Clinical Psychology

Appendix

A Primer for Applying to

Graduate Programs in Clinical

Psychology

1

P

sychology is the most popular major on a large proportion of college cam-

puses. Many thousands of students apply to graduate schools with hopes of

pursuing a career in the science or practice of mental health services. Yet, as

compared to other types of graduate programs (e.g., law, medicine), remarkably

little information is available to help students determine the career path that

offers the best match to their interests. Specific practical advice on how to suc-

cessfully navigate the application process also is lacking.

This appendix is designed to provide an overview of different types of pos-

sible career options in the science and practice of clinical psychology. An impor-

tant disclaimer should be mentioned here. The text in this chapter focuses mostly

on our opinions and impressions of the current state of the field and of the appli-

cation process for clinical Ph.D. programs. We feel best prepared to comment on

Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology that subscribe to the scientist-practitioner

or clinical science models of training. Our experience is exclusively with the

admissions processes and training goals of these types of programs, and we cannot

speak directly to programs that have adopted distinctly different training models.

(^1) This appendix has been reprinted with permission from Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D. Special
thanks to Sophia Choukas-Bradley and Karen Guan for their contributions to this
appendix.
562