Speaker 1: Welcome to Grad Life Grind. If you're new to this channel, thank you for checking it out, and if you're already a subscriber, thanks for being back again. My name is Arielle and I'm a PhD student in clinical psychology, and in this channel I talk about my life as a grad student and bring you information about the mental health field. As you saw in the title of this video, today I'm going to be talking about everything you need to apply to graduate school in psychology. There's a lot that goes into this process, but if I were you I would watch this video to the end because I'm going to be providing you guys with an application checklist that you can download and use for your own application process. I'm a PhD student in psychology myself, so I've been through this process, and I also work at the admissions department at my school, so I've gotten a lot of exposure to the different things that programs ask for on their applications. When I was applying to graduate programs, I did my best to stay organized, but I really wish that I had a step-by-step checklist or guide for the application process because it's really time-consuming, it also requires a lot of energy, and there's just so many little pieces that you need to submit. So I'm going to try and go over every individual piece of your application that you need to have prepared when you start applying for graduate school, starting with the list of programs. If you want to have any sense of organization over your graduate application process, you definitely need a program list, and I essentially stayed organized by having a spreadsheet with all the programs I was applying to, what they required of me, their deadlines, and so forth. I did record a video about this before, and I provided a link for you guys to access my organization spreadsheet. Those are still available if you need them, so in the description for this video I will have the link to the video I recorded about staying organized, as well as the link to get my spreadsheet so that you can stay organized in your application process. But whether you use my spreadsheet or your own, you definitely need to have a list of programs that you're applying to when you need to have your application ready by, and every single thing that they're asking you for on your applications. This is super important because once it's time to click submit, you need to make sure that you have everything for each program, and unfortunately it's not uniform. Some programs may ask for more things than others, and if you don't have a list of programs and all the details for that program, you're gonna have a really hard time when it comes time to submit them, and it's a really stressful process as it is. I can remember trying to submit my applications kind of at the last minute, which I don't recommend, and I was super nervous that I was gonna forget something, so definitely, definitely the number one thing that you need is a program list. The next set of things that you'll need if you're applying to graduate school is all the written materials. For psychology programs, you're typically required to submit a personal statement, and that is a statement about you, about what your goals are, why you're interested in that program, or in psychology in general, and every program will provide a little bit more detail about what they're looking for in that personal statement, so that's where your program list comes in. You'll also sometimes be asked to submit a statement of purpose or a statement of intent, and sometimes that is a little bit different from your personal statement because the program is looking for more information about your research interests, your future goals, what you want to do after graduate school, and like I said, every program is going to provide you with the information that they are looking for in those statements. So to summarize, some programs will want a personal statement only, and what you write in that statement is super important, and some programs will ask for a personal statement and another type of statement, whether it is a research statement, a statement of intent, or a statement of purpose. So these writing materials are really important for your application because it is your opportunity to stand out, tell a little bit about who you are, differentiate yourself from other applicants, and also give the admissions committee a little bit of who you are, and highlight what isn't on your CV or on your resume or otherwise on your application. I would really focus on having a strong statement that you can edit for each program based on the specifics that they're asking for. I would start crafting a personal statement, and there are tons of examples online, and I can probably do another video about this in the future. So you can start writing at least a draft that reflects the main things that you want to get across to the admissions committee. So if there are key components of your interests, of who you are, and what you stand for, those are threads that are going to run through all of the statements that you write anyway. So you can get started on a draft, and then when you know which programs you're going to apply to, and you know that they're asking for you to touch on specific pieces, you can edit as needed. Some other written materials that programs may ask of you are writing samples and fellowship or scholarship essays. So these two items are not always required by programs, sometimes they're optional, sometimes there are programs who do want them. So writing samples are not papers that you would write when you're preparing your application. It's actually something that you've already written, for example, for one of your classes in the past that you've got a good grade on, that you will submit to the program with your application to show that you're a good writer. If you know, based on your program list, that some of the programs you're applying to are going to ask for a writing sample, you can start looking back at your old papers and the grades you got for them, and pick out one or two papers that you know you did well on, and that showcase your ability. And you can pick those out, maybe make a couple of edits here and there, and just save them and have them prepared for those programs that are going to ask for a sample. And typically what writing samples consist of are a research paper that you had to write, or a literature review, if you already wrote a published article, then you can submit that as a writing sample. And another thing you can do to specify if you're not sure what kind of writing sample to submit is simply to call the program that you're applying to, ask their admissions department, I see here that you guys are asking for a writing sample, I just want to clarify what exactly that entails, what you guys are looking for. And that way you have a better idea when you're looking back at your previous work, what should I choose, what piece showcases my strengths the most. And then the fellowship and scholarship essays are also not always part of your application, but some programs may give you the opportunity to apply for a fellowship or scholarship with your application, which is kind of nice because graduate school is expensive and funding is one of the number one concerns that students who are applying may have. So if a program is offering a fellowship or a scholarship, they may ask you to complete an additional form or application with your general program application and or ask you to submit a written essay, like fellowship essay. I would allocate time if you're applying to a program that requires that or that you want to add that to your application with, I would allocate the time to work on that writing. A lot of the fellowship or scholarship opportunities that I had while I was applying to my programs were basically diversity initiatives, so there were special fellowships or scholarships or grants for students who came from diverse backgrounds, and in order to apply, the program would ask you to submit with your general application, also please submit a diversity statement or what diversity means to you, things like that. So if you are a student from a diverse background, not just ethno-racial background, but LGBTQ or other type of background, then I would look out for that on your application. Sometimes there may be things that schools offer for students with a certain identity, and while those opportunities are amazing, it may also add time to your application process, more writing, more things to submit, and it's something that you should plan ahead for if you think it might come up for you. So the next thing you'll probably have to submit with your applications to psychology programs or really any program ever is a CV or resume. So CV stands for curriculum vitae, it's basically a different version of a resume, but it's more academic and it includes a lot more information about what you've done before. And you can find examples of CVs online, and you can also find more academic resumes online as well, and I definitely recommend looking at some other samples. I recommend asking faculty that you trust or more advanced students that you trust to review your CV because it's something that is supposed to showcase what you've done in the past, what you've learned from those experiences, and it's a really useful tool for admissions committees to just scan through and determine whether they think you're a strong applicant. Another really significant part of grad school apps is your letters of recommendation. So most programs require two to three letters of recommendation. I have seen some programs that let you do more than three, up to five. So recommendation letters are a university's opportunity to see how other people that you've worked with think about you, talk about you, and see you. And that means it is your opportunity to find the people who you know and trust and had really great work relationships with to ask them to write those recommendation letters for you. You are not supposed to see your recommendation letters, so you have to make sure that you're asking people who you really trust, who you know that you've done good work for, and that care about you, like you, and want to see you succeed. I also recorded a video about recommendation letters, how to ask, and things like that in the past, so if you want to see that I'll also have the link to that in the description. Two other important pieces of your applications are your standardized test scores, which I'll get into in a second, and your transcripts. So for psychology graduate programs typically the GRE is required, and that's the graduate record exam. The GRE in short is the SAT for graduate school, and that's what psychology programs require, and your scores are a really important piece of your application. Some programs are starting to weigh the GRE less heavily because we know that standardized tests are not the best assessment of someone's ability or their intelligence, but right now most programs are still requiring your GRE scores, so you definitely have to take the exam in advance to make sure that you have enough time to send your scores to the schools that you're applying to, and some programs also require the GRE psychology test, which is basically similar to the SAT. There were subject tests, so there is a shorter version of the GRE that is focused only on psychology material. Not all clinical psychology programs require that, but some do, and some programs say that you can submit your psychology GRE scores as an additional supplemental material if you want to, but it's optional. So again, this goes back to your program list. You would have to check what programs are you applying to, and what are they asking you to submit. Almost always you will have to submit some type of standardized test scores, and if you're applying to programs that are not in psychology or are in any other field, they may be asking you for something different than the GRE but still a standardized test, so I would definitely check online for what tests are standard for applications in your area, but I can't speak for international students. If you are an international student and you are applying to programs in the United States in clinical psychology, they will have you submit your GRE as well, and sometimes you have to submit an exam that shows your English proficiency if you're coming from a different country where English is not the primary language. If you have questions about GRE scores, which GRE to take, whether you need to take the GRE subject test, if you're an international student and you're not sure which standardized test scores to send, all these are questions that you can call the program and ask them in detail about, and I definitely recommend that any questions you have, you do reach out to the program. I don't think you're bothering them. I think that they know that this is a really difficult, long, and anxiety-provoking process, so if you have questions about what to submit, what's good enough to submit, I think you should definitely reach out. Regarding transcripts, most programs require your transcript. Some of them will allow you to submit an unofficial transcript, and in your student portal for your university, you probably have access to your unofficial transcript. You can download it, save it to your computer, and you can upload that to some of the applications. Other programs require that you send them an official transcript, and there is one of two ways to do this. Some programs let you obtain a copy of your transcript yourself and send it to them. Other programs require that your school sends your official transcripts to them directly in a sealed envelope. I had to do both. Some programs were fine with me submitting my own copy of my official transcript, and other programs I had to go through a whole process where I sent a request to my school to send the transcript copies directly to the schools that I was applying to. That's a whole process that takes some time, so I would definitely give yourself a month or two to initiate those requests, because you're not the only one at your school applying to graduate school. The transcript department or the registrar, wherever they are coming from, get a lot of requests just like yours. Also, give yourself enough time to make sure that your programs of interest receive your transcript, because you can send it and something could, God forbid, go wrong, and if the school you're applying to doesn't receive your transcript or it doesn't receive some piece of your application, then they won't end up reviewing it. And not all schools have the time to call you and let you know, hey, you missed something. They're just going to move on. So another piece of your application is the application itself. This is the part of the application that asks you all about your personal information, like your name, your address, and other things like that. Every application requires this, so some of them are more detailed than others, but this is a piece of the application that you can get it done way ahead of time, because a lot of students are caught up in their personal statement, their CV, getting letters of recommendation, and all these pieces that they need to submit with their application that they leave the actual forms that they need to fill out online for the last minute. But I recommend doing that first, because it's so easy. All you have to do is fill out every box that they ask you to fill out, your phone number, all these things. You already have that. You don't need to write an essay about it. You don't need to spend time developing or crafting your answers. Those are easy, just like any other form, just like passport or anything like that. That is what your application is going to require. So that's something that you can get out of the way. And the last thing that I want to make sure I address in this application checklist video is money. You need money to apply to graduate school, and if you are able to qualify for fee waivers and things like that, I would definitely go for it. I can't go into too much detail about that, because everyone has a different situation. If you're in a certain professional organization, you may qualify for a fee waiver. If you have a certain financial need, you may qualify for a fee waiver. Sometimes schools give fee waivers because students attend a graduate fair, like a graduate school fair or open house, and they might give you a fee waiver for attending that. There's so many different factors that go into that, but fee waivers aside, you probably need money to apply to graduate school. Each application for me in clinical psychology PhD programs ran me between $50 and $175 per application, and I was advised by my faculty, advisors, and mentors to apply to at least 10 to 15 programs, and I did that, which cost me a lot of money. And in addition to paying for the application fees itself, you also have to pay to send your GRE scores, to send your transcripts, and potentially to pay for your interviews if you do get an interview to the programs you apply to. And I wish it wasn't so expensive, and that's a whole other social issue, but you definitely should have money set aside for this whole process, and I don't want you to experience any surprise fees. And unfortunately, some students are limited in that they only have enough money to apply to a certain number of schools, and like I said, that's a separate issue that is unfortunate, but if you know that you want to apply, I would save money for this process. And I was lucky enough to be part of an honors program at my school that reimbursed me for my graduate school expenses, so I had to have the money up front, which was tough, but in the end I was able to submit my receipts and get almost all of it refunded back to me by my school because there was an opportunities fund for the students in my program. If you have anything like that, if you're an honors student or you're in any kind of student organization at your university or master's program, I would definitely ask about that. So to recap this video, the things you need to apply to graduate school are a program list, your written statements, your CV or resume, your transcripts, your standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, applications itself, such as the forms that you need to submit, and money. Those are all the things that you need to keep in mind if you know that you want to apply to graduate school, especially if you're applying specifically in psychology like I did. And because there are so many parts to this application process, and I want to make sure that you have all the information readily available for you to stay organized and successfully apply to graduate school, which is not something that I had during my experience, I decided that I would develop an application checklist for graduate school applications. And you can access it by hitting the link that is in the description for this video. If you hit the link, you will be sent a copy of the application checklist. It is completely free. I'm giving it to you because I wish that I had it when I was applying to grad school. And what I've also included is next to each item on the checklist is also a note that I wrote with a little bit more information about what I think would help you, whether certain things are optional, and some of the details that I covered in this video. The checklist that I made was designed specifically with clinical psychology students in mind, so it's a little bit customized to my own application experience, but I think that the checklist could be useful for anyone who is applying to graduate school in any field. So just like I promised you at the beginning of this video, there is a tool out there for you created by me, and I really hope that you'll take advantage of it. So if you watch this video and you're applying to graduate school, I wish you the best of luck, and I appreciate you watching this video so much. Thank you for tuning in to Grad Life Grind. My goal is to inform you, to inspire you, to spark an interest in you, and hopefully also entertain you. So I hope you'll check back in next time.