NYU Online Masters in Mental Health Counseling

[polishk5]

Hey everyone, I’m new here so please forgive any faux paus. I’m looking for insight into NYU’s Online Master’s in Mental Health Counseling. 
I obtained a Second Bachelors in Psychology a few years back and am trying to further my education, although it’s a bit tricky as my husband’s career requires us to move every two years. I’m left with few options as to which programs I can actually apply to and I’ve been pretty set on NYU’s (we will be moving to New York when we’re finally done moving around). 
My biggest weakness in my app is lack of community involvement/volunteer work. I have not done anything over the past two years as I have birth to my daughter in 2018. After speaking with the advisor at NYU this past February, I was ready to get a roll on volunteering and putting together an application and then COVID hit. I’m worried that without hands-on experience, I won’t be a suitable applicant. I’m pretty disheartened and I’m trying to get creative here. Does anyone have experience in applying for this program? Acceptance? Advice? Ideas? 
Thank you for the help!

[Psychintraining]

To be frank, masters are not very competitive. I’m not familiar with NYU’s program in particular, but generally if you have a decent GPA and decent GRE scores you should be good. Also volunteer work and such are not important for grad school in the same way it is for undergrad. What’s most important is having a clear statement of purpose and understanding why exactly you want to obtain this degree. If you can nail a good personal statement and have the scores I mentioned previously, I would think you would be in a very good position.

I know you didn’t ask specifically about the program, but I would consider if an online program is the right choice for you. You will have to stay put in NYC for the two years you complete NYUs program anyways because you will be completing practicums. While the courses may be online, your clinical work cannot. Therefore, you may want to consider if this is possible for you right now, and if it is then I would recommend moving away from an online program if possible. 

Hope this helps!

[Clinapp2017]

3 hours ago, Psychintraining said:

To be frank, masters are not very competitive. I’m not familiar with NYU’s program in particular, but generally if you have a decent GPA and decent GRE scores you should be good. Also volunteer work and such are not important for grad school in the same way it is for undergrad. What’s most important is having a clear statement of purpose and understanding why exactly you want to obtain this degree. If you can nail a good personal statement and have the scores I mentioned previously, I would think you would be in a very good position.

I know you didn’t ask specifically about the program, but I would consider if an online program is the right choice for you. You will have to stay put in NYC for the two years you complete NYUs program anyways because you will be completing practicums. While the courses may be online, your clinical work cannot. Therefore, you may want to consider if this is possible for you right now, and if it is then I would recommend moving away from an online program if possible. 

Hope this helps!

Not sure about NYU specifically, but from the online MSW programs I am aware of you often do not need to be in the same state/city as the university, as the university has staff that work with your area to put you in clinical practica. Of course, if you live in bum F nowhere, you might have a hard time. I would also say that wherever you start this two year program, you want to make sure you will stay there for two years. Other important factors include licensing requirements for master's level providers in states you wish to reside (it sounds like you want to reside in NYC, so look into mental health counselor requirements for the state). Some online programs have better reputations than others, but fundamentally all online programs are cash-cows for universities, so I would advise you to be aware of this and make sure that you have access to good in-person training opportunities if clinical work is your long term goal.