LMFT program rejection at TWU

[Fyrestorm]

I was looking in the online system and it looks like I was rejected outright for the LMFT Master's program at TWU.  I'm rather baffled as my stats were, I thought, good enough to place me high up on the acceptance list.  I'm trying to sort out what happened so I can shore up application deficiencies for such time when I reapply and for applications to other institutions.  

I have a B.S. from UTD, a double major in psychology and child learning and development.  I graduated magna cum laude (top 10%) with a cumulative GPA of 3.895.  I have a year of experience as a research assistant for the behavioral and brain PhD. program head, and two semesters of teaching internship for another professor so my letters of recommendation ought to be solid (TBH though, I haven't viewed them as I've heard that's a no-no).  I have over a year volunteer experience for a crisis line, hundreds of hours of volunteer with animal rescue, homeless shelters, and student organizations -- including a service award from UTD for amount of volunteer hours served.  I even took a Master's level class for undergraduate credit in my final semester in order to demonstrate I could handle the material.  The only item I'm lacking is a GRE score, which this program didn't require.  I'd initially geared my application to be competitive for UTSW's Clinical/Counseling PhD. program as it has the most demanding cutoff point in the area.  At this point I'm a little terrified there's some glaring problem in my application that caused me to get an interview, but then be rejected outright.  I did my first two years at a community college and got an A.S. before I transferred to UTD, I don't think that would have counted against me though?

I did get an invitation to interview for another similar program in the same department, the LPC program.  I'm not certain if that means anything at all as I applied to both.

The requirements for the program were:

3.25 GPA on last 60 hours
Letter of intent
Participation in Interview Day

There were only four candidates for the Master's program on TWU's interview day.  It seems like lack of space wouldn't have been the issue.  I'm curious if my age had something to do with it?  I'm 40, which is older than traditional students, but I don't know if that had anything to do with my rejection.  Perhaps I really bombed the interview or written essay portion after the interview?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as this is causing a bit of an existential crisis.  

[BackNSchool83]

First of all, very sorry that you got that news, must be hard, and I'm sure I would be very upset as well. This is bound to happen to each of us with some schools for one reason or another. You sound perfectly qualified and I'm sure other programs will accept you, I just hope you chose to apply to multiple programs. Personally I'm applying to 3 programs and I feel like I'm cutting it close, but those are the programs I'm interested in so hope one takes me and I hope another school takes you. To get an interview you were probably someone they liked, and it must have been a very hard call for them. It's possible that it came down to several of you and the others had more experience. There is nothing wrong with going to a CC at all, that's actually a good thing I believe, because it better prepares students for upper division. I would go to the LPC program for sure and see how it goes. There is nothing wrong with you at all, you have a great record, and your age is actually I think a huge advantage because people generally like to talk with peers or people who are mature about serious stuff over someone who is young, that's just human nature I suppose, we go to our parents and elders for advice, so you being still young but yet a mature age was not the reason. I think the only reason it could have been is that you sound like you have reentered school later on just like I have, and don't have a ton of field experience. You again are a total bad ass, great GPA, great background, but if you are up against people who have worked in the field and are trying to refocus their efforts with an MFT license or something then you may simply be out gunned by that. I can so relate to something like this becoming a big deal in my head, existential adventure I hear ya, but from the outside looking in, you are golden, you just gotta apply to more programs because one will eventually take you for sure.

Edited September 26, 2017 by BackNSchool83

[Fyrestorm]

As it's the same department, do you think it would even be worth my time to attend the LPC interview?  I'm concerned whatever bit me in the butt for the LMFT program will be passed along to the faculty doing the interview for LPC.  It seems like you have a grasp on what they're trying to find, so I appreciate your input.  Also, thanks for the vote of confidence, I really appreciate it.  I was starting to panic, wondering if I needed to put in another year of research, but I don't want to delay my applications that long. 

[_kita]

3 hours ago, Fyrestorm said:

As it's the same department, do you think it would even be worth my time to attend the LPC interview?

Yes. It is worth your time. You are a strong candidate for any LPC or LMFT program. The only thing I really see against you is possibly that other candidates may have had more directly related family treatment experience (such as working for a BHRS program). The LPC and LMFT are heavily rooted in professional experience, so the adcom might have thought you better line for the LPC than LMFT. Don't let one rejection stop you from accomplishing your goal.

Also, as @BackNSchool83 pointed out, your age is not and obstacle. It may actually be a strength to your application. The experiential and 'real world' components are critical in counseling degrees. My MA program had 40 in the cohort, and about 1/4 were over 30. Most others had worked at least 2-3 years in the field.

[Fyrestorm]

Kita, thanks so much.  You've both made me feel immensely better about it.  I'll do some more research on the faculty for the LPC program and go in like it's not even the same department.