Hello everyone. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a 2.9 GPA in December of 2016. I have been working at a hospital in the Med Center for three years as a Health Unit Coordinator and also as a pysch patient sitter. I know I want to go to grad school but I am not sure what I want to do (and what will accept my low GPA). I have thought of occupational therapy, PA, or Master's in Psychology. What do you guys suggest?
Confused about what to do next. Grad school?
- Thread starter nikki786
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click on "list of occupations" on the link below to explore some different possibilities within various fields (e.g., healthcare). I was doing a bit of career counseling during/after my master's degree (in rehab counseling) and was rather dismayed, tbh, when looking through a source similar to this and saw that respiratory therapists could make way more money with fewer years of education than I had at that point
I've since gone on to more school and different job prospects now and am doing what I love, but would have enjoyed perusing different possibilities pre-master's program (and debt). Like you, during that time post-undergrad and pre-masters I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. Worth doing some exploring before you decide on a direction because there might be possibilities that interest you that you'd never thought of. CareerOneStop Generally also you can go to the CareerOneStop places in your location (they keep changing names every so often but basically are the state employment assistance offices and there should be one near you). There are counselors and resources there to kind of help people figure out what they want to do - you have to qualify for some services like help finding jobs but if you just want some ideas for career exploration they should be able to help with that or at least point you to some resources to explore on your own.
click on "list of occupations" on the link below to explore some different possibilities within various fields (e.g., healthcare). I was doing a bit of career counseling during/after my master's degree (in rehab counseling) and was rather dismayed, tbh, when looking through a source similar to this and saw that respiratory therapists could make way more money with fewer years of education than I had at that point
Generally also you can go to the CareerOneStop places in your location (they keep changing names every so often but basically are the state employment assistance offices and there should be one near you). There are counselors and resources there to kind of help people figure out what they want to do - you have to qualify for some services like help finding jobs but if you just want some ideas for career exploration they should be able to help with that or at least point you to some resources to explore on your own.
Thanks singasongofjoy, I will be sure to check out the link. How did you get into rehab counseling? Wow, I didn't know RTs made good money! So, what are you doing now? (as in your career). Also, do you think that my GPA is too low for schools such as OT?
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Hope you find it helpful. And it's not so much that RTs make good money (though it's certainly decent) but more about how little the options I had at the time paid since I didn't have an LPC or other license yet. As for how I ended up in rehab counseling, basically I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, started looking through master's programs related to psychology or counseling in the geographic area I wanted to live next, found the rehab program, read the description, and thought "oh, that sounds fun!" I didn't look at PhD programs then because I wasn't sure enough what I wanted to do and didn't have the research background out of undergrad to get into a good PhD program. After my masters I worked for a couple of years and decided to go back to grad school - I'm now close to being a psychologist, once I finish accruing hours. I love what I do. Took me longer than some of my peers to get here since I worked, got a masters, worked some more, and then went back to school, but that's OK - it's ok to take time to figure out what you wanted to do
It worked out great for me and I certainly don't regret it because it did help me figure out what I wanted to do, but masters programs can be expensive and I did graduate with debt from it, so I encourage other folks in similar situations to do a little more exploring before jumping into additional schooling for that reason. You don't make a lot with a masters in psych/counseling/related fields if it doesn't lead to some sort of license so keep that in mind if you start thinking about master's programs (e.g., LPC or LCSW or something similar where you could get licensed to provide services billable to insurance). As for your GPA I haven't got a clue about OT programs and their requirements - isn't there an OT forum? You could ask there. It's certainly low for PhD programs, but with some relevant experience and other factors would probably be fine for some master's programs in counseling-related fields. My personal career approach has always been "oh, I'll figure it out when I get there," go off and do something interesting and do my best to do it well even if I don't think I'll do it forever, and then taking whatever interesting opportunities arise out of that one. I've done some cool things over the years with the connecting threads not really arising until I was able to look back retrospectively on the past decade. It worked out great for me with some fortuitous strokes of good luck along the way but I don't necessarily endorse that lack of planning for other people Thank you so much for taking the time out to write me a well-rounded, thorough answer, truly appreciate it! Congratulations on almost becoming a psychologist; I'm sure you have worked hard through your journey. By you saying that my low GPA might be accepted in counseling programs sure does give me hope. I have actually considered becoming a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor but I don't just want to remain with a bachelor's degree for the rest of my life. I want to at least do my masters. Another question that I had was that if I start studying for the GRE right now, will it be too late by the time I take the test and get the results for me to apply to grad schools? Will I have to wait an entire semester (or even an entire year) to apply to grad schools?
