Starting to apply to Grad Schools but have so many questions

[emmak26]

 am sneaking up on graduating with my BA in psychology and am really starting to panic about Grad school! My time in school has been a bit untraditional as I got my AA right out of high school, started on a bachelors program and failed out after a semester because the school and program was such a horrible fit for me and then did a start again, stop again for a few years until most recently when I started at an online university in Jan 2018 and will be finished with my bachelors from there in May 2019. I have maintain a 4.0 since starting and yet, have not connected personally with many of my professors (and by many I mean none). The college I am at like I said is online and it has 8 week courses so hardly enough time to get to know anybody. In addition, I have only had a repeat professor once and it was seven months apart. Given this, I am starting to really worry about letters of recommendation. It does not seem like a good idea or like it will turn out in my favor to ask these people who probably don't even remember my name for a letter of recommendation so I am not sure what to do. I am sure I can ask my supervisor at work for one but will that benefit me given that I don't currently work in my field? If so, that is still only 1 out of at least 3 that I will need. I am also struggling to pick a gradate school at all and am not sure what resources are available to me. I need to do it all online which makes me apprehensive because I still want to get a quality education. Most of the schools that offer the degree I want (A Masters of Arts in Mental Health Counseling) are out of state which then brings up questions about licensure and if the programs requirements fit with my states. I am just not sure where to go with all these questions and my advisor has not been much help on this front. Any advice or help is appreciated!!

[loffire]

I might be alone in thinking this, but id recommend looking for a place to do a supervised honors thesis. This will give you a significant amount of interaction with a professor (or 2), and I think the process will better prepare you for graduate school compared to online course style you've had. All the best

[manicape]

I'm going to agree with loffire. You might think it unfair since you were finally able to have success doing a degree you enjoyed, but the online degree with seemingly no personal interaction with professors (like where they get to know you and your motivations and your interests) is probably not going to deliver many acceptances. I will be the first to admit I'm not familiar with online programs, especially not in your area, but in general grad programs want evidence that you can do the work. I think if you apply now while being so unsure about things will only waste your application money. So take a year, get in contact with these programs and see what they want from their students, and get more relevant experience. Hopefully you'll feel more confident applying then. Good luck!!