DD just accepted for a clinical child psych PhD program. She started doing research sophomore year of college and worked on research projects all through undergrad and wrote a senior thesis. She then spent 1.5 years doing clinical work after graduating and before applying. Graduated summa cum laude from a highly selected undergrad, great GRE scores, picked programs with PIs with research topics in her area, wrote letters in advance, wrote a great personal statement. Still only got two interviews. Single digit acceptance rates and tons of highly qualified applicants make it very unusual to go right from undergrad to clinical psych PhD programs, particularly child programs. Juillet is right to suggest you consider if you really need a PhD for your career plans. PsyD and MSW programs are easier to get into and more focused on clinical work. If you really want the PhD you should be prepared to do several years of clinical or research work before applying. YMMV