As we have discussed, admission to psychology
Ph.D. programs is quite competitive. Successful appli-
cants now typically have amassed considerable research
experience before applying to doctoral programs. In
addition to work in a research lab as a volunteer, or
for a semester of course credit, other options include
the completion of an honors thesis or taking a full-time
research assistant position for 1 to 2 years following the
completion of the undergraduate degree. The honors
thesis is a particularly excellent opportunity to gain
research experience; the thesis helps you to develop
and demonstrate independent research skills by devel-
oping and testing your own hypothesis. The thesis also
helps you to gain substantial exposure to a faculty
member who can provide mentorship on your thesis
and later write you a letter of recommendation. A full-
time research assistant position also can be a terrific
opportunity. In this role, you will develop advanced
knowledge and skill in the detailed procedures
required to conduct an investigation, to work closely
with a faculty member, and often to supervise under-
graduate research volunteers. While neither the honors
thesis nor the research assistant position isrequiredfor
entry into graduate school, a remarkably high propor-
tion of successful applicants to top Ph.D. programs do
have one or both of these experiences.
Obtaining Clinical Experience. Many students
ask whether they need to obtain clinical experience
to gain entry into doctoral Ph.D. programs in clini-
cal, counseling, or school psychology. In our opin-
ion, the short answer is: No.
Clinical experience allows you to gain exposure
to populations who are experiencing psychological
symptoms. For this reason, it can be a good experi-
ence, and perhaps one that you should have before
embarking on a clinical career. This experience also
will help you learn to develop rapport with indi-
viduals of different ages and in different settings.
Some clinical experiences occur in excellent treat-
ment facilities (or in treatment/research summer
camps for youth with psychopathology), and these
particularly can be excellent experiences.
However, since your role during this clinical
placement will not be that of a true clinician, the
skills you develop are not necessarily going to
increase the attractiveness of your application signif-
icantly. In other words, you will learn all you need
to know about clinical work during graduate
school, so these experiences are not needed to dem-
onstrate any specific expertise. If you believe this
experience will help you determine your interests
and career choice, then it is a terrific idea. If you
have already decided to apply to clinical Ph.D. pro-
grams, and you have a choice between a research
and clinical experience, then choose research,
research, research.Applying to Ph.D. Programs in
Clinical Psychology
Table 1 offers a sample timeline to help accom-
plish the many tasks that are required when
applying to doctoral programs in psychology. This
section offers a few considerations for several of
these steps.Selecting Potential Schools
and Mentors
For most graduate programs in psychology, you
will be working with a primary research advisor,
becoming immersed in various projects in his or
her lab. In most cases, the match between you
and your advisor is even more important than the
characteristics of the overall program. It is important
that this person’s researchthrills you, because you
will be working on that research for 4 to 6 years!
Keep in mind that if you do not have research
experience in a potential advisor’s area of expertise,
you will need to be able to explain clearly in your
personal statement how your interests have led you
to apply to work with this person and why you
think you are a good match for the lab.
This reflects a general issue related to your
decisions on how to select graduate programs.
You probably are already aware that at the next
stage of your career, your graduate school experi-
ence will be evaluated not simply based on the rep-
utation of your Ph.D. program but also on the
reputation of your mentor and your productivity574 APPENDIX