Psy MA or indep. rsrch to get into Clin Psy Ph.D.?

[yoosirname]

Is getting an MA in Psy more beneficial for helping someone to refine research interests (e.g., because of structured curriculum, and connections to graduate students & faculty)? 

 

OR

 

Would it be more cost-effective and equally beneficial to volunteer in labs and do independent review of literature? 

 

My background is in social psychology academically (e.g., did an honors thesis that was published in an ivy league undergraduate review journal). It's been about 4 years since my undergrad. Recently, I gained experience in victim advocacy and crisis intervention, and came to the conclusion that clin psy would be the best fit for me given that I enjoy research and working with people. I just applied to clin psy PhD programs, but only interviewed at 1. I feel it was a terrible interview, partly because my research interests are not really that well defined and my POI kept asking me what study I would want to conduct if I were accepted. I really think doing more research and refining my interests as well as hopefully publishing and presenting at a conference would strengthen my clinical psychology Ph.D. app.  

 

The MA programs say that they can help to make your application "more competitive" / "refine research interests." On the other hand, other people have suggested that you can just work on research for another year (independently or work in a lab) and apply again the following year. Which option would be better given that I tend to work better having someone to bounce ideas off of, and work better with mentor guidance/a bit of structure? 

Edited March 3, 2013 by yoosirname