Mention religious ideals in personal statement?!?!?!

[scienceisbeauty]

"Applicants must submit a typed personal statement. Generally, statements should be three to four pages in length. Please address career objectives, rationale for seeking a degree in clinical psychology, and why you choose to attend SPU. Mention your professional and personal strengths as they apply to clinical psychology, related work experiences, research interests, personal values, religious ideals, and other information you deem appropriate"

http://www.spu.edu/depts/spfc/clinicalpsych/Admission/requirements.asp


Huh? Since when does one mention religious ideals? ...I don't get it

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[psybee]

they are totally faith based! i mean, for folks of that persuasion, that's great.

 

[deleted176373]

Huh? Since when does one mention religious ideals? ...I don't get it

For some, it would be questionable and come off as fake, even at a school like Baylor it might not be appropriate. However the integration of religion and scientific practice of psychology is not a mutually exclusive idea. For the right person can be a persuasive essay topic even at the most secular of institutions.

 

[mshbe]

I agree with Mark that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, and in fact are a lot more complimentary than a lot of people realize.

If you are secular, you should be ready for questions like these. Not only did I have a few schools want me to mention it in my personal statement, but I also got a question along these lines in an interview. And this was at a secular and scientific institution.

 

[KillerDiller]

I agree with Mark that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, and in fact are a lot more complimentary than a lot of people realize.

If you are secular, you should be ready for questions like these. Not only did I have a few schools want me to mention it in my personal statement, but I also got a question along these lines in an interview. And this was at a secular and scientific institution.

That's strange, because religion was never once mentioned in any of my applications or interviews--and I even applied to some Catholic institutions. Religious views may not be incompatible with psychological science, but (as long as you accept the scientific method and aren't studying religion in a way where your views are likely to bias your work), I don't see at all how they are relevant, especially in the admissions process.

 

[mshbe]

The interview question was to get to know my background a bit better, just to see where I'm coming from and what kinds of experiences I'm taking with me, not to judge me based on what my religious/philosophical/spiritual beliefs. It seems like the personal statement topic is similar to that.

When discussing the interview with other interviewees, they all seemed shocked I was asked such a question and said they would have been caught like a deer in headlights if they were asked that. I don't think it's a common thing to be asked, but doesn't hurt to be ready for it if asked.

And it's not a big deal, they just want to know where you're coming from.

 

[KillerDiller]

Religion is a personal issue and, unfortunately, it is still one of those aspects of life that can be pretty divisive. I'm not ashamed to be an atheist or anything, but there are times when disclosing that information can really be detrimental to further interactions with people. So I do think I would take it as a big deal if somebody asked that in the admissions process. I would put it in the same arena as asking someone's sexual preference or asking if they have a history of mental illness--sure, it's part of where we are coming from, but we shouldn't feel under pressure to disclose that information to people in positions of power.

On another note, it's not legal to ask those kinds of questions on job applications, is this different only because we happen to be in the field of psychology and somehow that makes it more relevant? That seems rather dubious.

 

[mshbe]

I do see your point. In that specific situation, it wasn't so bad. It's hard to explain I guess without going into more detail, which I don't want to do. My point really was just that it might come up in an interview if it's on the personal statement, and preparing wouldn't be a bad idea. If it makes you that uncomfortable discussing things like that and the program is going to put that much emphasis on it, maybe it's not the best fit. Personal choice I suppose.

 

[deleted176373]

That's strange, because religion was never once mentioned in any of my applications or interviews--and I even applied to some Catholic institutions. Religious views may not be incompatible with psychological science, but (as long as you accept the scientific method and aren't studying religion in a way where your views are likely to bias your work), I don't see at all how they are relevant, especially in the admissions process.

They are relevant if you plan on working with populations who have strong religious beliefs. It's not so much your personal view on religion but rather how you treat those with strong religious beliefs and how you integrate your scientific knowledge with those beliefs.

Mark

 

[KillerDiller]

They are relevant if you plan on working with populations who have strong religious beliefs. It's not so much your personal view on religion but rather how you treat those with strong religious beliefs and how you integrate your scientific knowledge with those beliefs.

Mark

Maybe, but "would you anticipate having any problems working with strongly religious people as clients?" or "what are your views on the scientific method?" are better ways of getting at these issues than asking "what are your religious beliefs?". It would be erroneous to assume that a therapist who is not religious or who holds religious beliefs different from the client population would definitely have problems working in that context. If it were necessary for therapists to always be the same religion as their clients, everyone would just go see their church leaders for therapy. Basically, I think that if this is why schools are asking this question, then they should be aware that "what is your religion?" will not get at the desired information and will not separate the effective therapists from the ineffective ones.

 

[KillerDiller]

I do see your point. In that specific situation, it wasn't so bad. It's hard to explain I guess without going into more detail, which I don't want to do. My point really was just that it might come up in an interview if it's on the personal statement, and preparing wouldn't be a bad idea. If it makes you that uncomfortable discussing things like that and the program is going to put that much emphasis on it, maybe it's not the best fit. Personal choice I suppose.

I understand that in your situation it was not an uncomfortable topic and it didn't create any problems for you. It's good that you felt open to discussing it. I would just hate to see this become part of the standard interview protocol or a standard thing one should need to disclose on a personal statement.

 

[ohyeahright]

delete

 

[scienceisbeauty]

I should look into that school more, in terms of whether I'd be happy there...
The only reason I ever even found it was because a prof from there wrote an interesting book chapter..

Prob, if I'm so taken aback by the PS, I don't think it'd be the best fit...I'll do more research tho..

...Thanks !