Am I good candidate for School Psychology MA programs? I'm not a psych major...

[Sandyanne]

Hi everyone! I would really appreciate any advice you guys could give me about my situation. I'm an English major with minors in Educational Studies and Philosophy, but I want to apply to grad school for a MA in School Psychology. I'm currently taking all the "prerequisite" psychology courses required by School Psychology grad programs (statistics, abnormal psych, child development, adolescent development, research methods, general psych, developmental psych, statistics). My Education minor also involves several classes that are cross-listed with psych classes, like "learning and cognition in educational settings." This Fall I will be taking a teaching/tutoring strategies class in which I work directly with kids. But I knew I had to get more background to boost my candidacy, so I also currently research for my university's Education department for a project that is headed by an Educational Psychologist (he also happens to be the vice chair of the department and is writing me a letter of recommendation). The research involves going to elementary and middle schools to test children on a math program that focuses on measuring the students' spatial temporal mathematic skills. We try to figure out whether their achievement in math increases with the implemented program...so it's a very cognitive project. We also conduct surveys with teachers and administrators as well. Furthermore, I'm a journalist intern for Language Magazine: The Journal of Communication and Education. It's a national subscription magazine that teachers/principals/educators largely subscribe to, and I've been published in this month's issue. I also volunteer at an elementary school in L.A. as a teacher's aid, and I'm going to try and shadow the school psychologist there as well. The teacher I help is writing me a letter of recommendation. Some other stuff: I worked for my hometown school district as a High School water polo coach and for the city as a lifeguard/swim instructor for kids aged 2-12. Lastly, I think my philosophy minor has done wonders for my performance in psychology classes because many of the philosophers I had to learn about largely influenced psychologists and their theories. Oh, I aslo have a cumulative GPA of 3.7 (which includes the psyche prereqs), so I'm hoping that will help out. I will be taking the GRE in a couple of months.

So what I'm asking is...will all of this make me a strong competitor against those applicants with official psychology degrees? I'm really hoping all of this background experience will somehow overshadow the fact that I'm not a psychology major...but often I feel like it's wishful thinking. It still worries me and makes me feel that I'm at a great disadvantage, so I'd like to ask you guys what you think. I'm anxious that, although I have a lot of related experiences and classes, there might be other applicants who have just as much experience but who also have a BA in psychology.

[DustSNK]

I've heard that as long as you get those pre-reqs out of the way before applying, lots of programs actually like to have people who did another major for their BA. I had a Soc prof. that got her BA in Biology, then went into race/ethnicity studies (and did not tie any Bio into her work at all). From what I have read on this subject, your task will be to explain how your different major for the BA will help and contribute to your new MA major. Doing this in the statement of purpose. Hope this gives some insight ^__^

[Sandyanne]

Thanks for the reply! It's good insight, yep. I'm just paranoid because psychology is sooo popular and competitive these days! I will definitely focus on writing about how my major and minors have helped shape me so that I will succeed in the MA program. (:

[neuropsych76]

Thanks for the reply! It's good insight, yep. I'm just paranoid because psychology is sooo popular and competitive these days! I will definitely focus on writing about how my major and minors have helped shape me so that I will succeed in the MA program. (:

I think your experiences will help you and as long as you have the pre-reqs you should be fine. I would consider taking the psych GRE if you have the time/money because it looks good for non-psych majors to take it (as long as they do well of course).

Good luck!

[psyched for psych]

It sounds like you are a good candidate.