It is extremely important to have some type of applied, clinical experience to report on your Vita and applications. It is also desirable to have a letter of recommendation from someone who has supervised you in a clinical setting. Clinical experiences will also test whether you are interested in the profession of Clinical Psychology or whether you are just interested in Psychology. Clinical experiences indicate you are serious about practicing as a psychologist and they convey at least some of your interests in psychology. However, everyone serving on the admissions committees understands that such experiences are limited among the applicants and no one expects an applicant to have years of diverse clinical experiences. Most applicants have experiences that include working for a student counseling center, part-time work as a counselor in a clinic or working as an intake counselor in a community mental health center. There are a variety of positions like this at facilities in your community. Of course, you should take an interesting position that will give clinical experience even if it does not include a salary. Your Psychology undergraduate program may also have clinical internship and practicum experiences built into the training program.

You find out about clinical experiences from checking the Psychology Department bulletin boards and talking to other Psychology students and faculty. A number of great paid and voluntary positions are posted in the Psychology department.

If you know of a clinic that you would like to work in, call the clinic and ask to speak to a psychologist who works there about any open positions. Tell this person that you need clinical experience to find out if you want to be a practicing psychologist and you need experience to support your application to graduate school. This person has gone through the same experience and will help you if there is a position open in the clinic.