gradPSYCH - September 2011 - (Page 22)
DEGREE INSIGHT
Applier
BY JEN USCHER ou’ve started your search for a doctoral program, but do you know how to pick the one that’s right for you? “In psychology, we pride ourselves on being evidence-based, but sometimes we forget to look at all the data when we’re making our most important career choices,” says John Norcross, PhD, a University of Scranton psychology professor and coauthor of “The Insider’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology” (2010). According to graduate program directors and other experts, you’ve done your homework if can answer these six questions:
Answer these six questions before you apply to any psychology graduate program.
beware
websites about psychology careers,” advises Cynthia Belar, PhD, executive director of APA’s Education Directorate. Then, check out APA’s online database, “Graduate Study in Psychology,” at www.apa.org/pubs/databases/gradstudy, which provides descriptions, admission requirements and application deadlines for more than 600 psychology graduate programs in the United States and Canada.
Y
2. How much debt can you reasonably take on?
Figure out how much you can expect to earn once you have your degree, and then use that number to calculate the amount of graduate school debt that’s reasonable for you. According to 2009 data from APA’s Center for Workforce Studies, the median starting salary for assistant psychology professors is $53,000, while a clinical psychologist can expect to start out earning $58,000. Given those salaries, it could take years to pay off the median debt loads of new psychologists: $120,000 for clinical PsyDs, $68,000 for clinical PhDs and $38,500 for research-focused PhDs. If you don’t want to be eating ramen into your golden years, limit your applications to psychology programs that offer financial aid in the form of fellowships, scholarships, research and teaching assistantships, and traineeships. “While cost shouldn’t be your only basis for selecting a doctoral program, you don’t want
1. What kind of job do you eventually want?
Imagine your future career, and work backward to determine the kind of training and education you need. If you’d like to help companies select employees and build better teams, look into industrial-organizational psychology programs. If you want to investigate learning and memory, check out experimental psychology programs. If you hope to someday help judges determine who is competent to stand trial, explore forensic psychology programs. “Talk with the psychology professors at your undergraduate institution about pathways in psychology, and read books and
22 • gradPSYCH • September 2011
http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/gradstudy
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of gradPSYCH - September 2011
GradPSYCH - September 2011
Contents
Interns: Be sure to track your hours
Students often notice but only sometimes blow the whistle on peers’ ethical violations
Psychology student spearheads coming-out project
Internship application costs rise
Odd Jobs
Media Picks
Chair’s Corner
Research Roundup
Matters to a Degree
The new academic job market
Applier beware
Does TV accurately portray psychology?
Safer travels
How to handle a tough audience
Free Money for Education
Meet your new advocates
Bulletin Board
Jobs, internships, postdocs and other opportunities
The Back Page
gradPSYCH - September 2011
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