I am preparing to apply to Clinical Psychology PhD programs for fall of 2016. I didn’t actually add the psychology degree in until a few years ago. I am a double degree student now. Because I only recently figured out what I want to do, my research experience and “relevant clinical community service” is lacking. I am signed up to work with a professor in their psych lab the coming semester but I doubt that 6 months of lab work is enough to beef up my application. I have a little experience as a lab assistant for honors psych students but this will be my first teacher led lab assistance work. Is it useless for me to apply to PhD programs? Or are there some PhD programs I have a shot at getting into. I am not too interested in PsyD programs. My GPA is 3.6 and I’m currently prepping for GREs. Do I need to take a gap year in order to gain more research experience? Should I get a masters first in order to beef up my credentials? Do I need to do all this or could I possibly get into a Clinical PhD program?
You do have very low chances of getting admitted to a good clinical PhD program - particularly one that’s funded. Clinical psych is the most competitive subfield of psychology, and it is not uncommon for people to gain a few years’ worth of research experience after college in addition to getting 1-2 years’ worth in college.
You don’t need a master’s - you have a major in psychology and your GPA is good. What you really need is research and clinical experience, and you can get those for free (or even get paid) by working in some research capacity post-college. So yes, you will probably need to take at least one “gap year,” and maybe 2-3. The traditional way that clinical hopefuls do this is working as a lab manager for a psychology lab at a university, doing a combination of research administration and research tasks. You can often also take some graduate-level classes for free as part of your compensation.
Most of the time, they do this for 2 years, sometimes 3, before going to grad school. The reason is because if you only take a year off, you will be applying for grad school only 3 months after you begin the research position, and you won’t be able to get recommendations or count that experience for much. If you take off 2 years, that’s a full year and 3 months’ worth of experience AND the recommendation of the PI of the lab.
You could also work as a research assistant/associate for a government agency, think tank, NGO, nonprofit, or corporation - basically any company that has you doing relevant research.