A Few Questions about Mental Health Counseling Master's Programs

[ffizzydrinks]

Hi everyone!

I've noticed that Master's programs for counseling psych/mental health counseling are somewhat inconsistent with whether or not they want GRE scores (ie I've looked into TC Columbia and they are not required but UMass Boston does). I've seen a couple of programs that I would potentially be interested in that require me to take the GRE but obviously if it is not necessary to take it, I would rather not. Is this one of those instances where I should just hold my nose and take the test or should I just not bother with the ones who want me to take the GRE since quality of the program doesn't really seem to have anything to do with requiring the GRE? I'm also looking for suggestions of programs that I might be interested in, because I would prefer to have a concentration in adolescents but it's not necessary.

A little bit about me that might help I have a 3.6 GPA both overall and in psych, I've done two independent experiments and presented them at my college, I'm kind of a research assistant to one of my professors, have had an internship at a clinic for children, and I'm going to have an internship next semester.

Thanks for any help!