Reddit reviews Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology, 2012/2013 Edition

One consideration is cost. Funding for PsyD students is much more limited than for PhD programs. There are also many counseling focused PhD programs, where the focus is more on counseling then research. If you're interested in applying for a psychology doctorate, I recommend this book hands down as the best guide for getting in to the program. This is a book you want to look at long before you begin the application process.
Alternatively, you could apply to masters level clinical and counseling programs which would be less intense, less schooling, less expensive, but would not be that different in that you'd be doing counseling work. Other graduate programs to consider are Social Work or Marriage and Family Therapy... each is unique, so one may appeal to you more than the other.

Competitive GPAs really depend on the program. 3.0 is usually the absolute bare minimum. Our program rarely considers anyone below a 3.5 and 3.7+ is standard. However, keep in mind that GPA is a small component of a competitive application. I wouldn't consider someone without other relevant experience even if they had a 4.0.

CV is a curriculum vita. It's basically a long resume that includes all of you academic experience/achievements. You add to it throughout your education/career.

Yes, I realize club sports are different than NCAA but that really doesn't matter as far as your application. Your research experience, interests, and research match are much more important.

If you are interested in applying to clinical psychology phd program I'd highly recommend getting this book: http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1609189329

Well, I just got accepted to the clinical psychology doctoral program at Texas Tech to work with Dr. Joaquin Borrego. I'm interested in PCIT (parent-child interaction therapy) and it's applications for children with autism. So I sort of understand where you're coming from. Have you considered applied behavior analysis, if you're seriously interested in autism? I plan on completing enough coursework within the ABA program at TTU that I can still obtain my BCBA (and maybe my BCBA-D) while still taking the clinical psychology coursework. Fortunately my mentor has a background in clinical behavior analysis so that works well for me.

All of the professors I worked with while in undergrad (at WVU, a research I school) highly suggested I go straight into a PhD program rather than obtaining my masters degree first. This was mostly because I was completely uninterested in wasting 2 years and tens of thousands of dollars just to have to go back and complete a lot of the same coursework for my PhD.

I highly suggest the Insiders Guide to Clinical and Counseling Psychology (http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1609189329/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369282225&sr=1-1&keywords=insiders+guide+to+graduate+programs+in+clinical+and+counseling+psychology+2013) as a reference. It gives lots of details regarding what sorts of research is being conducted at universities all over the US.

Hope this helped a little!

I would also recommend checking out the book Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology to help you get more information. This book will describe differences between PsyD and related programs and will provide the average GPAs of different programs so you can get a sense of what to shoot for. In addition, there is also a nice section toward the beginning of the book that describes what programs are looking for in addition to good GPAs and GRE scores. It's not just about getting good grades, so if you decide you want to go for a psych major, you will want to know what else to do besides doing well in psych classes. Good luck!

I hung out on the studendoctor Psych forums a lot before applying to Clinical PhD programs, and while you might claim they have a strong anti-PsyD bias, they all seem to feel that a PhD will get just as good clinical training--if not better (but again, that could be their bias :p)--than the PsyD. But you definitely wouldn't want to go a research-oriented school if you hate it. I'd check out the Insider's Guide book if you haven't?

http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Graduate-Programs-Counseling-Psychology/dp/1609189329/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374273749&sr=8-2&keywords=insider%27s+guide

The book lists all the PhD and PsyD programs out there right now. For the PhD programs, it ranks each institution on a scale of 1 to 7 from totally couseling oriented to totally research oriented. It could definitely help you if you decided you wanted to throw some very counseling oriented PhD programs into the mix. :)

Edit: Here's a thread similar to yours where master's-levels clinicians discuss not wasting time with a PhD program if your heart isn't in it, though. Just in the interest of seeing both sides of the coin.

It sounds like you're in great shape so far. In terms of breaking into the research arena, taking a behavioral research class is an excellent start. Like I said in my previous post, do well in the class, express your interest to the instructor, and get to know him/her. This will open up doors for you. They are not teaching that class for no reason. They will have, at the very least, some connection to the research world. Once you show the instructor you can do well and are interested, approach them about any research opportunities he/she knows and you will hopefully get some leads.

Unfortunately, instructors at community college usually don't do their own research (I don't know where you live, but that's generally how it is where I am in the US). So you may not get a lot of opportunities out of that course (though you'll probably learn some great stuff).

However, once you transfer to a university, those opportunities will be far more plentiful as professors at big schools focus on research. Their jobs depend on it. So again, once you transfer, get to know all of your professors, express your interest, and approach them about participating as a research assistant. This will open doors for you.

Another good practice, once you're at university, is to look up the faculty members in the psychology department. Even if you haven't taken a class with them, you can email them and ask if they need help in their lab.

As for hospitals, there are definitely research opportunities there. However, at least where I'm from, most of those positions in hospitals are paid and require some previous experience. So those may be out of reach for you right now. Most everyone I know cut their research teeth at a university volunteering for professors.

Another thing that's very helpful is to figure out what you're actually interested in doing both clinically and research wise. That is, having a specific focus will help you immensely. The earlier you know this, the more of an advantage you have.

In my case, I knew I wanted to do drug and alcohol research. So I targeted professors at my university who did research along those lines. By gaining pre graduate research experience in that sub discipline of psychology, my application for grad school was stronger because it showed the schools I was applying to that I had a long standing interest in the topic and had actual lab experience to back up my interest (it's easy to say that you are super interested in a topic, but to be able to actually say "Hey, I've done work in this area!" is invaluable. I would argue that this will get you into a program more than your grades or GRE scores (though those are certainly important).

I would also recommend that you get this book. It really breaks down what you need to do to get admitted to solid programs.

Edit: Formatting issues.

I have just recently jumped through these hoops myself so I'll share what little bit I've gleaned:

However, first a preface: As with many things in life, there is no 'cut & dry'/'black & white' way of looking at things - especially grad school. You may have an amazing GPA but horrendous GRE scores, or amazing work experience but a poor GPA, etc etc. Also, there are many different ways to go about finding an answer to your questions. I'll attempt to address these as thoroughly as I can (aka, this is going to be stupidly long).

Grades:
First off, unless you are trying to get into an Ivy League school, the 'usual' cut off for GPA is a 3.0. So, based exclusively off of that, you're looking good. Now, let's say your GPA goes downhill a bit more. Sweat & fear not my friend! While most schools tend to say that their "cut off" is a 3.0, they will still look at your application if you are kicking ass and taking names in other areas (GRE scores, work experience, volunteer experience, lab/research time, background, etc.) Speaking of GREs, have you taken them? If not, you are a bit behind schedule and should definitely start studying for them and signing up to take a few.

Masters then PhD or all out PhD:
I looked (extensively) at these options and here's what I learned/think I learned. If you are at a deficit in some area that won't get you into a PhD program, then a Masters would make sense. However, this has ups and downs. Assuming you take the average time for each degree, a Masters is 2 years and a PhD is 5, totaling 7 years. If you got into a PhD program from the start then it's only 5 years. You save two years of your life, school work, money, time, etc. However, upon completion of a Masters, your Undergraduate work means jack, so your current worries won't be there when you get the Masters. However! (so many 'howevers'...), unless the school you go to for a Masters (School A) -and- a PhD, then the likelihood that a majority of your Masters classes from School A would transfer over to your PhD program (School B). So, you'll end up having to retake classes you've already taken and just putzing around. Although if School A also offers a PhD, then it doesn't matter. That being said, I did not find many programs that offer a Masters as well as PhD during my search for schools. One advantage to getting a Masters first is it gets you more time in the field/lab/writing/etc. which not only helps with solidifying that Psychology is what you want to do but also helps you look good on paper for PhD programs. One advantage to getting into a PhD program and bypassing the Masters is the time you save. Your thought of getting into a lower tier Masters program then going to a PhD program makes sense, it just takes more time and money out of your life.

Funding
On average, you are lucky if you can get a TA/RA position that gives you a stipend for Masters programs. It is fairly common for Masters students to get loans. Tuition waivers are virtually non existent; however, this does not mean you cannot apply for fellowships, grants, scholarships, etc. With regards to a PhD program (one that has <10 students), it is fairly typical to either receive a full tuition waiver and/or some kind of stipend (typically in the form of a TA and/or RA).

You mentioned an interest in the Clinical side of things. Speaking fairly broadly, a PhD in Clinical Psychology is fairly research heavy as well as fairly Practice oriented (think a 50/50 blend). A PsyD is much, much more Practice oriented (about 90% practice). There are many more doors open to you with a PhD than a PsyD. If your only dream job is to work with clients in a practice then a PsyD is worth looking at. In a PsyD program, you usually (I'd guess in about 98% of schools) have to foot the bill by yourself (all of it, sadly) and then your dissertation is typically a case study. In a PhD program, you are going to get a pretty heavy research caseload that have you churning our papers and research. You may or may not get many clinical hours, clinical supervision, practice time with clients, etc. in a PhD program. I can't say it enough, while the PhD has quite a hefty component of research to it, you can do many more things with a PhD than a PsyD (not to bash on the PsyD...).

Edit 2: While PhD programs typically offer a tuition waiver and/or a stipend for TA/RA work, it is typical that you still take out loans, albeit a smaller amount than for a Masters. However, a PhD program is twice as long as a Masters so depending on the amount you take out, it may be more expensive (loan wise) to go the route of a PhD.

Lastly, I would discourage you from even looking at schools that are not APA accredited. If you are unsure, you can either read the program description on the school's website (they will prominently announce their APA accreditation) or you can go to the APA website and search for accredited schools here.

I lied. One more piece of information. Go to a nearby Borders, Barnes & Noble, your college bookstore, etc. and read/look at the latest copy of this book. It's pretty thorough and lists out so much information for you.

Best of luck to ya.

This book is what I used to find programs, it has some Canadian programs, from what I understand, and is pretty well-organized. It also has overall tips on the application process, and was really helpful for me. As a disclaimer I'm not related to the author/publishing company, I just found it to be pretty solid. Good luck!