Ppkitty

Sorry to hear that - are you referring to the PhD track?

Hi all, I saw a few people on the results board say they have heard back from BC - I haven't heard either way, anybody have an update?

Hi all, Field/Program: Counseling Psychology/Mental Health Counseling (MS) Schools: UMass Boston, Boston College, Northeastern University Status: Interview at Umass and Northeastern coming up, haven't heard from BC yet - has anybody else? I saw on the results board that some people have been accepted/rejected already, I haven't heard a peep!

Why are you only wanting to apply to top universities in the US? Even the most qualified student in the US will have a difficult time of it.

Those are my exact practice test scores lol

Thanks @TakeruK that was very helpful!

Your work experience is extremely impressive, but I fear your lack of research productivity and somewhat low GREs will hold you back from the top schools. Are those the only two you are applying to?

Would be much obliged!

I assume when this question is listed on an online application and it is not required, the correct thing to do is not fill it in? Is there something I'm missing here? Thanks for any input y'all can provide!

I don't think PhD programs care so much about your age as your experience. Did you gain the experience they wanted in your two years off? Do you feel you will be a better candidate at the end of the MPH?

@MarkLovesER, I think most programs realize that hands-on counseling experience is hard to get. However, many counseling psychology applicants will probably have a bit more clinical experience at the PhD applicant level, since many applicants already have a master's degree which required them to do an internship or practicum in the field. Really highlight your group therapy assistant experience in you SOP for sure.

Hi all! I'm working on my SOP now, and I have my 3 recommenders lined up. I have 2 questions 1: what is the courteous amount of time to leave someone to write a letter? My apps are due in the beginning of January, would mid-early november be enough time? I am not asking them to start writing now because I want to send them a completed SOP first for them to work off of, and I have an extremely rough draft. 2: I feel silly asking this, but I have gotten conflicting messages looking at the messageboards about this. If the online application leaves a space to insert the recommender email, and they send out the email to the professor to prompt them to upload the letter, does that all need to be completed by the application deadline? Or is that flexible as long as my other application elements are in? I'm just scared my app will get thrown out because a recommender hasn't submitted yet . Thanks!

My SOP is just like 3 pages of fragmented bullet points at the moment...ugh - Edit - lol wrong subthread. But still.

Bump! How are folks doing?

No, I believe it is around 50 dollars. I am enjoying using it for quant though, and I think it is worth it.

I would say if your goal is to learn quick shortcuts, you're better off with the empowerGRE program or something like that. The 5 lb book would undoubtedly increase your speed over a longer period of review time, but that would be because you drilled incessantly, not because you learned tricks or shortcuts.

I am using empower GRE and Magoosh in combination with multiple book resources such as the 5 lb practice problem book. It is working well for me, I have been studying for a month and my quant is up by two points.

Hi Madhuvanthi, it's hard to understand the conversion between GPA and the percentage score, as @cindyboop said, but the GRE is also a good determinant of competitiveness - do you have a rough idea of your scores? Also, you might want to look into the Brandeis University PhD in neuroscience - it looks like they have a behavioral track.

Thanks @8BitJourney I feel younger now! Yes, I had the same thinking as yourself originally that I would apply to a mix of MA and PhD programs, but most counseling psychology PhD programs that I am interested in either require a MA or strongly prefer one. I figure I'll go ahead and do it and hopefully get some hands on experience and a pub or two.

That makes sense, thanks @samman1994

Thanks for the input @rising_star !

Thanks for making the thread @aaustin, I hope more people post! I love finding out more about what other people are interested in specializing in, etc. As for me, I'm interested in applying to MA programs in Counseling Psychology (with the hope of going on to a Counseling Psychology PhD.) Reposting my info from another thread I started---- Strengths/qualifications: Summa graduate of top 30 liberal arts college with 3.84 GPA (3.9 Psychology) Dual major in Psychology and Health Policy RA for two undergrad research labs, one in social psych and one in health psych for a total of 2 years research experience undergrad. 9 months clinical supervised experience in practicum undergrad. TA three semesters. Honors thesis in psychology (received high honors within department). Research coordinator for 1 year (in middle of 2 year agreement) at a major research hospital. Strong LORs from senior undergrad psychology profs as well as current PI Worries: Potentially poor quant scores on GRE - I haven't taken the test yet, but my SAT math was only average even though I scored 800 verbal. I'm guessing those results will be similar. No poster presentations or publications Somewhat older applicant - took gap year before college and would matriculate at 25 if accepted this cycle.

Hi everyone! Does anyone have any advice about if it is good, bad, neutral, etc. to contact a faculty member of interest for a Masters program in Psychology? (Especially if that program offers guided study or a thesis?) Obviously there are many more MA applicants per year to a given program than PhD applicants, and I would understand if a faculty member would be annoyed at receiving inquiries from a Masters hopeful. In general, I would like to ask faculty I am interested in whether: they will be teaching the year(s) I plan to attend whether, in their opinion, I am a good fit for the program (given attached CV) whether they have any current or former students I could reach out to for more information Please let me know if you think this is overkill! I just don't want to waste an application on a program only to find out that I was never a "good fit"

"that being said it would be wise to be familiar with the literature out there in cognition + gender" - Yeah I think this is really important, I'm not sure if by this you meant that you are or are not familiar with the depth of the literature, but I would recommend reading at least 20 papers on the topic and looking for phrases like "further research is needed", etc. That should spark some ideas. You can probably tear through that many papers in a weekend.

Thanks @_kita! I'm looking into whether the programs offer a thesis or capstone option, or guided research.