Comments about Imbalance - Page 11

This was, without a doubt, the most stressful part of my school career. It actually made me physically ill. The imbalance is rediculous. Schools admit way too many students and do not provide enough support or intership spots. The schools are the problem and should be held accountable for their greed and lack of preparation for the students.

Adds a great deal more stress. Very unfortunate.

Since the beginning of my program I was told that everything that I did was going to affect my potential to be matched to a pre doctoral internship site and that it was so competitive because there were more students than there were sites. As I progressed closer to application time, I studied the statistics and became more and more anxious. My status as a counseling psychology student who was interested in child/adolescent psychology and pediatric psychology made it difficult for me to find sites because most only accepted clinical students be they psyd or phd. In addition to this restriction, i saw that the sites that accepted everyone received several hundred applications. I understood that there was a severe problem with the lack of sites in relation to the number of students applying. As the process went on and i continuously received emails about programs that were cutting the number of spots of the program all together, i became sad for my colleagues who might not match because of the vast discrepancy and it was just getting bigger. I have two solutions: 1. professional schools MUST limit the number of students they admit per year, they are flooding the market by having incoming class of 100+ every year. 2. more funding needs to be provided to agencies so they can keep their doors open and can pay students.

I believed that has affected me professionally because I consider that I prepared myself well academically and clinically, to achieve great internship opportunities. I take extra practicum experiences as well extra training. Three of my four internship interviews were great sites with APPIC accreditation and one with APA acreditation. Been match with a site with no accreditations limit my futher career oportunities, and one of my goals were to pursue a positions with federal goverment, now with no acreditation for my internship I belive that is imposible. Personally, I feel quite good although I have to move out of the country, and loose all my belongings my and my economical incomes. At the begining its was difficult to deal with the selfconcept and selfworth, but I have a good support system with my husband and family. Besides all, I feel happy to be a step closer to finish my doctorate.

It made my life and those close to me very stressful. I seriously considered taking another year without completing the process of PHASE II, which is when I was matched. It is depressing to see the statistics as you are trying to apply and sustain hope that something will work out. I know many others who seemed to take a site that perhaps was not ideal due to the fear of not being able to find another placement.

It forced me to accept an offer from a non-APPIC internship site to be "on the safe side". The whole process is way too expensive for graduate students...and for me the entire process was just a formality- as I knew I would accept a non-APPIC offer. All of this was stressful and seemed completely unecessary.

As a highly qualified applicant that did not match, I am deeply disturbed by this system. It is clearly a problem that has been some time in coming, but it appears no preventative measures have been taken to mitigate situations like mine. This is a failure of the entire system that is designed to produce qualified PhDs in the field and is frankly, embarrassing and disheartening.

I am very grateful I matched, but I do feel very bad for the 800 students who did not match, and am very upset that for-profit schools (or nonprofit schools that act like degree mills) have been allowed to create this vast overload. This lack of self-monitoring and lack of oversight by governing bodies is crashing the entire system!!! I know you all know this and are panicking to find viable solutions. I hesitate to offer any that wouldn't be stabs in the dark - I acknowledge being under informed in terms of APA requirements and needs of various types of programs. I think we all understand that unless drastic changes are made, it DOES NOT bode well for any up-and-coming psychologist in terms of future field competitiveness, and this is where my real anger comes from. To be honest, I did not go through the hell of graduate school to be undersold by someone with a lack of similar qualified skills, who sells out at a cheaper price, who carries the same name. We are de-branding ourselves and undermining both our job opportunities and the respect/worthwhileness of our "status." I don't appreciate being undersold by a handful of greedy, potentially corrupt used car salesmen, especially at the expense of 6 years of my life...

This was a very difficult experience for me. I planned on matching and did not think I would not match. My husband and I's schedules have changed completely. There may be a possibility that he will be stuck in a different location than me for 6 months because he has not completed college. We were planning on moving together to where ever I was matched. But it is not for certain that I have a position. One site had contacted me after Phase II and offered me a position, which is not a for sure thing yet. Therefore, I may be staying where I am for another year or I may be moving for an internship position.

I am fortunate to have matched. However, I am heart broken for the 800+ who did not. I can only image how devastating and life stopping it must be for them. There is something traumatic about coming to the end of a process and the dream is swept away from you. The difficulty with this process for those who have not matched is often times felt lonely, isolated, and unsupported in a wilderness state. The question that is often asked of these individuals is “Where do I go from here?” “How can I ensure that next year will not be a repeat of this year if I reengage in the process?” These and many other questions are depressing. The tears, the sadness, the disillusionment, the hopelessness and helplessness that is often felt will lead to hundred of individuals experiencing depression. This is a sad day in the filed. It is ironic that those responsible for this process refer to themselves as psychologists.

I feel that the current psychology programs, particularly the PsyD programs are accepting to many people and flooding the market (I can only speak for the Chicago area). When I began my entering class had 50-60 people and we were told about the imbalance in student/placement ratios......yet three years later my school has just brought in 130 new applicants. This is pure greed in my mind and puts these students and others at a huge disadvantage as the number of internship and practicum spots has not tripled in three years. I have not experienced any personal/professional impact other then increased anxiety over being told that only 3 out of 4 students will match for internship. This is a significant concern as we move forward in the education of psychology professionals as it seems as if the schools are becoming almost non-selective in their acceptance process. Many of the first year students in my school did not match for their first practicum because they are not qualified....now if they are no qualified at this point, they will not be by internship but will have the added bonus of $150,000 of debt for nothing. This ratio needs to change on one side or the other and quickly.

Given that there are not enough accredited sites with the number of students applying, it is a bit stressful for those who do not match as I did not the first year. My only hope is that more accredited sites will be available for future applicants.

The imbalance between accredited training sites and number of applicants had devastating results for me. I did not match in either phase I or II, I have a family to support, and I'm not in a position to teach at my training institution in the coming year. I have to find a way to secure income, which means I will have to take a leave of absence from my program to find other work for the year. This also increases the time it will take me to earn my Ph.D., which leaves me struggling to begin my career and provide for my family for that much longer. Coming from a very competitive graduate program that provides excellent clinical training to prepare students for internship, it has been extremely disheartening to be unable to continue my work toward my degree simply because there aren't enough training sites to accommodate the number of applicants.

I have seen more anger, tears, and pain watching students, shouldered with $200,000 in debt, fight for their futures in this process than I would regularly see in the highly traumatized clients I work with. I still have moments of intrusive panic about this process and have to remind myself that I am already matched constantly. I have frequently heard of similar affective responses in many of my colleagues. This process is unethical, greed driven, and deceptive. Protocols need to be put in place to limit the number of students nationally VS the number of internships. Schools, perhaps based on merit, should perhaps be issued a number of "APA accreditation licenses" as opposed to having schools overall be accredited. At the very least, much like mandatory debt seminars, there should be a pre-enrollment internship seminar mandated whereby students are informed, before they take on massive debt, how very dismal the chances of matching truly are.

Given that I didn't match, this imbalance affected me greatly. Initially, I was completely shocked and heartbroken. I attend an excellent graduate program but my interests and could nothave predicted not matching. WHen the list of sites participating in the second match was posted, I feel so much better, almost certain that I would match in that round. Then, the same dread that came with waiting for interview happened again, followed by the same disappointment. I have never experienced anxiety as I did through this process. When I only received one interview in the second match, for a site that was not in line with my interests, I finally made a decision and took control. I withdrew from the second match and I started planning for next year. The weight was lifted. I learned a lot about the process and am prepared to approach this differently next year.

The imbalance creates a lot of pressure and people apply to more sites and go to more interviews because of the fear of being unmatched. It is even worse for international students because their visa does not allow them to work, so if unmatched, they may be spending the year consuming the personal resources or go to their home country, in which case application would be harder, not to mention that they cannot increase their official experience.

I worked ahead of schedule to complete my exams, research, etc in a timely manner so that I would be completely ready to focus on internship. I am so grateful that I acquired an accredited internship, but I may have just chosen to go the non-accredited route if I would not have matched. I couldn't imagine just putting my life on-hold. At this point, it seems that the match is so competitive that extra assessment or work experience may not make a difference. I think that my program still tries to believe that if students do all of the right things, they will match. I don't see that--it seems that the imbalance is so severe that a lot of highly qualified people are not getting matched. As far as improving the situation, it seems like it needs to be a coordinated effort in increasing internships but also changing licensure procedures so that people can somehow move ahead professionally even if they don't immediately get an accredited internship.

It made it incredibly stressful within my school environment among those students applying for internship. Everyone, including the Clinical Director, is very much focused on the 'stats' of the Match process, especially with regards to the clinical hours you have obtained when applying. Consequently, it feels as though my program didn't prepare much in terms of thinking through what my career goals are, what my orientation is and how to strategically apply to sites that are going to enrich your training the way you want it to. Instead, there's more of a 'apply and just hope you get something'. At this point in one's graduate education, it is a very deflating attitude.

I found it to be quite stressful knowing that there were many more applicants than approved internship sites. I wish more places would take the time to become either APPIC or APA approved sites. Perhaps making the process easier for institutions to do such, would increase the number of sites available.

I was genuinely concerned that I would not match, despite coming from a program that typically has very high match rates (>905). I consider myself lucky that i did match at one of the sites I ranked and that I do not have to repeat this process next year. Like many, I think the imbalance is very troubling, and I feel like the problem will only grow in scope as the students who did not match in a given year spill over into the next application cycle. Below are a couple of thoughts: 1. I learned that there are some schools that have "dedicated" or protected internships. I am not sure if this set-up means that students from that school must attend this internship, but my understanding is that only students affiliated with that school are eligible for that internship. If a school has a protected internship, then one suggestion is to either require that their students attend that internship or limit the number of applications they are allowed to submit to other sites. 2. Schools need to stop admitting so many students. I think my school, at least for one year in particular, admitted entirely too many students (nearly double the years before and after that year). Some schools are guiltier of this than others on a consistent basis, and it seems that many of the for-profit (i.e., pay full fare and no stipend) programs admit much larger classes than other programs. Perhaps these schools should be limited by APA or some other regulatory agency to accepting a maximum number of students per year for the greater good. Nobody wants to go through 4+ years of graduate education only to be denied their degree due to not securing an internship. 3. Based on my experience at graduate school, students are weeded out during the application process to get into PhD/PsyD programs. This weeding out happens to a lesser extent during graduate school, as there have been a few students who have not made it all the way through the program for varying reasons. Thus, for the most part, it seems that those who make it to the point of being able to apply for internship are reasonably competent people who should be able to secure an internship, even if not their top choices. It is not acceptable for people to have made it this far only to be "weeded out" at this point. Too much money, effort, and time (for starters) have been devoted to getting the degree at this point. Lives have been put on hold with regard to starting families, among other aspects of life, because of the demands of graduate school. The "weeding out' needs to be kept to the graduate school application and early years of grad school phases. 4. There was an article published in the APAGS magazine about a certain small number of schools being disproportionately responsible for students not matching. While this suggests that it is not a systemic flaw, there are still not enough internships to go around. Perhaps such programs that routinely do not successfully match their students should have some sort of consequence--accepting fewer people, review of their APA accreditation (if applicable). 5. Review and revision of criteria needed for internship sites to gain APA accreditation: There are a lot of unaccredited sites out there. Perhaps it would be possible (mandatory?) for sites to gain APA accredited status before accepting interns. This status could be considered tentative for the first year, and the site closely monitored to ensure it actually follows through with required train

I spent most of two weeks away from my wife and children, delayed clinical work, and postponed progress on my dissertation so that I could attend interviews. I spent around $2000 (that I do not have to spend) on applications and travel. Because inadequate internship opportunities exist, have nothing to show for this. I continue to experience low mood and anger as a result of not matching. I feel humiliated and livid. Most significantly, my wife and I wish to have more children, but are unable to on the salary of a graduate student or intern. Delaying my internship forces us to delay expanding our family.

I am pessimistic about my future. I feel tricked- I was told that if I got a Master's degree and had a lot of experience (8 years worth), I would get a site. That was clearly not the case.

Not matching for an internship position brings to question everything that a student may have done up to this point. Based on the experiences of students who did not match, I believe that many sites want interns to have had experience in their type of site before coming there. Though they profess to want to train generalist psychologists, I have come to believe that university counseling centers want students with university counseling center experience, and community mental health wants you to have community mental health. How can we be generalists and still want to go to an internship at a place we have already experienced in our training? I really believe that internship should be an extension on the training we are doing. However, I would recommend to any new students coming into a program to specialize from the beginning. I think sites want depth of experience even at this early stage in our professional development. This should not be their goal for filling internships. Instead, they should want breadth of experience with diverse placements, clients, and roles. I have seen many good colleagues go through the experience of not matching, clearing house, and the second match this year. I am bitter that the professional community continues to crank out a high volume of students when they know that there are not enough opportunities for completion. It appears that many schools are interested in the money, because they will get the student's money regardless of whether the student actually gets to complete their training. In fact, they will get even more of the student's money if the student has to apply for internship multiple years. It is emotionally difficult to be on the receiving end of this kind of rejection and then to be hit with another year of financial debt and tuition. Everything in the life of the student who doesn't match is put on hold for year. For some students this isn't possible, either financially or personally, and often these students have had no difficulties in their respective programs. They have proven to be the quality of professional this field needs, but for some reason they happened to land in a pile of applications with others who either wrote a little better or had a few more hours of experience in the specific area the site needs. I have been involved in many systems like the APPIC match system, and none of them have been as emotionally devastating as this. I wonder what it will take for the psychological community to realize the strain we are placing on young professionals in our field. Will it be a suicide that gets their attention, or some other act of violence? Because, guess what? Psychologists have caused this problem. It's psychologists who are making the decisions to continue to admit more and more students each year, with professional programs increasing their class sizes even when they know there is a serious lack of available training opportunities. As a result of these decisions, we are causing significant trauma that should never be a part of a caring profession like psychology.

This process has left me devastated, full of self-doubt and utterly exhausted. Having not matched, I have doubted all of my hard work and education. I question my decision to pursue psychology everyday since this match process started. It is nearly the middle of April, I have been going through this process since the summer/fall and I still do not have an internship. I was considered the "top student" not only in my doctoral program but in the applicant cohort for this year's match by my clinical training director, program director, and faculty in my program. I have an outstanding CV, I am an adjunct professor, I am a teaching assistant, I have a defended thesis, I work part-time in a research setting, and I have obtained the appropriate range and amount of clinical experiences. I truly believe that the imbalance so desperately needs to be addressed on all levels. I want the education and training community to know that this process and the devastation it as brought me each time I have not matched has stripped me of my belief that I am a capable, successful, and hard-working student.

The match imbalance was a source of great anxiety and anger. I found myself constantly developing various Plan B models for when I would not get matched. Once I matched, I was angry for the many very qualified students who did not match. I learned about some fantastic sites that are APPIC members but not accredited. Some of them chose not to even try for APPIC because of the burden. This is a problem! Four years into a graduate program is too far to be thrown off by an entire year or two years!

Yes, the imbalance has affected me personally and professionally. In Phase I limited my rankings to those sites within my geographical location because my husband works as a professional in a very highly respected company in our home town and we have a toddler son. Due to these factors we felt that moving would be too difficult and living apart would put too much strain on our new family. However, after not matching for the first phase my husband and I decided that we may end up in this same predicament next year, so I decided to rank more broadly phase II, where I matched. I was thankful that there was a phase II that allowed me to change my ranking strategy, but am extremely frustrated that internship training sites don`t take into considerations such important factors as geography and family. I feel that being a mother and wife has put me at a disadvantage in this process, compared to my single counterparts. And I feel that this process has forced me to make a choice, family or career. Luckily, my family is understanding, and my husband is reluctantly quitting his job to relocate to the city where I matched for internship, where he will hopefully find as rewarding employment as he currently has. This will undoubtly be a source of significant stress for my family. It seems as though there must be better options that foster a healthier balance between work and life. Is it really necessary to require an intern to uproot in order to finish their training?

First, let me say that this process is quite grueling and stressful, and it is all the more so because of the applicant-position imbalance. But my primary concern is about the ultimate future of our field and wonder if there should be adjustments made in the number of primarily clinically-oriented individuals to gain entry into doctoral programs of study. I hear reports from several individuals in the field that our advanced training is not being well-understood by the broad population (or insurance companies) and so we are being lead into a difficult future, not least of which is the internship imbalance question itself.

I agree that something needs to be done with the problem of having a limited number of sites and a greater number of students needing an internship position. I have seen several colleagues experience financial and emotional hardship because of not being matched. Also, students who have decided to apply for non-APA accredited programs have shared that professionally, their options are limited to clinical work in specific job types because they do not have the training of an APA accredited internship. I would suggest as mentioned earlier that more education needs to be stream-lined to non-APA accredited sites that may be terrific sites if they knew how to become and maintain an APA accreditation. Also, the number of students that are being graduated from professional schools and other programs also are too many. More requirements are needed to be in place to better prepare students prior to the internship application/graduation process. Also, programs need to support and educate students about the internship application process and the impact on their professional training and career since many students I have come across share that their programs undermine the importance of obtaining an APA accredited internship program and the training opportunities they offer.

I am fortunate to have a number of individuals who constitute my support system including family, friends, colleagues, and mentors. I found that this support system was necessary throughout the entire internship process, and even more so after I was not matched. I informed my support system outside of my program several times, "Don't get too excited, I may not match!" to which they often scoffed. I dedicated a significant amount of time, money, effort, and resources in order to land an internship position and it was devastating to find that my efforts did not lead to a desired outcome. I am considered a good student in my program and it is unfortunate to be in this position. Fortunately, I am an optimist and I'm able to look at this next year as a way to fill gaps in my training (despite messages from training directors of programs where I interviewed providing me with feedback to the effect of "we ranked you, I don't have any specific feedback, it is a national problem." I know other students who are less optimistic, some of which applied for internship two years in a row and are still left without a match. I can accept the ego blow; however, the cost and time devoted to this process is something I am less apt to let go.

The imbalance between applicants and positions was very stressful. No one felt safe during the match and tension was high. The obvious solution is to increase the number of positions available, but this is easier said than done.

The flood of students accepted to psychology schools has watered the degree and profession in general. The distinctiveness at which most doctoral degrees are held and the level of excellence expected of students in doctoral programs is not held among those outside our fields because there is not a good filtering system for applicants.

The mainstream field of psychology could benefit from being open to students from non-typical schools. The health and wellness, holistic approaches are solid and refreshing. Working in Mental Health for 20 years now I can say that mainstream is not always the best. People in treatment settings are craving creativity, life, and a non-pathology focused approach to their healing process. It is time for the field to respond.

This entire process has been quite frustrating, disheartening, and makes me question the choice to enter the profession of clinical psychology. Far too many highly trained and competent doctoral students are unfairly denied the opportunity to advance to the final stage of their education. This is simply unacceptable, and leads many students to feel that they have been cheated out of their livelihood. The ever growing disparity between students and internship positions MUST be addressed with more immediate urgency. The consequences of failing to do so will only cause greater destruction to the lives of those who have sacrificed so much of themselves in order to help others. On the surface, the solution to this problem seems quite simple. Either limit the number of doctoral students admitted to programs each year, or assist new sites in becoming APPIC accredited. Although I'm sure that there are more complex reasons why this problem has not been addressed, students would like to see real change take place. Although discussion is important, it must be backed and supported by meaningful action with a practical and tangible impact. Thank you.

There should be more internship sites to serve all of the applicants.

I was matched with my first choice so this problem did not affect me personally; however, I currently work at a private non-profit community mental health center and we would love to start an internship program. The problem is the current state of Medicaid reimbursement and being able to fund interns and the supervision and training needed. If there were grants or federally funded support for interns, I believe there would be more sites available.

As mentioned above, I was very disappointed with my match results. I wanted to gain a specific type of training and experience on my internship year as this is the last big training opportunity. I feel as though I will now not be able to get that training, secure the type of post-doctoral position that I am looking for, or even have the possibility for future employment in such a position. At this time, it seems that my training and future goals are not, and will not, be fulfilled by the internship that I will be attending. I must say that I believe my site offers excellent training to interns, but not the type of training or setting that I was hoping for. After spending many years and exorbinant amounts of money, it now feels that it has been somewhat wasted in pursuit of my ultimate goals. In my opinion, the students and sites should not be on a "level playing field" in the internship selection process, as it is the student who is best informed as to the type and scope of training opportunities that will fit their needs, and how their past experiences fit best with a particular training site. Thus, I beleive the student's rankings should carry more weight than the site's rankings in the match process. I believe this can help secure the most appropriate placement for as many students as possible.

It is stressful and anxiety provoking seein my classmates not match. It makes me more grateful that I got matched.

I think that if no action is taken to correct the imbalance, that a new class of unfinished students will emerge. Instead of being All But Dissertation, we will now be All But Internship. My dissertation is well underway and will be finished before the internship next year. But if I again don't match next year, what can I do to advance my career? Nothing. I cannot progress without this internship, and despite my best efforts I, like 800 others, failed to match. Because of this failure, I am stuck in limbo until next year when I can re-apply. But even then, the uncertainty of not knowing if I will match the second time around has me very worried. The match cost us a lot of money that we could ill afford. When I do this next time, should I spend more? Should I travel to more interview sites and do less over the phone? Should I spend more money to apply to more places? Will it make a difference? It's difficult to say. And the entire process is a misery of waiting that never resolved into a worthwhile result.

I was fortunate to match to one of my top choices. However, I feel somewhat that I spent an unnecessary amount of time, energy, and finances preparing for the application/interview process. I am extremely excited to start internship, but because of the imbalance, I feel that an inordinate amount of my time as a graduate student was spent on worrying about internship, applying to internship, interviewing for internship, and stressing about internship- instead of focusing on gaining new clinical experiences, working on additional publications or research projects, or other tasks more directly related to my training. I am not suggesting that internship should be easy to obtain and that students should put no time, effort, or expense into the application process, but I feel it should be a little more balanced. I would argue that I have spent nearly as much time thinking and preparing for the internship application as I have on my dissertation- which I would guess is not the goal of internship. If there were less of an imbalance, I think I would have experienced less stress and put less pressure on myself, which would have made for a more enjoyable year. I think there are some significant changes which need to be made to the system and the process to help students in the future, and perhaps psychology can look to other disciplines which require intership/residency experiences for suggestions about how to help this growing problem.

I am greatly concerned about the imbalance between internships and applicants. I came from a PsyD school where my class was much larger than traditional PhD programs. I know for a fact that many of the students in my class are NOT ready for internship and were allowed to proceed because my school is looking for high match numbers for their accreditation. I personally had above average hours of training, volunteer epxperience, and grades in graduate school and I only recieved 1 interview. Although thankfully I matched, I am sure that the extremely high numbers of students that applied prevented the internships from reviewing the applications carefully. This is particularly true if students from the same school who are significanlty underqualified and are also applying to similar sites. It is an unfortunate cycle that places students such as myself at a disadvantage. I think the APPIC directors need to put more pressure on schools to be extremely cautious in who they let continue to internship.

The imbalance is between supply and demand is absolutely unacceptable. Many have attributed part of the problems is the exorbitant costs associated with the APA accreditation process. This system needs to be given thoughtful attention and financial resources because every year there are well qualified applicants who go unmatched which has implications even for the financial support they are able to receive from their home institutions.

For those of us who are somewhat anomalous to the institution of APA in general, this screening and placement tool is not well suited. For those of us who are non-traditional in general, it might be best to say that up front. "If you are a non-traditional student, the likelihood of your obtaining a position through these means is not very good due to the supply and demand issues at stake." Also, it might be helpful to have internship sites be more explicit to participants regarding not only their minimum requirements but what also their maximum requirements are.

It goes without saying that the imbalance needs to be addressed. It is difficult for me to understand how the issues is not begin compounded exponentially with each year's applicants being added to unmatched applicants from previous years. While I was not impacted this year, I have several colleagues who did not match (some for the second time) and are facing serious consequences. For example, one colleague has nearly reached the maximum number of years allotted to complete a doctoral program. Not matching this year puts her in dire straits. In most cases, I think very highly of these colleagues abilities and integrity, and have been shocked by their inability to match.

Only one of my fellow students were matched. Fustrating that we all are stuck in school to complete anohter year of practicum so we can compete with the PsyD's

The applicant-position imbalance has had a devastating effect on friends of mine who did not match. All of these people have invested so much time and money into this process, not just in the application process, but through all of their entire graduate education. Furthermore, I would say that most (if not all) are excellent clinicians, and it is truly a tragedy that they will not get to move on towards their careers. For some, this is the second time that they have applied, and they are again unmatched. Financially, most students can not afford to not get an internship match. In addition, the imbalance has really pushed our school to emphasize applying to and ranking non-accredited programs. I still do not know what the ramifications will be of completing a non-accredited internship, but if there had been more sites (both accredited and not) available, the competition would be lower and I would have applied to sites that were of interest to me (and APA-acccredited) but which I decided not to because they have a history of having so many applicants that I was sure I would not even get an interview. That is to say, that the imbalance isn't just about whether students match, but also about the number of choices that were available to the students who did match.

I obtained an internship outside of the APPIC process. Thus, my educational timeline was not altered. However, many programs do not feel it is cost effective to have interns especially in the economic crisis that is going on at this time. I believe there needs to be some recuriting of internship sites by APPIC if they intend to continue to keep the money collected by students. Although I obtained an internship outside of the APPIC process, I was still required by my school to go through the process. This was an expensive unfruitful experience with too many hoops to jump.

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This is a serious problem for our program. In the previous years almost everyone matched whereas this year virtually no one matched. It is a very stressful experience for everyone.

Even after phase II, I am not placed. Thus, I am faced with a decision that no one should have to make. If I were to continue with the clearinghouse process and get placed at a non accredited site, many opportunities would be compromised with respect to my long term career goals. I feel as though my hands are tied and that I am forced to sacrifice something if I chose to complete my training with a non accredited program, or if I wait a year and try again for an accredited program. Waiting a year adds more financial stress and uncertainty about placing next year remains. The problem seems like a never ending cycle because applicants in my position who participate next year, may be placed over applicants who are attempting placement for the first time. Another concern is that I have heard many sites chose not to go through the accreditation process because of the financial and time expense. It is frustrating to think that more positions could be accredited; however, since they are not willing to go through the process, their positions are not accredited. Yet, it does not mean they would not be qualified either.

I think that online programs, such as Argosy, have created a situation in which there is a vast discrepency between number of applicants and numbers of positions available. Also, I think it is unethical that internship sites affiliated with these programs will only accept applicants and candidates from those programs.

My experience is extremely frustrating since I ranked 10 positions and I did not match for the second time. I do not understand this process at all, I do not think is really praising professionalism in any manner. I live in Miami, Fl and it is a shame that sites from this city prioritize students that did practicum at their sites and do not give chances to new students. It seems that they do not care about the profession of psychology, they get the easiest way to get interns. They do not put any effort during teh interview process which in my experience was different from places in New Jersey, New York and Boston. I consider myslef an outstanding student because I speak, read and write two languages, I have plenty of clinical experience and my GPA is almost 4. I passed my quals the firt time and I am a licensed clinician at a master level in the state of Florida. I asked my program director about a possible explanation and he did not have an answer. My answer is the ranking and all the odds that directors evaluate at that moment. I have many odds and that's why I do think I didn't match. My odds are: I am a women, married, hispanic, recent migrated, two kids, no family in the U.S. and I did all my clases in less than 5 years working full time in community mental health centers as a case manager first and therapist later. Directors asked me in the interviews how did I do it with such a GPA and CV, family and everything? they were surprised and some of them tell me in my face that I may not have time to dedicate to the internship. I worked 6 years in hiring for a multimillionaire company in DR and I know the rationale that is used when you are hiring. I am trying to be objective about this because my application opened doors for me but my personal life closed doors for me. I do not see hope with this situation since the programs in this country do not have hogh standars for the selection of who is going to be a spcyhologist in the future. High standars for me means: good clinical skills, excellent academic performance and if you are going to be a clinician you need to have life experience if not how come are you going to gain teh respect of the clients and you will manage issues of countertransference and transference. These are merely thoughts of someone that due to recent inmmigration and lack of acculturation did not look for all the facts before enrolling in a doctoral program at least in my university. I do think that I am paying that price. I also believe that appic needs to promote new sites in order to find a solution and apa should enforce programs to help[ their students to get match and look for the stats.

From both a personal and professional perspective the imbalance of internship placements to doctoral students is sad and difficult to understand. As doctoral students we spend our training working up to our internship year and it is difficult to believe that we may not get matched, not because we do not have the experience or skills, but because there are not enough placements. As a Clinical Psychology Doctoral student it made my experience, as well as the experience of my peers, more stressful. I know that there are now even more Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programs in my area, so I would hope that knowing there will be even more students searching for internships that the Psychology Community is able to help rectify this imbalance. There are clinics and hospitals I know of that use to offer placements but can no longer do so because of a lack of funding. How will society train Psychologists for the future if there is a lack of training facilities? I hope that in the near future there is an emphasis put on increasing the number of placements so that students can complete their degrees in a timely manner and find a placement without worrying about whether they will not match because there are not enough sites.

While I am so fortunate and thankful to have matched at my first choice internship (based on those that I interviewed at, not all those I applied to), I have to admit that seeing how many people did not match was rather disheartening. It really made me realize that I could have just as easily been the one to have not matched (especially when I look at some of my very qualified colleagues who did not match). I cannot imagine having gone through years of rigorous training (and been successful at it) and spending all of this time, money, and energy and not matching. I do feel that I was somewhat affected moreso on the front end of the process as I only got 3 interviews after applying to 15 sites. While some of these may not have been a good fit, I struggled to understand why I hadn't gotten interviews at particular sites where I felt that I had the appropriate experience they were looking for.

The imbalance results in a far reaching emotional and financial hardship for those who do not match. As a professional field of study, this imbalance in clinical psychology internships must be addressed. I am not sure what the solution should be, however. There are simply not enough internship positions for all applicants and establishing new training sites is especially difficult when the economy is down or recovering. In order for applicants to be competitive, the school training directors must be informed about the practicum training needed to meet different career goals, e.g., APA accredited or not, VA or military medical centers, counseling centers, etc. This was a critical issue for the academic program I attended since a significant number of students did not have the opportunity to receive the practicum training needed for an internship in their career field...or any internship. That is, the imbalance began with insufficient advisement and limited practicum training to meet certain career goals.

The internship matching process as a whole and the lack of position is very stressful for many students. I was personally in a somewhat unique situation, because I am in the military and I was seeking a military internship. Fortunately, I matched with my first choice, but had I not matched it would have not only impacted the next year for me, but potentially could have had negative impacts on my military career. There is an oblivious problem with internship positions in this country, I do not know how this can be reconciled or if it can be. It just seems that within a profession geared towards helping people, this process hurts many students. The levels of anxiety, sleepless nights, financial difficulties, and stress seem unnecessary. Sites are being faced with budget cuts (thus losing positions), but at the same time they are receiving more applications every year. More students are being recycled to another year of match and the number of applicants as compared to positions is becoming overwhelmingly lopsided.

Concerned in Canada about 'spillover' pressure. We can 'match our own', but not U.S. surplus applicant 'refugees'. Not a problem this year, but unless U.S. problem gets addressed, Canadian-based students will have to compete against a much wider standards base (high hours tallies for Psy.D., intense competition at top universities).

Continued accumulation of suffocating debt!!!!! Progress in the program on hold. Increased cost of applying and traveling nationwide due to limited opportunities in state of residence.

I wish that APPIC and APA would stop using the inaccurate term "imbalance" and start calling it what it is - a crisis. Professional schools who are able to admit over 100 students, take their money, and know that some will wash out not only feels unethical but damages the credibility of a doctoral degree. It's ridiculous that someone can get accepted to a program, complete the coursework, and never finish their degree because they didn't match for a potentially arbitrary reason.

The internship application/interview process is both very costly and stressful. On my very limited graduate student budget, I have had to spend hundreds of dollars to secure an internship site. I must move away from both my family and friends for one year to complete my graduate program. There has to be a more efficient system available.

While my entire cohort matched, the imbalance is clear and caused many of us significant anxiety. I think that more training sites need to be added and maintained and a significant change needs to occur in this process so that individuals who have committed so much to their doctoral work and development as professionals do not need to be delayed and discouraged in completing their goals. If programs are allowed to admit as many applicants as they do, there should absolutely be enough internship training sites available to train them. I think there needs to be more oversight on the number of applicants accepted into doctoral programs. While I can understand that this issue is very complex, this imbalance makes me disheartened about the profession itself, and makes me question why and how it has gotten to this point, and what it says about our profession and ability to manage and regulate the training and requirements so our fellow professionals can succeed.

The possibility of not being able to complete one's degree due to lack of accredited internships, is a total pain. There are so many things that must be addressed - APA accreditation, state psy board requirements, etc. One thing I can say is...I'm not sure why this process is modeled after the medical model of matching with residencies. Perhaps this is an outdated system for psychological internships and could benefit from significant changes. There are significantly more training programs and thus more psychology graduate students who can enter into the psych match process as opposed to the medical school match process, especially given the proliferation of online training in psychology. I appreciate the systematic aspect of the process, particularly for those who do not have connections or have faculty with the ability to facilitate in the process of finding an internship placement. I'm all for change that addresses the issue in a fair and systematic manner. There are enough injustices in the world; at least the online application/match process seems to deal with some of those that may affect students from less prestigious institutions etc.

Disreputable is the word that comes to mind to describe the state of affairs within a profession that would allow such an egregious gap to exist between the number of eligible participants and accredited internship programs. The emotional, professional, and financial toll of these circumstances cannot be adequately articulated. What follows is at least some attempt to describe the consequences. From an emotional and professional perspective, students who are not interviewed get no feedback on how they can make themselves more competitive in the future, unless they solicit it and then in some cases it is not given. Without this knowledge you leave students with nothing to examine and remedy, or at least attempt to remedy. Given the amount work that is demanded of students to prepare application packets, at a minimum, sites could categorize noninterviewed students into categories that attempt to describe what may have kept the students from being competitive with those who were interviewed. I realize that the ratio of students to sites is large, which makes the process labor intense for sites. However, the pain associated with the lack of available internships (accredited ones) should be shared. At this point, the only people suffering are the students. How incredibly disgraceful is that? The emotional strain that is placed on students who must navigate the match process again (due to the continued imbalance) is cruel. One must question the scruples of a profession that would subject its up and coming professionals to this treatment. I am very disappointed. I expected better of my chosen profession. On top of the emotional and professional toll, another year of delaying graduation has significant professional and financial consequences. There is the issue of possibly having to borrow additional funds, as well as another year of lost income. This can have drastic effects on students supporting families. Here are several observations and/or suggestions about the match. First, the percentage of students that did not match is reported in a skewed fashion in the statistical data that APPIC produced. This percentage should be calculated as the ratio of students who ranked sites and those who did not match, not the ratio of all those who registered initially and who did not match. Second, eliminate cover letters and essays. The application and vita provide adequate information for sites to determine if a candidate is an appropriate fit for an interview. A process in which close to 1000 candidates cannot get a match does not warrant such a laborious application process. Finally, there appears to be what almost borders on discrimination relative to the issue of how couples are treated in the match process versus how couples with only one partner in the match are treated. If a couple is part of the match, there seems to be a good deal of energy expended in an effort to keep the couple together (a geographic restriction). However, if you are part of a couple with only one member of the couple participating in the match, no consideration is given to that individual’s needs (a geographic restriction). In other words, if you are going to accommodate couples, all couples need to be afforded an accommodation. In fact, an argument could be made that an individual with a spouse who is not in the match has the same need for accommodation maybe even more so than a couple who jointly participates in the process. It appears that d

It is hard to see so many exceptionally qualified applicants go unmatched when all positions are not filled. Doctoral programs should work with directors of training across the country through APPIC to determine if there can be a way in which to make sure that the number of sites/positions open for a given year is not much lower than the number students applying. Additionally, internship programs should be given a final date that they can pull out of the Match instead of doing it seemingly on a whim as was my interpretation of what happened this year. I would also like to see sites offer more interviews, particularly those who have unfilled positions. The more interviews they give, the more likely they will Match with one or more of those applicants. I believe that this process can go more smoothly if applications were due earlier, possibly by late September. It is incredibly expensive to organize travel around the holidays especially when it is last minute. Pushing up the timeline would also alleviate (possibly) some of the rush with the subsequent phases of the Match (e.g., obtaining an internship in May for a July start day).

I have a TON to say about this - some of which I included in my response to question number 51. I have now applied for a pre-doctoral internship twice, and both times was not matched with an internship. I am highly qualified. I have a large number of practicum hours. My dissertation is well under way. And yet, I do not match. I am a PhD student in Counseling Psychology. I have a wide variety of clinical experiences. I also have a wide variety of formative research experiences. I think the primary problem with the system as it stands now is that PsyD programs use the same system as PhD programs, even though PsyD programs produce a vast overabundance of 'Clinical Psychologists.' Many PsyD programs have their own internship sites which are only open to their graduates - though of course those sites cannot possibly support the enormous numbers of graduates the PsyD programs are pumping out every year. PsyD internship seekers should have a separate application and internship search situation from the PhD applicants. Our training is vastly different, our experiences are divergent. Why should my chances of graduating from my program be so vastly decreased due to overpopultion by other, totally unassociated, programs? At this point, I have applied twice. I will have to apply again. So far, I have spent upwards of 400 dollars applying for internships including both of my application years. I have put in countless hours and huge amounts of energy. I just want to graduate. I will be finished with my dissertation by February of 2012 - I won't even have a chance to start my internship until at least July of 2012. Very frustrating indeed.

It makes it very stressful to think that you could be a very qualified student and still have such a small chance of matching. It also makes it very stressful to think about a possible shortage of jobs after my internship year s over because there will be so many doctorate level psychologists

After all of the painstaking and time-consuming work I have contributed to both the application process and graduate school in general, I am heartbroken with the result that I received. While I did match, it was at my last-choice site, which (to be honest) I only ranked because I feared not matching. Aside from my own outcome, I am angry and hurt for my fellow applicants, one of which is my best friend, who did not match at all. I think that the doctoral program faculty at all schools need to be more involved with this process so that they can provide essential guidance and support throughout. In addition, I think that applicants need more information about how to present ourselves, both in our written application and in our interviews. Lastly, and as stated earlier, I think that applicants need more information about how the match process works (specifically, how the algorithm works), which would inform rank lists. In fact, I think that this information would even be helpful now for those of us who have just applied and matched (or failed to match). It would be helpful to have information about specific examples that would lead to not matching or to matching to a low-ranked site (e.g., if your #1 program ranked you #2, how would you fail to match there if the match system favors the applicants choice?).

I would say that professional schools are becoming irresponsible in the amount of students they are admitting. According to the APA code of ethics, in order for institutions to admit more students, they must be able to provide them with an internship. I think the fact that professional schools are admitting so many more students and becoming bustling businesses is directly exacerbating and may have created this crisis. Although I am not directly affected by this, I am irate at the increase in enrollment at my school. The class size has increased, the caliber of students has decreased, and new faculty are not hired. This is irresponsibility and a violation of ethics at its worst.

Not matching has set me back in my career goals and has effectively put my life on hold for another year. I moved out-of-state for graduate school and would really like to get back to my family one day! Not matching has only delayed that hope. In addition, I am having to spend a lot more money than I had originally planned because I have to enroll in additional classes and borrow from financial aid for another year. Not matching has not stopped me from addressing my weaknesses and trying again next year, but I'm not going to lie: I'm terrified I won't match again and it feels pretty hopeless. As someone who is interested in Rehabilitation Psychology/Neuropsychology, I am extremely concerned about the lack of sites which offer training in these areas. Of the sites available, most only take one (!) student per year. Though I ranked seven sites, I was competing for only seven positions. This is in stark contrast to VAs and college counseling centers which offer anywhere from four to eight positions per year! Moreover, of the limited sites which offer training in rehab and neuropsychology, many are only APPIC accredited. This is a huge problem considering the fact that most neuropsychology and rehabilitation psychology post-docs REQUIRE the individual to have completed an APA-accredited internship. Furthermore, as someone coming from a PsyD program, I have noticed that many neuropsychology internship programs will not accept or very rarely accept PsyD students, even though we are equally well-trained and sometimes have more clinical experience than PhD students. We may not be extensively trained in research, but we certainly know how to provide patient care. After all, isn't that our primary job as psychologists? Moreover, as a female, I am also sad to say that the attitude of "neuropsychology is a boys' club" runs rampant throughout the field. This must change. 1. We need more sites which offer rehabilitation psychology and neuropsychology training experiences...A LOT MORE!!! 2. These same sites need to offer MANY more positions. One student per year is ridiculous! 3. These same sites need to get APA-accredited...AND FAST! Of those sites which are trying, APA needs to hurry up and accredit them! The process should NOT take years to complete. 4. For individuals who attend an internship program which is not APA-accredited, but it gets accredited later, APA needs to allow those students to say that they completed an accredited internship. 5. APA needs to step in IMMEDIATELY and not allow universities or professional schools to accept so many graduate students into their programs each year. IT SHOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT TO GET ACCEPTED INTO GRADUATE SCHOOL THAN IT IS TO OBTAIN AN INTERNSHIP!!! Medical schools all over the country seem to get it right and don't leave their students hanging...maybe we should take tips from them.

This is my second year participating in the match, and I did not match. Last year I only received three interviews and would have only ranked two sites, but I withdrew from the match because I received an offer for an additional year of training that seemed better (at the time) than either of the internship opportunities, partly with the goal of holding out for an APA-accredited internship. I got additional therapy and assessment experience, applied again, and again only got three interviews, and did not match at any of them. I have now finished the sixth year of my program (originally designed to be a five year program). I finished my classes a year ago. I defend my dissertation next month. I am done....all except for the elusive internship. Another year before I can graduate, another year before I can get a real job, another year before I can move on in my life. Another year of having to tell family and friends, "No, I'm not quite done yet--hopefully next year. Yeah, it's been a long time...." I feel so stuck. This has impacted my spouse's plans for career and further education as well our plans for having children. Do we put it off for another year, or do we take this interim year to start a family before I graduate (which would mean having a small child during internship)? Neither option is ideal. And this is beside that fact that the application demands a lot of time, effort, and mental and emotional energy--not to mention the monetary costs of applying and traveling.

I think the amount of stress is paramount. The whole process is SO stressful because of the imbalance. There is not enough support/training programs/funding.

You are all obviously aware of the needs in the selection process (e.g. low number of internship sites and high number of applicants). I'm aware that this systemic problem is being addressed as best as possible, and yet am still saddened by the outcome of this year's match. The human toll (on both a personal and professional level) is still shocking and devastating to me after not having matched in either phase I or II this year. I don't have the money to take yet another year of doctoral training. I will be forced to take out an exorbitant amount of loans yet again, putting my debt total well into the 200,000 range. I don't know how I will be able to pay for expenses next year which is extremely stressful to both me and my family. Additionally, the systemic problem seems so large that as a applicant I feel both helpless and hopeless. I have dedicated so many years of my life to the pursuit of a doctorate in clinical psychology (a field I love and have admired for so long), and now feel betrayed and disappointed by the field. How can we, as students,work this hard and this long only to be told that the final training we need is unavailable to us? I attended every lecture and symposium on the internship "crisis" offered at this year's APA convention in San Diego; and I feel like no answers were provided there either. The basic problem of supply and demand does not have a basic answer; and I am well aware of this. I serve as my graduate program's student body president, and I have been privy to many difficult conversations around this issue; and for all I can tell, this problem is going to get much, much worse before it gets better. Staying for now a sixth year puts me in a position to pursue more training, but my heart goes out to those fourth year students who will be competing for internship spots in the next round against applicants such as myself who now have six years of training, a completed dissertation, and hours and hours of additional clinical work experience. The only suggestions I can think of is somehow limiting "diploma mill" schools (who are not accredited) from participating in the APPIC system, restructuring the internship year more globally so that more programs can receive accreditation or doing away with the internship year as it is now defined. Additionally, a nation-wide criteria (such as an exam etc.) could be administered in order to limit the number of internship ready candidates.

The disparity has been hugely discouraging to students and professors alike. This is a grave problem that APA must address. It has affected our program's match rate, students' personal confidence and overall morale. It has also forced some students to take on an extra year in school before entering internship training. It's a BIG problem.

I feel as though the problem does not lie within the number of accredited internship sites available, but rather the abundance of applicants. I find it rather unfortunate that the increasing number of professional schools admitting more and more PsyD students to their programs. These students, then, are flooding the Match. Perhaps part of the current internship supply and demand problem could be helped by addressing the standards for graduate student (i.e., PsyD) admission and training.

The internship application process has been devastating and has made me question my choice to pursue a degree in psychology. I chose to embark upon a joint degree program in psychology and the law with the understanding that I would be spending two extra years in graduate school and incur more debt. I felt as if my unique background and experiences went unnoticed in the process and believe it to be a direct result of schools such as professional psychology programs admitting too many students.

I wished that more prestigious universities' sites would have considered using an ecological perspective in selecting applicants so that more bilingual and bicultural individuals would have been offered an interview and perhaps been accepted to their internship program.