How To Apply to Clinical Psychology PhD Programs

Certainly a valid question. Why would you want to take my advice if I kept failing at getting accepted? Well, that's sort of looking at it backwards. I didn't know all this stuff from the beginning - I learned from my failures! Here are some details of what I did each time and how I improved* (if I improved, that is). 

When I started working

•  First Time: End of November - about a week before apps were due
• Second Time: September - not too bad, but I could have used much more time
• Third time: End of November - the year before my apps were due

Choice of schools

•  First time: I chose based on schools that sounded neat, and one that made sense but was too ambitious
• Second time: I chose based on a topic I was vaguely interested in and had no experience in
• Third time: I chose based on people I wanted to work with whose interests were very close to mine, as well as my previous experience

How many schools?

•  First time: four
• Second time: twelve
• Third time: nine

My credentials

•  First time: Three research projects, one independent project underway. No papers, no presentations, not a lot of established skills yet.
• Second time: Ten research projects, two of them independent. No papers, three presentations, some website-making skills (which I subsequently lost, apparently).
• Third time: Thirteen research projects, four of them independent. Two papers, six presentations, a plethora of skills, and experience working with my target population.

GREs

• First time: too low to even get considered. Literally.
• Second time: really high! Plus the subject test.
• Third time: didn't retake - same as second time.

Personal statement

•  First time: research is cool, I've done a little bit and it didn't suck too much
• Second time: research is completely awesome, but I kinda want to be a clinician, and I am really dull and boring
• Third time: research is my life in every way, and I am very passionate about it, and I even have some ideas and opinions

My CV

• First time: completely nonexistant.
• Second time: sorta beefy
• Third time: beeftastic

* See "A Note On Age," because my real take-home message with this isn't so much that I was awful the first time, but that it might have done me good to wait a few years.