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I realize this submitted midway, oops! Anyways, for different jobs/applications, I change the order or even what headings are put on my resume. My teaching looks a lot like this post suggests, I just highlight academic jobs first. For counseling, I remove my research (and below), and for my academic positions, I put research involvement higher up. Go with the "above the fold" theory. This is a journalism technique -putting the most important information first: the hook and article facts. Then you add in the rest of your qualifications.

My CV headers are listed below. I did mine this way since my research experience is currently further back and I have gained a decent amount of teaching experience, and a lot of counseling experience. I can Education Professional Development - Internships Professional Academic Experience - teaching jobs Professional Counseling Experience - direct care and counseling jobs Research Involvement Professional Conference Presentations Invited Lecturer an Guest Speaker Professional Memberships Honors Service to the University - any leadership, etc, positions. I'd alter this for volunteer work.

I was reviewing my resume, and realized I never added on my participation in a graduate study ethics competition. Now, we didn't place, but my research area is in ethical decision making. So, I was curious where/how people think I should place it. Or if I even should. My current vitae headers are set up like this: EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING EXPERIENCE RESEARCH INVOLVEMENT PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS INVITED LECTURER AND OTHER PRESENTATIONS PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS HONORS SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY Thanks for any input.

Clinical hours pretty much take place after program completion. You typically begin accruing them in the workforce after your program. The actual licensing requirements changes by state, and you can find out the specific details for yours here: http://www.counselor-license.com/ _________________________________________________________ For me (PA), I would have to go through these steps: 1. Finish my credentialed masters degree (48-60 credits). Program needs to have a 100 hour practicum and a 300 hour internship experience. 2. Sit in for the Licensure examination -which I can do upon completion of my masters 3. Find a site location which will allow me to clock 3600 hours in 3 years. 2400 with a doctoral degree. I can only start accruing the hours after 48 credits in a graduate course work. With a doctoral degree, 1200 hours must be conferral of the doctorate degree. Hours can be done at different locations, and you can work part-time for them. However, hours do not become legitimized until you have worked 3 months (FT); 6 months (PT) at a site. Then all your previous clocked hours are counted towards your total. 4. Find someone who is willing to supervise me 2 hours, for every clocked 40 hours of work. This is annoying, because the supervisor is not always on your site, and not billable for them. Therefore, they're losing 2 hours of pay. Several people pay out of pocket for the supervisor to make up for this. 5. Send in an application. 6. Continuing education credit to renew your license. _________________________________________________________ I suggested waiting until you are done with a doctoral (PsyD), or your decide your MA will be your last degree, because of the time constraints, and possibly needing to pay supervision out of pocket.

As rising_star pointed out, there will be a lot of debt going that route. Before I give you any advice, or recommendations, I was wondering about what you would like to do, and have you been able to work in the mental health field yet?

I know some PhD psychology and counseling professors who, as their 'service to the community' do counseling work, and that's where they tie in the counseling experience. It helps them teach future counselors by staying current in the field. So, the counseling background can help, if you want to peruse that direction. Keep in mind, they still ALSO have to do research. It's not one or the other, it's both. I am currently in a MA counseling program currently. Hopefully, I'll be enrolled in a PhD once this degree ends. Honestly, if you can, get the LP (Licensed Psychologist) instead of an LPC. Either way, you have to accrue something like 2000-3000 supervised fieldwork, and then you can promote your PhD as a counselor. The LP trumps the LPC. You can pursue the LPC whenever you want to. You'll need to work 20-40 hours a week, and within so many years accrue 2000-3000 supervised hours. I'm not sure if you can feasibly pull that off during your program.

Yes, you need to be in that sector for 10 years, and, if you don't know, then it can't work. Really, the loan forgiveness program is to try and entice people to stay in those jobs for 10+ years. The turnover is atrocious, the burn out even worse. So, offering to forgive the weight of student loans is an appealing prospect. I know I cannot do that in the Mental Health system (without becoming a mental mess myself), so I want to change to the education system instead. But it's not for everyone, really.

I really doubt this will hurt you. Your psychology undergraduate demonstrates that you understand and know the field well. The masters demonstrates a depth of interest. The problem you'll run into is the switch and programs can seem like you "can't make up your mind." Make sure you tailor your SOP to demonstrate your focus and passion towards your end goal. Tie your undergrad and masters together, and demonstrate how they interconnect for you personally.

Loan reimbursement plans Really, I've taken the mind-set, "get loans, get Grad Assistantships w/loans, and then funded PhD." I plan to go on an income-based payment plan (provided it's around by the time I'm out of college) and the civil service loan forgiveness after 10 years working in the field. I'd I can pull that off, I'm loan free in my mid-forties, and paying a reasonable amount until then. I can live with that. Otherwise, time to find a plan B! Honestly, I worked Mental Health, and still do. I realized the wear and tear doesn't work for me. Teaching and research does. I don't want to roll out of bed in the morning, but I do anyways, and I don't feel burned out when I get home really late that night. I'd rather chase needing to pay back loans my entire life than live being burnt out.

For myself, I am very self-motivated and self-disciplined. I'd prefer to have someone I can bounce ideas off of, so I can create more dynamic and forward moving research. I already have my own passions and direction, so I would work well under someone who gives me that balance, and some insight. Having a hands-on advisor can sometimes feel stifling, as I feel that they're actually trying to push their agenda onto me. However, not everyone works well that way. Where are you in your professional development? Do you feel that the hands-on involvement is helping you narrow and push you to really explore your research? You're essentially teaching your advisor, which in and of itself could be beneficial. It's not really about what works for me, but what you need and where you are going.

I will definitely be applying to all 8 programs. Luckily, my research focus is a bit flexible within a department (ethical decision making) spans neuro/cognitive, social and clinical psychology. So really, I'm looking at research labs, and not the program specifics. But it's still tough with such a small list to work off of.

I'm stuck with staying in-state and not relocating. So I have only about 8 programs I can choose from. I have to fight to find a way to demonstrate I fit well with each of them!

If you're aiming for top 30 PhD schools only, and have the time/money to invest in a prep program before retaking them- do so. That will help you improve your scores to where you want them to be. According to Magoosh, you can see some of the averages here: Social Science GRE Averages I suggest aim for around 160 v/q and a 4.5-5 AWA. Your quant is fine, but the verbal could use some work. This isn't a 'finite number,' just a benchmark for where you would definitely make it past the number part of the application process.

I'm dating a non-grad student. We met back in undergraduate (he was an art education major), but didn't hit it off until several years down the road. He had issues with the education field and lack of jobs, so is now in IT and working to establish an art career. It's actually amazing to have a partner who is as passionate about a career as I am (art to Psychology) but from a completely different background. We're both intensely competitive, driven people, so we are a non-competitive bouncing block for each other. Despite that we've dated over 1 1/2 years (known each other for about 9), grad school creates different communication problems. We really have to work on understanding the dynamics of each other's daily demands. I tend to downplay the emotional/stress levels of my jobs, and talk about my excitement towards a project. So my exhaustion causes some friction sometimes. But it's usually easily resolved, since we discuss it immediately. Our relationship is working out really well. We compliment each other's personalities.

Thanks! It is. I'm applying to some cognitive and clinical programs as well, since my interest area crosses a few categories, but yes, I'm in an intensely competitive branch :-/

I'm looking at research labs focused in moral decision making processes. I'd like to examine how different moral processing might affect treatment outcomes, especially in psychopathology. I've worked with a lot of schizophrenic clients, and it seems like a concern. As does the actual treatment plan development. Princeton also has a social justice and psychology program that intrigues me. Also, one of the professors has researched neuropsychological components of moral thinking. UPenn has a ton of professors examining morality and evolutionary psych, even.

Cw01, did you happen to interview at Princeton or Penn at all? I'll be applying there next year, and am curious about any info I can get.

My experience with roommates has been a bit crappy. There's always discrepancies about household management and payment. Make sure the communication is fantastic. However, I highly suggest roommates for the money problem. With a tight, fixed income, any bit helps. Also, with a roommate you have split more costs that might have been unavailable to you before. Just make sure to communicate responsibilities, expectations, and have the ability to have space from each other (in your home as well as out of it). Grad school is stressful enough without having a stressful home life. I actually chose to move 1 1/2 hours away from my campus for living situation. My roommates were inconsistent, and their behaviors worrisome. So I ended up moving in with my boyfriend 2 years before we expected. It's working out well, but there's still a lot of communication over responsibilities. I made it clear initially that during the school semester, I get hyper-class focused and no time for household stuff. He's realizing the truth of it finally... we're working out a system, but talking about it is key.

I really don't know when they open up, other than "fall." Programs change on that. Some wait until all the fall semester registration is done, some have rolling submissions,etc. If the program does have a hard deadline (such as December 1st), they will not look at your application until after that deadline anyways. Instead of rushing to get one done and submitted, make sure you're thorough and have everything as polished as possible. I just get on the LOR moreso, because that's out of your hands, and you have to trust another person to complete them. And, thanks, but I actually found the wait beneficial. I applied to a professional M.A. program that matched my current credentials, and was accepted quickly enough. So now I have the resources to strengthen my application for this roundabout. I might be able to even get into a better Ph.D. program with better funding that I was originally eligible for.

I currently go there They're about to get to start a Ph.D. in social work, if that's any consolation!

Took the survey, but I feel that this would be a great discussion here too. So, my opinion of it is that we don't have the clear answer yet, but just a lot of problems. The income disparity is atrocious. The 'glass ceiling' idea isn't just about women getting a career, but there's another one in progressing to another income tier. Higher education is typically seen as a Cinderella story, but it really isn't. People have more debt than they can feasibly pay back, more stress than they can emotionally deal with, and aren't making a wage to balance it in the long run. I see many bachelors level friends struggling to find a job in the field, and are shot in the foot. Instead working 3-4 part-time gigs to try and pay back loans for a degree that isn't helping them. There are a few that break in, but that's a mixture of working themselves to death during undergrad and lucky breaks. Poverty isn't caused but any one choice, but a set of situations. Sometimes those situations were completely unavoidable, sometimes the best option isn't clear and not taken, sometimes a person continues behavioral patterns that becomes a problem. It is not their fault. I don't think it's a moral obligation. Morals suggest an intrinsic obligation to ourselves. It is something we should do for society, to leave another generation less stressed than we are. But I wouldn't put this on a moral level.

3, as a general rule. They'd like to see professors who know you in the classroom and in the research lab/work environment. While the due dates fluctuate between programs, the earliest due will be December 1st. Make certain to check the actual dates stated on your specific programs. Also December 1st INCLUDES all your LOR, SOP, etc. So, make sure to contact the professors early, and if possible, request an earlier deadline than that from them. That way you can check in with the schools if they get them before the date passes. I ran into that problem one year, and three of my schools didn't get my LOR. Unfortunately, I had only applied to 5, so guess who didn't make it in

You should have a chance. Keep in mind, though, that you've applied to very few schools. The programs will look at your applications more thoroughly, but they do so for every applicant as well. No guarantee you'll be accepted, but your full application will be taken into account.

Your numbers *should* make any necessary cut offs for a department to get into "look at further" pile. Your verbal is great; your quantitative decent. Focus now on other areas of your application so you make it into the round after that.

To both of your questions, as an undergraduate I worked on two research projects. I was able to do poster presentations at (2) well known conferences: EPA & APS. Would I say the research was meaningful? To me, no. The first lab was about fear and disgust reactions when people see insects. The project did not interest me. I did it to get experience. I was essentially a lab manager and began training undergraduate researchers soon after. However, I was not getting the title. Nor would I be anything but, at best, a second author on anything published. Knowing that, I joined another research team. This one was for spatial cognition: wayfinding skills in males & females. Again, not my area of interest. I enjoyed collecting the data, analyzing and presenting results, but was far from interested in the actual study. I was able to applying for an undergraduate research grant, and presented at APS. Would I say the experiences are 'meaningful'? Maybe not fully. But the fact that I could fully enjoy a subject matter I had little to no interest level in speaks volumes about research being a good path for me. And knowing that is meaningful. Let your research team know you want to present the research, push to go before a grant committee if need be (which would also be good for your CV anyways), and submit proposals to different conferences.If you take the initiative, you might make headway. Otherwise, look for other labs and opportunities that will help you out with this goal. Really, the key is being your own advocate.