UNC Clinical Psychology Phd

If I go to UNC for undergrad, does this negatively affect my chances of getting into their Phd Clinical Psych program?

I can’t speak specifically to UNC, so the following may not be helpful to you. However, the application process for clinical psychology PhD programs was not familiar to me despite having worked in undergrad admissions and having friends who are lawyers, doctors, & MBAs; it differs from PhD programs in many other disciplines. @juillet is one of the forum’s most knowledgeable posters in this area, so hopefully she will chime in.

What I learned from my daughter was that applicants to clinical psych PhD programs are essentially applying to work with a particular professor whose research interests align, assuming GPA and GRE scores are within the department’s general range. Where you do your undergrad work is less important than your undergrad research experience, publications and presentations, recs from professors, and research fit.

In my daughter’s clinical psychology PhD program (not UNC), only one student in her cohort did undergrad work at the same university. The rest are graduates of a wide range of LACs and Us. Many worked as research assistants in other university psychology labs or medical centers for a year or two after undergrad despite having significant undergraduate research experience.

With that being said, would you say it would be helpful to go through an intense masters program, focusing on research post bachelors?

I have been away from school for 4 years and I am finally going back. I am on track to go to chapel hill for undergrad, its the best school i can get into after being out for so long. However I am also interested in Harvard, Stanford, Upenn, Yale, and UVA for Phd. I really just want to set myself up for success.

I have heard from many people that UNC law denies many applicants from UNC undergrad, i hope that is not the case with their Phd program.

I am familiar with the masters programs at W&M and Wake Forest that people sometimes do to bolster their applications if they didn’t major in psychology, but my understanding is that a year or two as a lab manager or research assistant is viewed as better preparation by most PhD programs.

Do you have a particular research interest? Will you enter UNC as a freshman?

It really depends on the department. Some departments almost always admit their own students; some don’t care, and some discourage their own students from attending the program. I don’t know specifically about UNC; talking to some graduate students in the department will probably help you learn that information.

If you had mediocre to poor grades in undergrad and/or didn’t major in psychology, then a master’s might be useful. otherwise, it’s more useful to get more research experience as a lab manager or research manager, as yauponredux mentioned.