From Jason Williams, Psy.D., Chair, APPIC Board of Directors, and Greg Keilin, Ph.D., APPIC Match Coordinator:
“Each year, the APPIC Board receives feedback about the increasing number of enterprising individuals who have established businesses that focus on assisting applicants in obtaining an internship. Furthermore, the APPIC Board has heard comments and complaints about the claims that some of these individuals are making, the ways in which certain individuals are advertising their businesses and recruiting students, and the rates being charged to students (e.g., $100 or more per hour) for these services.
While there may in fact be some legitimate and helpful services that are being offered, the Board remains very concerned about the potential for exploitation — i.e., that some of these businesses may be taking advantage of the imbalance between applicants and positions by exploiting students’ fears and worries about not getting matched.
We encourage students to be cautious and informed consumers when it comes to decisions about using any of these services. Please know that there are a number of no-cost and low-cost ways of obtaining advice and information about the internship application process, such as the workbook published by APAGS (as well as books written by other authors), the free information available on the APPIC and NMS web sites, discussion lists sponsored by APPIC, APAGS, and others, and the support and advice provided by the faculty of many doctoral programs.”
WKPIC wishes for all of our potential applicants to know that using a service like this is absolutely not necessary to apply to our site. What we most want to see/know about is YOU. Perfection is not required. Please, just be yourself, and show us the best that you can do. We look forward to getting to know you!
Susan R. Vaught, Ph.D.
Director, Western Kentucky Psychology Internship Consortium