StartingtheProcess83298353

check out SHESC at ASU!

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has a research master's that's actually very evolutionary psych focused because a big portion of the faculty are evo psych people. They're not particularly Culture focused, although you may have some luck with Balliet who does cross-cultural work these days and van Lange who did the climate theory thing. Not necessarily competitive either, but if your goal is a PhD in Europe it wouldn't hurt you. Getting *back* in the US may be a bit more difficult. But that also goes for U of A and some other places. 

I got accepted! Waiting to hear about the financial package, but very excited ?

Was just wondering if anyone else on GradCafe was applying to MFT PhD or related programs? There's not really a perfect forum to post about it in, as GradCafe doesn't have a Human Ecology forum, but Psychology seems as close as anything.
I was trying to figure out average dates for interviews and the like but that's pretty hard for the MFT programs.
I've applied for Marriage and Family Therapy or Couples and Family Therapy programs at:
University of Iowa
University of of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Kansas State University
Adler University
Antioch University
Mount Mercy University.

This sounds an awful lot like they are calling for a systemic therapeutic style. You should look at Marriage and Family Therapy or another human ecological approach- the name (in today's culture) is misleading to the point there has been talk about rebranding to just calling it Systemic Therapy. It is common for MFTs (especially postmodern MFTs, like myself) to feel that diagnosis are bull and that people are normal and responding in normal human ways to whatever situation or event they have experienced that has been traumatic, stressful, etc... As well as putting heavy emphasis on the fact that people act and react from within a system- which heavily influences their experiences of stress and distress, as well as the behavior patterns they have learned and that are available to them for use- and that this must be addressed in therapy. This is literally the reason I veered off the traditional psychology path (my undergrad degree is in just vanilla psychology) and opted for the less mainstream MFT path.
Anyways, have fun looking into stuff. As an undergrad I ran into a similar paradigm shift and I am so glad I did. I hope you find the type of approach and a corresponding program that you are looking for.

What are you looking for in a program?
I would not advise the City College (CCNY) MA in psychology program to anyone who wants a quality. Before it started, I was really excited about being in the program but after just a few classes I quickly realized what a mistake it was - I wasn't learning anything. The classes are easier than many first year undergraduate courses, so you're not going to be challenged or prepared for real graduate level work. The professors are mostly undergrad professor who just happen to be teaching a class or two in the graduate program. This often means that they are not trained, adequate grad school professors, and they often treat grad students like undergrad (like having a large chuck of class time dedicated to talking about how wikipedia isn't a reliable source for a research article - d'oh!). Student's quickly pick up that the professors aren't committed so they aren't committed either. Few people do the readings and homework before class, so instead of having class discussions that build or do anything of substance, it's basically just reading the assigned work aloud with the class.
If you're just looking to bolster your GPA (very easy to get straight A's) and don't actually care about learning more, then it's probably a good fit. Otherwise, I would seriously consider somewhere else. 

You should definitely look around. Counseling is not what you described. A counseling masters degree is less about abnormal clinical psychology and more about therapeutic techniques.

These are interesting macro goals that you have. In a perfect world, what would be your ideal career title/employer? This might help guide your search and any advice that I and others might give to you.
 
From a policy perspective, I know plenty of MSWs from my work with a major non-profit during my undergrad that do macro-level advocacy for a niche area of medicine and research. What allowed them to get into their advocacy perspective, however, was 20+ years of applied clinical practice. Frankly, as someone who could see myself going into advocacy/non-profit work after a 25+ year in academia or private practice, I think we need more people in advocacy who have in-the-trenches experience and offer that expertise as an advocacy perspective. Book-knowledge really can only get you so far in identifying problems and advocating for solutions, in my humble opinion. 

I also graduated a decade ago, with a bachelor's and a master's degrees in unrelated fields. I am applying for PhD in psychology in the coming application season.
A couple of months ago, I wrote to 3 potential advisors about my background. 2 of them replied and gave me some practical advice: a) a writing sample related to psychology is not essential, but it could be helpful; b) (since I didn't have any thesis relating to the field) there may be multiple benefits of conducting a small-scale study that results in a writing sample; c) academic references are generally preferred, it doesn't matter if they are your supervisors in a degree program or not.
I started volunteering in a lab in a local university after hearing from the professors. I have read nearly a hundred research papers and contributed in various ways to a project. It was not as difficult as I thought it would be (it's not easy - but as long as you took the first step, the rest comes naturally). My next step is to ask the lead investigator of the project to write me an academic reference. I would advice you do the same.
Hope this helps. All the best to your dreams.
 
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p.s. Though my background isn't in the field, part of my experience is related to their research interest, and both professors think I have merit. My feeling is that it all depends on how you present it.

Yes, research fit is one of the biggest factors, as you are rarely applying to the program as a whole and more so applying to work with a specific faculty member. You can start by going onto the APA website that lists all of the accredited programs. Go to the individual websites of different programs and peruse faculty. One of the easier ways that I found when I was making my list was to look at publications in my area of interest and seeing where those faculty are located and then looking at those programs. A lot of people also recommend buying The Insider's Guide Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. This book describes all programs and ranks them on a scale of research vs clinical emphasis. I personally did not use it and just went off of information from school websites, but a huge number of people find it very beneficial. APA accredited programs are required to report student outcome data, so many have a page or PDF that described outcome data in regards to internship match rate and licensure rate. The majority of them also include data on how many applications they receive, how many students they accept each year, and the Quant, Verbal, and Writing GRE scores and GPA. This can give you a sense of how you stack up to the average accepted student for that program. Most people apply to between 10-15 programs given the low acceptance rate. The stats are that you have about a 1-2% chance of being accepted to any one program, and about a 10% chance overall. Having a mix of R1s, R2s, and even R3s is recommended. R1s are usually the most competitive. 

I had a similiar experience of having a Human Bio w/ concentration in Psych undergrad degree. 3.3ish overall GPA. Just got Master's in gen psych last spring and got into a very good phd program this year first time applying.

It's literally their first FAQ on their website:
"The typical applicant who is competitive has (a) GRE scores over the 50th percentile, (b) a GPA of 3.5 or above for the last 60 hours of the baccalaureate degree, and (c) a graduate GPA of 3.75 (if a previous master's degree has been earned). We look for experience in both research and counseling, and we are committed to training a culturally diverse group of students. Mean GRE score percentiles for students admitted in recent years typically fall between 75-90."

Have you considered psychological anthropology or even medical anthropology? I would recommend looking at different programs focusing on these areas and then look at the research being done there.
 
Also, since you aren't 100% sure on what you want to do, I recommend getting a master's degree first. A PhD is a really long-term commitment, and you probably don't want to commit 6-8 years of your life to something when you have so many options. A master's will also help you confirm if the field you chose to get your master's on is what you really want to continue doing.

I  believe UPenn also has one as well as the American College in (of?) Greece.

I had some ups and downs on my transcripts and I just tacked on a short paragraph at the end basically saying "I battled undiagnosed such and such until I was 23, but now its under control and was able to finish my undergraduate degree as a much stronger student. and now that I'm back on track, I have these characteristics that will make me a successful graduate student.

Someone else advised me on addressing it this, as thats what he did for his SOP and he was accepted into his program. So I went with it. Those who have reviewed my SOP haven't told me to get rid of it.

At what stage in your educational career are you?  If you're still in the first or second year of UG you may find that you figure it out just by taking more classes.
 
One route might be to do a research master's - e.g., the one-year MA in Social Sciences at U of Chicago (MAPSS), the two-year MS in Applied Social Research at CUNY-Hunter, etc.  These kinds of programs would greatly sharpen the arrows in your research quiver and may give you the time/perspective to figure out 1) if you want a PhD; and 2) if you do want a PhD, which discipline will suit you best.
 
Of course, if you do decide you'd like to enter the professoriate I'd also strongly encourage you to think about employability.  Of the fields you've mentioned a doctorate in marketing would make you more employable than a doctorate in the other fields, for example.
 
Hope that helps!

A post-bac gpa is usually separate and yes just like research lady said mst are unfunded but not all as some programs have a required research component where you become a paid RA. In this case or for a master's I doubt they'd disregard your uGPA but it may help offset it somewhat .
Extending your undergrad time is an option as well but I would only do so if there is a lab that you feel you can do a decent amount of high quality work and can get financial aid. Some people who have the finances and a clear goal move to work in the lab that they ultimately really want to apply to as to become a known factor to admissions committee. But the best combo I think is working as an RA after undergrad and taking classes. Psychology is not a field worth taking out a lot of debt for.
Do you have an idea of which programs you're aiming for? Fully funded vs. partially (Not recommended) funded? Competitiveness of the program? (Ie chapel hill or Harvard vs alliant university). I don't believe in official rankings like first vs third but quality of programs do vary.

I'm not sure why you would consider doing a masters degree in anything other than psychology. If your ultimate goal is a psychology PhD program, start laying the groundwork for that discipline. There are many areas to choose from (e.g., general psychology, experimental psych, counseling psych, clinical psych, etc.). Be aware that clinical psych doctoral programs sometimes frown on applicants with masters degrees. Not all clinical psych programs, but many. Counseling psych doctoral programs, on the other hand, usually consider students with masters degrees and some programs even require it. I would suggest trying to find a masters program that is funded. Otherwise they can be expensive.

UPDATE: I found out that I can take one more class and get a certificate in public health instead and that would be MUCH more useful to me than a full degree and shouldn't mess up my CV. For anyone stuck in a similar situation, I recommend this route. I'd also say that if you're not sure about an MPH, start in the certificate program. You can always transfer into the masters if you DO like it.