Gap a year or go to a master program ?

[bazingafriedrice]

Hi guys, I will be a senior in this upcoming Aug, but i'm so confused now... I don't know which way i should choose, or even which area i should choose. I'm interested in both clinical and I/O. i'm doing an internship in social services, it's about crisis hotline and children program from a domestic violence prevention program.

I have a 3.68GPA, GRE not taken yet. Unfortunately , I have to pay the tuition by myself so I was thinking about either gap a year to gain more experience in research and better GPA to get in to a PhD program/ and more time to prepare, or just go ahead and try some master programs at the end of this year?

(I do think master programs will give me a good time to relax and figure out what i want and interested in.)

But here comes the question, does any of you guys know any M.A programs that provide fundings? Or even partial fellowships, assistantships? I've searched for tons of the schools , it turns out that most of the good schools only accept PhD student....

I know this is long post, but please give me some advise, any advises would be extremely helpful to me at this point....i am just so LOST. Appreciated your time !!!!!!!!!

[rockandroll]

Hi,

I just graduated from college and am starting a psychology master's program this fall because, just like you, I wanted to figure out exactly what I wanted to do and get some experience before applying to Ph.D. programs. Five of the seven schools that I applied to offered funding to master's students (which was surprisingly hard to find, as you're experiencing as well!)- these were Brandeis (the school that I ended up going to), Wake Forest, The New School for Social Research, Boston College, and William and Mary. BC and W&M both fully fund accepted students. Brandeis doesn't offer 100% funding to anyone, but does give at least 25% to the students that they accept via grants. NSSR and Wake Forest both offer funding, more if they want you more, particularly Wake Forest. I got 100% and a TA position at Wake Forest (all based on merit) and 50% at Brandeis (half merit, half grant) and NSSR (all based on merit).

So basically, it is possible to find schools that help master's students out if you do decide to go. I'm strongly considering taking a year off between my M.A. and Ph.D. to get some work experience and, frankly, relax. My program is condensed into one year, so I can't imagine applying to Ph.D. programs while doing a one-year master's. However, my goal is to strengthen my Ph.D. application with whatever I end up doing during that year. It can be really rough to try to find jobs in psychology without a master's degree at the very least, so if I were in your position, I would worry that I wouldn't be able to find any relevant work to spend my time on during that year off. If you're not going to be able to do anything that will beef up your resume during that year, it might not be worth taking time off. On the other hand, since you will likely be paying for at least half of your master's, it might not be worth doing a terminal MA program just because you don't know what exactly you want to do yet- that might not be the best use of your money. Either way, you have some things to figure out- good luck!

Edited July 2, 2012 by rockandroll

[3point14]

To add to rockandroll's list, Boston University offers merit-based fellowships. Also, I seriously doubt a Master's program is going to be a good time to relax.

[lewin]

Also, I seriously doubt a Master's program is going to be a good time to relax.

^^This stood out for me too. In addition, honestly, it's probably a bad way to figure out your interests too. Undergrad is for broad exposure, graduate school is for specialization.

[stereopticons]

^^This stood out for me too. In addition, honestly, it's probably a bad way to figure out your interests too. Undergrad is for broad exposure, graduate school is for specialization.

Well, it is definitely NOT a time to relax. But it did help me figure out my interests. I had kind of vague research ideas and the immersion in research you get in a good MA program can help to solidify and articulate what you are really interested in.

[lewin]

Well, it is definitely NOT a time to relax. But it did help me figure out my interests. I had kind of vague research ideas and the immersion in research you get in a good MA program can help to solidify and articulate what you are really interested in.

I guess it depends what you mean by "figure out", e.g., whether one is interested in this or that area of social psychology or cognitive psychology. People definitely do that -- I was figuring it out within my subdiscipline all throughout PhD! -- but I don't think it's the place to decide, e.g., whether one wants to be a clinician or a cognitive psychologist. Sometimes that happens unintentionally but (IMO) it shouldn't be a goal that one has going in.

[bazingafriedrice]

to rockandroll , 3point 14, lewin00, stereopticons, : TONS of thanks!! this is REALLY HELPFUL!!! I've made these 5 schools on my list ! Marked them down !

One more question! My parents are extremely traditional and by traditional , i mean they really care more about the "reputation"of the school, which is "whether it's famous or not" , rather than the actual quality of the psy programs they provided. Meanwhile, I do know that it's a matter about if i could get great training program, but i just don't want to let them down. this is another thing that bothers me.

i know this question sounds silly, but please, give me some suggestions. What do you guys think?

[3point14]

All of those schools are well-known schools. This isn't really what you're asking, but I don't know much about the other schools, but I did my undergrad at Wake Forest, and I know most of the Masters students went on to good PhD programs (Duke, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, etc)

[bazingafriedrice]

thank you all! I LOVE THIS WEBSITE. hahahahhah tons of PhD student sharing experiences with rookies.

[stereopticons]

All of those schools are well-known schools. This isn't really what you're asking, but I don't know much about the other schools, but I did my undergrad at Wake Forest, and I know most of the Masters students went on to good PhD programs (Duke, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, etc)

Most Masters students at William and Mary go on to good PhD programs as well.

[rockandroll]

To add to rockandroll's list, Boston University offers merit-based fellowships. Also, I seriously doubt a Master's program is going to be a good time to relax.

Not for the Psychology MA program, just so you know, bazingafriedrice. But definitely for Ph.D. programs. Additionally, NYU offers NO merit-based scholarships for MA students.