Thank you for your interest in applying to the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology. The application for academic year 2024-2025 is NOW CLOSED. . We will hold in-person interviews for invited applicants on one of two possible dates: January 31st and February 7th. Financial support will be offered to invited applicants to help defray travel costs.
Students are admitted into the program with a specific research mentor (see faculty identified as recruiting). Applicants are encouraged to contact potential research mentors for additional information and to express interest.
The VCPCP is committed to recruiting a diverse student body. Successful applicants must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited university with a substantial academic background in psychology. To identify applicants who are a good fit with the Program's resources and mission, applications are evaluated holistically along a variety of dimensions, including:
- academic background and preparation (courses taken, undergraduate and graduate grade point averages),
- clinical interests and experience,
- research interests and experience,
- personal statement, responses to application questions,
- letters of recommendation
Equally important are personal attributes that are compatible for graduate training in clinical psychology.
Successful applicants typically have strong academic credentials, clinical and research experience, and personal characteristics (e.g., resiliency) conducive to successful clinical training experiences and the development of professional competence. We are particularly interested in giving consideration to applicants with backgrounds that are under-represented in the field of clinical psychology.
The Virginia Consortium has decided to make the GRE General Test optional. Thus, you are not required to submit GRE scores and those applicants without GRE scores will be given full consideration by our faculty. While GRE scores are optional, choosing to submit a strong test score may increase your chances of receiving an invitation to interview because a strong score (rather than submitting no score) could off-set a lower-performing area (e.g., lower GPA, fewer applied experiences in research or clinical work). We take a holistic approach to our applicant review process and applications are evaluated in their entirety along a variety of dimensions. GRE scores, when submitted, are only one component of the overall application. Applicants will not be penalized for not submitting a GRE score.
To Submit An Application
Submit an application to Old Dominion University, including a general application for graduate admission, choice of VCP mentor(s), curriculum vita, personal statement and diversity statement.
Admission for academic year
2024-2025 is now CLOSED.
To submit an application for admission to the Virginia Consortium you must complete ALL the following steps:
- Submit an application to Old Dominion University when the process re-opens. The application includes instructions for submitting a personal statement and other short essay responses.
- Submit an unofficial transcript with coursework completed and grades achieved (you will be directed to do this after completing step 1 above.
- Submit a current curriculum vita (CV).
- Submit three (3) letters of recommendation
Interviews and Offers of Admission
An interview is required for admission. All applicants will be notified in January 2025 about their interview status. Interviews will occur on one of two possible dates: January 31 and February 7, 2024. Financial support will be offered to invited applicants to defray travel costs. We hope to provide an interview experience that allows you to learn about our program and for us to get to know you as much as possible. These will be the only two days on which interviews will be held. If you are strongly considering the Virginia Consortium Program, we encourage you to mark our interview dates on your calendar now and reserve the dates in the event you are invited to interview. Tuition/Financial Aid
Tuition
The Program offers numerous scholarships and assistantships and cover tuition. The Program expects to fund four to six students with graduate assistantships (see "What about Funding?" on the FAQs page for details). These assistantships include a stipend and a full tuition scholarship. Detailed information about these will typically be made at the time of the admission offer. Students may also compete for university scholarships and assistantships.
Financial Aid
See www.odu.edu/tuition-aid/financial-aid/graduate for information about the federal financial aid process for those considering funding beyond the VCP funding. Those who apply for student loans should include Old Dominion University [003728] on their FAFSA lists.
Policy on Self Disclosure
Both personal and professional factors contribute to one's ability to conduct effective psychotherapy and provide a range of clinical services. Clinical psychology students are therefore encouraged to be open to personal insights that might affect their clinical performance. Courses and clinical training experiences are intended to facilitate self-reflection and self-awareness. In addition, personal psychotherapy may be a highly beneficial experience toward accomplishing this aim for those who choose it.
Students and applicants should be informed that the Virginia Consortium Program complies with the American Psychological Association (APA, 2002) ethics code 7.04 (Student Disclosure of Personal Information). Accordingly, students may be invited and expected to disclose personal information, if such information is deemed relevant to their performance in coursework, training-related activities and/or to their professional development. Students may be required to disclose personal information, if such information is deemed necessary for evaluation, or for obtaining assistance, if personal problems could reasonably be judged to interfere with the performance of training related activities in a competent manner.
The sharing of personal information can be a part of fostering professional growth in students. However, providing personal information may also be necessary for assuring professional standards of practice and client welfare. Students or applicants who have questions regarding this policy are encouraged to contact the Director of Clinical Training of the Virginia Consortium Program.
Technical Standards
As specified in the American Psychological Association’s Standards of Accreditation, Clinical Psychology is a profession that can have profound impacts on the lives of clients/patients, students, research participants, and others. Its practice requires competencies in specific knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. The acquisition of these competencies is dependent upon a combination of cognitive and non-cognitive abilities to include behavioral, emotional, and communication skills. These competencies, referred to as Technical Standards, described below, are non-academic qualifications the Consortium considers critical for successful completion of the doctoral program. These skills are necessary for trainees to acquire substantial competence in the discipline of clinical psychology and essential to ensure the health and safety of clients, fellow students, faculty, and other health professionals. Therefore, meeting these Technical Standards to a degree that allows a student to be effective in their role as a trainee in clinical psychology is necessary in order to be admitted to, successfully progress through, and graduate from the Consortium. Students who are unable to meet these standards may be recommended for remediation or may be terminated from the Consortium, consistent with policies outlined in the Program Handbook. Satisfaction of these technical standards is evaluated by the primary mentor’s annual evaluation and practicum supervisors’ periodic evaluations.
TECHNICAL STANDARDS
Emotional
- Students must have and demonstrate a capacity for self-reflection and self-knowledge, including the ability to recognize the role of their own histories and personalities in clinical practice and decision making.
- Students’ emotional health must not impair their professional functioning.
- Students must demonstrate the ability to tolerate affect, including appropriately managing and containing emotions in academic and professional settings.
Attitudinal
- Students must possess a fundamental respect for all people and embrace diversity as a positive attribute of the human condition.
- Students must be dedicated to excellence in professional practice to include psychotherapy, research, teaching, mentoring, and other professional activities.
- Students must be able to use feedback constructively to modify behavior and attitudes when needed.
- Students must understand their position in terms of power, privilege and its impact on therapeutic and other professional relationships.
- Students must effectively tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity, as this is an important part of conducting research or clinical practice.
Behavioral
- Students must interact collaboratively, responsibly, and respectfully in the classroom, lab, clinical training sites, and all other professional settings.
- Students must effectively manage time to meet multiple responsibilities across multiple roles in a timely and respectful manner.
- Students must be able to advocate for their own needs in professional settings without being directly or indirectly aggressive.
- Students must abide by enforceable standards of the American Psychological Association Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct.