Does research experience offset below average GPA?

[psych4life1]

Revised (much shorter and cleaned up!) post: I have a mid-to-low GPA from undergrad and will be gaining unrelated psych research experience — should I get an MA in psychology or post-bacc to be competitive for Ph.D. programs?

A little background: I dropped out of a counseling graduate program after realizing I do not want to be just a therapist. I want more research and other career opportunities.

Profile:
Undergrad Psych and Cumulative GPA: 3.43 and 3.40 out of 4.0, respectively.

• Bad final year, with two C+s in Psych classes, unfortunately. But other terms were very good, all As and A-s, and maybe a couple of B+s.

GRE: Haven't taken the official, but the last diagnostic indicated 158 verbal, 156 quant (writing unknown, but not nervous about it). I'm gonna work to bring this up to 160s at least for both sections.
Research experience: kind of all over...

• Academic (more psych-related):
  • I worked for a semester undergrad in an addictions lab as an RA, but my role was primarily screening participant pool and data entry.
  • I also volunteered as an RA during my counseling program (I dropped out of) for a quarter, doing light levels of lit review and more data entry.

While I have some experience in my undergrad and former grad program, they're not substantial. But these helped me get the next role...

• Paid (biomedical):
  
  • Currently working full-time as a Research Coordinator doing a wide range of activities for several different projects, including all of the above but more in-depth things like IRB, participant recruitment, etc. If I stay in this role, I can likely grow and get to go to conferences, co-present, and even maybe get a co-publication. This experience can also help me get into competitive MA Psych research programs, which is how I'm approaching it. I'm thinking of staying in this role for roughly 2 years and during this time I'll gain experience, improve my GRE scores, and then plan to apply for strong MA research-based programs.

What do you think?

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[R. Matey]

I'd go for the post-bacc or MA program in your situation. Is there a funded or partially funded one in your area? That way, you'd have the opportunity to develop a psych interest (and network), rehab your GPA, and continue to develop yourself in general research skills in your current job. Three years seems reasonable, five seems overkill, IMHO.

 

[GT_Neuro]

It will be very important for you to complete a MA / MS in psychology so that you may be competitive when applying to a Doctoral program. Also, study for the GRE to better ensure that you obtain a high score.

 

[NeuroPsychosis]

Most programs I came across in my cycle were more concerned with research experience and most importantly, independent research skills by means of poster or pub. Second to that comes how well your research interest match with their work (speaking of research-oriented programs). I also have an MA so no one really much raised questions about UGPA since my trend was definitely moving up. For PhD programs, an MA without research experience would basically become useless. Conducting research is like riding a bike they say, the more you are skilled at it, the easier your transition to graduate school be (and a more attractive applicant).

For coursework, those are more controlled by time, space, and situation... so your performance in undergrad may or may not predict your performance in graduate courses (Typically grad courses are more intimate and specific leading you to take them more seriously). Look at the graduate program you are applying to and navigate their requirements- some schools DO specify that apps with UGPA below 3.0 will not be considered regardless of MA work. Some others actually don't even employ mins (majority).

For GRE, that is debatable, most of the schools and faculty I talked to are not even big fans of GREs and suggested that I don't take it if it's optional since they won't even bother looking at it (maybe check with individual faculty about that). Some schools still require them and even faculty from these schools gave me the impression they are not too serious about it- its requirements set by the grad school/ faculty vote not in their individual control.

 

[psych4life1]

I'd go for the post-bacc or MA program in your situation. Is there a funded or partially funded one in your area? That way, you'd have the opportunity to develop a psych interest (and network), rehab your GPA, and continue to develop yourself in general research skills in your current job. Three years seems reasonable, five seems overkill, IMHO.

Thank you for your feedback! There are several good options in my city, thankfully, but cost can range quite a bit. The Post-Bacc program would cost a little under $18k, but there are fellowships and diversity scholarships that would cut that down to around $9k total (in the best case scenario). The MA programs range roughly from $50-$65k total and it seems like there are similar fellowships and scholarships available.

I'm heavily leaning toward the Post-Bacc program since I get the opportunity to make up for the bad final year grades in undergrad with advanced coursework and it's a 100% guarantee I will get connected to a psych PI, according to the program director. I like the idea of getting an MA (in case, things don't work out I can at least walk away with an MA and find other paid psych research jobs unlike leaving the post-bacc with only a certificate), but the cost is really a drag for me. I bet with some scholarships, it'll bring it down closer to $30-$40k, so I won't completely discount these programs. I'm also doing more research to find out how successful students are in these MA programs in actually getting connected to a research lab.

I think your advice is sound. I'll use this current job to build up general experience/skills and this will likely help me with applying to some competitive MA programs.

 

[summerbabe]

2 things that jump out to me are clarity of focus and timelines.

This tentative plan could include 2 years as a research coordinator + 2 years in a MA program + possible additional time if you don't get in during your first application cycle + ~5 (or more years) in a PhD program. That's fine for some people and maybe not as fine for others.

I dropped out of a counseling graduate program after realizing I do not want to be just a therapist. I want more research and other career opportunities.

IMO clarity of focus (combined with relevant experiences) is very important for successful admission to a funded PhD. No specific set of experiences will guarantee this, not even formal ones like a MA program.

You're pretty sure you don't want to be a full-time clinician, cool. Continuing to figure out what you'd rather do, as well as specifics like doctoral level research focus, will likely be important in finding a good PI and program match. Good luck!