academicbirb

Hey there, Yes, it's important for you to go to school in the state where you want to eventually work because different states have different licensure requirements and most programs are built to help you meet that state's in particular (super annoying, I know). So if you get licensed to work in one state and decide to move somewhere else, you might need to take more classes/do more supervision hours in order to meet that state's requirements. Most public/state schools have cheaper tuition overall so they'll have cheaper out of state tuition than private unis. If you're willing to come a bit further north to Massachusetts (and to deal with our cold weather, lol) we treat social workers pretty well, but our cost of living is also higher... Hope this helps and good luck!!

Accepted already?!!? Dang!!! Congrats! How soon after your app was considered complete at Simmons did they send your decision? Some of my transcripts got lost (have literally no idea how since they were all coming from schools in the same state but such is life) and my app was only marked complete a few days ago. I applied to BC's MSW/PhD, Simmons, and Bridgewater State.

Like others have said, how much is too much is up for you to decide, but you might qualify for loans/grants from the fed and depending on the school you might get a good financial aid package. For me, the MPH/MSW programs I've applied to will run me anywhere from ~50 to 100k without any assistance and these won't be terminal degrees for me either. If you're planning on ending with the MSW then more debt won't be as big of an issue because you won't be accumulating as much in interest than someone who goes on to PhD for 5-7 years.

They lost THREE of mine and made me re-send them so now my app for one of my schools is super late. No idea what to do either -- would they still have sent the rest to the school since I submitted my portion before the deadline? Really don't want to contact customer service again because they were supremely unhelpful the last time I called...

Hey, sorry it's been a hot minute since I've logged in! Thanks so much for the input!! <3 stothmonster I think your language skills and experiences abroad will definitely help make you a competitive candidate for global epi programs!! Even though your research experience is from a slightly different field, it's still related and I think most programs are just looking to see that you'll be able to produce content to make the program look good. Jane IMO most schools care more about the last two years' GPA than the overall, especially when looking at people who only have a BA/BS; the expectation is that going into college can be a huge learning curve for people and lots of people change majors a few times if they see they don't like/aren't cut out for the one they originally went with. The fact that you have a pub (period, even though it's not related) shows you at least know what the process looks like/you're capable of putting out content. And IMO the fact that you're older will probably help more than hurt you because you'll automatically come off as more mature/sure of your career path, etc. Good luck!! Also, do MPH programs do interviews for applicants or just send out acceptance/rejection letters??? Side note: SOPHAS is the WORST. THING. EVER. They lost three of my transcripts in the mail/their P.O. Box so I've definitely missed Harvard's deadline & grace period because I had to re-send those and they only just arrived to be verified this week. Now I'm anxious that I'll miss BU's deadline too and have wasted $200...

Anyone heard from Boston College or UMass Boston? I know the deadline was literally 16 days ago but I'm already freaking out.

I'm not super familiar with Master's programs in your area of research, unfortunately, but I know most places will give you at least some kind of merit or need-based scholarship (pricier schools usually have more scholarship money to give away but cheaper ones will probably give you closer to the full cost) and lots of places will allow you to TA for undergrad courses to make some money/reduce the cost of tuition. But, odds are you'll need to take out loans. However, the good news: if you decide to go on to PhD after getting a Master's you can defer your federal loans for the Master's until after your PhD is completed! I think you also get a six-month grace period after graduation and you can kick the can along the road for another six months after that if you're still unemployed. The bad news: interest will continue to accumulate in that time, so paying off interest while you're in the MA program is in your best interest.

Thanks for the input Plasticity! I really appreciate it -- it's always a dice roll with this sort of thing but I feel like a liar when I don't include it. OpenMindKim -- speaking as someone who applied to all PhD programs last year (and was rejected from all); one of the biggest things against you right now is your age and experience. A lot of the people you're competing against are older and have been working in the field for longer than you by virtue of their age. A lot of PIs are leery of taking folks straight from undergrad because they haven't shown the same commitment to the field as other folks and dropouts waste a ton of grant money, time, and effort put into mentoring them. That being said, I think having more plan B options is better; I really regret not applying to some master's programs last year because this basically locked me out of doing anything but taking a year to work. At the same time, I'm grateful for the chance to not go into debt for a non-terminal master's (because I probably would have taken the master's last year out of desperation)... there are many roads to Rome, as my advisors always say; the path to your desired career might not be through a psych PhD.

Hi day_manderly, I really appreciate the input. My thinking with potentially disclosing my sexual orientation or at least hinting at it more vaguely (something along the lines of "giving back to the LGBTQ community") is that sometimes people find it easier to talk to people who share experiences with them (the appropriateness of doing so is often hotly debated, I know) and having an insider's perspective can sometimes be helpful when doing research, especially with qualitative stuff. A bunch of my schools have a weird combo SOP/Personal Statement, and some have vague instructions on the statement of purpose with the prompts asking why you're interested in x area of research.

I'm applying to counseling psychology PhD programs, MSW programs, MPH programs, and one combo MSW/PhD program. I'm interested in a lot of the things I do research on because of personal experiences but I'm not sure how much is too much to disclose in a SOP. Last year, I explicitly disclosed my disability and asked someone that sits on the adcomm for one of the programs I was applying to if he thought it hurt my app but he said it probably didn't (he's also very blunt and I don't think he'd lie even though we work together). He did say that my age WAS a big turnoff for a lot of people (I'm only 22, was 21 at time of last app). When I was in HS, I was told constantly by school administrators that I'd never graduate high school because of my disability and that I'd never get into college, but I'm a really stubborn person and once I set my mind to something, I don't stop until it's done. I graduated college with a 3.986 GPA and was on Dean's List at the summa cum laude level every semester I was enrolled; and I've been dead set on getting a PhD since my first semester of undergrad. I'm not super concerned about my chances of getting into just regular MSW programs because my grades are good and the places I'm applying to are my "safety" schools. But, with the other programs, I'm a little worried about how to craft an SOP. Right now, I work in two labs: one deals with mentoring relationships for adolescents and positive youth development, and the other focuses on LGBTQIA+ issues, typically surrounding mental and physical health with a focus on HIV risk/prevention. As an adolescent, I developed a disability that went untreated for a long time and my experiences within the medical community and my school system weren't exactly the greatest, which is what spurred my interest in health psychology and adolescence as a specific age group to focus on (chronic absenteeism is also why I'm terrible at math-- I had to teach myself!). I'm also bisexual and apparently have a very trustworthy air because everyone else that was closeted in my high school would come to me for advice about dealing with their identity, their parents, and what to do about safe sex (thanks public school for the lack of safe, same-sex sex ed!). A lot of them were suicidal which is what made me want to pursue counseling with a focus on LGBTQIA+ youth -- when I was a senior in high school, I just wanted to just go for a master's in counseling after undergrad. But, after enrolling in research methods I knew that I wanted to go for a PhD and do research as well. I was offered a job in a research lab during undergrad because I kept getting 100s on all of my exams in that professor's class, which is where I found my passion for research and studying youth mentoring, especially within niche hobbyist communities (because those were some of the only places where I felt accepted as an adolescent & still have a big impact on my life today). So through that experience, I learned that research is something that I want to continue to pursue because I can have a broader impact on people, and after doing a clinical internship, I'm still confident that counseling is something that I want to do because I like to help individuals directly. I know framing things this way is probably WAY too ancecdote-y for a lot of adcomms but I also want to be able to convey why I'm especially passionate and determined to pursue studying these topics...

Hi there! I saw there was a Canadian thread started but not a US one so here goes! Applying a little more broadly this round (last year was Clinical + Counseling psych, this year I'm doing Counseling Psych PhDs, MPH, MSW, and one combo MSW/PhD program), and I'd really appreciate some insight on my odds for MPH! The good: 3.986 GPA undergrad Honors College Membership contingent upon maintaining 3.2 all semesters; extra classes required for graduation Chancellor's Scholarship undergrad - contingent upon maintaining 3.5, full ride to (public) uni Dean's List at summa cum laude every semester enrolled Provost's Certificate -- for maintaining 3.9 GPA every semester enrolled Independent Honors Thesis 1 pub -- hoping to get another 2 out as first author before sending in apps (lofty goal, I know); on a couple of presentations Worked 20-40 hours a week between two research labs as an undergrad (one paid, one volunteer/one semester of credit) for two years, continue to volunteer in side lab 1 year of "full-time" research experience as lab manager (not like I was already doing full time hours between the two labs during undergrad but w/e...) 180 hour clinical internship working in a crisis stabilization unit + 8 months per diem work Gonna get three absolutely stellar letters of reccomendation The Meh: Went to public uni that's not always well-regarded (UMass Boston) I'm a baby by some people's standards (22) which my side-lab director mentioned was a huge turn-off for him because people fresh from undergrad don't know what they want to do with their lives and waste grant money if/when they drop out -- planning on addressing this directly because aside from changing my mind on BS vs BA I haven't at all wavered in what I've wanted to do with my life since senior year of high school - if nothing else I'm stubborn as hell and won't stop until I do what I came to do. Have a rare disability that manifested in middle school that wasn't treated properly until late HS (planning on highlighting this in my personal statement/statement of purpose because it's part of the reason why I'm so interested in adolescence & health psych). The Ugly: GRE scores... I did much worse this year than last (144 vs 142 Q, 158 vs 156 V, 4.5 vs 5.5A) but hit "send all scores" the day of. Likely the result of: a) extreme test anxiety because I know the GRE is really make-it-or-break-it for a lot of schools, I want to vomit every time I think of how much money I wasted on apps last year and how much I'll be paying for a non-terminal master's if I don't get into PhD this round; b ) My math skills outside of stats are absolutely abysmal because I had to literally teach myself math in high school (still managed to get nothing less than C's-- mostly A's and B's then) -- I'd miss months of school at a time and would get "home tutoring" from people who were just as lost as I was. Got a B+ in stats during undergrad -- because our prof gave everyone in the class the wrong directions for how to run SPSS so all of our labs were incorrect; half the class withdrew before the deadline and half of the remaining folks just stopped showing up; prof was an adjunct and was fired after that semester because of that class, but combined with the perception of "UMB's so easy you'd have to be really dumb to get less than an A" I can see why PIs would see this as a red flag combined with abysmal GRE scores. I'm applying to BU & Harvard... any thoughts on odds?

Applying to counseling PhDs this round, and I'd really appreciate some insight on my odds! The good: 3.986 GPA undergrad Honors College Membership contingent upon maintaining 3.2 all semesters; extra classes required for graduation Chancellor's Scholarship undergrad - contingent upon maintaining 3.5, full ride to (public) uni Dean's List at summa cum laude every semester enrolled Provost's Certificate -- for maintaining 3.9 GPA every semester enrolled Independent Honors Thesis 1 pub -- hoping to get another 2 out as first author before sending in apps (lofty goal, I know); on a couple of presentations Worked 20-40 hours a week between two research labs as an undergrad (one paid, one volunteer/one semester of credit) for two years, continue to volunteer in side lab 1 year of "full-time" research experience as lab manager (not like I was already doing full time hours between the two labs during undergrad but w/e...) 180 hour clinical internship working in a crisis stabilization unit + 8 months per diem work Gonna get three absolutely stellar letters of reccomendation The Meh: Went to public uni that's not always well-regarded (UMass Boston) I'm a baby by some people's standards (22) which my side-lab director mentioned was a huge turn-off for him because people fresh from undergrad don't know what they want to do with their lives and waste grant money if/when they drop out -- planning on addressing this directly because aside from changing my mind on BS vs BA I haven't at all wavered in what I've wanted to do with my life since senior year of high school - if nothing else I'm stubborn as hell and won't stop until I do what I came to do. Have a rare disability that manifested in middle school that wasn't treated properly until late HS (planning on highlighting this in my personal statement/statement of purpose because it's part of the reason why I'm so interested in adolescence & health psych). The Ugly: GRE scores... I did much worse this year than last (144 vs 142 Q, 158 vs 156 V, 4.5 vs 5.5A) but hit "send all scores" the day of. Likely the result of: a) extreme test anxiety because I know the GRE is really make-it-or-break-it for a lot of schools, I want to vomit every time I think of how much money I wasted on apps last year and how much I'll be paying for a non-terminal master's if I don't get into PhD this round; b ) My math skills outside of stats are absolutely abysmal because I had to literally teach myself math in high school (still managed to get nothing less than C's-- mostly A's and B's then) -- I'd miss months of school at a time and would get "home tutoring" from people who were just as lost as I was. Got a B+ in stats during undergrad -- because our prof gave everyone in the class the wrong directions for how to run SPSS so all of our labs were incorrect; half the class withdrew before the deadline and half of the remaining folks just stopped showing up; prof was an adjunct and was fired after that semester because of that class, but combined with the perception of "UMB's so easy you'd have to be really dumb to get less than an A" I can see why PIs would see this as a red flag combined with abysmal GRE scores. I'm applying to BC & UMB (but not with anyone I've worked with previously) for counseling as well as BC's MSW/PhD combo program (I know it's not psych but I figure there's at least some overlap with admissions criteria...) I was offered a spot in BC's consolation prize Master's program last year but declined it because it seemed like too much of a money grab for me (no renewal of the scholarship they offered for a 2-yr program...) What do you think my odds are looking like this year?

I took the GRE on the 21st and got my official scores back today; but here's the kicker: at the testing center I received a score of 149 (still abysmal, I know) for the quant but then the official score report said 142 -- has this happened to anyone else? I'm so lost...

I'm not sure - it might vary from state to state. Mental hospitals/general hospitals usually have a lot of openings for research assistants but I don't know how that works in terms of foreigners being able to find jobs. Sorry!

Yikes! This year is a total wash for me. Do you know if they've sent rejection notices? I'm worried my app wasn't processed now...

I got the rejection from BC with the offer for the MA too - don't do it. Most PhD programs will have you earn a Master's while you're in it, and having a Master's going in will not cut down on the time it takes to get the PhD. Don't go into debt for a non-terminal degree. You're better off taking the year to get a research job in the field that your ideal mentor(s) are in.

Has anyone heard from Boston University's Clinical PhD program yet? I know interviews are two weeks from today but still haven't heard one way or the other.