dejectednconfused

i want to be a child psychologist. do some case studies, maybe write one or 2 books, but i want to counsel children and help them with their problems. i've always wanted a doctorate, a psyd because not as much research but it also costs like $50k per year. i graduated undergrad with no debt and i want to try to keep it that way or as small as possible. a phd because i thought research experience would be good but also because its way more cost effective. i really dont want to spend so much in application fees to apply for a program i wont get into. but i also dont want to miss out on getting into a program because i didnt apply another teacher said i should go over their application requirements and use that information to make my decision. i may just apply to doctorate and master's programs thanks for the help, still got some decisions to make

hi all! first post, because i really wanted some help from people before i just called the schools up and asked them this myself i've really been procrastinating getting everything in order for these december deadlines. and i just read an email from a former teacher i asked for a letter of recommendation telling me that my gpa is not high enough (2.5) and i dont have enough research experience to really have a leg up on the competition. i knew all this, but i was hoping some really great gre scores would make them not pay THAT much attention to my low gpa and my lack of research, as research is not really my interest, but clinical counseling/therapy is. so even if i got say, a 155/160 on my gre, would it still be a waste of time and money to apply to the schools i've chosen. should i just go and pay the money to get my master's first? appreciate the help schools im applying to: northern illinois u loyola university of missouri st. louis university of louisville wayne state eastern michigan