Its amazing how much misinformation is being broadcast on this thread. There are positives and negatives for any decision one must make, including grad school. The comments on debt and the Ph.D. Versus the Psy.D. actually have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the degree itself and the type of institution you are going to attend. If you attend a private school you will most likely have less funding and more expensive tuition. It has nothing to do with being a Psy.D. or not, I have colleagues who attended private schools and obtained at Ph.D. with 100K in debt. The biggest difference between the two is the research/teaching requirement. I graduated with my Psy.D and selected the Psy.D over the Ph.D because I did not want to teach or have most of my time devoted to research. I wanted to be a clinician, and focus specifically on that aspect of being a psychologist. Unlike information you may have heard in this discussion, selecting a Psy.D. doesn't preclude you to being a "counseling psychologist" especially since I am a clinical psychologist and have a Psy.D. That difference is outlined in the graduate program materials and you should research each school to find which best meets your needs. And contrary to what some individuals have said:
I'm not in clinical psychology. I have friends who are in clinical psych PhD programs. Here are their thoughts about PsyD programs (this is biased)
The bad:
1. expensive! there are no stipends!
2. you don't make enough money afterward to pay off those huge loans (I heard about a PsyD student who has $1100/mo loans to pay off during internship, where you make $20,000/yr)
3. PsyDs have a hard time getting accepted for internship & externship. it's unfair, but they are looked at second after PhD students, and fill the remaining spots (if any). it's not worth going through all that school if you can't get licensed!
The good:
1. excellent clinical training! i cannot stress this enough.
Have you considered a counseling MA? Less school, less money, more internships, and same outcome--you're a clinician.
Talk with PsyDs in the current program at CSPP. Talk with graduates. See what they say about all of this.
With regards to age, I think you are BRAVE and about to embark on an exciting journey! Many kudos to you! However, remember that you will be very poor for a number of years (during grad school, after grad school). If this adjustment is ok with you, then follow your passion.
These statements simply aren't true whatsoever. Psy.D. programs do have stipends, again it depends if it is a state or private program, that will be the bigger indicator of availability of stipends and fellowship grants. Yes with private school education you do typically have larger loans to pay back, but you can defer your loan repayment until you are licensed (you don't start paying on internship because you are still considered "in school" and then you can defer on post-doc because its an educational experience). Then if you are financially unable to repay, you can always apply for a hardship deferment, check with your lending company (or potential lending company) for more accurate information. The biggest myth posted by couscous is the idea that Psy.D.'s don't get matched for internship. This is completely false and has no basis in fact. If you want to know the stats on PsyDs getting matched, check with the program you are applying to for their match stats, they are required by APA to keep them if they are accredited (if they aren't APA accredited just don't apply to the school). A simple example of this is my class in grad school, out of 15 applying 13 were matched and the remaining found internships through the clearing house. 100% internship placement. You are judged by your experience, research, coursework, clinical skills, and recommendations by supervisors. There are some in psychology who do not like the PsyD which is fine, there are some schools who are creating poor clinicians and recruiting students simply to turn a profit (Argosy Professional Schools) and these are the schools who are giving the PsyD a bad name. So the best bet is to get all the appropriate information you need to make a good decision from the APA stats, understanding the program's training perspective, researching if the program is APA accredited, and finding funding sources outside of loans if you are concerned. I hope this helps and is more accurate information.
