_kita
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Posts posted by _kita
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@roxyfox13 I'm only going to speak to Hopkins, as that's the only one I'm familiar enough with. Overall, you should be in good standing as a competitive applicant - but no promises!
Their average quantitative score for doctoral acceptance is closer to 160-165. So yes, you are low on the quantitative side. In order to be competitive, you really have to demonstrate strong stats and research elsewhere. Fortunately, it sounds like you make up for it on your profile - depending on how many epidemiology, stats, and research methodology classes you had in your MS program. I am assuming you had a several stats and methods courses (and obviously you did well in all of them). If so, I can tell you that the rest of your profile should be seriously considered by them.
After that point, JHU strives to find passionate, self-driven and innovative people who fit perfectly into their research labs. I've known several amazing students passed up for someone with slightly lower stats (but an otherwise impeccable candidate) because of fit. As for funding... it is scare at JHU. Funding depends on whether or not your research aligns with a currently grant-funded project. So, you may be a perfect student, but still might not be funded.
In general, I do see a doctoral in your future and as long as your 7 are based on fit, I'm not sure a wider net is really necessary.
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Adcoms expect that a 17-18 year old is exploring their interests, taking unrelated courses due to the schedule/an easier class to balance against heavier courses. They will assume that was what you were doing - unless you make a big deal over it and try to explain it away.
Just focus about your strengths; you have plenty of them.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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59 minutes ago, Franzkafka said:
Thanks. The basic idea is that I have to spend another 5+ years if I choose to stay at my current program. If I transfer to another program which allows me to transfer some credits, then it seems that I will also spend 5+ years in grad school. Though the completion time will be the same, there will be a significant difference if I can end up in a better program. In addition, my current program does not allow me to do many interdisciplinary work in other departments, which drives my crazy.
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.
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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.
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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.
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On 9/19/2017 at 2:28 PM, gradapps said:
Sidebar: I know that a master's in clinical mental health counselling is the alternative to clinical psychology programs for those who aren't interested in research; however, I'm focused on clinical psych programs that give you both the option of terminating or advancing to a phD.
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/
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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!
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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.
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On 9/6/2017 at 7:56 PM, deutsch1997bw said:
Definitely see if your writer letters would be able to comment on this. If you really wanted to, I suppose you could even write about this in your SOP. If executed properly, it could work.
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.
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53 minutes ago, samman1994 said:
oh yeah, if you add in the time of researching the company. In regards to following up however, the number on the website of the company is usually just a general customer service line, do you call them and ask for HRs department? Like I'm curious how you are able to contact HR, to call them. Also when you call them, what do you say? Do you say I wanted to follow up and see how the process is going? Or just call and thank them for providing you with the opportunity to work there and for their time looking at your application?
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."
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9 hours ago, samman1994 said:
Well I don't know about putting 4 hours a day into applications, there aren't that many new job postings every day (that are new).
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.
9 hours ago, samman1994 said:But follow ups are a good idea that I forgot (I only followed up after the interview, not application itself).
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.
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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.
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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.
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The younger members of my cohort were awesome people, passionate, and picked perfectly for the program. They were just in a different life stage (i.e. emerging adulthood) and had different behaviors- such as occasional drunk parties, going through traditional 'yikes I don't know how to job search'. and really intense about some disparate perspectives.
I found myself connecting with my co-workers and faculty/assistant faculty more. I had a few members of my cohort that I spoke with regularly, but they were also non-traditional grad students for that program (commuters from another state and/or closer to my age). I'm looking forward to the DrPH cohort down the road. The program only takes mid-advanced professionals who work in the program. I think that might help with the personality differences I've experienced in the past.
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My mom got her associates in accounting. My younger brother also completed an associates while I was incmy undergrad program, but then dropped out of bachelors. My older sister also dropped out of her bachelors program.
When I was in my 2nd year, my dad finally went back to school for a bachelors and then two master's online.
So, no I'm not first generation, but my parents were adult learners. So I'm the first generation traditional student. I also the first brick and mortar undergrad & grad.
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48 minutes ago, Hope.for.the.best said:
I am reserved towards the idea of snacking throughout the day as it is more healthy to eat three nutritious meals. Snacks (e.g. potato chips, candies, biscuits, chocolate bars etc.) tend to be fatty, salty and sugary.
Depends on the snacks. If you plan out snacks to be stuff like fruit, veggies, nuts, etc., that's usually healthier for you thank a lot of packed lunches and follows the 'grazing' suggestion while managing cravings better. If having a jar of nuts or dried fruit stopped me from stopping at a burger king on the road, I was much better off!
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@Yaris thank you. That's what I was trying to point out but didn't do well enough!
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You should definitely look around. Counseling is not what you described. A counseling masters degree is less about abnormal clinical psychology and more about therapeutic techniques.
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It could be a lot of different things to the school. These are just a few. I'm sure there are more:
- School are overwhelmed by the amount of applicants. They have to turn away a lot of qualified students. However, if the student is willing to get an MA, the student can prepare themselves for the PhD program by taking prereqs for the doctoral while in their MA. They can weed through students who really want into their program, train them for the specific program better, and line up their interests better with students of interest. That desire and willingness speaks a lot to your passion and how well you think you match the school.
- The opposite of the last one... A way to determine if someone is TOO eager and seems immature in their focus
- More money from candidates that "just want in." The masters often can take more students than the phd, so if they can make more money, great!
- Can I shred this paperwork yet? Or do I have to keep it for a while yet?
But, for you, all you need to do is decide, "is it something that would still interest you?" Don't worry about their meaning in asking it. Worry about whether or not a MA from the program is appealing. If not, click no. If yes, click yes.
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On 8/28/2017 at 5:07 PM, ladeeda6 said:
I am getting feedback from family/coworkers (usually older individuals) that question going back for a second masters vs getting a PhD. At this point in my life, I don't see myself wanting to be a professor - even adjunct.
I got the same thing once I accepted a second masters degree in Public Health verses going straight into a PhD. I tried to explain that the counseling program and a public health degree focused on very different skill sets that I needed in my chosen field (mental health implementation science), but I'm speaking another language to them. Don't worry about it. It sounds like you have a better idea of what you want to do going forward, and you have a clearer picture of how to get there.
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1 hour ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:
Don't psych programs want a higher verbal score? I think I've read that social science programs are like humanities in that regard. A verbal of 159 is in the 83 percentile. That is not a poor score, but perhaps the programs you were applying to had applicants with higher scores on average than yours. Maybe you need to retake the GRE.
What schools really want to see is if you have both the academic skills and the drive. They want to know what problems you want to solve in the field. Good news, the OPs scores should have gotten him past round #1 (GRE/GPA evaluation), but likely they had applicants who were stronger in the round #2 evaluation (LOR and SOP). The more competitive applicants usually have a masters degree, additional professional experience, and/or have direct ties to a research professor's lab. The GRE becomes less important if you have an abundance of experience demonstrating your verbal and quantitative logic skills elsewhere.
Coming directly from a clinical psych undergrad, if you have great grades and experience elsewhere, you still need BOTH a strong verbal and quant (around 160). If you have a lower GRE you really have to shine elsewhere in the application. Most doctoral applicants have research experience, good to great grades, and good LORs (masters is a lot more lenient). So the GRE become the only other factor to compare applicants on.
In short, you have to use numbers to prove that you are both skilled and the drive equal, or more than, more experienced applicants. Not an easy task when they often only accept 4 people.
Mentioning aborted Master's thesis attempt on the Resume
in Jobs
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I suggest not mention it on the resume - as you can't explain what happened. The company might misconstrued why you didn't complete the thesis. Instead of listing the project itself, I'd suggest identify skills you've acquired due to the project. That way, when they ask you about those skills (or others), you can discuss the thesis project in person.