School Psych- Where to apply?

[kstarr0202]

Hey everyone! I am currently in the process of picking grad schools to apply to and am planning on pursuing a specialist level degree in school psychology. I have limited myself to the south up until now (South Carolina to be exact) and am thinking I really need to branch out into another part of the country. I have a lot of experience relative to school psych, a very high GPA, and am taking the GRE in 2 weeks. Any advice as to where I should look into applying? Any information on good programs, good locations to live, cost of living, etc. would be great!

[schpsy92]

Hey KStarr! Welcome to the forums. I'm planning on applying for (mostly) specialist level school psychology programs, so I thought I'd give you my insight based on what I have heard.

 

It's great that you are open and willing to move across the country for a solid program. The most important thing to remember in my opinion is that you should apply to programs that are located where you want to eventually work and settle down. For example, let's say you are from Arizona and want to eventually work in New Jersey, you should attend a program in New Jersey (or at least New York). I have heard this because you can make connections at local school districts while in your program that you wouldn't make if you were at a program farther than your ideal end destination. This differs from doctoral level school psychology programs because they may attend a program in a random location based on funding or something else; plus, they are more flexible because they might not work in a school district, while specialist level school psychologists are basically stuck in the schools (not a bad thing in my opinion!)

 

I'd also recommend attending an in-state public school (if you wish to remain in your area) because it will keep your costs down. As long as a program is NASP accredited, that's basically all that matters. But, there are some good programs that aren't NASP accredited, but I feel like it is safe to just go to one that is because it is an almost sure-fire indicator of a good program. If you want to go out of state, look into funding opportunities at specific programs you are interested in. Funding for specialist level programs is not too common, but it is out there. I have even heard of one specialist program that is (or at least was) fully funded at a point. This link on the NASP website can give you admissions / financial information on pretty much every school psychology program out there: http://www.nasponline.org/graduate-education/grad-edu.aspx

Edited July 25, 2013 by mcvcm92

[kstarr0202]

Thanks so much!