Need Psych experts opinions for grad school!

[FutureDrMorecraft]

Hello, my name is Jimmy and I am brand new to this site so I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong area. I'm 21 years old about to graduate in May from Monmouth University with a BA majoring in Psychology and Sociology with a minor in Criminal Justice. I have always loved the field of psychology since my teenage years and knew I wanted to become a clinical psychologist. I've taken pretty hard courses in college that went beyond my major (Informal Logic, Philosophy, Political Science Courses), have immense research experience with both child and geriatric populations, in addition to recently completing my senior thesis at the undergraduate level. Unfortunately, double majoring and minoring took a toll on my GPA and I only have a 3.46 currently, my psychology GPA is a 3.6, however. I obviously know I need to attain a doctorate to pursue my field of interest (clinical psychology) and am interested in Psy.D. programs although my research experience at such a young age could be seen attractive to Ph.D. programs as well. I did poorly on my GRE's mainly because I am a horrid test taker (do I really need to know about parabolas and square roots of 303 digit numbers to administer intellectual assessments and find the standard deviations and dispersion within a set of data?) and I also took them in the middle of collecting data on 115 undergraduates for my thesis. 

 

 

Anyway, I've become more OK with the fact that I may need to attain a Master's before entering a doctoral program to take the time to do more research, attain more clinical experience, and take the GRE subject test and possibly increase my GRE general scores. I've done extensive research on all types of graduate programs, licenses, and other aspects of becoming a mental health professional. Although my primary goal is to become trained in the diagnosis and assessment of psychopathology, I also want to continue researching, administer neuropsychological evaluations, possibly perform forensic assessments for criminal and civil litigation cases, and teach at a University. I was going to pursue an MA in psychological counseling so if I didn't get into a doctoral program the second go-around I could just get a certain amount of supervised hours and attain my LPC. However, my thesis supervisor directed me to Seton Hall Universities M.S. in Experimental Psychology program. It basically is designed to prepare one for work in the research field, or strengthen one's chances of admittance into a doctoral program. I think the later choice is more for me given my immense research experience already, however, I was wondering how doctoral programs in clinical psychology would look at an applicant with a Master's degree in a psychology related field, but unrelated to counseling. I also wanted any other tips in general. 

 

Sorry for the long post, however, I know it's go-time since applications are due in two weeks!

 

Happy New Year!!

 

Cheers, 

 

Jimmy 

[dmacfour]

I just graduated with a degree in Experimental Psych a couple of weeks ago. It seems to me that experimental psychology is general enough that you could cater it to toward going into clinical psych. Even though my program emphasized Human Factors and Ergonomics, it would be pretty easy to pick a thesis that would be relevant to clinical psychology. 

[FutureDrMorecraft]

I just graduated with a degree in Experimental Psych a couple of weeks ago. It seems to me that experimental psychology is general enough that you could cater it to toward going into clinical psych. Even though my program emphasized Human Factors and Ergonomics, it would be pretty easy to pick a thesis that would be relevant to clinical psychology. 

Awesome, thanks! I can also take Test and Measures, Abnormal Psych, developmental, and other courses that would be find in a regular doctoral program for clinical. I don't think think they would transfer but I will still have them underneath my belt.

[juilletmercredi]

Most of the math on the GRE is basic algebra and arithmetic, so yes, you do need to know it as a foundation to statistics.  There are also some geometric principles in statistics.

 

I got into a top 15 social psychology program with a 3.42 GPA.  I think with a 3.46 and a 3.6 psychology GPA (which was very similar to my profile) you will definitely be competitive for PsyD programs, and would also be competitive for some clinical psych programs especially with great research experience, strong recommendations and a strong statement of purpose.  Study for the GRE and retake it to get a better score (60th percentile or higher is ideal!)

 

If your eventual goal is a PhD, I honestly wouldn't recommend spending money on an MA or MS program.  If you have research experience...get a job as a research coordinator or lab manager in a psychology department's lab.  Your grades are not a problem, really; however, if you work as a lab manager, you could take graduate-level classes for free and prove your worth, and get a great rec from the PI of the lab.  My lab has had three lab managers and all three have gone on to great programs in psych, 2 of them in clinical psychology.

 

If you do choose to do a master's, then yes, an experimental psychology degree would be fine - but since you want to counsel, I would recommend doing one that would allow you to get licensed as an LPC.  Another option is an MSW and getting licensed as an LCSW.  The upside to an MSW is that you can then go get a PhD in social work OR clinical psychology, and if you have an MSW you could teach at a school of social work in addition to a department of psychology (even with a PhD in clinical psych).