268 the Behavior Therapist

iMaGine YOu are MeetinG with yourpsychology professor while attending a tra-ditional college or university. You’ve beenaccumulating research experience in youradvisor’s lab. You might even serve as herlab manager. as such, you seek advice onhow you can best improve your credentialsto become a more competitive candidatefor graduate school in a research-focuseddoctoral clinical psychology program.unbeknownst to you, your advisor maystruggle with how to best answer yourquestions, which may include: What skillsand experiences should be developed? Doyou need additional clinical skills and expe-riences? should you pursue a short-termpassion now, even if it does not add to yourpsychology credentials? Will you have afrank conversation about the balancebetween pragmatic realities (i.e., earningenough to pay rent and sustenance) andnecessary objectives (i.e., exposure to pre-professional, but often unpaid or poorlypaid, research experiences)? this is just asampling of topics running through your

advisor’s mind as an answer is developedduring your meeting. there are some obvi-ous must-haves for successful applicants—high Gpa, solid Gre scores, and experi-ence with research during the under-graduate years. but how else can you dis-tinguish yourself from the pack? Your ded-icated advisor will want to provide youwith the best possible recommendations,but the reality is that these suggestions maynot match up well with what your prospec-tive mentors seek in incoming lab mem-bers.

the impetus for this article came from asimple question posed to the lead author,coming from an extremely promising stu-dent who was torn between two options:pursue a time-limited work experience thatwas a passion (teach in a different countryfor 1 year, and earn a good salary) or stay inthe united states and garner research expe-rience in a different lab that would comple-ment work she completed during herundergraduate tenure. to fully address thisstudent’s inquiry, the lead author put the

following two-part question to the rest ofthe authors, most/all of whom train theirstudents using a clinical scientist frame-work (i.e., a good deal of the students’ grad-uate school experiences will concern train-ing in research methodologies, conductingindependent research, and writing upempirical findings for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals):

While we all, no doubt, have lots of appli-cants with impressive psychology creden-tials, are there any things that you eachlook for in applicants that make them“pop” to the top of the heap? In recentyears, have there been particularly novelbackgrounds in applied experiences thatyou have valued, or that incoming stu-dents have had?

the responses to this query are summa-rized in this article. in this regard, thenature of the responses reflects the specificskills and background of interest to aunique category of doctoral-level mentors,those who primarily train clinical scientists(i.e., applicants interested in pursuingcareers in which research, not therapy, isthe primary focus). as you will see, thereare several prominent areas of convergenceamong the respondents, and a smaller setof divergent perspectives. What wasremarkable was that among the authors,most of the areas each mentor sought inprospective graduate students overlapped.

Psychology-Relevant ConvergenceMatching Content Knowledge

Given the emphasis on research in thegraduate training conducted by theauthors, most (but not all) authors empha-sized that experience in the author’s area ofresearch was a significant plus. as each ofthe authors receives dozens of inquiriesabout joining their lab each academic year,match with the prospective mentor’s pro-gram of research was cited most frequentlyas an essential way to demonstrate thatcommitment. this level of commitmentsignifies that prospective students are ableto think about the topic more deeplythrough their direct experience, and poten-tially craft novel investigations that wouldbe part of their doctoral training. havingprevious experience is also thought to indi-cate that prospective applicants have “firein the belly” about the area of research forthe lab to which they are applying. thisfocus on a particular research area may alsoemerge from time spent sampling contentin different areas of clinical psychology in

RESEARCH TRAINING

What Mentors Want in Doctoral Applicants to Research Intensive Labs: Convergent and Divergent PerspectivesDean McKay, Fordham University

Jonathan Abramowitz, UNC-Chapel Hill

Michelle G. Newman, Pennsylvania State University

Julia D. Buckner, Louisiana State University

Jon D. Elhai, University of Toledo

Meredith Coles, SUNY-Binghamton

Jasper A. J. Smits, University of Texas at Austin

Kiara R. Timpano, University of Miami

Todd B. Kashdan, George Mason University

Christal L. Badour, University of Kentucky

Jesse R. Cougle, Florida State University

Bunmi O. Olatunji, Vanderbilt University

Jonathan S. Comer, Florida International University

270 the Behavior Therapist

order to gain a clear understanding ofwhere your passions lie. a demonstrationof this enthusiasm is evident through anability to really think about the researcharea, generate ideas about the limits of thecurrent research, and articulate critiques ofexisting lines of inquiry. One of us went asfar as to note that the prospective applicantshould really have a deeper appreciation ofthe empirical work, and not just a familiar-ity with review articles or meta-analyses. inshort, intellectual curiosity about the topic,and not just rote familiarity, will be morelikely to impress your prospective mentor.behavioral evidence of this knowledge andintellectual curiosity is ideal, and can rangefrom a comprehensive review paper writ-ten for a class to authorship on conferencepresentations or manuscripts, but can alsobe demonstrated through thoughtful con-versations on the topic.

there are a wide range of views on whatis required on a CV but most of the authorsrely on quality over quantity when it comesto presentations and manuscripts. One ofthe authors expressed outright skepticismof applicants who have a large number ofpublications given that it is rare for some-one who has not yet launched their careerto contribute significantly to numerousarticles. Quality research can also be a help-ful part of your pre–graduate school prepa-ration for developing predoctoral researchgrants. in short, concentrate on quality andpossibly a couple of papers over sheernumbers. think, “Can i engage in a mean-ingful conversation with the prospectivementor about a research topic that we bothfind interesting and important?”

Personal Familiaritynow that you’ve identified a list of

prospective mentors working in your areaof interest, you decide to make contact. indoing so, you would be best advised to haveread recent (especially past 5 years) manu-scripts in peer-reviewed journals concern-ing the research conducted by the prospec-tive mentors, and not just know thecontent area that they publish about or liston their website. You need not stroke ouregos and study every written word pub-lished by the prospective mentor, but youshould be able to demonstrate that youclearly read the research recently con-ducted in the lab. More generally, youshould be armed with questions or com-ments about the articles that might demon-strate that you have thought deeply aboutthe mentor’s research. by doing this, you’llalso be able to hit the ground running whenyou are finally accepted and start in some-

one’s lab. You’ll be familiar with the meth-ods and measures germane to the area ofwork in which you’ll be engaged with thatmentor, and will have the knowledge todiscuss these approaches competently.

Stay Focusedsuppose you find that a mentor is in a

department where there are other facultymembers doing work you find interesting.it may be tempting to enumerate severalpeople in your personal statement whoseinterests line up with yours. Caution is inorder when doing this. although there mayindeed be one or maybe two faculty mem-bers whose areas are closely related, listingtoo many signals a lack of focus, which islikely a deal breaker. if you do list multiplefaculty members whose labs are of interest,be clear about who is the primary personyou want to work with and also provide arationale for why you are considering mul-tiple faculty members in the program. it isstrongly suggested that you contact them toask whether they are taking a graduate stu-dent in a particular year. however, beforedoing so, check their web pages, as manyprograms these days post this informationand it doesn’t win you any points to beasking when the information is alreadyposted on their website. You want toemphasize a person that you want to workwith and who is looking for someone tojoin their research laboratory.

Statistics Is Essentialanother point of convergence was the

emphasis on statistical knowledge. Yes,dear reader, if you are a prospective appli-cant to any of the labs represented by thisauthor list, your knowledge of statistics isgoing to be an important metric of whetheryou get an invitation to interview and/oracceptance offer. One of us even stated thatthe grade earned in statistics is the only onethey looked at when evaluating a prospec-tive applicant’s transcript. another of us isespecially interested in prospective stu-dents who are so jazzed about data that theacquisition of a new dataset may causesome loss of sleep in anticipation of con-ducting analyses, and will take their turnwhen it comes to the less exciting aspects ofresearch such as data entry. this perspec-tive extends to an emphasis on a generalintellectual curiosity about scientific dis-covery overall, and learning in the broadestsense. the emphasis on statistical knowl-edge also means you are going to need toknow the difference between μ, τ, and δ,and not just how these Greek letters refer tosororities or fraternities. Familiarity with

some statistics software is a particular plus.Knowledge of advanced data analyticapproaches, and how to conduct thesetypes of analyses, is not required but willput you in the upper echelon of applicants.Just know that if you document knowledgewith statistics, be able to answer questionsabout them in an interview.

Nonpsychology ConvergenceCommunications Skills

now that you see it in print, well, itseems obvious. being research focused isgreat and necessary in seeking research-oriented careers, but it also means a gooddeal of human interaction employing theskills of a clinical scientist. an essentialingredient in your future success as a clini-cal psychological scientist is being able toeffectively articulate your ideas, both orallyand in writing, and to be able to work wellwith others. indeed, team science is becom-ing increasingly important and demon-strating you can work effectively withothers therefore is key to future success.additionally, good communication skillswill make your time in graduate school farmore enjoyable. there are several “prod-ucts” that can demonstrate this skill. Oneway is through your academic training,which might include a minor or dual-major in english or communications. Youcan show off your communicationsacumen in your personal statement, as wellas in your initial exchanges with a prospec-tive mentor. a research paper submittedwith your application is another opportu-nity to highlight your communicationsbrio. You also can demonstrate both oraland written skills through presentation ofresearch at national conferences, andshould the opportunity present itself,through lead-authorship on a publication.this last point segues to the next topic.

Publicationsincreasingly, competitive applicants

have one or more publications that haveappeared in peer-reviewed professionaljournals. it has been our observation thatfor many of these publications the prospec-tive applicant is somewhere in the middleof the author list. as mentioned above, werecognize that the applicant is benefitingfrom the generosity of the lab mentor. thisis not to diminish the contribution of theapplicant. it instead is a reflection that theapplicant was a contributor in the lab, butmay not have contributed significantly tothe development of the research idea or thewriting. Many of us have met with appli-

M C K A Y E T A L .

272 the Behavior Therapist

M C K A Y E T A L .

cants who were hard pressed to describethe research on which they were co-authors. On the other hand, there are someapplicants who have contributed signifi-cantly as a co-author (i.e., author in themiddle of the author list) and have a deepunderstanding of the paper on which theycontributed. similarly, some applicantseven developed research projects and hadthe opportunity to write the manuscriptand publish it as a first-author work. it isdifficult to overstate how clearly these lattertwo scenarios demonstrate good commu-nication skills, as well as a commitment tothe topic area, not to mention skill in con-ceiving and executing a project.

Small Colleges and CompetitiveApplications

Many of us have had applicants success-fully enter our labs after attending smallliberal arts colleges that did not have manyopportunities for conducting research.there are several ways applicants canaddress this gap in their training: (a) seekout research opportunities at larger, nearbyuniversities or research institutions—youdon’t necessarily need to be a student at aparticular university/research institute tovolunteer or work as a research assistant;and (b) as we stressed above, postunder-graduate experience is often crucial. thismeans finding places to gain research expe-rience after your undergraduate experi-ence, especially if you attended an institu-tion that did not have a wealth of researchopportunities available while working onyour baccalaureate degree. remember, ifyour goal is to enter a research-orienteddoctoral program, gaining the necessaryresearch experience either at your under-graduate institution, at a nearby institutionwhile you’re in school, and/or followingyour undergraduate education will helpprepare you for the rigors of a research-ori-ented graduate program.

Time Between Undergraduateand Graduate School

Formulating the long-term plan toattend a doctoral program means cultivat-ing experiences after completing a bac-calaureate degree. all of the mentors onthis article often prioritize applicants whohave a year or more of postbaccalaureatereal-world experiences. to be fair, there aresurely plenty of applicants who completetheir undergraduate work who possess thematurity and sophistication to go directlyto doctoral study. but recall the point abovethat many of the research-oriented doc-toral labs seek incoming students who have

familiarity with the methods and measuresof that area of expertise. it is unlikely thatan applicant coming straight out of theirundergraduate will have that background.Maturity is also demonstrated throughreal-life experiences, which can only begained through time and effort. Further,doctoral training can be demanding. theadditional experience gained in the fieldwill help make your graduate experienceless stressful and, thus, more enjoyable.Finally, maturity is challenging to assess,and the stakes for mentors in selectingincoming lab members are quite high;accordingly, postbaccalaureate researchexperiences can go a long way in assuringpotential mentors of your commitment tograduate training in psychologicalresearch.

The Importance of Diverse ExperiencesOne of us has lamented the procession

of applicants who have secured interviewsfor doctoral study who are “psychologyautomatons.” these are extremely brightapplicants who are eager to cite researchstudies in answering questions, even goingso far as to steer any questions that are notdirectly research-related back to the pub-lished literature, but who seemingly lackany other experiences. remember thatyour career as a psychologist will involvecontact with research participants, clients,and community partners who are notfamiliar with, or interested in, psychologyconcepts. they need to relate to you on ahuman level, where a wide range of otheractivities, cultures, and experiences aremore likely to foster the essential common-factor connection that will serve to pro-mote change. accordingly, to succeed ingraduate school you’ll need to live in theworld and not just in the lab. be preparedto point out that you have other interestsoutside psychology.

this point is so central that committingto other interests is a valuable part of anapplicant’s dossier. recall that this articlecame about because a promising studentfaced a quandary—gain more researchexperience or pursue a short-term line ofwork that was a passion. the result fromposing the question that sparked the richdiscussion leading to this article was that itwas recommended to the student that shepursue the work teaching overseas. Gain-ing unique and interesting experiences areusually not held against a promising appli-cant who has also acquired the research-oriented skills discussed above. in fact,such experiences contribute to personaland professional development. in short,

being balanced, with knowledge outsidepsychology as well as within the desiredarea of study, can broaden your back-ground, foster an appreciation for diverg-ing viewpoints, and may serve to enrichyour knowledge of culturally diversegroups and perspectives. Mentors are seek-ing applicants who bring unique experi-ences to the lab, and diverse cultural expe-riences enhance the research conducted,foster innovative thinking among labmembers, and are necessary for success inthe profession, generally considering thewide range of perspectives that will beencountered in other research and treat-ment settings.

Diverging Areasthere is a saying that goes something

like this: if you ask two psychologists fortheir opinions, you will get three answers.in this way, it was inevitable that inquiringof this group would lead to some areas thatwere not necessarily embraced by all.

Letters of RecommendationObviously, you’ll seek out letters from

professors and researchers who can com-ment on your skills and abilities. the qual-ity of the letter is outside your control.however, what a few of us noted was thatthe letters should not be “cookie-cutter,”but instead reflect your unique qualities,your excitement about the topic, and howyou stand out from the broader applicantpool. On the other hand, letters of recom-mendation are notoriously unreliable, andso although an important point of consid-eration by some, they are not necessarilyemphasized in the evaluation of an appli-cant’s materials by all mentors.

No Prior Experience NecessaryWe know this will seem confusing, but a

couple of us noted that there have beenoccasions when we have accepted into ourlabs applicants who had no prior experi-ence in the areas of our work. For this atyp-ical route to work, the areas emphasizedabove must be truly superlative, particu-larly research and statistical acumen inother research areas.

Intangiblesthere is a frank reality here: matching

with a lab is kind of like matching with apartner. labs have personalities, and youare seeking to join this group, most con-cretely for a period of around 6 years, butreally your relationship with this group willbe the longest professional relationship ofyour career. One of us emphasizes to their

December • 2019 273

W H A T M E N T O R S W A N T

students when meeting with prospectiveapplicants to watch for applicants that maybe difficult to work with. Other labs arevery hierarchical in nature, where contactwith the mentor may be less frequent. stillothers have a very formal structure. Know-ing which will work for you is an essentialpart of seeking a lab, and mentors will alsobe on the watch for how you might bestmatch with the lab.

ConclusionsFinding the right mentor and preparing

for application to a research-oriented clin-ical psychology doctoral training labrequires the accumulation of a specific setof skills and knowledge. the areas high-lighted in this article represent the perspec-tives of a small but diverse group ofresearchers all engaged in research on anx-iety and related conditions, and as a resultmight reflect biases common to that sub-specialty within clinical psychological sci-ence. We recognize that the perspectiveoffered in this article might present adaunting list of qualifications necessary togain entry to graduate school. unfortu-nately, the reality is that there are a lot of

applicants and a small number of spots ineach of our respective programs, and this istrue for the majority of research-focuseddoctoral programs. On this note, we wantto provide an additional word of encour-agement. each of us has had students applyto our labs, or go through the applicationcycle, more than once and land in a com-petitive doctoral program after two or eventhree tries. if this is something you want, donot despair if it doesn’t work out the firstpass. You will likely gain valuable lessons inthe process and should seek guidance froma trusted mentor on how to become a morecompetitive applicant when the timecomes to reapply.

prospective applicants seeking trainingin other areas of specialization (and thoseinterested in pursuing careers morefocused on conducting clinical servicessuch as assessment and/or psychotherapy)are encouraged to ask their advisorswhether the suggestions highlighted hereare applicable to other disciplines in psy-chology. it is our collective perspective thatour recommendations for how to best pre-pare a competitive application to aresearch-oriented lab will generalize to labsconducting research focused on other spe-

cializations. Further, getting into research-oriented doctoral training programs inclinical psychology is an honor and privi-lege, and while at the outset 6 years willseem like a long time, it will pass quickly.being positioned to maximize the learningexperiences from the diverse faculty at theprogram as well as from your mentor setsthe stage for a successful career. While weare confident the perspectives offered hereare valid for other areas of graduate study,we would nonetheless recommend appli-cants view the perspectives outlined here asa starting point, with the understandingthat ultimately every applicant possessesunique characteristics that may make themattractive to prospective mentors. andwith this, we also wish you the absolute bestof luck!

. . .

No conflicts of interest or funding todisclose.

Correspondence to Dean McKay, ph.D.,Department of psychology, Fordhamuniversity, bronx, nY 10458;mckay@fordham.edu

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