An Undergrad In Need of Serious Help

[Solracselbor]

Hello everyone,

I am facing some undergrad anxieties, primarily with the GRE’s. I am an undergrad at cal state university long beach. I have one semester of research experience (which I am currently doing) which, unfortunately, is concentrating around cognition as opposed to my field of interest—clinical. I have a 3.7 overall gpa (but it may drop some after this intermediate stats class ). I am taking a upperdivision course on clinical interviewing where I am already performing client-centered therapy as well as gestalt therapy on other students (I don’t know how much this will help for grad school).

My main concern is getting accepted into a Clinical Ph.D program , where GRE’s are highly regarded (which I hear is most clinical programs). I have not yet taken the GRE’s but am scheduled to take it in early November. The problem is that I have not studied for them and like the SAT’s (which I scored a 1010:1600) I am afraid I will also have low scores on the GRE’s. I am just angry because the GRE’s, I feel, will not reflect accurately on my capabilities (I.e. in high school I graduate with a 4.3gpa and scored low on the SAT’s, yet I am still doing well in college). I am a minority with a low family income and cant afford the prep classes for the GRE. Therefore, I am relying heavily on the Barrons book, but I worked full time over the summer and had no time to study and am taking classes full-time now, and can hardly find any study time.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I took the diagnostic GRE test and scored about a 400 combined, and I am afraid I will do no better on the actual exam. It has been my dream to become a clinical psychologist since 5th grade (don’t ask why), but it has. And it feels like it is crumbling in my face. I have looked into professional schools like Aliant (which I think is also known as CSPP), PGSP, and others, but I just can’t afford them. What colleges would you recommend me to apply? So far here are my choices, some of which have too high standards but they are more local:

UC Berkley
USC
UCLA (maybe)
Univ. Southern Mississpi
University Arkansas
Rutgers University

Are there any others you can recommend, that may not be so stringent? Also I am applying to some masters programs as back up, all but one require the GRE’s as well (around a score of 1100 combined verb/quant is desirable, yet I don’t even think I am capable of achieving that high a score):

CSU Long Beach
CSU Northridge
CSU Fullerton
CSU Humboldt (does not require GRE’s but doesn’t have a program geared to clinical, the closes is the biological and neuropsychology program)

Any advice, words of encouragement, help with choosing schools with more lenient GRE requirements, would help me so much. Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

Carlos Robles

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted176373]

Hello everyone,

I am a minority with a low family income and cant afford the prep classes for the GRE. Therefore, I am relying heavily on the Barrons book, but I worked full time over the summer and had no time to study and am taking classes full-time now, and can hardly find any study time.

Sorry, but I had to rely on only the books too. This is not an excuse not to do well on the GRE, so stop suggesting that being from a low income minority family is going to prevent you from doing well on the GRE. It's not because you cannot afford the prep classes, but there are sociocultural factors that can make your GRE performance lower (I am not suggesting there are not.)

I understand that working and studying can be mutually exclusive, and you'll have to find the hours to prep. I suggest that you work on the math sections diligently and focus on raising this score, it's the easier one to raise. I suggest you find some money or time to spend in borders to read the Princeton GRE prep book. I also got the Kaplan software from 1/2 price books for $19.99

It has been my dream to become a clinical psychologist since 5th grade (don't ask why), but it has. And it feels like it is crumbling in my face. I have looked into professional schools like Aliant (which I think is also known as CSPP), PGSP, and others, but I just can't afford them. What colleges would you recommend me to apply? So far here are my choices, some of which have too high standards but they are more local:

Don't (if at all possible) go the professional school route. Not unless you like being poor. Get those GRE scores up, the good news is that low scores for a bright person usually means that you can improve your scores tremendously.

Are there any others you can recommend, that may not be so stringent? Also I am applying to some masters programs as back up, all but one require the GRE's as well (around a score of 1100 combined verb/quant is desirable, yet I don't even think I am capable of achieving that high a score):

Actually you need/want something closer to 1200 (since you eventually want a Ph.D.)

Any advice, words of encouragement, help with choosing schools with more lenient GRE requirements, would help me so much. Thank you so much!

Don't give up, this is tough stuff and it's not going to be easy. Don't go the professional school route because of the GRE. This is an important hurdle, don't let it stop you!

Mark

 

[erg923]

First of all, your GPA is rock solid! No problems there. Second, yes GREs are important for getting past the first pass in admissions. There is no secret really. You just have to study and practice. And no, its probably not a measure of your abilities, but its not designed to be either. Its used a predictive measure of your likelihood for success in grad school, thats all. Most people do not have the luxury of the prep classes and have to study from the books.

Third, you said not to ask why you wanted to be a clinical psychologist since the fifth grade. This is fine, but YOU should be asking this question of yourself and basing your decision on carer goals, not just a childhood dream. Make sure your putting yourself through all this for the right reasons.

Lastly, all the CA school are very competitive (even more so than the national average), AND all the CA schools you mentioned are highly researched focused. With one only semester of resesrch experience under your belt, that not really a drop in the bucket for these schools. Many of these places are attracting hardcore "research hounds" who have years of research experience during undergrad and out of undergrad as RAs. Choose schools based on their focus and what they can offer you in terms of preparing you for your specific career goals. I highly recommend checking out schools outside of CA. So Miss and Arkansas are well balanced programs. The vast majority of clincial students have to move out of state for their degree. This is just the nature of the beast in this field.

 

[Thrak]

Number of things, from my perspective:

First, your GPA is fine. But, you don't want your stats class lowering your grade, because chances are, admission committees will look at it.

Second, I took a GRE prep class. Cost me around a grand. I learned exactly nothing in terms of material, and everything strategy-wise I could have learned from a book. Wanna know the real value of a prep class? Forcing you to study between classes. If you have the discipline to study on your own, you can get away with just using the books.

That said, if you're scoring a 400 combined, but you have a 3.7 GPA, there's something else going on. What exactly is throwing you off in verbal and math? Answer that question, and you're on your way to improving your score. I'd look into all the free resources on line in terms of vocabulary (word-of-the-day, stuff like that). How is your reading comprehension? Cliche as it is, reading difficult articles really does help. The NY Times are a good place to start, but eventually if you can, try reading articles in The Economist or the Financial Times. The articles are free online.

As for math, again, figure out where your problems lie. Geometry? Fractions? Whatever it is, I can only imagine that there are free online resources that can help.

Third, I would very seriously suggest to you not to apply until you've worked for at least a year or so. Try to get some research or clinical-related experience. This will not only buy you time to prepare more for the GRE, it'll give you more options for letters of recommendation, and the chance to target your schools to ones that really meet your interests. Also, the GRE is expensive; applications are very expensive. You want to wait until you've got the best shot.

Good luck!

 

[cara susanna]

Thrak: As I've said, it's not just about forcing you to study in between classes. Some people just can't teach themselves or figure out the tricks to the test on their own.

 

[psybee]

I also did a kaplan prep course (put it on a CC) and all i got out of it was debt. maybe other ones are better, or i'm just not the kind of person that they help, but the course, for me, was a guy reading what was in the $25 prep book you can get at barnes and noble. for me, getting a used basic college math book to refresh me on all the math i hadn't done in ages and then doing the kaplan and utilizing all the great free prep stuff ets has online helped the most. that and studying 15-20 hours a week or more for a few months.

it's totally understandable that doing well in a hard course, maintaing good grades in your others and working leave little time for the GRE, especially if you aren't naturally good at standardized tests. why not get an RA or other psych related job and get some more research and clinical skills, and apply next year? there seem to be a lot of folks totally worried that they won't be able to get into a program right out of undergrad, but who also don't have tons of undergrad expereince in research and/or clinical. the more expereince you get in these areas the more: A) you will be competitive for programs. your letters will be stronger and more meaningful, you will have experience now and ideas about what you want to do research wise (or if maybe it's not for you), and even some publications and presentations and B) the more you'll know about how you and the current practice of clinical psych go together. what kind of research do you want to do? what kind of clinical work? are you interested in kids or adults? eating disorders, trauma, depression, schizophrenia, so on and so on. the more you know, the better choices you'll make when applying to schools, and the better fit you'll be.

i'll aslo second what others say--if it is at all possible, rethink applying based on geography. i did it, and it was stressful. i got in to several good programs, and they were ones that were good fits for me--i applied to others that were stretches but geographically appealing, and i basically should have saved that money, because applying to them was the same as tossing it out. schools don't want people who live nearby, they want ones that are great matches. if you are competitive for schools in your area that are great matches then you may get in, but take a hard look at thier disclosure info, and if not, maybe start widening your scope. there are amazing schools inbetween the coasts, and your stipend goes WAY farther.

good luck!

 

[Solracselbor]

thanks for the help guys, I am trying to do my best to get into a Clinical program, but if i don't get accepted to any should i consider a masters in research and then reapply after my masters? Will this make me more competitive?

 

[starsinnight]

I think that sounds like a good idea - that or some schools offer a Master's in Psychology first that may be used towards a Clinical PhD program. I don't think you should give up at all! The most important part is to apply to all the schools you want (even if some seem too far out of reach) and see what happens. Many schools offer fellowships and research funding so you don't have to pay a penny (atleast the University of Miami does ).

if you don't get into any, try the Master's program or take a year off to do Research work which will also look good on your resume. Take time when applying. They don't only look at you GRE scores, they look at your personal statement (which i took a free course about at my undergrad college) and they look at all your experience and GPA too. I think that it sounds like you have been doing eveything you should be so don't worry yet. Try to relax for the GRE test (I had the same anxiety jitters and didnt do as nearly as good as I'd like). You can also retake it once you know what its like. I think a cheap way to study is spend time at the book store reading through the different study guides. That way you get a variety of info and don't have to pay for it. I also bought a vocabulary card set that helps to go through.

Good luck!!