JuneDreams

Hmm, I think you're right. I should talk to someone in the psychology department at my school and see what they advise. The closest school with a program in social psych is over two hours away from me. Working in their labs would be way too far to drive... Thanks for your encouragement!

I did not major in psychology. I got a B.A. in something not relevant because it was the thing to do at the time, but I never worked in that field or anything. Then I was a stay at home mom for 6 years. I recently went back to school to figure out what exactly I wanted to do, knowing I wanted to do research of some kind, so I took some courses in statistics. I've narrowed down my interest to a PhD in Social/Personality Psychology. Originally I had thought I would go more the public health route. So, I'm currently working at a biostatistics lab. Hopefully it will provide research experience - the movement on that seems to be slow at the moment. I feel nervous about this because this experience seems very unrelated to psychology research. But I don't want to just leave, I want to complete it. Afterwards maybe I can look at getting some experience at one of the research labs in the psych department at my school, although, they don't have anything for social/personality psych. Then there is the question of courses? My school doesn't have social/personality psychology programs. They have an I/O psychology program, but that seems different to me than what I'm actually interested in. And since they say that the Master's prepares you for industry and the PhD prepares you for research - I don't really see the merit in doing a Masters in I/O psychology if what I ultimately want is a PhD in social/personality psych. I am interested a little bit in the lab they have for I/O psychology. Would experience there be useful for my goals? I'm kind of lost about what I ought to do. How do I get the qualifications that I need to be accepted at a good PhD program in social/personality psych if I haven't worked or gotten degrees in many years.... and if my school doesn't have social/psych programs for me to take advantage of....? Thanks in advance!