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You can absolutely include your personal experiences! Include your work experiences too and try to make them relevant to what interests you. Your SOP shouldn't sound too sympathetic but should represent that you're human with the potential to grow. Highlight your interests to what the program focuses on and you should be good!

Wow! Thanks so much for the help! My grades are very good and I have lots of relevant experience which probably made me get into many of the masters programs. I wish I had applied to more PhD programs just to see if I could get in, since I'm now realizing that a clinical or counseling psychology degree would be better. I was rejected from only two programs which was CCNY's Clinical Psychology PhD program and Baruch's Mental Health Counseling program. I guess each school is so different so there's really no way of telling if you'll get in or not. I was mainly considering the School Psychology degree because I'm still living with my sole guardian who was willing to support me for the 5 years it would take to complete the program. Other professors and school psychologists where I work have told me that I wouldn't need to work in a school and can even do testing which pays a good salary. My interests are working more with young adults and sometimes children. Initially I couldn't see myself in a school environment. I always thought I would be in a more clinical setting but I thought I shouldn't reject the idea. The program is very expensive though but a few of the students said that they have been debt free so far coming up to their second year because of the graduate assistantship. Is anyone else more familiar with this because you have to apply for it like a regular job, therefore it's not guaranteed. The MSW program at Hunter is much more affordable and is a very good program in NYC. I would be able to become an LMSW after finishing the program. I believe in NYC an LMSW can roughly earn $75,000? But to be able to earn what a school psychologist would I would need to earn my LCSW which would take an additional 3 years to get those hours of supervision. Those years would be paid though since I can earn those hours while working. So in total, it would still be five years. Is anyone familiar with what an LCSW does compared to a psychologist?

Hey everyone, So I've applied to many programs for grad school. Programs for mental health counseling at NYU, Fordham, CCNY, St. John's, Lehman, Queens, and Columbia. I've also applied to some social work programs at NYU, Fordham, Columbia, and Hunter. Lastly, I applied to St. John's PsyD program in school psychology. Queens College and Columbia for both programs still have to get back to me, but besides that I've been accepted to every other program listed here. I'm really happy but it makes the decision too hard. NYU's mental health program was a bit too expensive for 2 years so I decided to not go for that. CCNY is just a bit too far and I've already experienced their school before. Hunter's MSW program is supposedly well known and cheap. I know that Fordham is also a good school but is a bit more expensive for both programs. St. John's PsyD program does have graduate assistantships to help with the cost of your tuition which can cover all of it for a given semester but it is 5 years of school and many professionals in the field have mentioned that working in a school is not what they expected. I know that you can do many things besides working at a school once you get your doctorate but a professor of mine mentioned that there is a stigma against how qualified school psychologists are. Is that true? Should I pursue a clinical psychology PhD after doing my masters then? Would a masters increase my chances of getting in? How do people also support their living expenses while attending graduate school? This is all very overwhelming and I would love to hear if anyone else is familiar with any of these programs or has been in a similar situation as me. Thank you all!