FAQs: Applying to join the PADRES Lab as a PhD student
Miya Barnett, PhD
Promoting Access through Dissemination/implementation Research on Evidence-based Services (PADRES) Lab
Updated April 19, 2024
Promoting Access through Dissemination/implementation Research on Evidence-based Services (PADRES) Lab
Updated April 19, 2024
Why did you make this document?
This document was inspired by Dr. Jessica Schleider at Stony Brook University, who sought to even the playing field in the applications to clinical psychology PhD programs. Credit to her for recognizing the importance of providing this guidance and developing the guide, which has been adapted to my mentorship style and lab. As the PADRES lab is dedicated to increasing access for underrepresented groups, it is my intent to help disseminate materials that support applications into my lab for all students.
Will you be accepting a new PhD student to begin in Fall 2025?
I will be accepting a PhD student in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology for Fall 2025.
I am interested in being a School or Counseling Psychologist. Can you be my primary mentor?
I am fortunate to be located within the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. However, as a faculty member within the Clinical emphasis, I am not the primary mentor for any students pursuing careers in School or Counseling Psychology.
How do I know if I am a “good fit” for the PADRES Lab?
When reviewing prospective students’ applications, I am most interested in the goodness of fit between (1) their interests, experiences, and goals, and (2) our lab’s mission, our research focus, and my own strengths (and areas of growth!) as a mentor.
Overall, applicants who are “good fits” tend to...
More specifically, applicants with the following interests may be good fits to our lab:
As a mentor, I feel best-prepared to support students who are interested in careers that involve applied, clinical intervention, and/or implementation research. This includes a wide variety of career paths, including academic faculty positions, e.g. in departments of psychology, education, social work, or public health; combined clinical-research careers, e.g. in academic medical centers; and non-academic careers in applied research or health policy.
What about the GRE? How important are my scores?
The GRE is not included in your application to our doctoral program.
My undergraduate GPA is below 3.5. Will this remove me from consideration?
No. Many factors can influence one’s GPA, including competing commitments (e.g., working part-time while in school), family obligations, and health challenges. Academic achievement is very important, but context is, too. If you believe your GPA does not reflect your potential as a future scientist, please (1) ask one of your recommenders to share more about your circumstances to help me holistically assess your achievements, or (2) provide this information in your personal statement.
Are there any other ‘screening criteria’ you use to review applications?
No. You work hard on your application materials. The least I can do is read them! (And I do read all applications from those who indicate that I am their preferred mentor). I often start reading your personal statement and focus on sections where you describe your fit with the PADRES lab and the work we do.
Should I email you to express my interest in applying to your lab?
Although I welcome emails from prospective students, your decision to email me (or not) will have no impact on your odds of receiving an interview invitation or an offer of admission. Whether or not you contact me in advance, prospective students are encouraged to review our lab website.
Can we meet and talk about your lab?
I do not schedule additional phone calls to discuss applications given the number of individuals who are interested. I typically attend ABCT in the fall and will meet briefly with applicants there if it works for both of our schedules, but this will have no impact on your odds of receiving an interview or offer of admission.
I am primarily interested in parent-child relationships, adolescents, or access to mental health services for adults. Your research aligns with these areas. Does this mean I’m a good fit for your lab?
We focus on dissemination and implementation research and parenting interventions for young children (PCIT), primarily with the Latinx community. To be a strong fit for the lab, you should have overlapping interests in these areas. If you want to study parent-child relationships more broadly, e.g. how these relationships influence child development and/or mental health, or mental health services for older populations our lab is unlikely to be a good fit. Similarly, if you are interested in reducing mental health disparities with other age groups or populations, it is possible that you could fit within the PADRES lab, but likely that you would have a better fit in a different lab. I look forward to reading your future papers on your topics of interest!
Do I need to speak Spanish to be considered for your lab?
Fluency in Spanish is not required, but understanding of Spanish is beneficial as many of our community meetings and data collection takes place in Spanish.
What should I include in my personal statement?
I find it helpful when applicants include the following in their personal statements:
I am interested in becoming a therapist and/or incorporating clinical practice into my future career. I’ve heard that mentioning this in my application will hurt my admissions chances. Is this true?
I aim to recruit students seeking rigorous training in both intervention research and clinical practice. Both skill-sets inform each other necessarily. Our lab studies how to implement interventions in community settings, so I view clinical training as especially important for trainees in our lab (in fact, I direct the PCIT Clinic, which every member of my lab participates in).
At the same time, research is a core component of the doctoral program. Students who are happiest in our program tend to want careers that incorporate research in some way.
Does Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) need to be my primary clinical interest?
I run the PCIT Clinic at UCSB and think it is important for intervention and implementation researchers to know how to deliver the interventions they are researching. Therefore, I expect every student in my lab to participate in the PCIT Clinic. Your long term plans do not need to include PCIT, but it will be the intervention that tends to be central to a lot of our research questions. Therefore, an interest in PCIT, including working with caregivers and young children with challenging behaviors (e.g., tantrums, impulsivity, aggression) makes you a stronger fit for my lab.
Is it advantageous to list multiple mentors of interest (or just one) on my application?
There is no inherent advantage to naming multiple mentors of interest on your application. I closely review all applications on which I am listed as a first-choice mentor. Listing multiple potential mentors may be appropriate if your interests and goals clearly bridge two faculty members’ research programs (as described in your personal statement)—and in rare cases, co-mentorship by two faculty members in the clinical area is possible. If it is clear that you are interested in another faculty member (for example your primary interest is in autism research), it is unlikely that I will interview you for my lab, though I would be happy to work with you if you are admitted by your primary mentor of interest. If you list many faculty in the department, who do not have overlapping research interest with me, it will be challenging for me to understand your specific interests and how you fit with my lab.
Can I reach out to current PhD students in your lab if I have questions about your lab?
Certainly, they are the experts about what it is like to work in my lab and with me!
Current graduate students:
Hanan Salem: [email protected]
Damaris Garcia-Valerio: [email protected]
Juliana Ison: [email protected]
Kaela Farrise: [email protected]
I have never had to write a CV—just a regular resume. How should I organize this document?
I want to apply, but the application fee would create real hardship for me. What should I do?
Applicants who meet any of the following criteria are eligible for an application fee waiver through UCSB. More information is available here.
Where else can I find information and guidance for my application process?
I recommend the following resources:
I want to attend a fully funded doctoral program. Will I be fully funded?
Unfortunately, at this time, full funding is not guaranteed within the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at UCSB. Typically, first year students get tuition and fees covered and a $5,000 stipend. After that, one quarter of tuition and fees is guaranteed to be covered and a part time TAship is available for another quarter. I work hard to provide additional funding through research assistantships by pursuing grant fundings, and to date have been able to at least partially support every student in my lab. Some students receive full funding through fellowships every year. Students also find employment in other labs and departments on campus. That being said, I recognize the stress of finances, especially in an expensive place to live like Santa Barbara and understand if the limited funding impacts your decision to apply.
I feel like I am a good fit and I still did not get an interview or an offer. What happened?
Deciding who to interview and make offers to is one of the hardest decisions I have to make every year. There are so many amazing candidates and the competition for these doctoral positions is steeper than I wish it was. To offer some perspective, I received no interviews the first time I applied for Clinical Psychology Doctoral programs (including places where I eventually interviewed for faculty positions). I am certain you also have a bright future and the field will be lucky to have you.
This document was inspired by Dr. Jessica Schleider at Stony Brook University, who sought to even the playing field in the applications to clinical psychology PhD programs. Credit to her for recognizing the importance of providing this guidance and developing the guide, which has been adapted to my mentorship style and lab. As the PADRES lab is dedicated to increasing access for underrepresented groups, it is my intent to help disseminate materials that support applications into my lab for all students.
Will you be accepting a new PhD student to begin in Fall 2025?
I will be accepting a PhD student in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology for Fall 2025.
I am interested in being a School or Counseling Psychologist. Can you be my primary mentor?
I am fortunate to be located within the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. However, as a faculty member within the Clinical emphasis, I am not the primary mentor for any students pursuing careers in School or Counseling Psychology.
How do I know if I am a “good fit” for the PADRES Lab?
When reviewing prospective students’ applications, I am most interested in the goodness of fit between (1) their interests, experiences, and goals, and (2) our lab’s mission, our research focus, and my own strengths (and areas of growth!) as a mentor.
Overall, applicants who are “good fits” tend to...
- Demonstrate commitment to increasing access to evidence-based practices for underserved communities. This commitment may be demonstrated through your past experiences (both research and applied) and your personal statement.
- Want to pursue a career in implementation research in children’s mental health
- Have interest in working with young children and parents
- Have accrued independent research experience (e.g., by leading an senior thesis, research project, and/or first-authored posters, talks, or papers).
More specifically, applicants with the following interests may be good fits to our lab:
- Lay health worker models of care
- Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
- Community-partnered research
As a mentor, I feel best-prepared to support students who are interested in careers that involve applied, clinical intervention, and/or implementation research. This includes a wide variety of career paths, including academic faculty positions, e.g. in departments of psychology, education, social work, or public health; combined clinical-research careers, e.g. in academic medical centers; and non-academic careers in applied research or health policy.
What about the GRE? How important are my scores?
The GRE is not included in your application to our doctoral program.
My undergraduate GPA is below 3.5. Will this remove me from consideration?
No. Many factors can influence one’s GPA, including competing commitments (e.g., working part-time while in school), family obligations, and health challenges. Academic achievement is very important, but context is, too. If you believe your GPA does not reflect your potential as a future scientist, please (1) ask one of your recommenders to share more about your circumstances to help me holistically assess your achievements, or (2) provide this information in your personal statement.
Are there any other ‘screening criteria’ you use to review applications?
No. You work hard on your application materials. The least I can do is read them! (And I do read all applications from those who indicate that I am their preferred mentor). I often start reading your personal statement and focus on sections where you describe your fit with the PADRES lab and the work we do.
Should I email you to express my interest in applying to your lab?
Although I welcome emails from prospective students, your decision to email me (or not) will have no impact on your odds of receiving an interview invitation or an offer of admission. Whether or not you contact me in advance, prospective students are encouraged to review our lab website.
Can we meet and talk about your lab?
I do not schedule additional phone calls to discuss applications given the number of individuals who are interested. I typically attend ABCT in the fall and will meet briefly with applicants there if it works for both of our schedules, but this will have no impact on your odds of receiving an interview or offer of admission.
I am primarily interested in parent-child relationships, adolescents, or access to mental health services for adults. Your research aligns with these areas. Does this mean I’m a good fit for your lab?
We focus on dissemination and implementation research and parenting interventions for young children (PCIT), primarily with the Latinx community. To be a strong fit for the lab, you should have overlapping interests in these areas. If you want to study parent-child relationships more broadly, e.g. how these relationships influence child development and/or mental health, or mental health services for older populations our lab is unlikely to be a good fit. Similarly, if you are interested in reducing mental health disparities with other age groups or populations, it is possible that you could fit within the PADRES lab, but likely that you would have a better fit in a different lab. I look forward to reading your future papers on your topics of interest!
Do I need to speak Spanish to be considered for your lab?
Fluency in Spanish is not required, but understanding of Spanish is beneficial as many of our community meetings and data collection takes place in Spanish.
What should I include in my personal statement?
I find it helpful when applicants include the following in their personal statements:
- A clear statement of your general research interests and how they relate to our lab’s mission and work
- A clear statement of why you are interested in our lab, in particular, versus other labs that study parenting, implementation, and disparities reduction
- A statement about your career goals (even if they are approximate/might change, it is helpful to see your thinking)
- Discussions of your independent research experience(s) and what you learned from them. In these discussions, I suggest emphasizing (1) the skills you developed from working on each project (e.g., data collection in Qualtrics; coding/running analyses; interviewing children/families; writing certain sections of a paper; submitting/presenting a poster), and (2) what your “takeaways” were from the project—e.g., new research ideas or questions your work inspired.
I am interested in becoming a therapist and/or incorporating clinical practice into my future career. I’ve heard that mentioning this in my application will hurt my admissions chances. Is this true?
I aim to recruit students seeking rigorous training in both intervention research and clinical practice. Both skill-sets inform each other necessarily. Our lab studies how to implement interventions in community settings, so I view clinical training as especially important for trainees in our lab (in fact, I direct the PCIT Clinic, which every member of my lab participates in).
At the same time, research is a core component of the doctoral program. Students who are happiest in our program tend to want careers that incorporate research in some way.
Does Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) need to be my primary clinical interest?
I run the PCIT Clinic at UCSB and think it is important for intervention and implementation researchers to know how to deliver the interventions they are researching. Therefore, I expect every student in my lab to participate in the PCIT Clinic. Your long term plans do not need to include PCIT, but it will be the intervention that tends to be central to a lot of our research questions. Therefore, an interest in PCIT, including working with caregivers and young children with challenging behaviors (e.g., tantrums, impulsivity, aggression) makes you a stronger fit for my lab.
Is it advantageous to list multiple mentors of interest (or just one) on my application?
There is no inherent advantage to naming multiple mentors of interest on your application. I closely review all applications on which I am listed as a first-choice mentor. Listing multiple potential mentors may be appropriate if your interests and goals clearly bridge two faculty members’ research programs (as described in your personal statement)—and in rare cases, co-mentorship by two faculty members in the clinical area is possible. If it is clear that you are interested in another faculty member (for example your primary interest is in autism research), it is unlikely that I will interview you for my lab, though I would be happy to work with you if you are admitted by your primary mentor of interest. If you list many faculty in the department, who do not have overlapping research interest with me, it will be challenging for me to understand your specific interests and how you fit with my lab.
Can I reach out to current PhD students in your lab if I have questions about your lab?
Certainly, they are the experts about what it is like to work in my lab and with me!
Current graduate students:
Hanan Salem: [email protected]
Damaris Garcia-Valerio: [email protected]
Juliana Ison: [email protected]
Kaela Farrise: [email protected]
I have never had to write a CV—just a regular resume. How should I organize this document?
- “How to Write a Strong CV,” Association of Psychological Science
- Example CV for clinical psychology applicants, University of Nebraska—Lincoln
I want to apply, but the application fee would create real hardship for me. What should I do?
Applicants who meet any of the following criteria are eligible for an application fee waiver through UCSB. More information is available here.
Where else can I find information and guidance for my application process?
I recommend the following resources:
- Mitch's Uncensored Advice for Applying to Graduate School in Clinical Psychology, provided by Dr. Mitch Prinstein, UNC Chapel Hill. A staple for those considering applying to graduate school in clinical psychology, from determining your best-fit career path to deciding between offers from Clinical PhD programs!
- Getting Into Psych Grad School, provided by the Council of University Directors in Clinical Psychology. Fantastic guide from Directors of Clinical Training at Clinical Psychology PhD programs across the country.
I want to attend a fully funded doctoral program. Will I be fully funded?
Unfortunately, at this time, full funding is not guaranteed within the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at UCSB. Typically, first year students get tuition and fees covered and a $5,000 stipend. After that, one quarter of tuition and fees is guaranteed to be covered and a part time TAship is available for another quarter. I work hard to provide additional funding through research assistantships by pursuing grant fundings, and to date have been able to at least partially support every student in my lab. Some students receive full funding through fellowships every year. Students also find employment in other labs and departments on campus. That being said, I recognize the stress of finances, especially in an expensive place to live like Santa Barbara and understand if the limited funding impacts your decision to apply.
I feel like I am a good fit and I still did not get an interview or an offer. What happened?
Deciding who to interview and make offers to is one of the hardest decisions I have to make every year. There are so many amazing candidates and the competition for these doctoral positions is steeper than I wish it was. To offer some perspective, I received no interviews the first time I applied for Clinical Psychology Doctoral programs (including places where I eventually interviewed for faculty positions). I am certain you also have a bright future and the field will be lucky to have you.