<p>I'm a senior (wait for it...) in high school. I've realized that my undergraduate years are a fresh start for me to do tons of research and get good grades and what not. I'm planning on majoring in psychology and mathematics. I'll either be attending Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. They have 87% of students who get accepted into their first or second choice of grad school. The other option is University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I realize research is very important and I intend on doing lots of it! What can I start doing from day one as an undergrad to pave the way to Yale? I'm aiming to get into their Clinical Psychology Ph.D program. Augustana is a small liberal arts school, while U of I is a large state school, would it be harder to get research opportunities at a larger school like Illinois? Any tips at all will help!</p>
<p>You can get research experience at either school. At a liberal arts school, it will probably be easier to make contact with faculty and get involved, but the research is likely secondary to the teaching and will probably not be “cutting edge” or the professor’s main focus. However, because there are usually not PhD students, you would have more of the professor’s attention and would be able to be involved in more aspects of the research.
At a larger institution, it might be harder to make that initial contact; it will probably require more initiative on your part. The research will likely be a greater focus, so it will be more “real world.” There will likely be grad students and/or post docs, and you will be at the bottom of the totem pole. But you will get a more “realistic” research experience, dealing with more serious problems in your research field. I chose this option - the bigger school, and was asked by a professor to come work in her lab. I have not regretted my decision one bit!</p>
<p>Psych and math is a great double major! I always say if there is one thing that I could change about undergrad, I would have finished my math minor. Consider quantitative psychology, or at least attending a clinical program that has a strong quantitative focus and/or the ability for you to earn an MA in stats or a quantitative minor. I do think Yale has this ([Yale</a> Statistics MA en route | Department of Statistics](<a href=“http://statistics.yale.edu/academics/ma-en-route]Yale”>Yale Statistics MA en route | Department of Statistics and Data Science)).</p>
<p>You can get the kind of research experience you want at either school. The quality of your experience will be different, but that’s unlikely to affect whether or not you get into grad school. At Augustana, the research won’t be less “realistic” but it will be smaller in scale. You’ll have fewer projects to choose from, as the faculty is smaller and each professor may only be working on one project at a time. You’re also going to be more heavily affected by where they are in the process - if they are just starting a new project, you’re unlikely to get a publication out of the experience because that takes time (although don’t worry about that. Most grad students didn’t have a pub before they got into their programs. I certainly didn’t). But you will have far closer relationships with your professor, and will learn a little what the advisor-advisee relationship is like on the grad level. You’ll also have smaller classes and more and longer papers, which will more closely emulate the grad experience. I went to a SLAC and I think it was excellent preparation for grad school.</p>
<p>But a research university is, too! UIUC has one of the best psychology departments in the nation (I’m talking top 5). Each professor will have several projects going on at once, so even if you want to work specifically with one prof, she will likely have a number of different projects going on at different stages of “doneness.” You could choose to run participants for an active study, help write a grant for a brand new study and/or choose to help do analyses and writing for publication for a study that’s further along. You’ll have a better understanding of how research works in a big research university department. But you’re likely to be working directly with a grad student or postdoc, and only indirectly with the professor. That grad student or postdoc will probably write your rec (signed by the professor, of course), although that of course depends - I do know some students who went to large places and had closer relationships with their professors. Also, UIUC has a quantitative psych focus within the department, so with your psych & math combo you can explore that there, too.</p>
<p>It’s also a good idea to get some clinical volunteering experience. Although Yale is a clinical science program and research experience is paramount, you will also have to do all the clinical stuff - counseling patients, doing an APA-approved internship - so volunteering at a hospital or outpatient psychiatric clinic or something is probably also a good idea. Just focus on the research first.</p>
<p>Also, one last thing - don’t focus so much on one department/one university at this point. It’s way too early, number one; number two, Yale’s program is so competitive that not even all the qualified applicants are admitted. Besides, your interests will likely change and shift in the next 4 years, and you may decide that a different program is a better fit for you.</p>
<p>Juillet-Your comments are so helpful! I wondered if you would reply to a post I posted today about clinical psych programs. I would greatly appreciate it! :D</p>
<p>Why Yale specifically? Couldn’t you be happy with UIUC (if you end up not going to UIUC for undergrad)?</p>
<p>I replied to it, I hope you find my response helpful!</p>