I'm putting this in a separate thread outside of "what are my chances" because I'm more seeking specific advice for both myself, and for students who graduated from state schools and feel at a disadvantage applying to traditionally big-name universities. My research interests very broadly are PTSD/ depression as a result of trauma and dissemination of EBT. My primary interests, though, are programs in which I can directly study EBT with war-affected populations (refugees), and I would also love a program that would allow me to do this with children. Career-wise I would love to work at a non-profit doing mental health research with war-affected populations or implementing EBT in low and middle-income countries, but I would also be happy at a University. But, I am not interested in a Global Mental Health degree as I believe it is important to be able to practice therapy before you study/ train others.
GRE
V: 167 (98%)
Q: 155 (59%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
B.A. Psychology (minors in Arabic and International Studies):
GPA: 3.74 (Psych GPA: 3.93)
Pursuing Arabic major currently.
Pubs and Presentations: Chapter publication and Honors Thesis as well as a poster presentation. After graduating am now interning at a non-profit conducting therapy effectiveness research.
Unfortunately, (and I assume because prestigious programs have more funding for it??) the only PhD clinical psych programs that have this primary, international interest as a focus are pretty competitive and traditionally ~elite~ schools. TC Columbia, U Wash, Harvard*, Fordham, UCSB, and U Conn are the only programs I could find that have a professor with a strong refugee focus. Perhaps I have missed some, but I've scoured a lot of schools, and looked for co-authors on their refugee-focused papers and the only ones I could find are adjunct; graduate students of theirs; professors at European universities; Psychiatric/ MSW/ Global Mental Health departments; or researchers at places like WHO or the UNHCR.
I'm applying to about 20 programs, many of which are not as big-name, and have a much broader focus on violence against women/ child abuse, so I haven't put all my eggs in one, ivy covered basket. While I would be happy at those programs, I am rather desperate to find a program that would let me work with war-affected groups. So I've not so much fallen into the trap of wanting to be at a big name school for the sake of it, but more it happened that for whatever reason, my primary passion seems to only exist at more competitive schools.
My concern is that I attended a large state University deep in the Southeast. While my letters are I think great, and I accomplished a lot during my time in undergrad, I did not have the networking opportunities that people who went to more expensive Northeastern/ West coast institutions may have had. Other than sending introductory emails, there is almost no chance any of my POIs will have heard of me. Additionally, I also know my quantitative score is low (I was initially advised by mentors that is my scores were over 50% I shouldn't worry about retesting because most schools don't care, but now it seems that other posters here disagree). My pros are because I am technically unaffiliated/ graduated, the research data I collect at my internship now will basically be able to be claimed by whatever professor/ program I end up at which would potentially be awesome (while I have received guidance from a letter-writer to ensure the study design is good and useful, they indicated that they have no desire or need to have their name on the final product and that I should give whatever results I get straight over to whomever my mentor is). I am hoping that, and the decision to live in the mid-east for a year for the purpose of getting direct experience with my preferred population, will set me apart, as will being proficient in a second language. But also I will be competing against masters students with more research experience, and students that are actually bilingual which could make those advantages null and void.
SO all of that is to say, is there anything else I (and others like me) can do to stand out and make myself more competitive? Any advice you have going into potential interviews? And, I suppose also what are my chances of ending up at any of these fantastic programs? Much of the advice I have found on forums so far has been immensely discouraging, with many people saying if you have not been introduced to your POI or had the opportunity to network with them yet, you don't stand a chance at competitive programs. Is that the takeaway I and others that worked hard at large and respected, but not necessarily elite or famous, universities should have?
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, and any future responses! And I apologize that brevity is not in my skill set!
*The Harvard Clin Psych program actually does not have faculty with a refugee focus, but their Psychiatry program does incredible work with refugees. I have corresponded with my POI asking if I could potentially use his work with refugee populations, and he kindly indicated were I admitted I would be encouraged to pursue that as a personal research interest, so I am counting it as one of my top choices.
GRE
V: 167 (98%)
Q: 155 (59%)
W: 5.0 (93%)
B.A. Psychology (minors in Arabic and International Studies):
GPA: 3.74 (Psych GPA: 3.93)
Pursuing Arabic major currently.
Pubs and Presentations: Chapter publication and Honors Thesis as well as a poster presentation. After graduating am now interning at a non-profit conducting therapy effectiveness research.
Unfortunately, (and I assume because prestigious programs have more funding for it??) the only PhD clinical psych programs that have this primary, international interest as a focus are pretty competitive and traditionally ~elite~ schools. TC Columbia, U Wash, Harvard*, Fordham, UCSB, and U Conn are the only programs I could find that have a professor with a strong refugee focus. Perhaps I have missed some, but I've scoured a lot of schools, and looked for co-authors on their refugee-focused papers and the only ones I could find are adjunct; graduate students of theirs; professors at European universities; Psychiatric/ MSW/ Global Mental Health departments; or researchers at places like WHO or the UNHCR.
I'm applying to about 20 programs, many of which are not as big-name, and have a much broader focus on violence against women/ child abuse, so I haven't put all my eggs in one, ivy covered basket. While I would be happy at those programs, I am rather desperate to find a program that would let me work with war-affected groups. So I've not so much fallen into the trap of wanting to be at a big name school for the sake of it, but more it happened that for whatever reason, my primary passion seems to only exist at more competitive schools.
My concern is that I attended a large state University deep in the Southeast. While my letters are I think great, and I accomplished a lot during my time in undergrad, I did not have the networking opportunities that people who went to more expensive Northeastern/ West coast institutions may have had. Other than sending introductory emails, there is almost no chance any of my POIs will have heard of me. Additionally, I also know my quantitative score is low (I was initially advised by mentors that is my scores were over 50% I shouldn't worry about retesting because most schools don't care, but now it seems that other posters here disagree). My pros are because I am technically unaffiliated/ graduated, the research data I collect at my internship now will basically be able to be claimed by whatever professor/ program I end up at which would potentially be awesome (while I have received guidance from a letter-writer to ensure the study design is good and useful, they indicated that they have no desire or need to have their name on the final product and that I should give whatever results I get straight over to whomever my mentor is). I am hoping that, and the decision to live in the mid-east for a year for the purpose of getting direct experience with my preferred population, will set me apart, as will being proficient in a second language. But also I will be competing against masters students with more research experience, and students that are actually bilingual which could make those advantages null and void.
SO all of that is to say, is there anything else I (and others like me) can do to stand out and make myself more competitive? Any advice you have going into potential interviews? And, I suppose also what are my chances of ending up at any of these fantastic programs? Much of the advice I have found on forums so far has been immensely discouraging, with many people saying if you have not been introduced to your POI or had the opportunity to network with them yet, you don't stand a chance at competitive programs. Is that the takeaway I and others that worked hard at large and respected, but not necessarily elite or famous, universities should have?
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, and any future responses! And I apologize that brevity is not in my skill set!
*The Harvard Clin Psych program actually does not have faculty with a refugee focus, but their Psychiatry program does incredible work with refugees. I have corresponded with my POI asking if I could potentially use his work with refugee populations, and he kindly indicated were I admitted I would be encouraged to pursue that as a personal research interest, so I am counting it as one of my top choices.
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