kittyoverthemoon

I am specifically because I got a psychology minor basically in one semester (4 courses in my final semester of undergrad, 1 the previous semester) and so my coursework experience is not too in-depth. But, I'm planning on doing a terminal master's or a post-bacc program to take care of that (don't know if you're talking about PhD programs or all grad programs) so that I can be pretty confident come time for PhD applications. I'll be about 29 when I'm about finished, but I'm a nerd at heart and probably wouldn't be happy working a 9 to 5 job until then anyway, so now's the best time I guess. I'd also say, it might be really helpful for getting into a program if you have specific research that you'd like to do (and can articulate it enthusiastically during an interview). I think admissions has a lot to do with whether the school thinks you have the drive to be successful in their program, and couldn't hurt to be confident about what you want to study, even if you're dying inside from social anxiety during an interview or something (like I will probably be). Also, working in a lab will help TREMENDOUSLY AND IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE for admissions, even if it's volunteering. Get to know the PhD residents in a lab on a friendly basis and they can teach you skills and concepts (such as software and programming) that will be nothing but valuable in your future path in psychology. Best of luck!

Would it be unattractive to PhD psychology/neuroscience admissions panels to have a master's in Interdisciplinary Studies? I would focus my studies much like a general or experimental psychology master's program with the ability to take a few extra courses not exactly offered by psychology departments (examples of actual classes I'd choose would be evolution, psychoacoustics, and music theory). My dilemma is that I'm afraid to wait too long after undergrad (I graduated this past December 2015) to go through the application process of graduate school, but I'm trying to decide between a psychology/neuroscience route or strictly an audiology route. I am in the process of becoming a newborn hearing screener working under an audiologist but don't know if from now until November/December will be enough time to know if it's the job for me (since if I'm not mistaken, psychology grad program applications are due nearly a year in advance). My studies during the master's wouldn't be completely out there, but I haven't taken enough courses to know which area I like best (music cognition & neuroscience or audiology). I only got a psychology minor but completed the bulk of it at the very end of my undergrad career (so like, 5 basic courses total over the breadth of practice and research in psychology), and I fell in love with it, but I'd like to just take more coursework that I'm interested in to narrow my core academic interest, and then go from there. Any advice appreciated!

Wow, thanks for the input! I definitely have ideas of what I'd like to do research on, and I think at this point in my career, it's the interface of autism/music cognition/language evolution studies. I know eventually I'd like to do work with animal cognition and behavior (bioacoustic communication), but I definitely have the least experience in stats and research, so a master's was my best bet in getting coursework and research/stats experience. It's just that I don't feel confident enough to start in a lab because I've never truly studied these things in a formal course (except for cognition and behavioral neuroscience, hence it's my major focus) and might actually need the MA to do just what you've suggested-to focus my interests so that I'm a more focused PhD candidate in whatever area of psych I choose. I am keeping track of which schools have only labs and/or programs in some of these areas. Money is sort of a concern, but I am really just looking for schools that fit academically and will weigh the costs from there. I've been considering MA's over MS's because the degree is essentially more flexible, which of course is something I'm looking for with interdisciplinary interests. It's hard trying to keep track of all the schools and which labs they have and which projects are in those labs and the degree they offer, etc. I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down to MA in Psych or Interdisciplinary Studies the school has a cognitive science program as must-have criteria. But again, thanks for the advice and good luck to you in your grad journey!

I would like to think that I could work long enough as an RA to get into a PhD program, but in my case, I'm a psychology minor from undergrad and hardly have even the course experience to look competitive or excel in such a program right now. I'm seriously contemplating an MA to gain everything stated above including more course knowledge. I think your chances of getting into a PhD program right out of undergrad depends on a few things, including your research experience, publishings, GPA and reflective course knowledge, and confidence in the general path that you want to go with the help of the PhD program. So if you feel like you're confident enough to present both your marks and your previous experience/future goals to admissions, I say go without the MA. Generally speaking though, usually no less than a year of research experience makes you pretty competitive, field work helps (paid or volunteer), and of course published projects look great as well. You can always apply without the MA with the best of what you have now, and if you don't get accepted anywhere, the MA might be a good place to go from there. Also, in the UK, a lot of master's programs are only one year, so that could be a good way to gain the good stuff you need to be more competitive while not forking out 2 years of time and money. Clinical programs might even overlook a short amount of research time in favor of extensive field experience working as an assistant or something with clients. Anyway, best of luck to you!

Throughout my grad school search, an interdisciplinary degree is sounding more and more like a good fit. Briefly, I'm interested in cognitive neuroscience in a psychology department, and my research interests go way out from there (since psychology is extremely broad). Those research interests center around psychoacoustics and auditory neuroscience, including topics such as music cognition, music cog/therapy and augmentative/alternative communication methods for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, vocal (singing) performance, and vocal animal communication in all species. So, you can see my dilemma. My undergraduate degree, though I wouldn't chalk up to a complete waste, was in a non-scientific field and the only courses that I enjoyed were the courses that I chose for my psychology minor, hence my decision to pursue psychology. I would also hope to minor in music (probably at the undergraduate level if it is allowed at my specific school). I'd also like to take courses in: speech & hearing sciences (physics of sound, perception & production)/audiology/AAC (communication disorders department) evolutionary psychology/biology cognitive neuroscience sensation & perception autism spectrum disorder (psychological focus on brain/learning/communication) behavioral ecology music theory, vocal pedagogy & performance So, unless I'm able to pull a lot of strings, a MA in psychology from a university might not be able to afford me to take such a broad array of courses as I'd like. Also, by the time I finish this MA, in whatever it is, I will most likely want to apply to a PhD in Cognitive, Behavioral & Brain Sciences (likely in a psychology department); I'm only contemplating a PhD in Clinical Psych to pursue neuropsych work and research for autism. I'm aware that if I get an interdisciplinary MA, it might be harder to get into a clinical program, but my main question here is, for an experimental PhD in psychology, would it do more harm than good to pursue a less focused (interdisciplinary) master's degree than a master's in psychology? Thanks!

Just got an idea about my options for graduate study. I know of the Gallatin School at NYU that lets you completely design your own MA program around any areas of study that you are interested in pursuing. I was wondering if there might be any other programs that any of you are attending? My interest is in cognitive psychology of music/auditory neuroscience and evolutionary psychology (both interdisciplinary in themselves), so I'm looking for a program that might get me a little of cognitive neuroscience, ethology, behavioral ecology, and music studies, for example. My background as related to my future goals is really only 4 courses in psychology that made up my undergraduate minor, so I am not sure if I'll ever be ready to apply to a PhD program before I take more courses on my specific interests (I am currently in a cognitive science lab at my alma mater, but I'd still like to have the course training). Thanks!

It's probably going to be the case that I will end up applying to a PhD program, but yeah I was concerned whether my background was good enough to be competitive. I would absolutely love a research job where I'm from but RA positions come up every couple of months around here because it's not really a big city. I feel major pressure to decide within a year where I want to go to grad school and which degree to choose, mostly because I'm a fairly broke postgraduate. So I may have to take a job that isn't research at all just to sustain myself until an RA position pops up. But I guess more research experience would look great and serve a purpose to let me know if I'm really comfortable doing this for the next many years. That's a great idea, thanks for that!

Awesome, thanks for that. It's likely I've been looking into programs with a little more specialized degrees which would be why they would only offer a PhD (for those who know specifically their research area of interest). Even though I know my research interests pretty well, I'm thinking it will be a good decision to look at MA/MS programs in general psychology or experimental psychology to gain the research, writing, and course experience that I need and want. Thanks again!

Ok, that makes a little more sense since I was looking into a few programs in Canada with reputable music cognition labs. I just found a lot of the UCal schools (Davis, San Diego, etc.) were only accepting applications for those who wanted to pursue a PhD but had the option to earn the MA/MS on the way there. Maybe it's just the UCal system. Anyway, more researching programs for me! Thanks!

I want to pursue psychology, specifically cognitive, behavioral, and brain sciences with a focus on auditory neuroscience, music psychology, and the evolution of vocal and nonverbal communication sciences and disorders (in a nutshell). I have a very basic background in psychology having just graduated with a B.S. in Child & Family Development and a minor in psychology, so I definitely don't want to pursue a PhD program right now but would rather try to get an MA or MS in Psychology in order to feel out my place within the field. I've noticed while researching different programs that many (most of my list are pretty well-regarded programs) only accept graduate psychology applications for a Ph.D at all, and some discourage those who want to earn a PhD at another university's program if they're applying for the master's there. I've also noticed a lot of faculty in the area that I'm interested in have masters and PhDs from the same university. Is it looked down upon to get a master's from one uni and a PhD at another? I just really don't have the amount of foundational knowledge that I would like to have in order to know what the best decision would be for my future in this field. Any advice from those pursuing this area of psychology as a career would also be super helpful. Thanks!

Oh cool! I'm not submitting the application for this Fall because I can't decide between SLP and Psychology. I just graduated a few weeks ago so I'm taking a year to feel out my options. I've been working at the place I mentioned with SLPs and I'm really introverted and seemed to just not be enjoying being around so many people (not the kids, I love the kids)- I just get really low energy and anxiety. So it's either clincal SLP or research psychology for me, but not until next year. I'm volunteering in a music cognition lab at LSU though and will be for next year for sure. But I also just applied to an open RA position in the psych department so hopefully that works out.

I just graduated in Child & Family Studies at LSU and did internships at a facility that we have in the area for speech therapy. I went to the MA open house because it was one of the only SLP programs that I could find that would accept me into the MA program and let me take the Communication Sciences & Disorders (COMD) classes needed to take the upper level MA classes (making it a 3 year program for me, regularly a 2 year program). We have a speech clinic on campus that I toured and it seems very nice. We have stroboscopy rooms and an in-clinic audiologist. We also have a new faculty member whose lab has just started up or is about to start up doing research on autism, not sure the specific topic of research though (autism is what I'm interested it). All the other labs I think are listed on the department's website which you can access here http://sites01.lsu.edu/wp/comd/# if you haven't checked it out. We are a research university and as an undergrad, I was advised to start thinking about an area of research that interested me in COMD, even though it is a clinical program as well. We have a great place in the area that I worked at that does speech therapy for children with autism and other language disorders, and we also have an area hospital that has a voice center. It's a really close-knit program from what I've seen and you get to know the other people in your program year really well. The faculty are quite experienced, and I noticed specifically that the clinical rotation coordinator is wonderfully enthusiastic and just loves the field of SLP. Baton Rouge has a fairly small city-like downtown area but it has nightlife that is alive and well haha. Overall, it's a great program with a lot of great resources. Research universities like this are always interested in students who have research interests in areas that might combine departments that have never collaborated before, so if you have specific interests, that's something that LSU would really foster for you. Anything else you want to know, just ask! Good luck!

Thanks for the reply, actually, I've just recently submitted my application (complete with what seemed like tons of documents) to a research position in the psychology department at my alma mater. But I'm sure it's competitive, especially since I don't have a psychology B.S. And I really don't have a plan B as far as jobs for now, but I do need some time to figure my life out. My dad is really not aware of the decisions that people my age have to make nowadays with grad school becoming more of an acceptable option, and he's always saying that he's concerned that I'm going to have too much debt and that grad school won't be worth it. Hopefully, I can begin to support myself while at the same time continue to further my career goals before the half of the year is up. I know I'll always have a spot volunteering in the Music Cognition lab that I'm in though, so that's a good thing. Thanks for your support, it means a lot.

Thanks for the advice! I did work at an outpatient therapy facility with an autism program for children and was around SLPs all the time, so I still don't know why I can't choose. I replied to someone else in this post that I feel like I've completely changed over my undergrad years, almost by personality. I thought I was outgoing as a child, and maybe that dwindled through high school, but now, I only really enjoy quiet time reading literature on my favorite topics with my cat or something and just really don't enjoy being around anyone. I have had depression since I was 12 and I guess it's gotten worse the last two years of my undergrad, but this is the first time in my life that I feel that some kind of social anxiety is affecting me, for example, in my job that I described above. I LOVED being with my kids and observing the cute things that they say and do, but I had a constant anxiety hovering every time I would work, almost like a performance anxiety or something. I don't know if this is something of my own adult personality that I don't recognize or if it could be "fixed" by continuing my psychotherapy. You think I could figure this out as someone interested in the psych field, right? Anyway, you've learned way more about me than anyone on here should, but hey, what are forums for? Thanks for listening, and for your encouraging post. Best of luck to you as well!

Thank you so much! It's been the strangest thing to suddenly come upon undergrad graduation and feel like you haven't just changed over the past 4 years, but are still changing and kind of don't recognize yourself. I'm glad that you have found your place! I'm from a small town and so even though I had high standards for myself growing up, I never contemplated going so far as a career in research. Anyway, I wish you luck and happiness in your continuing studies and endeavors as well!