I’m a second semester sophomore at a very small liberal arts college at the moment, but technically qualify as a junior as far as credits go. I’m graduating a semester early (so in 3 semesters) and I’ve started to do some research on what I want to do post-grad.
I was just curious whether or not I have any shot at an Ivy when I graduate undergrad, as I’m starting to consider schools and programs.
Here’s some info:
I currently have a 3.875 GPA and I'm in the honors program. I'm hoping my GPA will go up a tiny bit before I graduate.
I'm a psychology major with a neuroscience minor, and I'm adding either a biology (BA) double major or a biology minor next semester
I've been on the Dean's List every semester so far
I'm extremely involved on campus (two E-Board positions on two popular clubs, New Student Orientation Leader, etc)
I'm a subject tutor on campus, so I individually tutor other students in psychology and biology and run study groups for professors
I've completed two psychology internships thus far
I have an off campus job
I'm going to be beginning biology research with one of my professors next semester
Next summer, I'll most likely be participating in a state-wide biology 10-week research training program
Some of my closest family members attended Brown and Harvard
I’m most interested in pursuing clinical or health psychology. Med school has always been a dream of mine but I just don’t think it’s realistic at this point, I don’t have the math, chemistry of physics background.
I’m still undecided on exactly what I’m going to do once I graduate but I’ve been doing a bit of research and going for my PhD straight after graduation seems like the most attractive option so far.
TIA for any advice! I still feel like I’m not too educated on all of this so I’d also really appreciate any recommendations on things I can do to increase my chances
Why? If you’re not sure what you’re going to do, why would a PhD seem appealing? As intparent said, you should only get a PhD if you know what you want to do, and that career path requires a PhD. Very few do.
Also, why are you aiming for an Ivy League PhD program? The Ivy League is an athletic conference, and it’s definitely not a denotation of program strength, especially not at the PhD level. Health psychology is my field of training. The list of top clinical psychology programs actually doesn’t include many Ivies - the top 10 right now include UCLA, UC-Berkeley, UNC, Stony Brook, Minnesota, UW-Madison, Yale, UT-Austin, UVa, and UW-Seattle. There’s only one Ivy in there, and only two in the top 25 (Harvard is the other one, ranked in the #16 range.) And most Ivies don’t have health psychology as a subfield. UCLA actually has one of the best health psych programs. Furthermore, most of the Ivy clinical programs are clinical science programs - look up the difference between clinical science programs and the scientist-practitioner model.
In answer to your question, extracurriculars don’t really matter for graduate school admissions - so your involvement in clubs and your off-campus job (assuming it’s unrelated to psychology) won’t matter to graduate programs. Your family members’ attendance at Brown and Harvard certainly doesn’t matter. Your psychology internship might matter, depending on what it is - is it clinical work, or related to clinical work?
What is really important is your research experience. So it’s good that you’re doing a summer research experience and you’re starting research. But if you are interested in a psychology PhD, then doing research in psychology is your best bet. Biology is OK, but psychology uses its own methods and theories and applications in the lab. So you might want to consider finding a psychology placement if that’s what you’re SURE you want to do.
If you want psychology, then look into MD psychiatry or a NP program. It really helps to be a prescriber , and those are the 2 routes now. Otherwise, you’ll get a PhD in clinical,psych, then attend a 2 years MS program for psychopharmacology. That could be 10 years.
Sorry to be a sceptic.
