MA in General Psych advice

[AnxiouslyAwaitingDecisions]

Hi! So I have recently accepted the crushing defeat that came with not being called to interview at any PhD  program I applied to. So now I am back to focusing on Masters programs.  

 

My concern is that my current GPA at the school I am at is a 3.9, however my GPA from the community college I attended prior is a 2.0 (transferred from community to private college after earning AA) - I am wondering how much this May effect my masters acceptance chances so I can be sure to apply to enough schools to ensure an acceptance somewhere. I also explain the early failures in my essay, and explained why I took time off before completing my AA and transferring. 

I am applying to General or Experimental Psych programs depending on what the individual program offers. 

Thanks for any advice!

 

[psychochef]

Master’s programs tend to be much more forgiving and accepting than PhD programs for applicants with terrible GPAs. I had an abysmal 1.9 GPA for my first year and a half of college before taking several years off to work on myself. I then transferred and got a stellar GPA at my final school, as well as excellent letters of rec and several conference presentations. Although my cumulative GPA was well below a 3.0, I received offers at several well-respected master’s programs in psych, including a funded one. I would suggest applying to quite a few programs and not limiting yourself geographically. In addition, some schools will calculate GPA based on the last 2 years and use that number instead of your cumulative GPA.

Hope this is helpful!

Edited February 6, 2019 by psychochef

[b1b5]

On 2/6/2019 at 10:35 AM, psychochef said:

Master’s programs tend to be much more forgiving and accepting than PhD programs for applicants with terrible GPAs. I had an abysmal 1.9 GPA for my first year and a half of college before taking several years off to work on myself. I then transferred and got a stellar GPA at my final school, as well as excellent letters of rec and several conference presentations. Although my cumulative GPA was well below a 3.0, I received offers at several well-respected master’s programs in psych, including a funded one. I would suggest applying to quite a few programs and not limiting yourself geographically. In addition, some schools will calculate GPA based on the last 2 years and use that number instead of your cumulative GPA.

Hope this is helpful!

Which MA was funded, if you don't mind me asking?

[Jung&Psyched]

9 hours ago, b1b5 said:

Which MA was funded, if you don't mind me asking?

I few masters programs that are funded that I came across while applying this year were : William and Mary, Wake Forest, Augusta State, U of Louisiana at Lafayette, U of Southern Mississippi, UNC Wilmington, and Southern Illinois at Edwardsville. 

I also had an awful undergrad gpa and then got some work experience and retook some courses (and got much better grades in them!) and was accepted to a few of the masters programs listed above so don't lose hope

[ResilientDreams]

I'm an undergrad at William & Mary and would like to vouch wholeheartedly for my school. The faculty here are really great. 

[psychochef]

Northern Arizona, New Mexico State, Ball State, Villanova, and Towson are the first ones to come to mind. I also think that maybe Northern Iowa offers funding but I'm not sure.

[Katie B]

I was just looking at Northern Iowa's site for a friend and according to that, they still offer funding for their students!