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I would go with #2 but added "such as Alzheimers disease". Gives the committee more detail, but also doesn't make you sound like a one trick pony.

When it comes to the mental development section the "show, don't tell" writing rule is critical. Telling about your development waters it down. So for example: I worked for three years with mental health service delivery and I learned about problems in the field. That made me want to switch from counseling to policy effectiveness evaluation. OR After working in mental health service delivery for 4 years, my interest in counseling changed to the policy behind the practice. My interest grew as I noticed thar treatment plans were haphazardly aligned to personal client recovery. I wondered what caused the misalignment and how to fix it. The more I considered policy flaws, the more I wanted to find out how to improve upon the current methodology. That led me to effectiveness evaluation. In #2 I illustrate both my personal development and other field specific skills (client-centered, self-driven, inquisitive, etc.). They get a feel for my personality and thought process. #1 wouldn't give any of that insight.

I concur with those above. Your stats suggest you're a good choice outside one exam. You should make it past the raw score cut off and then the experience, LOR and SOP matter more. If you're really worried, you can also look to see if those same programs offer a masters program. If they have an option to have you apply to both, do so. But really, I think you'll be fine.

Something to keep in mind, another program may "agree to transfer credits" and then do the same exact thing this program did. While a school has a transfer policy, they individually evaluate each class to see if it is "exactly equivalent" to the class you have taken. You may end up applying for 3-4 classes (or more), think you'll get transfer credit, and then only have 1 class transferred in. It sounds like your current program did exactly this. While it's a frustrating process to go through, it is common enough that you'll likely experience something similar to this with any future program too. You can see if the admissions committee with check your transcript for transferrable credits, but most won't really a thorough job of it until you're accepted. In short, I don't suggest planning your academic decision around transfer credit. As for your other concern, if you decide to transfer for interdisciplinary work, make certain to really screen all programs with scrutiny. Talk to students in the programs regarding cross-collaboration. Even then, you won't really get a great feel for it until you are in another program as it often changes based on the specific research lab, faculty member, or even cohort personalities.

Sounds to me like that question is for students who have more direct connections with the department already, so you would see undergrads and researcher from that program have "professors in support of it." But I would ask for clarification too.

I understand the frustration. I've spent 4 years in grad school with another 8 years in a dead-end low-level part of my field. After completing the degrees all I was is to jump up into jobs I'm academically qualified for, but @Sigaba is right. Every person you're talking to right now is a future professional connection and/or networking opportunity. If there was something you can do, that's different. But as it is, it would come off, at best, as immature.

Is the goal a PhD specific or a doctoral? Because a master's in clinical mental health counseling is a terminal degree for licensure, but it also lines students up nicely for the PhD Counseling or a PsyD (applied clinical doctoral). Unfortunately, CACREP, the Counseling for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, is pushing to have clinical psychology programs re-labeled as clinical counseling ones. They want psychology and counseling separated as definitively different subsections. One of my masters programs had to do just this to gain accreditation. The department had to be a separate one entirely from the psych department. Food for thought: I would suggest adding in the doctoral/masters licensure requirements now if that is your end goal. With that in mind, CACREP is more important down the road on your resume and for licensure (http://www.cacrep.org/value-of-accreditation/why-should-i-choose-an-accredited-program/). So even if you find a clinical psychology program, it may not qualify you for your license. You would have to take extra classes, add on more practicum/internship time, etc. Furthermore, in some states CACREP allows you to sit for the licensing exam as soon as you graduate. That allows you to take it when the material is fresh in your mind which is an advantage over non-CACREP students. If you want to find a CACREP program, you can search here: http://www.cacrep.org/directory/

I would definitely call the admissions office about how much, if anything, can be waived or transferred over. Several PhD programs allow a transfer of credits. But even that process is not universal. Those that do could take only 2-3 classes worth of credits, others will take more. You will have to ask each school to know their policies. The thesis will be a completely different process. I foresee far fewer schools interested in taking a thesis from a previous school. Most schools want you to complete your thesis as part of their schooling process. It helps develop the resources and skills within their academic lab. You can check, but I wouldn't lead with that in a discussion!

Really this won't make or break you either way. The GPA on resume is redundant and unnecessary. It is a waning practice overall and is usually used only by young professionals when they need to fill a page. Grad school apps have that info in your transcripts, and in non-academic professions, they don't care. At most, they care about the classes (as mentioned above), often they just care about the degree. It's not really a big deal either way though. If you do include one, do both as suggested above. If you want to include neither, it won't really matter.

I definitely agree with this. Maybe a SOP writing exercise for you should be to consider, "why was law/business not right? What questions did you want answered?" and also ask yourself, "what was it that drove you towards law/business in the first place? what questions and challenges were you interested in? Why wasn't that right for you?" That will help you narrow down your thought to help make your jumping around more about professional development than aimlessly wandering.

First, I'll look up the company and see if they have an HR number posted. If not, I'll call the customer service and ask for the number to HR. Not just for a transfer. That way, you can write down and keep track of the numbers. My script is something as follows, "Hello, my name is _ _, and I submitted an application on ___ for the ___ position. I'm calling to follow-up to see when I should hear back regarding any decisions." I'll document the day in my journal o' job notes, and then call them the morning after I "should have heard back."

When you add up the hours researching a company, developing a personal resume, cover letter, etc. a thorough application can easily take 2 hours to decide if it's a good fit and/complete- sometimes longer. I would mix that and career builder spam my resume to jobs of interest. This is a step that a LOT of people forget. I've had probably about 5 interviews in my life when someone says, "oh, you were the next one on my list. Hold on while I grab your resume..." Personally, I think most HR reps are screen candidates for enthusiasm and the "go getter" attitude. My usual reference is call two weeks after the application is submitted and the exact day after any deadline they give you. If you don't have that many job openings right now, expect a longer turnaround than 3-6 months unless you find one through networking.

I also switched fields, and that became a strength in my application. I discussed questions, challenges and interests I wanted to explore, but I was limited in my current professional trigectory. The change really highlighted my unique perspective as a candidate. If you can do that at all, it can make a powerful SOP.

As general, non-field specific advice, I usually tell people this: If you are perfectly, or reasonably over, qualified for the jobs you're applying for AND putting at least 4 hours a day into thorough applications expect about a 3-6 month turn around for most companies, 4-8 local agencies, 1 year + for government. At the highest point of my job searches, I think I average about 20/week and regularly follow-up with the 5-10 I actually care a lot about. Every once in a while I hear about someone landing a job much earlier.. Usually through networking.