Ap Psychology Personal Statement

Throughout my undergraduate career, I have learned more and more about the field of psychology. I have been able to interact with the field from cognitive, clinical, social, biological, and developmental perspectives, and have quickly realized that my passion lies with clinical science. I am especially interested in investigating the effectiveness of various types of psychotherapy, as well as how this varies for different mental illnesses. For example, are some forms of therapy better for depression than for other illnesses? Perhaps there are some therapies that are actually worse for certain illnesses. Overall, clinical science is extremely interesting to me, especially because I plan to become a clinical psychologist, and understanding the most appropriate therapies for various disorders would allow me to treat patients as efficiently and effectively as possible. My own journey with anxiety began when I was just eleven years old. I began researching anxiety disorders in an effort to better understand myself, and the more I learned, the more I realized that I found it all very interesting. As I went deeper to learn about other

Timothy Vickery’s Perception and Learning Lab at the University of Delaware, where I assisted in running experiments and engaged in weekly discussions about human cognition, perception, and learning. Much of our research was focused on statistical learning and was tested through various eye-tracking experiments. I am beyond grateful for having had the opportunity to be involved with important research and learn more about the process of research as a whole. I was also fortunate to complete an advanced research class in my junior year of undergrad, where I (along with two others on my team) designed and conducted our own research project. Both of these experiences together have helped me ascertain that clinical psychology is my true passion, in terms of both research and