Learn more about becoming a graduate student

What do you study?

We are a hybrid clinical, personality, and developmental psychology lab studying the developmental psychopathology of serious mental illness. We use a variety of methods from quantitative (e.g., psychometric analysis of complex longitudinal datasets) to qualitative (e.g., interviews with community members to understand their personal experiences with mental health) and frequently integrate across methods and levels of analysis (e.g., connecting neurocognitive mechanisms to daily life experiences to a person’s own understanding of their experiences across their lifetime). We have a particular interest in collecting and analyzing data from naturalistic narrative interviews, which reveal important aspects of narrative identity (a person’s self-understanding expressed through their life story).

Who is a good fit for your lab?

As a clinical science program, MSU primarily aims to recruit students who want to pursue careers in research. If you are primarily interested in working as a clinician, you are probably not a good fit for us. We hope that every graduate student will go on to a research career, and we will put our resources behind the career development needed to make that happen. Our lab also values integration across a wide variety of methods, approaches, theories, and disciplines. If you already know what methods you want to use for the rest of your career, we may not be a good fit for you. We are a question-oriented lab, focused on the core question of understanding how participants’ and service users’ individuality fits into and informs their clinical condition. We will use whatever method moves a specific question or research project forward, so we prioritize adaptability, curiosity, and open-mindedness in graduate students. If you are interested in combining rigorous quantitative clinical psychology with approaches from other areas of psychology (personality, developmental, etc.), or the humanities (phenomenology, philosophy, etc.), you might be a good fit for us.

Any tips for putting together a good application?

Clinical graduate school applications are very competitive! We typically get over 100 applications for each student we admit. A competitive application will typically have three things:

1. A research background, typically including a significant amount of work as an RA in psychology research labs, academic medical center research programs, National Institutes of Health intramural training program, etc.

2. A strong, specific interest in the research we do in our lab, articulated in a personal statement that describes what you want to do in grad school, why you want to do it, and why our lab is the ideal place for it. You must be genuinely interested in the specific research we do—not just a general interest in mental illness, schizophrenia, personality, etc. Reading some recent papers from the lab can give you a sense of whether you would be interested in our research.

3. Very strong references from mentors (preferably professors or PIs) who have worked directly with you in a research role (e.g., as an RA in their lab).

Do I need to email you before applying?

No. You are welcome to email with specific questions that aren’t addressed in this document, but you should know that: (a) you may not get a response, because I get a high volume of emails like this; and (b) this will not affect how we review your application in any way.

Can I meet with you to discuss my application?

No. Because of the volume of applications we receive, and to be fair to all applicants, I will not discuss your application with you before you submit it.

Where can I learn more about the MSU Clinical Science program and admissions?

https://psychology.msu.edu/programs/clinical/prospective-students.html

Where can I learn more about applying to graduate school in psychology?

This is the best resource I know of for prospective students interested in psychology grad school: https://mitch.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4922/2017/02/MitchGradSchoolAdvice.pdf