We asked the members of the 2022-2023 Student Committee to answer some questions about themselves to help you get to know who they are and what they do. ![]() What is your school, program, and year? UNT Clinical Psychology PhD program, forensic track, 4th year Why psychology and the law? I think expert witness are pretty cool. What is your favorite thing about your current graduate program? The diverse student body both within my program and across campus. If you were not in graduate school what would you do? Statistician or data scientist What advice do you have for those applying to graduate school? The application process is really about fit and NOT who is the best If you could only watch 3 movies or tv shows over and over for the rest of your life, what would they be and why? The Bourne series. Is cereal soup? No. Explain your hot take about cereal. I just doesn’t feel right. Is water wet? Maybe Explain your hot take about water. I don’t know how to answer this question yet. If you could invite five people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would it be any why? Freud, Jung, Adler, Beck, Skinner. I just want to watch them arguing with each other. What’s the best Wi-Fi name you’ve seen? Fast internet (my Wi-Fi name, haha) What is your favorite city and why? Shanghai, China. I was born and raised there; the love runs deep.
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We asked the members of the 2022-2023 Student Committee to answer some questions about themselves to help you get to know who they are and what they do. ![]() What is your school, program, and year? University of Birmingham, PhD Psychology, Final Year Why psychology and the law? As a little girl I was always told I should go into law as I loved to debate and stand up for what I believed was right. As I got older, I realised that whilst that sounded interesting, I was more passionate about learning about people and why they behave the way they do. This led me to study Psychology, where I combined my passions of learning about human behaviour and the law and justice by specialising in forensic psychology. Now, I get to use my knowledge and passions to aid vulnerable victims in accessing justice. What is your favorite thing about your current graduate program? My graduate programme allows me to work alongside world renowned academics, passionate forward-thinking practitioners and community actors and other innovative, motivated students from all over the world, including Kenya, Jordan, Lebanon, Rwanda, Palestine, South Korea and Australia. We pride ourselves on our interdisciplinary and international work that allows me to learn from such a broad range of individuals. If you were not in graduate school what would you do? I would work for an NGO or charity that assisted survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. What advice do you have for those applying to graduate school? Make sure you are passionate about the area that you are going into. It can be a difficult time, so it is great to have that passion and interest to fall back on. Ensure that you are a good fit with your mentor/supervisor. This relationship will be integral to your programme. I am fortunate to have an incredibly supportive, understanding supervisor who is top of her field and great at assisting us with gaining opportunities. This goes a long way to my enjoyment with my programme. If you could only watch 3 movies or tv shows over and over for the rest of your life, what would they be and why? Criminal Minds, Gossip Girl and The Greatest Showman, feeds my love of forensic psychology, musical theatre and cliche teen dramas! Is cereal soup? No Explain your hot take about cereal. Traditionally sweet and not savoury. Is water wet? Yes Explain your hot take about water. Water makes other substances wet, therefore by association I would class it as wet. What is a quote you like and who said it? "The past is history, tomorrows a mystery and today is a gift, that is why it is called the present." No idea who originally said it, I learned it from the turtle in Kung Fu Panda! If you could invite five people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would it be any why? My mom, brother, husband, grandparents - my comfort people. I know I would have the best time, especially if my nan is cooking. What’s the best Wi-Fi name you’ve seen? router I hardly know her What is your favorite city and why? Rome, Italy. It is where I got engaged. by Cecilia Allan (2020-2022 Communications Officer)
For many of us, the most dreaded part of applying to graduate school is taking the GRE. Here are some tips, tricks, and resources – recommended by other students who successfully completed the GRE and began graduate programs in psychology and law – to help make the process a little less stressful. Tips & Tricks
ETS
Magoosh
by Kamar Tazi (2021-2022 Chair-Elect)
Minqi (Will) Pan, M.A., M.S. is a rising fourth-year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at the University of North Texas. His research focuses on response styles, psychometric properties and empirical correlates of forensic assessments, and statistical modeling. Can you share a bit about your background and what made you want to pursue a degree in clinical forensic psychology? For my background, I was born and raised in Shanghai, China. I went to college there and studied economics and real estate which was a really unique degree combining economics and all aspects of the real estate industry. After graduating with my bachelors, I worked for a company that sends Chinese students to America for education. I became really interested in the American educational system in general through this job. Around this time, Yale published one undergraduate music appreciation course with free materials. I decided to make Chinese subtitles for the videos so that Chinese people could learn, and I worked with a nonprofit group to do this and get the materials out there for everyone. From there, it occurred to me that I could send myself to the U.S. and pursue education there. I was always really interested in human interactions and was between psychology, sociology, and social work for my degree. I ended up picking psychology because it was the most theory driven and systematic field out of those. I moved to Texas in 2012 and started a master’s program in clinical/counseling psychology at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX. My program prepared me very well for clinical work because of our rigorous training in the theories underlying clinical psychology, counseling, and the practical training I got primarily in psychotherapy. I then got licensed at the master’s level and worked for four and a half years in the only maximum-security hospital in Texas. There, I saw patients who could not be cared for elsewhere and was involved in very high-profile forensic cases. In my role I saw some of the most extreme forms of psychopathology and worked with many treatment-refractory individuals. I developed a strong interest in forensic psychology because I saw how important this line of work was. For example, watching how the outcomes of competency evaluations influence patients’ lives made me see how significant psychology is to the legal system. My passion for the field, strong interest in research and statistical measurement, and desire for more advanced work pushed me to doctoral training. My immigration status was also a major factor in my decision because, at the master’s level, being retained on a work visa is difficult and there are a lot of barriers to finding work as a psychologist without more advanced training. At the doctoral level, things get easier. What has your experience been like as an international student navigating graduate school in the U.S.? Navigating my master’s degree was more difficult because everything was new, and the language barrier was still there despite having had years of English training. Psychology is a writing and reading heavy discipline with a lot of specialized terms that don’t necessarily translate easily or directly to Chinese, so this is still somewhat of a challenge for me. I really had to think in a different language when I started my program. Of course, as I got more exposure things became easier. Another challenge I faced was the self-driven nature of graduate school. I think this is hard for all students, international and domestic, but especially for international students because when you add other challenges like a language barrier it can be hard to stay motivated. There is also a huge culture shock; the terms my cohort members used, their idioms, the way they spoke was all new for me and I found myself asking them to explain often. At the time I felt unsure about asking but they were always happy to clarify so that feeling went away. So, in a lot of ways communication was the first and maybe most difficult barrier I faced but as I continued learning I felt more confident both professionally and academically despite how much of an adjustment I had to make in a very short amount of time. Now, there is definitely still a culture shock to being at the PhD level which is very different from the master’s level. Fortunately, I found that my university (University of North Texas) was more culturally diverse, so I was less self-aware of the fact that I was an international student. Another huge thing is the restrictions. For example, international students can’t work more than a certain number of hours without authorization, so getting a side job during graduate school was never an option. This would be especially hard for anyone in an unfunded program. On top of this, I can’t take out federal financial aid (which is where most financial aid comes from). There are even some practicum sites, like VAs, that are not an option for externship or internship because of their federal funding. I learned quickly that things have to be carefully planned since there are so many more considerations international students have to make. How does your background and identities influence your research and clinical work? My research interests really developed along the way to understanding my professional identity, but the discrepancy between the acknowledgement and focus on scientific accomplishments in psychology between China and the U.S. motivated me to learn the best I can while I’m here. I also noticed that people conceptualize problems in research differently depending on their background. For example, what theories are used to understand a phenomenon/behavior, how these may be studied, and what problems are prioritized for research differ between China and the U.S. Having a different cultural upbringing gave me a new perspective to bring to the table here. On the other hand, having exposure to people’s perspectives here helped me reevaluate the things I learned in the past. This has been an important stage in my development as a scientist. For clinical work, I have found that working with other international students is a really rewarding experience because I really understand and resonate with their experiences and struggles. In a broader sense, if I work with someone with concerns related to immigration or cultural identity I feel that I can quickly understand and empathize with them. This has helped me considerably in my clinical work. At the beginning of my training, I was unsure of my language abilities as a clinician, particularly when doing psychotherapy, and this added to my insecurity, but this is less of a concern for me now. I found that people do understand what I’m saying and if they don’t they’ll just ask. I had similar concerns about whether I would have limited culture-specific knowledge that was important to my clients or relevant to their clinical presentations. When you have quality training, focus, and immersion in the clinical issues at hand, all these concerns and insecurities will be sorted out. Actually, all therapy and clinical work requires cultural knowledge so in many cases my background is an asset, and all students, international and domestic, have the same task essentially; we all work to approach culture with humility and openness and do our best to limit the influence of biases and preconceived notions. There’s a learning curve for everyone. What resources do you think would be helpful if made available by universities? The most important resource for international students is information. There are so many rules and restrictions we have to abide by and sometimes our departments don’t know all of these. Communication between programs and other essential offices (like the office for international students) becomes essential, and I found that students often have to be the messenger between them. Understanding the opportunities available also becomes important. There are some scholarships and grants that may be especially for us, and others that we may not be eligible for and all that information is really important. I also think having resources for students who may be struggling with language skills would help a lot, particularly in the social sciences and other fields with technical language. What do you wish you knew before starting graduate school, and what advice would you give to other international students?
By Rebekah R. Adair (2021-2022 Campus Representative Coordinator)
Being in graduate school, or just a student in general, can be time consuming – feeling like you never have enough time in a day to complete needed tasks, let alone leisure activities. One thing that I’ve found meets the leisure, yet continuing pursuit of knowledge, is listening to podcasts while doing “mindless” tasks (i.e., getting ready to head to campus, driving to campus, leaving campus, repeat). Below is a list of academic bases podcasts that might be a quick listen when you want to “get away” but still feel productive. Enjoy! Writing Podcasts:
Statistics:
Miscellaneous Discussions:
by Lili Ramos (2021-2022 Secretary) With AP-LS 2022 a couple months behind us now, we decided to reach out to our student members to hear some of their reflections on the conference and things they are looking forward to for AP-LS 2023. Check out their responses below! Ashley Hernandez, Clinical Psychology PsyD program at William James College What was one highlight, takeaway, or favorite event from AP-LS 2022?
What are you looking forward to for AP-LS 2023?
What is one piece of advice you have for students attending AP-LS in the future?
Isabelle Clough, Legal Psychology PhD program at the University of Texas at El Paso What was one highlight, takeaway, or favorite event from AP-LS 2022?
What are you looking forward to for AP-LS 2023?
Brandon Garcia, Forensic Psychology M.A. program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice What was one highlight, takeaway, or favorite event from AP-LS 2022?
What are you looking forward to for AP-LS 2023?
What is one piece of advice you have for students attending AP-LS in the future?
Haylie Stewart, Clinical Psychology and Law PhD program at the University of Alabama What was one highlight, takeaway, or favorite event from AP-LS 2022?
What are you looking forward to for AP-LS 2023?
What is one piece of advice you have for students attending AP-LS in the future?
Mariah Laster, School and Clinical Psychology PsyD program at Kean University What was one highlight, takeaway, or favorite event from AP-LS 2022?
Thank you to all our student members who shared their perspectives and thank you to everyone who attended our student programming this year – we’re looking forward to seeing you all again next year in Philadelphia!
By Sarah Fishel (2020-2022 Law Liaison)
Most of the student members of APLS are grounded in the field of psychology with interests, experience, or formal training in the field of law. However, there are relatively few members who are grounded in the field of law and have the same interest in gaining more knowledge about the field of psychology. Being a law student can be an overwhelming and time consuming endeavor, and the thought of adding one more reading or putting one more piece of information into your brain can feel daunting. That said, there are many reasons why law students (and legal professionals) could benefit from the field of psychology - here are just a few:
Throughout my own training, I’ve met many law students and legal professionals who do recognize the benefit of psychological know-how and what it can add to their own practice and research. So the next question becomes - why join APLS?
We asked the members of the 2021-2022 Student Committee to answer some questions about themselves to help you get to know who they are and what they do. ![]() What is your school, program & year? The University of Alabama, Clinical Psychology (with a concentration in Psychology and Law), fourth year. Why psychology and the law? It is both fascinating and hugely impactful. If you could only watch 3 movies or tv shows over and over for the rest of your life, what would they be and why? The Office (because I'm a basic millennial), Snapped (because the narrator's voice is practically my lullaby), and either Westworld or Raised by Wolves (because I'm very into robot dystopia lately). Is cereal soup? I don't think so. If anything, the cereal would be a garnish, and milk alone does not a soup make. What is a quote you like and who said it? I love the poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann. "You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here." What is your favorite thing about your current graduate program? The people - I love my cohort and our faculty. Also, Alabama (my home state) has an enormous need for forensic mental health services, so we are able to make real, meaningful impacts here. If you were not in graduate school what would you do? A receptionist or administrative assistant. What advice do you have for those applying to graduate school? Network as much as possible, accept that you may not get into your dream program (and that's okay!), and make sure you are ready to dedicate a large chunk of your life to grad school. What’s the best Wi-Fi name you’ve seen? PRETTY FLY FOR A WIFI We asked the members of the 2021-2022 Student Committee to answer some questions about themselves to help you get to know who they are and what they do. ![]() What is your school, program & year? Second year Master's in Clinical Psychology student at Sam Houston State University. Why psychology and the law? I have a strong interest for understanding the intersection of psychology and the law with respect to children. Specifically, what allows for two individuals to grow up in the same environment with the same risks and have different life outcomes. If you could only watch 3 movies or tv shows over and over for the rest of your life, what would they be and why? The Office - it's my comfort show; Elf - My favorite Christmas movie; Martin - too many classic episodes Is cereal soup? No. Cereal is meant to be cold/lukewarm, and made with milk and some type of carb. Soup is meant to be hot and made with a broth with some type of meat and/or vegetable. They're definitely not one and the same. What is a quote you like and who said it? "When life is sweet, say 'thank you' and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say 'thank you' and grow." - Shauna Niequist What is your favorite thing about your current graduate program? My cohort! If you were not in graduate school what would you do? I would probably travel to different countries and learn about different cultures and traditions. If you could invite five people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would it be and why? My mom - I have so much to tell her; Princess Diana - she seemed so much fun to be around; Neil DeGrasse-Tyson - I want to ask him a lot of questions; Naomi Campbell - she is my favorite supermodel; Barack Obama - I think he is one of the most interesting people on the planet. What advice do you have for those applying to graduate school? Start early and build connections with professors early! What’s the best Wi-Fi name you’ve seen? Bill Wi the Science Fi We asked the members of the 2021-2022 Student Committee to answer some questions about themselves to help you get to know who they are and what they do. ![]() What is your school, program & year? 6th Year at Drexel University's JD/PhD program Why psychology and the law? Because its absolutely fascinating and aggravating. It's where I found my passion. If you could only watch 3 movies or tv shows over and over for the rest of your life, what would they be and why? TV - The Great British Baking Show for obvious hygge reasons; TV - The Office for similar reasons; Movies - Anything Disney for nostalgia reasons Is cereal soup? No. soup is greater than the sum of its parts - cereal is not. What is a quote you like and who said it? I will either find or make a way - Hannibal (the historic figure, not the cannibal) What is your favorite thing about your current graduate program? The lack of competition and sense of community If you were not in graduate school what would you do? Either a Nat Geo photographer or wedding planner If you could invite five people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would it be and why? My hubby (he would die if not invited), Michelle Alexander, Bryan Stevenson, David Attenborough, Lucinda Green What advice do you have for those applying to graduate school? Don't forget to be a human people want to work with! What’s the best Wi-Fi name you’ve seen? GETOFFMYLAWN |
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The American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychology Association) Student Committee is composed of elected student leaders representing the interests of our student members. Categories
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