Pursuing MA first before applying to PhD programs – Advice?

[psych4life1]

Hi everyone!

Here's a snapshot of my background/experience:

• Age: 27
• Male
• Graduated from Top 25 (if rankings matter) uni with a BA in Psych in 2015 (3.4 overall, 3.4 major) – bad senior year due to lots of personal issues
• Volunteer/Research (varied and short): one semester of RA work for a biological neuroscience lab on smoking cessation (screening participants over phone, in-person, data entry, helping with project coordination), one semester of RA experience for a media studies lab (unrelated), one semester of teaching middle school students (unrelated).
• Work: Rehab tech (9 mo), Case Manager (9 mo), library assistant (1 year), Educational Consulting (2.5 years), Product/user experience specialist (my current job)

As you can see, I'm not the most consistent person, but I'm just kind of average on paper. I've grown quite a bit over the years, learned a lot about myself through my experiences and choices I made. When I graduated, I thought I was going for my MSW and focused much more on social services. For awhile, I put off school because I couldn't make up my mind, but I now realize that my interests actually lie in research and exploring the diverse role of a psychologists (assessments, teaching/education). I'm using this time to study for the GREs and get high scores hopefully.

I'm mostly worried about my drop in senior year. I actually did quite well in all my prior years, my GPA has always averaged 3.7 and I've even achieved two semesters of psych courses loaded and got 4.0s and a good research paper out of it. However, my senior year was tough. I struggled a lot. That's when I found out that I have bipolar. It was a relief understanding what I was experiencing, but it's unfortunate my grades were impacted (I got a C+ in Qualitative research methods but got A in quant and stats before). This was my only C on my transcript. That, along with Bs, brought my GPA down to 2.9ish area...Yikes! I know. I'm also concerned that I don't have much substantial research experience, but I'm hoping they can look past it. 

Any advice or thoughts? Does anyone have experience getting into MA/MS programs as the stepping stone for PhD? 

 

Thanks – hope everyone is okay.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by dxj5069

[Psychintraining]

Hi there, I wouldn’t think the GPA would be a major issue (most PhD programs have an average GPA of around 3.5/3.6 so you’re not too far off) if you had very good GRE scores and solid research experience, and were able to articulate your senior year drop. However, the research experience is what will actually be the weak point of your application, not necessarily your GPA. I would recommend trying to get a job in a research lab the next two years and hone your interests instead of doing a masters. If you’re hell bent on a masters, make sure to do one with a thesis component.

[Modulus]

If you do decide to go for a Master's, look into programs that fund their students--William and Mary, Wake Forest, and Villanova come to mind. 

[whitmanic]

2 hours ago, Modulus said:

If you do decide to go for a Master's, look into programs that fund their students--William and Mary, Wake Forest, and Villanova come to mind. 

Different background than OP's, but this "stepping stone" approach paid off for me. Happy to answer any questions (particularly about W&M).

[penguinqueen]

I think an MA or a good 2-year stint in a research lab working on what you'd like to research in grad school would be a huge help. For me, the gap in your CV would be consistent research and demonstrating a commitment to what you want to spend a career doing. So I guess if you find an MA that can get you classes to boost your GPA while doing research you're interested in, that might be the best overall. But really really, a research track record is gonna be the most impactful for a clinical psych PhD program. If you think you wanna focus on neuropsychology and assessments, maybe try to get some experience administering those as well. 

I can say from personal experience, the more research experience in my chosen field I gained, the more interest I got from programs and mentors.

[merpppy]

Hi! I thought the same when applying to PhD programs. I applied to a few master's, got accepted, wanted to use it as a stepping stone. However, the lab I was a RA in at the time offered me a full time position. From my udnerstanding, it's more worth it to either get a coordinator position (more research/clinical experience) or different RA experiences rather than a master's. You get your master's "along the way" during a PhD program, so in my opinion, it doesn't serve that much of an advantage in comparsion to solid clinical/research experience - also: it's free! You don't have to pay for this (so to speak). 

[ClinicalPsychApp2020]

I’ll talk a bit about my experience to hopefully help inform your decision. When in undergrad, I had a 3.97 GPA, very average GREs, and almost three years of research experience as an RA with a few national conferences and an honors thesis under my belt. Because I do not come from a family in academia/did not have strong mentors, I genuinely thought I had a shot at getting my PhD right after undergrad. I was horribly mistaken, did not have the proper professional mentors to explain just how hard getting into a PhD program is, and ultimately decided to get my master’s in clinical psychology (from the University of Maryland). 

My experience there was incredible and I gained direct clinical experience and continued my research. I made connections to various faculty across the country and was recently accepted into a fully funded PhD program with my same mediocre test scores (but also a 4.0 Master’s GPA) mainly because of the networking. Because of this, I am very “pro-Master’s” IF the following are applicable (specifically, for a clinically focused path):

1. You can pay for your Master’s through a GA/TA/RA position (UMD offers GA positions so my master’s was fully funded).

2. You need some clarity on where you want to go research-wise or are trying to decide between a career in academia as a researcher or a full-time clinician. 

3. The cohort is small enough where you can get individualized attention with your professors. Because of my small class, my professors knew me well and sent applicable opportunity my way when they were available.

4. There are ample opportunities for research or clinical work at the university.

5. You have a very low undergrad GPA (according to my graduate professors, anything at or above a 3.6/3.7 is strong for PhD programs) and are confident you can achieve a high GPA in graduate school. 

I would not pursue a master’s in clinical psychology that is not funded if you plan for that to be your terminal degree. I also hear the comments about above getting a research coordinator position as an alternative stepping stone. For me, I LOVE being a student and the academic environment keeps me sane. For others, the thought of doing 2 years for a master’s then 5+ for a PhD is CRAZY. It’s really up to you to decide which route you’d prefer (as I’ve learned so much about the PhD interview process and, ultimately, acceptances are based on who you know). Please note that my experience is specifically for a clinical path, I cannot speak to the relevance of my comments for a neuroscience path or social psychology, or developmental, etc.

I truly hope this helps and am more than happy to chat privately as well!

[psytillidie]

I was lackluster in undergrad (3.30 GPA) and took two years off doing a non-psychology related job before attending an MA program then this PhD app cycle I got interviews at 5/7 Clinical programs I applied to and got 2 offers. DM me if you wanna chat!