<p>I've heard it's "extremely competitive," but I'm wondering if anyone knows the stats -- for example, in a typical year, how many people apply for how many spots?</p>
<p>No one? No citations? No statistics?</p>
<p>So why is it rumored to be so competitive??</p>
<p>It is so competitive because it’s what ‘everyone’ wants to do.</p>
<p>Many, many people go into psychology as undergrads with the intention of becoming ‘psychologists,’ and fewer enter the field to conduct research.</p>
<p>So if a school’s experimental program gets 250 applications a year, their clinical program probably gets 500.</p>
<p>Where do you want to go? to go to a good state school, you’ll need at least a 3.5-3.6, 1200-1400 on the GRE (1200 being minimum), kickass letters of rec, and great interview skills. Also some experience (work as a tech at a behavioral hospital, for example). </p>
<p>to get into a really good top 10 or even ivy league school, take the previous stats, amp them up, and also have great connections in your field. At the very least.</p>
<p>Duke is one of the few universities that posts admissions statistics. Their clinical psych prgram is part of the Psychology and Neuroscience Dept. which admitted 5% of applicants last year. Average GRE was 648V/724Q and avg. GPA was 3.7…I’ll go out on a limb here and say that the average clinical psych admit had even better stats and that the admission % was lower than 5% for that field in particular. It really is one of the most competitive fields.</p>
<p>most acceptance rates nationwide range between 1-10%.</p>
<p>pick up Graduate Study in Psychology by the APA</p>
<p>it has stats on most schools with clinical programs</p>
<p>usually each school admits around 5%–it’ll probably be lower due to the economy and more people competing for the same limited amount of spots</p>
<p>average stats are around 3.5gpa minimum, 1200+ gre, and other subjective criteria</p>
<p>Also, in order to be competitive for a psych PhD, you need to have excellent research experience and find faculty who are research matches–that is, they research what ypu are interested in.</p>
<p>In addition to Graduate Study in Psychology (published by the APA), I’d also recommend Norcross et al.'s Insider’s Guide to Clinical and Counseling Psychology.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>