should I be doing to boost my chances of getting into a PhD program?
-Take another stats class, if one is offered at your school. -Don't give up on the senior honors thesis idea, for the love of God. -If you can, apply for some outside fellowships like Javits, National Science Foundation, etc. Sometimes having your own funding boosts your chances of admissions, as a department often turns down perfectly good applicants because they can't afford to fund them. If you bring your own money to the table, you not only give the department the ability to avoid paying you but also you will bring prestige to their department (who can brag that they have a Javits/NSF/whatever). On top of that, if for some reason you are absolutely miserable at the first program, the money is portable. -Start thinking about your personal statements now. Think about the all the experiences you have had that tie together to form and solidify your interest in psychological research. (Don't use too personal examples, like your cousin was a child molester or your mom has bipolar or something.) Start to brag about yourself in your head. One thing professors have told me in the past is that students are often too modest about their accomplishments in their personal statements. I highly recommend Donald Asher's Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way into the Graduate School of Your Choice.
In psychology, it really depends on your background AND the departments to which you are applying. When I visited my program after being admitted straight from undergrad, I found out that in both of my departments, it is uncommon for students to get in without a master's degree (and in the field of public health in general, there are very few programs that let people into Ph.Ds without a master's). But I had two and a half years of research assistantship experience, I had done internships in the field, and I studied abroad and completed an independent study and was completing a senior thesis. (Plus I think I wrote a good personal statement.) My GPA wasn't that high (a 3.4) but I had really high GRE scores. And I know that I had strong recommendations.
Some departments have virtually no one who has a master's before coming; in many, nearly everyone has a master's. You should get familiar with the atmosphere of the department and the particular field. In experimental psychology, I would say it is more uncommon to have a master's first (although this is rapidly changing as it becomes a more popular subfield); in clinical psychology, it is very very common to have a master's first because the field is so damn competitive. You also don't necessarily have to get a master's in psychology -- a recruiter from the University of Virginia clinical program told us that they like MSWs, too (just make sure that whatever master's you are doing, you get research experience and take the thesis option).
4. Anything else I should know about the GREs or trying to skip ahead straight to a PhD?
I would always apply to a few master's programs just in case. In experimental psychology you may even be able to find a few that will fund you.
This may sound like a controversial thing to say, but just like people say that if you can be happy doing anything else besides getting a Ph.D, I will say if you can be happy in any other subfield besides clinical psychology do that subfield. I'm not going into clinical myself, but last year I watched very talented and experienced students, some of whom were being funded for undergrad research, be turned down from 12+ clinical programs. The field is saturated -- saturated isn't even the word. While different subfields in the same school will have 75-100 or less applications for 5 slots, clinical programs routinely have 300-400 applications for 5 slots. Even the second and third tier programs can have 300+ applicants for their 5 slots. (Social psychology is beginning to get competitive like that too, but it's not nearly as bad as clinical.)
I would definitely investigate other subfields and perhaps even other fields in which you can do the research that you want to do -- because really, that's the important part. There are several social psychology hopefuls who could be happy in a sociology program (many of which have social psych concentrations, but with a slightly different approach); plenty of potential clinical candidates who overlook community psych programs; and cognitive, experimental, and quantitative psychology are pretty much neglected at this point. Definitely branch out and investigate subfields besides clinical. If you just MUST counsel -- I mean you really just MUST counsel AND clinical-type research is the only place you can get your fix, then I understand leaving them out, but seeing as you're working in the social work department and the subject of your senior thesis I doubt it.
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5. What else should I be doing to boost my chances of getting into a PhD program?
-Take another stats class, if one is offered at your school.
-Don't give up on the senior honors thesis idea, for the love of God.
-If you can, apply for some outside fellowships like Javits, National Science Foundation, etc. Sometimes having your own funding boosts your chances of admissions, as a department often turns down perfectly good applicants because they can't afford to fund them. If you bring your own money to the table, you not only give the department the ability to avoid paying you but also you will bring prestige to their department (who can brag that they have a Javits/NSF/whatever). On top of that, if for some reason you are absolutely miserable at the first program, the money is portable.
-Start thinking about your personal statements now. Think about the all the experiences you have had that tie together to form and solidify your interest in psychological research. (Don't use too personal examples, like your cousin was a child molester or your mom has bipolar or something.) Start to brag about yourself in your head. One thing professors have told me in the past is that students are often too modest about their accomplishments in their personal statements. I highly recommend Donald Asher's Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way into the Graduate School of Your Choice.
Damn, this got really long :D
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