Should I continue applying?

[psychandph]

Hi (apologies for the length in advance),

 

I am looking into applying to a few I/O and Clinical Psych Masters(Columbia, SF State, NYU) programs and 2 Psyd programs (PGSP-Stanford and Yeshiva). I am geographically limited to New York or California. My stats:

 

Undergrad GPA (over 10 years ago): 3.0

Graduate GPA (1 year ago- MPH from a well respected Ivy League grad school) :3.4

GRE: V:720 (168), Q:750(159), A/W:5. 98%,75% and 93%, respectively.

 

RESEARCH: Virtually no research experience except what I did over a decade ago in undergrad or for courses and short term projects/internships in my MPH program. But definitely no publications. I also have no debt, had scholarships.

 

LORS: I have 4 LOR - 2 Phd psychologists (one of whom is my academic rec), an MD,MPH psychiatrist and an LMFT. The LMFT has supervised me in my previous employment. One Phd was my professor. The MD,MPH was a colleague in public health who I worked on several student group projects with  (and oddly supervised him) and the other Phd is really more of a friend for whom I volunteered in his floor time therapy groups just a couple of times.

 

EXPERIENCE: I have extensive (over a decade)  work and leadership experience working as social worker/community health worker (but am not licensed nor do I have a social work degree so limited in scope) in a government public healthcare setting providing case management, program coordination, healthcare coordination, counselling, project management, trainings and seminars at national and local conferences, creating new programs, etc working with the homeless. I also worked as a case manager in a homeless women's shelter for over a year. Was the president of a mental health group in my graduate program, etc. So I have done direct services work with patients but also worked at a systems level. My goal is to have a set of skills, education and licensure that will further my interests in public mental health policy and advocacy, ability to practice and do clinical assessments/therapy and research. I know that with the I/O degree I would forgo the clinical piece.

 

I have had the misfortune of a parent passing away while I was in undergrad and another one in grad school and that contributed to my dips in GPA. I'm in my mid-30's if that matters.

 

Is it worthwhile for me to try to apply? Or are my stats just not worth the effort at this point, especially the low GPAs and lack of research experience and perhaps not the strongest LORs? 

 

 

 

[BeingThere]

You have great GRE scores.  (They are less than 5 years old, correct?)  Your work experience sounds good.  For master's programs maybe lack of research experience isn't a deal-breaker.  PsyD sounds like a decent possibility with your stats.

 

I find it interesting that you are considering I/O since your focus has been so heavily on client services in mental health and social services.  I work in that field and the people who work even at the systems level usually have clinical degrees, not I/O degrees.  An I/O masters may not get you where it sounds like you want to go.  But maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by "systems level."  If you mean social work at the macro level, then yeah, you probably don't need an I/O degree.

 

I say go for it!

Edited December 4, 2013 by Bren2014

[psychandph]

You have great GRE scores.  (They are less than 5 years old, correct?)  Your work experience sounds good.  For master's programs maybe lack of research experience isn't a deal-breaker.  PsyD sounds like a decent possibility with your stats.

 

I find it interesting that you are considering I/O since your focus has been so heavily on client services in mental health and social services.  I work in that field and the people who work even at the systems level usually have clinical degrees, not I/O degrees.  An I/O masters may not get you where it sounds like you want to go.  But maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by "systems level."  If you mean social work at the macro level, then yeah, you probably don't need an I/O degree.

 

I say go for it!

Thank you for the encouragement Bren2014!

 

So to clarify the confusion on my choice of clinical and I/O: As a social worker, I enjoyed the direct services piece very much and was always drawn to mental health and clinical psych as a result of my direct services experiences.

 

But since I was with my previous employer for a long while, over time I transitioned into greater leadership roles (went from level I to level III) and chosen for a year long leadership management training and I found myself really fascinated by organizational behavior (and my focus in my graduate degree in public health was also in healthcare management) and the success and failures of programs and projects resulting from the delicate balance/imbalance between employees/managers/environment. So hence the slightly schizoid interest in I/O and clinical psych. 

[rugox]

Sounds like you answered your question. You have experience in both settings and interests in both research fields so it really depends how you tailor your application. In any case, if you apply to a school with a professor who aligns well with your research interest, that would be your best bet.

 

Be careful about relating social work with clinical psych as although there are overlaps, differences separate them as a profession. Also, what do you mean by direct services? Did you do counseling?

[psychandph]

Sounds like you answered your question. You have experience in both settings and interests in both research fields so it really depends how you tailor your application. In any case, if you apply to a school with a professor who aligns well with your research interest, that would be your best bet.

 

Be careful about relating social work with clinical psych as although there are overlaps, differences separate them as a profession. Also, what do you mean by direct services? Did you do counseling?

Thanks for the advice and the reminder to differentiate between social services vs psych, rugox. I've been asked to clarify why I'm interested in both I/O and clinical and I was told that it is like comparing "apples to oranges" and though i agree to some extent, I also think there are justfiable reasons why I'm interested in both. But all the questioning was making me doubt myself and question if applying to both was not such a good idea. So thanks for letting me know that I do make some sense after all!  

 

Yes - part of providing direct services (providing face to face assistance and counselling to clients) was counselling individuals and families. Thanks also about the reminder to differentiate between social services vs psych.