Have a tough decision to make, Help!

[MsAmira]

I'm in a difficult situation. I am currently in my first year of study in a clinical program. Unfortunately, the program appears to not be the right fit for me. The first reason is because I am required to complete a Master's in theology or intercultural studies alongside my PhD in clinical psychology (these are the requirements of the Christian institution I am attending). It's hard for me to justify all the extra courses and cost that will go towards this Master's that I'm not very interested in doing in the first place. The second reason is that the school I am currently in provides very little funding and as an international student, funding is especially important!

So I am looking at applying to the New School of Social Research which offers an MA in psychology and after completing the MA, I apply to their PhD program in clinical psychology (which is an additional 3 years since the MA already counts for the first 2 years). The application process for the NSSR is internal and they typically receive 25-30 applicants from their MA program for the clinical program and select 15-17 students. The website says that maintaining a high GPA (3.7+) and being involved in a faculty's lab gives you a pretty good chance of getting into the clinical program. Also the NSSR provides way more funding than the school I'm currently in.

So my difficult decision is do I leave a clinical program that is not the right for an MA program that has a decent chance of advancing into the clinical program (obviously no guarantees).

I tried to make this post short... any advice would be really appreciated, I'm losing sleep over this! Thanks

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[psychyes93]

While I can't give you any substantial advice over this (I'm in the same boat as you), I am curious as to what you decided to do?

 

[MsAmira]

While I can't give you any substantial advice over this (I'm in the same boat as you), I am curious as to what you decided to do?

Hey! Sorry for the late reply, I decided to change programs. It was definitely hard leaving a clinical program, but incurring that kind of debt just didn't seem worth it to me. I'd rather take the risk and get into another clinical program with better funding. I'm also not a US citizen so my loan options are much more limited... I'm feeling much better overall, still a little uneasy, but staying at the program I was in was not sustainable...

 

[psychyes93]

Great, I am happy for you. Saving any potential debt is worth it to me too What did you think of the New School of Social Research?