Hi all,

I have a bit of time available right now, and at least wanted to get some quality/effortful information up in this post in search of advice related to my application/the personal statement.

I will edit with more/more specific info and respond to PMs/comments/emails if anyone takes interest/wants to offer their input.

Personal Statement Instructions:

"Please write an integrated essay providing a response to each of the following questions:

What are your goals for graduate study and your future career? In what ways do your academic background and your professional experiences provide evidence of your potential for success in the program you selected and in your eventual career? Please give specific examples of relevant coursework and/or experience. Is there any further information we should consider in assessing your candidacy?"

Brief/Surface-Level Background About Me:

• Currently on a leave of absence (until the Fall of 2019 — with the possibility of being extended to the Fall of 2020) from an APA-accredited combined school/clinical PsyD program for personal/financial reasons
• Undergraduate GPA: 3.1; initially a pre-med major; some hard-science courses for medical school pre-requisites; switched to a clinical psychology major sometime during first of four years at college due to health issues; AP Chemistry and AP US History from high school transferred to my institution with scores of 5; low GPA due to attending probably less than 15% of classes and severe health problems during my four years (I graduated within the top 10% of my high school composed of 466 students, and graduated from a highly competitive/funded/ranked public high school in NJ, but also experienced similar health problems during my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years in high school)
  • Aware of the way the above is written — not intending to be perceived in an arrogant or negative light, and open to feedback about that dynamic in a personal statement/interview.
• GRE superscore: 80th percentile Verbal, 89th percentile Quantitative, 98th percentile AWA taken twice in 2016 two months apart
• My two LoRs will likely be from my two primary mentors from my PsyD (we have strong relationships, and they are aware of my situation and willing to help — I may return to the PsyD, do a master’s, or continue with my current occupations, which are part-time work on a call-line for a mental health association funded by SAMHSA and volunteer RA work at an inpatient psychiatric facility — lot of uncertainty as of now, and want to at least send out a quality application to this program to give myself the opportunity of engaging in a suitable/preferred occupation once personal/financial issues improve)
• Have identified and learned quite a bit about potential research mentors for the master’s program (e.g., read their general areas of interest, read their relevant publications, read through current and past projects, corresponded regarding specific questions, etc.), but connecting with a primary mentor tends to occur after admission according to the program coordinator

Background with Greater Detail/Specificity:

• Feel free to PM me on Reddit if you are interested or email me (can provide email in PM — lolololol). Can also provide my current CV, LinkedIn profile, info about my research interests, info about the possible research mentors, and any other relevant information that may help you offer helpful input in the service of submitting a strong app and getting an offer of admission assistantship funding (full tuition remission a stipend)

Other resources that seemed useful after a cursory Reddit search:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/25gj24/a_somewhat_notgentle_guide_to_getting_into_grad/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/gradadmissions/comments/12ksux/introducing_the_rgradadmissions_buddy_list_signup/
• https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
• https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/778ne9/when_writing_a_personal_statement_admission/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/comments/8evxwe/ps_readers_what_is_the_most_effective_personal/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/2iaj4a/guide_for_writing_a_personal_statement/

Thank you so much if you’ve read this far.

With lovingkindness in mind,

Ritty