Do I have a chance???

[Joe3462]

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I recently graduated from college in May with a double major - a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S.B.A. in Management. I began as a Psychology major planning to go to graduate school, but picked up my Business major during my Sophomore Year, and decided I wanted to try out the Human Resources/ Organizational Development route. However, as I am now working in a hospital as an Organizational Development & Training Assistant, I'm wondering if I made the wrong decision. I think I traded what I really wanted to do for what was more "practical" at the time.

My school was quite small (>200 in my graduating class), with no opportunities for clinical experience. However, I worked my a** off - and earned the top GPA (3.92) in my graduating class in both majors. I also served my senior year as president of our Student Government, and worked two jobs throughout my college years to support myself financially. Even if I did have the opportunity to gain clinical experience, I dont know if I could have fit it in!

So here's my dilemma - I hear everywhere that clinical Ph.D programs in Psych practically require clinical experience or published research for admission. As I had drifted away from planning to attend graduate school, I didn't focus as much on research as I probably could have. I did recieve the Psychology Research Excellence award, however, it was based on our Senior Seminar in Psychology course of only 10 senior psychology students. I have no publications, and have not presented a poster at a conference. I'm sure my GRE scores would be great, but I'm afraid that my lack of research or clinical experience will hurt me. Are there other ways to increase my "attractiveness" to clinical or counseling Ph.D programs? I've already lost one year by not applying to schools to attend this fall, and I don't want to make that mistake again. My financial situation also requires that I get an apprenticeship or a T.A. position (which is great, because I LOVE teaching and research), but these positions are often much more competitive. I realize it's pretty late to be considering these things, but some recent life situations have convinced me that I need to follow what my heart is telling me to do. Do I even have a chance?

 

[psychanon]

Hi Joe,
Your GPA is great, so I think you have an excellent chance in the long run, but you are right that without substantial research experience, getting accepting into a funded clinical Ph.D. program is going to be challenging (I know less about counselling programs- perhaps others could chime in about those). More information would help-- are you interested in going to a research- oriented program? What are your long term goals? Do you have any research experience at all? The majority of fully funded programs have a substantial research focus, so regardless, you will need some research experience.
It is not true, however, that you are expected to have published research- that is in fact a rare accomplishment pre-grad school. Conference presentations are less rare but still not expected or required by any means. But you definitely, definitely need to have research experience, and it would be ideal if you can in some way produce your own independent work (honors thesis, poster, etc.). If you could find yourself full-time research work (as a paid RA in a lab), that would help a lot. It may be difficult to find that at this time in the year, so you may want to also look into volunteer opportunities. Clinical work is important too, but really isn't as important as research experience, so it should be a lower priority (this may be different for counselling programs or PsyDs). A lot of research jobs have a built-in clinical component (e.g., interviewing participants, etc.).
I understand your sense of urgency to get back to school as soon as you can, but it may not be practical to apply this year if you can't get these experiences. I know you feel like you "lost" a year already, but the vast majority of people going to clinical Ph.D. programs take a year off anyway, so that's really not the case. Another thing to consider is applying for master's programs, which will allow you to get research experience and take graduate classes. But, of course, that will cost you money.
Good luck!

 

[Joe3462]

Thanks so much for responding! In response to your questions, I am looking more towards a research-oriented or a balanced Ph.D program - I'm not as interested in the strictly practice-oriented or Psy.D programs. The clinical practice is certainly important to me, but I think I would benefit more from a program with a heavier research focus. In terms of my goals, I want to experience everything, not in any particular order - research, teaching, and practice. I suppose that all depends on how my years in graduate school would go - if I fall in love with what I'm researching, I may continue that for some time.

I have done some research of my own - including several literature reviews for different courses, and my senior thesis was my own original research, which included a poster I made for our department's own poster session.

I'd love to get a position as a RA, but I'm in Southern Maine, and there are few opportunities around here. And, due to a lease agreement, I'm here until May, and by that time, I'll probably have recieved my rejection letters from the schools I really wanted to go to...🙁

I think I could really thrive at graduate school - I'm just afraid that schools may be less willing to consider me, as my undergraduate studies in Psych maybe weren't as focused as they should have been, since I had to split my resources between two majors. Related to that is my other problem - I have three professors I would love to ask for recommendations, but one of them is a business professor. However, he knows my personal drive and my extracurricular activities better than any of the others. Should I still consider a letter from him even though he's not part of our psychology department? (We only had 3 professors in the Psych department, anyhow!)

 

[chaos]

In regard to asking for a letter of rec. from a business teacher, I'd say go for it. If he knows you better than your psychology teachers he can better attest to your drive and character, two things that graduate schools take into consideration.

 

[psychanon]

Well, given your interests, it sounds like a strong, research oriented clinical Ph.D. would be a good match for you, so I recommend not selling yourself short. Get the experience you need to get into a really good program. This will probably mean making sacrifices, like maybe waiting another year or two before applying, or breaking your lease and moving, or maybe even taking a long commute a few days a week to some place with a good university or hospital (how far are you from Boston? From U of Maine?). It's all about how much you want it and what you're willing to do to get there. It's great that you have a senior thesis. That is a really good start. But getting some more research experience will make you much more competitive. Or consider starting off with a masters program. I bet you could get into a good MA program pretty easily, and that can be a good springboard to the Ph.D.

Also, do you have a good idea of what your research intersts are?

 

[joetro]

This is cliche, but I know you won't get in if you don't apply. Based on your stats and experience, I'd say to go for it this year. If it doesn't work out or you get in but not someplace you want to go, then try again the next year. You might end up needing more research experience to be really competitive ... I think a lot of people now get more research experience as an RA after graduation but before grad school ... but it may work out great for you.

As for being a double major, I was and so were many others. I don't think this hurts you in any way.

 

[dakwegmo]

Joe3462 have you considered a terminal MA program? Search the forums, there are several threads on masters programs. Many of these programs are funded, which would work for your financial situation. They don't typically require significant prior research, and even offer opportunities to do research. There are drawbacks, but it's definitely something to consider. If you take joetro's advice and apply to Ph.D. programs this year go ahead and research a few MA programs to apply to. Even if you don't get into a Ph.D. program, with your credentials, there's a very good chance you'll get accepted into a masters programs. It's always nice to have options.

 

[Joe3462]

Thanks for the advice - it's definitely good to get some different perspectives on my situation. I think I will go ahead and take the GRE's this fall and apply to a few Ph.D programs and maybe a couple of master's programs, but I'll look into finding a RA position in the meantime. Either way, if I get for fall 2007 or not, the RA experience will help me, i'm sure.