From Application to Acceptance: What to Expect in Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Admissions (Part 2)

Four students poses together holding a sign read "ualbanygradsch"
by Jennifer White (center), UAlbany Clinical Psychology PhD Student

You’ve gotten through your first hurdle - your applications to Clinical Psychology PhD program are now submitted. Congratulations! That is a big step, and now…what do you do? How quickly will you hear back?  

I am a second-year doctoral student at UAlbany, and I’m here to break down what you need to know now that you’ve submitted your application.

While Your Application is Under Review: 

  • Prioritize self-care. Getting past the December 1st deadline is huge, so make sure you treat yourself for passing this huge milestone!
  • Be patient. Remember that each program is on its own timeline - you may hear from some programs within the next few weeks, and others you may not hear from until early-mid January.
  • Principal Investigators (PIs) often reach out via email or phone call to invite you to a preliminary interview or their program’s interview day.

Preliminary Interviews: 

  • These interviews typically take place via a scheduled phone call or over Zoom. Typically, these are one-on-one meetings with the PI so they can ask questions about your background, what you are hoping to get out of graduate school, and a chance for them to tell you more about their lab/program.

Interview Day:

  • Programs will host either an in-person or Zoom interview day. These typically occur from mid-January to late February.
  • During these interviews you will meet the lab, other faculty members at the school, and learn more about what each program has to offer.
  • After the interview day, I recommend sending thank you emails within 48 hours to the students/faculty that you interacted with most during the interview.

Receiving an Offer:

  • This can happen as soon as a few days after the interview, up until the April 15th deadline.
  • PI’s will often call or email to offer you the position. The phone call will be followed up with the formal offer letter through the school’s online portal that you used to apply.
  • There are many external factors outside the PI’s control as to when they are able to make offers to students. If you haven’t heard back in a couple of weeks, don’t take it personally, and always feel free to email the PI to follow up.

Final Tips:

  • BE YOURSELF! Once you get to the interview phase, you have met the “requirements” to get into the program; now they are seeing who is the best fit.
  • Research the faculty ahead of time. Be familiar with their current work and ask thoughtful questions related to how your interests overlap.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask current graduate students hard questions: How affordable is it to live here? What are the best and worst parts of working with the mentor?

Finally, remember that Clinical Ph.D programs are very competitive and selective. There are many more qualified applicants than there are spots in programs. Some very qualified applicants must apply two or three cycles to get into a program.

Take a deep breath and good luck!

If you missed part 1 of this blog series, click here to check it out!