I took the GRE!

[empresofanguish]

I took the GRE yesterday, and I'm not sure if I'm entirely happy with my scores. I got a 600 on verbal and 700 on quantitative. The averages of the 2 programs in clinical psychology that I'm going to apply to are 620 on verbal and 680 on quant, and the other program's averages are 540 on verbal and 640 on quant (but this program hasn't posted

Comments

[arthenadent]

I'm an incoming clinical psych grad student who went through the application process three times, so here's what I got:
1. Your GRE scores are good, and will not necessarily keep you out of programs. If you feel like you could do a whole lot better, retake them. Otherwise, don't worry about it :-)
2. The only time GRE scores matter is at the beginning of the application process. Some programs (not all!) use a formula which weights applicants' GPA and GRE scores to produce a number, then discards any applications that rate lower than a cutoff number they set. After that, GRE scores aren't considered much, if at all.
3. Unless there really are only two programs in the country that offer the kind of research you want to do, I'd strongly suggest you apply to more schools. Clinical programs are extremely competitive, and faculty-student research match is the #1 criterion for acceptance. The best program for you may be far away from where you live now, so be as open to relocation as you can.
4. It's great that you're doing an honors thesis, but you should still be prepared to take more than one attempt to make it into a program. It's quite common these days; even top applicants have several years of post-bac research experience. I work in a lab at a highly-ranked school, and less than 25% of our grad students made it in on their first attempt.

So yeah, your GRE scores are fine, and I think you should apply to more schools :-) Best of luck!

[roseofjuly]

I second everything this commenter said, ESPECIALLY the part about applying to more schools. Please do not only apply to two programs in clinical psychology! I am assuming you mean Ph.D programs. I know top students who applied to over 10 programs and only got admitted to 2-3, and sometimes none. Clinical psychology is soooooooooo competitive right now that by applying to only two programs, you're doing yourself a disservice.

If there really are only two programs in the country that offer the kind of research you want, your research interests are much too narrow, especially with the preponderance of clinical psych programs out there.

And I also second the fourth point. My psychology program (not clinical) is mostly students who have master's first. It is very common for clinical candidates to be in their late 20s/early 30s with master's degrees and/or years of research experience/post-bacs. I mean, take this round seriously, but prepare other avenues for next year. I suggest looking at the post-baccalaureate programs the NIH offer; they pay ok and will give you some really valuable research experience. www.nih.gov

[sporkgoddess]

[empresofanguish]

The reason I've limited my horizons to only 2 programs is because they are nearby and at least one of the faculty from each program fits my research interests perfectly.

So, this is your third year applying. What did you do in the years between achieving your bachelor's degree and getting into a program? What school are you going to? What was your research prior to applying your first time?

[sporkgoddess]

[arthenadent]

I worked in two different research labs at two major public universities, aiding professors and graduate students. I moved to several different cities to take these jobs. I'm interested in ERP/fMRI, so the time off really helped me gain more experience with these methodologies. Working in several different labs also helped me become more familiar with different software, EEG cap systems, etc. And I was able to forge important connections with professors and grad students in different parts of the country, which really helped me get great recommendations.

The first time I applied, it was with 1 year of undergraduate experience in a respected ERP lab. I only applied to three programs and did not even get interviews at any of them. Second go-round, I applied to ten programs and got three interviews. This time, I applied to thirteen programs, got eight interviews, and am now headed to the #1 program in the US for my area of clinical psych :-) I couldn't have done it without the experience and connections I gained during my time off.