Adding a semester for research? Clinical Psychology

I’m planning to apply for PhD programs in clinical psychology. The problem is, I’ll be starting my senior year of undergrad this fall and I don’t have any research experience yet. (I was originally a design major, but I switched to psychology and transferred schools after my sophomore year.)

I could graduate on time, but I’m considering adding a semester to get more research experience. I know I’ll probably have to do a gap year (or 2) doing research as well.

Doing an extra semester would give me more time to take more “hard science” classes that might look good for PhD programs. It could also give me more time to build relationships with professors, do an internship, or self-directed research program. I’m just not sure if it’s worth the cost if I’m planning on taking a gap year anyway.

Also how is research different as an undergrad assistant vs. as a post bacc. Would the post bacc position give me better quality experience? (presentations, authorship, etc) And how hard is it to find a post bacc position?

At this point, adding another semester isn’t worth it. You know you’ll need to do a gap year, so focus your energies on finding a great lab/research manager role and spending 2-3 years doing that (if you have no research experience, you should really plan on 2-3 years. One likely won’t be enough).

Unless your clinical psychology research interests are related to “hard science” classes (like you want to study brain-behavior links or neurochemistry of abnormal psychology or something), “hard science” classes don’t necessarily look better on an application. They’re relatively meaningless if they’re not related to what you want to study. Instead, you should focus your time either taking higher-level classes in psychology OR registering for an independent study or writing a research thesis.

Post-baccalaureate research experiences range all over the place. The most common for entering clinical psych students is probably as a lab/research manager, which is a full-time paid role in most university-based social science research labs. The research manager manages a lot of the administrative research aspects of the lab but also supports and assists in conducting the research, and can get authorship on papers or conference presentations. It is definitely a higher-quality experience than being an undergrad research assistant. You can find these positions in university psychology research labs (and also in other departments, especially at the medical school, research hospitals, and other allied health schools like public health).

There are also formal post-baccalaureate programs like the NIH IRTA (https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/postbac_irta), which places recent college graduates in research labs at the National Institutes of Health. You’re essentially a full-time research assistant. This is also a better quality experience, not only because you’re full time, but also because the tasks and independence you’ll be given will likely be higher than if you were in an undergrad RA position.

And then there are other kinds of research assistant/associate jobs, which you can find at a variety of places - non-profit organizations, government agencies, even for-profit companies that do social science or social science-adjacent research.

How hard it is really depends on you and how broadly you’re willing to look.

One other thought, Clinical Psych Ph.D. programs also want to know that you’ve had clinical work experience of some sort, volunteer or otherwise in some context where you’re working with a population. They want to see evidence that you know what you’re getting into.

Thank you! This is very helpful!