Courses and preparing for undergrad graduation and grad school application

[carlyhylton]

Helllloooooo

So I know this is not related to grad school applications that I've submitted or interviews etc

Hopefully this will be a welcomed break from the application freak outs...

I'm a third year student and I'm having what a mild psych-student identity crisis, or maybe more a mid-degree crisis

I haven't been feeling ready at all to write my honors thesis next year or to graduate....

So I thought that I might take a fifth year just to do my honors thesis and seminars (so a fifth year) and have more time overall to focus on my grades...

but I'm feeling like I won't even have time to complete all courses even if I do a fifth year for the following reasons:

1. I'm doing a trilingual international bachelor of arts so a lot of my degree of my degree so far has been fulfilling those requirements. I don't feel like a psych major. May have been a mistake in retrospect.
   
2. I'm also doing a specialization in cognitive neuropsychology, so I have specific requirements for that (21 credits) so once I fulfill those and my general specialized honors psych requirements I don't really have room for other courses
   
3. I will probably be applying to clinical programs around a year before or after I graduate, and I have seen repeatedly that clinical programs look for certain prereqs. For example, my institution lists the following:
   

The honours degree equivalent for students applying to the Clinical Area should include:

1. One full-course in Introductory Psychology;
   
2. One full-course in Research Design and Statistical Analysis; and,
   
3. The equivalent of six other full-courses in psychology.
   

Applicants to the Clinical Area are expected to have a general background and knowledge in core content areas of psychology. Of the six other full-courses, one full-course or two half courses in each of the following core content areas, taken at the undergraduate level, are accepted as satisfying this expectation:

• biological bases of behaviour (e.g. physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation, psychopharmacology, health psychology)
  
• cognitive-affective bases of behaviour (e.g. learning, memory, perception,
  cognition, thinking, motivation, emotion),
  
• social bases of behaviour (e.g. social psychology, cultural, ethnic and group processes, sex roles, organizational and systems theory), and
  
• individual behaviour (e.g. personality theory, human development, individual differences, abnormal psychology).
  

... So.... I definitely won't have time to do six credits 'social bases of behavior' or 'individual behavior' (should have 'biological' and 'cognitive' down from cognitive neuropsych specialization

Is it really necessary to have all of those courses?

What about other courses I am interested in?

FINALLY, I should explain that I think that this is stemming from recently discovering I have broader interests than I had previously thought... and I'd really like to narrow down before I apply to grad school and the best way I can think of doing this is through course work... Can any of you relate/provide support?

Sorry for the long post (again) and thanks in advance!

[svh]

what's a trilingual international bachelors of arts?

[carlyhylton]

http://www.glendon.yorku.ca/iBA/

http://www.glendon.y...rements.html#sh

http://www.glendon.y...ology/index.php

Literally a trilingual iBA

so I have to a certain amount of english, french, and spanish language courses and do a certain amount of my degree requirements in english, french and spanish.

also have to take a certain amount of internationally oriented courses and go on an international exchange

and then do my reqs for my psychology degree

I could give you the exact requirements but I doubt your interested in as I assume you think my degree is bs, and while I somewhat agree

a ) whatever and b ) I'm almost done my trilingual iBA reqs so again, whatever.

Edited February 1, 2012 by carlyhylton

[svh]

http://www.glendon.yorku.ca/iBA/

http://www.glendon.y...rements.html#sh

http://www.glendon.y...ology/index.php

Literally a trilingual iBA

so I have to a certain amount of english, french, and spanish language courses and do a certain amount of my degree requirements in english, french and spanish.

also have to take a certain amount of internationally oriented courses and go on an international exchange

and then do my reqs for my psychology degree

I could give you the exact requirements but I doubt your interested in as I assume you think my degree is bs, and while I somewhat agree

a ) whatever and b ) I'm almost done my trilingual iBA reqs so again, whatever.

I didn't say I thought it was bs. I actually think it sounds pretty neat. And it'll make you a pretty unique candidate, too.

[carlyhylton]

Ah. Perhaps I was 'projecting' my insecurities and my own feelings on to you.

How fitting for a psychology forum.

Thanks. Hopefully grad schools will think so too and won't think of it as too 'unfocused' : S

[DBP]

In my experience, taking a fifth year can be a great experience. However, if you are planning to apply for clinical psychology for the following year, remember to budget time in for he application process. It took much, much longer than I expected to craft my personal statement, tracking down referees and getting their advice,spending time researching potential advisors and contacting them! (On top of thesis and reduced fifth year course load!).

Reading your degree plan seems like a lot! The advice I generally give to other students is to think carefully about what adding a credential to your degree will really add, what impression will graduate committees form when they note that you have a specializing in cognitive neuropsychology? Consider, do you really think they would base their decision off of a option like this? I'm guessing not, because specializations and minors are not regulated - not even within the same university! (For example, at my school for an Arts student to get a minor requires X courses, but for a Math student it would be X-2 courses).

If the specialization isn't ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL, I would drop it.

In my readings and discussions with mentors, everyone agrees that no one really cares what minors/certificates/etc you have (unless it's very unique, like your trilingual iBA).

What do adcoms look for? I've been told that you take challenging courses and you do well in them. And I think that comes a lot easier when you take courses that interest you, when you are there "out of love, not duty".

Regarding required coursework, I suggest investigating more programs? I haven't seen many with this requirement, and a very good friend of mine applying to clinical this year who is interviewing at UWaterloo, UWO, York and potentially UBC never took History of Psychology. Generally, if you have the requisite stats (with the psychology major), you'll have the required number and breadth of courses.

Lastly, read papers, attend local conferences and read the research profiles of many, many professors! Courses are useful for learning about areas, but in finding your interests - I don't know if it'd be useful to do it though a course, the true interest (in my experience) piques when you see what people are doing now and you think critically about it and then one day you realize, "wow, I could see myself doing this for the next XX years of my life! this is a very important question for me to pursue" (and then you have to decide on a technique ,lol).

Best!

[carlyhylton]

Wow! Thanks for the long and in depth response! I really appreciate it : )

Are you a fellow Canadian?!

Yes, from the research I've done and from what I've heard the application process is excruciatingly long! I actually think I'll probably take a year after I graduate to apply, and hopefully find a full or part time RAship AND hopefully rack up some more pubs. AND hopefully it's paid!

So I would hope that during that year I would have more time to work on apps... I'll try to prepare along the way.... although I haven't done my GREs

When did you (all) squeeze in studying/taking your GREs?

You're definitely right about regulation, that's definitely how it is at my institution!

I will definitely give it a re-think...

Having said that I had thought/think that my interests were in clinical neuropsychology so a lot of the courses would probably be good for that (psychobiology, human neuropsychology, psychological testing and measurement etc). Moreover the specialization includes an applied research practicum for credit in which you get to do basic neuropsychometry/intervention stuff with a neuropsychologist (in a clinical setting). Also, a lot of my friends who did the placement got hired after their placement!

So all of that definitely draws me towards the doing the specialization!

But then I wouldn't get a chance to do the 'social bases of behavior' or the 'individual behavior' courses (or atleast not six credits in both categories)...

(And by the way, the list IS from York, who doesn't seem to list history of psychology for clinical applicants...)

Will grad schools really care if I don't have six credits in 'social bases of behavior'? Maybe I should call some grad schools and find out?

And I'll definitely look at more school's requirements!

Thank you so much for your advice! I will definitely make an effort to read more articles and attend more conferences, and then hopefully I can narrow down which professors to look for

However, asking myself "could I see myself doing this for the rest of my life?" really puts it in perspective! Maybe I was confusing my general interest in psychology and psychological research with specific interest for a subject. I think I have a better idea of what I'd like to do already.

I just hate being undecided and uncertainty..

Thanks again for your response! Really helpful! Really appreciate it.