Hopeful Career Change to Psychologist

[jmm0548]

Hi all,

I earned my Bachelors of Music and Master's of Science in Higher Ed Administration. I previously worked in Residence Life and I now work in Student Conduct. Both positions involved Case Management and working with college students through challenging situations. Through my experiences, I have become more and more interested in the field of psychology and mental health. Specifically I am interested in research surrounding Gender, Sexuality, LGBT Mental Health, romantic relationships, sexual behavior (I know that's broad). As a result, I am interested in furthering my education and applying for PhD programs in Counseling Psychology with hopes of becoming a Psychologist. I have also looked into a few PysD programs. I do believe that my work experiences and research experiences would lend me well to a PhD program. However, I am also nervous that I do not have the adequate experiences needed to be accepted into a PhD program. I am currently taking undergraduate psych courses to gain additional knowledge.  

 

My plan was to take undergraduate courses over the next year, retake the  GRE and apply for programs with hopes of being accepted for Fall 2021. Is this realistic? My Master's program was research based but does me not having lab experience hinder me as an applicant? 

Am I making too big of a leap? And if so, what would be helpful next steps? 

Edited January 21, 2020 by jmm0548

[Clinapp2017]

A big part of PhD admissions (especially clinical -- not sure if you are interested in clinical PhD) is research match. If you have interests in LGBTQ+ mental health and have some background in that, it won't be that hard to spin for mentors who do work in that area. Of course, having publications or posters at national/international conferences is the gold standard to show research productivity, so I am curious what your master's degree work entailed? 

 

Making a later-stage shift to PhD is quite common. A few members in my cohort at a well-known clinical PhD program came to clinical from slightly related, but different areas. Your timeline of beefing up your background knowledge with courses is wise. In addition to taking the GRE, I would advise taking (and hopefully doing well) on the subject GRE, as that will prove your basic mastery of the core parts of psychology to committees who might be skeptical given your educational background is not in psychology, per se. 

[jmm0548]

Reply below 

Edited January 21, 2020 by jmm0548

[jmm0548]

2 hours ago, Clinapp2017 said:

A big part of PhD admissions (especially clinical -- not sure if you are interested in clinical PhD) is research match. If you have interests in LGBTQ+ mental health and have some background in that, it won't be that hard to spin for mentors who do work in that area. Of course, having publications or posters at national/international conferences is the gold standard to show research productivity, so I am curious what your master's degree work entailed? 

 

Making a later-stage shift to PhD is quite common. A few members in my cohort at a well-known clinical PhD program came to clinical from slightly related, but different areas. Your timeline of beefing up your background knowledge with courses is wise. In addition to taking the GRE, I would advise taking (and hopefully doing well) on the subject GRE, as that will prove your basic mastery of the core parts of psychology to committees who might be skeptical given your educational background is not in psychology, per se. 

In doing research, I am definitely seeing that research is crucial. I am interested in Counseling Psychology so I am wondering if it plays as crucial of a role as it does with Clinical. 

My master's work entailed a variety of research papers and projects. I spearheaded a consultation project for a Universities admission/orientation program and for my capstone did research and assessment on my institution's Greek Student's self-perceptions surrounding Hazing, Alcohol Consumption and Sexual Misconduct. I've also done research about LGBTQ individuals in Greek Lettered organizations. My Master's program was more researched based and taught courses around research methods and assessment as well. 

I was planning on taking the Subject Test as well but some of the programs I'm looking at either didn't make mention of them or said they didn't need them so I wasn't sure if that would be necessary. 

If I am able I may also see if I can volunteer at a lab at my university or with someone in the area if possible.