[Fordham vs. Baruch (or CCNY or Brooklyn) for MA in Mental Health Counseling]

On April 6, 2016 at 1:07 PM, El_Consejero said:

I'm finding myself in a similar boat. I've been accepted to Fordham, NYU, Columbia TC, Hunter, and City. I've all but ruled out Colubmia and NYU because of cost, and find myself debating between Fordham, Hunter, and City. If anyone has any input, I would be much obliged. Here are my thoughts:

Fordham: Offered me a 25% tuition scholarship, so would cost me about 60k in loans to attend. I went to a Jesuit high school and college, so I do appreciate that tradition and it seems to infuse the counseling curriculum quite heavily. I have friends and colleagues who have completed the school counseling program and have given it rave reviews. My current work has taken me to their campus quite a few times, and I have always come away very impressed with the infrastructure. They have a career counselor dedicated solely to helping alums of the counseling program find employment after school. This program would also, I believe, give me a greater potential to move on to doctoral-level study(I could see myself wanting to teach counseling someday as well as going into practice). If I were to take out these loans, I'd likely rely on securing a position with the National Health Services Corps to repay 50k, but it's scary to consider a huge variable like that being used for repayment. 

Total Loans: 60k+(maybe 5-10 more for living expenses)

 

Hunter: Is the cheapest option because I could still work full-time in addition to attending class(at least during the semesters I am not doing internship). However, this is the program I am least familiar with. I didn't interview, and the website is a bit difficult to navigate, so it's been a little hard to figure out exactly which faculty teach in the mental health counseling specialization, and what their research interests are. I hear that the program is well-regarded, but I haven't had any first-hand encounter with the school or faculty (I am working on getting in touch with current students). The Handbook is online, but hasn't been updated since 2012. All I can really say about this program is that it's cheap, so if anybody has heard anything else regarding reputation, please do share. 

Total Loans: ~21k (+5-10)

 

City College: This is a very small program(which appeals to me), and during my interview I felt I was able to connect well to the two faculty members I met. In researching the other faculty, I feel that, despite there being only seven of them, they have a diverse range of research experiences and theoretical orientations. The building itself was a little shabby, but then again all you really need to do counseling is a couple of chairs. It is a full-time program, so while I would be comforted by knowing it would be totally finished in two years, I wouldn't be able to work as much to pay rent, and would have to rely at least partially on loans to cover living expenses. Also, whereas the other two degrees are M.S.Ed, this is an M.A. program, and I've heard that may come into play if accreditation rules are tightened up in the future. One professor who interviewed me did say that it's rare for students of this program to move on to PhD work(but that it isn't impossible). The community seems to be very tight-knit, which strikes me as important for development as a counselor. 

Total Loans: Likely about 40k, assuming living expenses while attending full-time. Potentially fewer if I were able to save up during summers, but I am coming into this with no savings, having been an Americorps volunteer these past two years. 

I apologize if this is considered hijacking the original thread, but because both the original poster and I seem to have similar issues, I thought it might be appropriate to add to the discussion. 

May I ask what your application stats looked like to get into NYU and Columbia? They are my top choices.

[Mental Health Counseling Masters: Going this year vs Postponing]

I have heard bad things about Columbia's program, but I do not know how accurate they are. I had heard they lost their APA accreditation so I would look into that.

[Better to have a LOR from professor or supervisor?]

I am applying to graduate programs beginning in December for mental health counseling

So far my choices are:

University of Florida

Florida State

University of Central Florida

New York University

Columbia

George Washington University

Boston College

Each of these programs requires 3 LOR, however I currently have 4. I have 2 from professors and 2 from supervisors. I intern at the Mental Health Association of Central Florida and have for the past 2 semesters, the vice president is willing to write me a letter and I also have one from the program coordinator at the Boys and Girls Club where I volunteered/became employed as a Group Leader in the 1st grade classroom. My professor LORs are from heads of the department and I currently TA for them both. Which 3 out of the 4 do you think I should go with? Also how good do you think my chances are with these programs. I have a 3.7 cumulative, a 3.8 psychology, and a 4.0 last 60 credit hour GPA, I am trained in Guardian Advocacy, QPR, Youth Suicide Prevention, and Mental Health First Aid. I have interned for 2 semesters as a mental health connections specialist at the Mental Health Association of Central Florida, I volunteered and was eventually hired as a Group Leader at the Boys and Girls Club last Summer, I am currently attempting to get a leadership position in the UCF's Medical Intervention Outreach club and I belong to the PsyChi Honors club, and Active Minds. I also do volunteer work with Care Packaged for Central Florida which is an organization dedicated to helping Orlando's homeless. I also, as I mentioned earlier, am a TA for 2 psychology professors (Physiological Psychology and General Psychology) I am taking the GRE in October so scores are pending on that. Any feedback is much appreciated.