jlee306

No, I am probably going to apply to 3 schools. However, even though ppl say you should apply to more, I really only want to apply to one. Like I said, I need to stay in TX due to family reasons. There aren't many schools here that offer just the Specialist degree in School Psychology but out of them all I narrowed it down to the three. The only one I want to go to is the one I am currently an undergrad at and is an hour and a half away (I'm a commuter). The next closest is about 3 hours away but is a private school and very expensive. The last is 5 and half hours away. Even if I get in to them, I can only see myself going to the one, so I don't know! My friend took the GRE one week before me and did poorly and was feeling so bad about it that she went to an advisor in the program she wanted to get into to. Although I don't know the exact scores she made, the advisor told her that she would still have a chance of getting in, but if she did, she would be on probation. I had never heard of this before and I am assuming it is the same as the conditional admissions you are talking about. She is going into Library Science though. I am going to talk to the ppl in the School Psyc department and see if they have the same thing because that sounds better than no admission to me!

Oh geez, that test should be killed!! I am terrible at math and somehow I made a much, much higher grade in the math than I did the verbal...which is STRANGE!!! I know I could have done better as well and will probably retest (but first I'm going to talk to the program I want to get into about it and see what they say). Out of all my practice tests, today on the real test I made the lowest I've made yet in the verbal and the highest I've made yet in the math...so weird!

Good Luck to you too! I have been hitting the books hard all day in hopes of doing well tomorrow! (Bites my nails)

Ok, I don't want to start anything on here...I don't like to argue. Sorry to offend anybody by posting on here, I just didn't think it was that big of a deal. Just sharing info.

Geez! Excuse me...I must of misunderstood when the question stated "everyone." And I thought this was the friendliest forum I had found so far, but I guess not. Please don't start being like all the other grad school forums and think you are better than everyone just because you are a graduate student. If it helps any, my first day as an "Officialy Grad" is Sept. 7, 2010. I'll be more careful where I post on here from now on.

I start Sept 1. My last year of undergrad...YAY!

It is very, very doable! As an undergrad, I commute 1 hour and 30 minutes to school and 1 hour and 30 minutes back home. I go to school 2 days a week, so that is 6 hours per week devoted to travel time. I wish there was a bus that would take me from home to school and back so I could read, do homework, or something school related during that time, but there isn't. It worked for me all last year and I'm doing it again this year. My first two years of college, I commuted 35 minutes both ways to my community college. Living in the country of TX, you tend to have commute quite a distance to everything. The nearest place to me to get grocery's and gas is 20 minutes away.

No, not a dumb question. Most ppl I talk to about what I want to do career wise have never even heard of a specialist degree. A specialist degree is one step above a Master's and one step below a PhD. A specialist degree is two years of school work (just like the masters if you are full time) and a one year internship after that...then you graduate. So where a Masters is supposed to take two years and a PhD is supposed to take 4 years, a Specialist takes 3 years (only the last year you are working and not attending school). So to answer, no...you don't have to have a master's before. For the internship, they make you go out and do that yourself. Just like job searching. I already know which school district I want to intern and work in...hopefully everything works out.

I am very nervous about the whole application process! The SOP is kicking my butt...I really don't know where to start. I am taking the GRE on the 27th and I am scared about that! I have to get to know some professors a little better this semester in order to get some LORs. I also want to get on a research team this semester. So I pretty much have full basket and it worries me because I want to get into grad school sooooooooooo badly! I am pursuing a Specialist degree instead of a PhD because in the field of School Psychology, having a PhD allows you to have a private practice or work in a hospital...which I'm not interested in. Having a Specialist degree allows you only to work in schools, which is where I want to work. The only differences in the two degrees is that a PhD: 1) allows you to work in more places, 2) able to conduct research (not interested in doing) 3) be called a School Psychologist (whereas with a Specialist degree you are called a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology or LSSP) 4) be called a Doctor 5) higher pay Yes, those last 2 are real tempting to me, but I want to work within the school system and I don't want to do research after I graduate. It just makes since for me to stop at the Specialist degree since that degree would allow me to do all that I want to do. Another reason is that I am ready to be finished with school! I have been in school my whole life and need a break; however, I can see myself taking a class here and there for the rest of my life...whether it be a cooking class, art class, literature, etc. I am also engaged and my fiance and I are waiting to get married until after I finish school, or maybe before I begin my internship. Maybe one day, after I'm settled into my career and have my family going, I will go back for my PhD if it appeals to me.

I can imagine...I would have done the exact same thing I am sure! My Honor Society got to go to Barcelona last Spring, along with other places in Spain, but I unfortunately already had too many credits to get to go. :x I'm hoping it will be the place I take my Honeymoon! I will just have to live vicariously through you until then though. :wink: Hahaha.

Howdy! I do volunteer work at a pregnancy center doing counseling. I am applying to Specialist in School Psychology programs and I'm not sure how to tie in this experience to how it will benefit me as a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology? These young women that I work with come into the center wanting pregnancy tests. Before they get the test, we have to sit them down and counsel them (trying to see what their current situations are and if they are planning on aborting, parenting, or adopting out). When I first started working there, I was real shocked to find out that many people think putting a baby up for adoption is worse than abortion. Since I was adopted, I do counseling for those who don't want a baby but feel guilty just thinking about putting their child up for adoption. I try to give them the perspective from the baby's point-of-view: me and my personal experience. Then I continue counseling them through the whole adoption process and help them to see that what they are doing is best for their child, depending on their unique situation. As a LSSP, I want to work with children helping them with their learning disabilities along with many other things. School Psychologist and School Counselors are two different things...if I were going to be a School Counselor, I could see how to tie this in. However, School Psychologist do do counseling, but it is just not the same. So if any of you have any advice on how I could tie this in, I would greatly appreciate it!

Yeah, it's on my CV. I just wanted to be able to talk about experience in the SOP. This SOP is kicking my butt!

Howdy! I do volunteer work at a pregnancy center doing counseling. I am applying to Specialist in School Psychology programs and I'm not sure how to tie in this experience to how it will benefit me as a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology? These young women that I work with come into the center wanting pregnancy tests. Before they get the test, we have to sit them down and counsel them (trying to see what their current situations are and if they are planning on aborting, parenting, or adopting out). When I first started working there, I was real shocked to find out that many people think putting a baby up for adoption is worse than abortion. Since I was adopted, I do counseling for those who don't want a baby but feel guilty just thinking about putting their child up for adoption. I try to give them the perspective from the baby's point-of-view: me and my personal experience. Then I continue counseling them through the whole adoption process and help them to see that what they are doing is best for their child, depending on their unique situation. As a LSSP, I want to work with children helping them with their learning disabilities along with many other things. School Psychologist and School Counselors are two different things...if I were going to be a School Counselor, I could see how to tie this in. However, School Psychologist do do counseling, but it is just not the same. So if any of you have any advice on how I could tie this in, I would greatly appreciate it!

Hello, sorry my reply doesn't help you out any, but I just wanted to say that I am sooooooooooooooooo jealous that you get to go to Barcelona! That is the one place that I want to go to more than anything!!! I am very, very excited for you and I hope everything works out for you!

Good to know!!

Yeah, my Princeton Review: Cracking the GRE says the same thing. I don't think there are very many like that but there will be some. My only concern is that I will not know how to type in fractions or something of the sort. In my practice, I have came up with fraction answers like 76/95 (just an example, don't remember the exact answers) and my book shows that I am correct but it doesn't tell me how I am supposed to type that in. Am I suppose to enter it just like 76/95 or am I suppose to put it in decimal form? Because if that is the case, I am in trouble!! I don't know what that would be in decimal form!

Howdy! I am applying to Specialist in School Psychology programs for Fall 2010. A Specialist degree is one step above a masters and one step below a doctorals, just in case anybody is wondering. It is that way because after the two years of grad school work, there is a one year internship involved. I am worried about my SOP the most because I don't know where to start. I am also pretty scared to take the GRE, which I am taking on the 27th (Thursday after next). There is only one school that I really really want to get into!! I hope this thread gets going because it would be nice to talk to others going through the same thing and get to know others with similar interests.

I am taking the GRE on the 27th (Thursday after next) and I am soooooo scared! I am only applying in Texas because I have sick parents and can't leave them...there also aren't that many schools here that offer this degree that are also NASP approved. These are the only ones in Texas that aren't Ph.D level: Abilene Christian University, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas State University, Texas Woman's University, Trinity University, and University of Houston-Clear Lake. I am for sure applying to Texas Woman's University, Texas State University, and Abliene Christian University. I might end up applying to all, but honestly...I can only see myself going to Texas Woman's University. I was only going to apply there and to no others but I decided that might not be a good idea; however, even if I get in to the others, I don't see myself moving that far away from my parents. So I hope and pray I get into TWU...it is the best program for LSSPs in Texas in my opinion anyways. Where are you applying? Maybe you are a good person to ask this to since you and I are hopefully going into the same type of program: I do volunteer work at a pregnancy center and I counsel the young women who just found out that they are pregnant (most of them are 15-20 years old...some are older...had one 11 year old but thankfully her test came back negative). Anyways, I wanted to say something about this in my SOP but I don't know how I can relate it to School Psychology? Maybe you can help me out here. I am having a really hard time with my SOP...I don't know where to start! Thank you for replying to this post...I really appreciate it! Hope to hear back from ya soon!

Oops, sorry. It is a 2010 edition...didn't even notice I had done that.

Hello, I am having a really hard time studying for the math section on the GRE. I have always disliked math and it has never came easy to me. Now I am trying to reteach myself this basic math and having a really hard time understanding it. I am signed up to take the test on the 27th (two weeks from today), so I would really appreciate any advice I can get from yall! Thank you. Oh yeah, I have The Princeton Review: Cracking the GRE 2012 edition study guide and it is great...just having a hard time with the math.

Wow! This is great...I know I didn't post this thread but these are great tips!

Hi, I was wondering if any of you knew which is valued more when applying to a Specialist in School Psychology program...the verbal or math section of the GRE? Thank you!

Ok, here is the info: My book is The Princeton Review: Cracking the GRE 2010 Edition. My friend's book: Kaplan: GRE Premier Program 2009 Edition.

Haha, no...your not insulting my intelligence. My book is Cracking the GRE and I don't remember what my friends is called but I will ask her tomorrow and post it on here later. I did tons and tons of research on all the possible study guides and finially decided that Cracking the GRE was for me...it agrees with everything from ets.org. I don't know at the moment what company my book is from, so I will have to look in the morning. My friend's book was orginially her mom's but her mom found out that she didn't need to take the GRE because something about already being a teacher and not needing it...I don't know really but her mother is in a Master's program right now to become a school counselor. I asked her what year it was printed and she said 2009 but I don't know that she really knew. I will check all that out tomorrow and let everyone know the specifics.