pr1ncess-z

Jeopardy music plays...

I'm a nontrad student who is currently doing psych prerequisite courses at a local (accredited American) university in a different country. I plan to move back to the US, specifically NYC, in January but am debating whether or not to do a Masters. Normally people advise against it, but I'm afraid I won't be able to find the right research opportunities without entering an Masters program. In NYC, competition is really fierce and I feel like professors won't even respond to you unless you're attached to a university. My GPA is high and I will have good letters of recommendation, but my research experience is pretty short (1 year at a neuroscience lab with coauthorship but no journal acceptance - yet, and started my own independent research project 1 month ago aiming for publication as well). My interest is in Asian American mental health, so I'm looking mostly at Counseling programs. I want to do a mixture of research and practice in the future. Do y'all think it'd be possible to find research opportunities on my own or would a Masters make more sense? I was thinking of even applying to some PhDs directly as well as Masters programs for Fall 2025 admissions and seeing what happens, but not sure if that's advisable. Thanks!