Newbee2019

All, Thank you for your valuable feedback. I have started looking at research opportunities. I totally appreciate the value of research experience in helping me narrow down my area(s) of interest but while I seek such opportunities in a very competitive environment, I want to get a Master's degree to gain a broad foundational knowledge as well. I have a question about Teachers College M.A. programs in Clinical Psychology and Developmental Psychology. It appears that both programs have topics that are of interest to me, in terms of both courses as well as faculty research areas. Both programs have a fairly flexible structure i.e. ability to take courses from other programs. I think I can get the foundational knowledge through either of these programs to supplement the research experience. I am looking for insight into which program is easier to get into, given my non-traditional background and no research experience (so far). Edit: I am assuming here that if I apply for one and dont get through, then the chances of getting into the other program during the following semester is low/close to zero. Please correct me if I am wrong. Happy Holidays!

Thank you so much for all the valuable suggestions. @Romedy Kudos to you for your perseverence! And thanks a ton for sharing the lessons you learned. Helps a lot! @t_ruth Happy to hear a PI's POV. Thank you for piching in! I will reach out to faculty in my areas of interest :) @HACand @Psygeek - I will look into opportunities for hands-on research while I explore the Master's option. Thanks for the pointer. @PsyDGrad90 I have zero background in psychology apart from a 101 and the first year undergrad level statistics/research methods course. Thats why I think a master's will help me get some solid subject matter foundation, sharpening my writing skills, working in the lab etc. It feels like I'd be swimming in the deep end if I were to jump straight into PhD without any background. Perhaps experience as RA in labs, as suggested above, might provide me with some boost. I'll certainly look into it. Thank you so much for information on CUNY and the R1 vs R2 research uni categorisation!

@HACThanks for the response! I am interested in areas that fall under developmental and clinical. Also the traditional programming I am used to may be irrelevant to computational neuroscience research.

Hi I have a master's degree in computer science from a while ago. Been working for the past decade or so. I am interested in studying psychology out of interest and to switch careers. I believe that I can do master's degree to get some subject matter foundation before applying for PhD (I already have the basic prerequisites for master's covered such as introduction to psychology, intro stats). I'm looking for universities in New York City area that have a master's program which can be a stepping stone to get into a good University for PhD later. I am concerned that NYU is hard to get in given my background (no research or psych related experience). How about teacher's college? Does it have good faculty/research/reputation? Also, considering master's in CUNY but I am not sure how much of a stepping stone it is in terms of quality of education and research experience and reputation when it comes to admission for PhD in a good Uni later on. Any advice/direction is much appreciated!