Feeling Hopeless...

[tinkerfur]

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I am a junior at state school going into my senior year this fall. My GPA is around a 3.5, and I have held leader positions in Psi Chi and Alpha Lambda Delta. I hate talking about myself, but I did community service and volunteering, but I have absolutely no experience in research. The main volunteer opportunity I had was working with autistic children, but that was only for a semester. I noticed schools such as BC and Smith put strong emphasis on students who already had a year experience in the social field.
My question is, should I work a year after graduating and then try applying? I feel like I have no chance getting into these schools when I see that people have had so much experience in their work and volunteering services. Should I apply, and if I don’t get it, just try again next year? I’m very lost, please help!

 

[GradStudent87]

I am a junior at state school going into my senior year this fall. My GPA is around a 3.5, and I have held leader positions in Psi Chi and Alpha Lambda Delta. I hate talking about myself, but I did community service and volunteering, but I have absolutely no experience in research. The main volunteer opportunity I had was working with autistic children, but that was only for a semester. I noticed schools such as BC and Smith put strong emphasis on students who already had a year experience in the social field.
My question is, should I work a year after graduating and then try applying? I feel like I have no chance getting into these schools when I see that people have had so much experience in their work and volunteering services. Should I apply, and if I don’t get it, just try again next year? I’m very lost, please help!

It depends what degree what you want, if you want a doctorate then yes you will need to work or go to a master's first, you might be able to get into a master's with your gpa and experience though, especially a general master's which at least from what i've found are not very hard to get into.

 

[devilpup]

OP, its sounds like you really want to pursue graduate school. Go for it, apply; your GPA is not bad and you stand a good chance even with minimal research experience. If you don't get into the program of your choice, use that extra year to get some unique experience or better yet- earn your Master's. Obtaining an adviser from your home school would help you tremendously.

 

[schoolpsych1]

I agree to go for it, what do you have to lose? If you don't get accepted, you can apply again the following year. I don't know GRE scores (if you took them yet) but 3.5 GPA is solid. Masters programs can be very forgiving, shop around for a good range. I think most students going to get their masters don't have a wide range of research, some students going for their MA or PhD weren't even Psych majors!
There are always students that break the average admission standards. I know 1 student that had just 1 honors thesis and a summer at a school for autistic children that got into a PhD program. She was very enthusiastic and said she wrote a great personal statement. Although the handful of students I know or wrote too, broke the odds in admissions in a sense, who knows how many more there are? If they didn't apply because someone told them they weren't experienced enough, they wouldn't be half way through their programs. Of course, you have to be realistic, but if you don't mind spending the money on applying, go for it!

On a side note, although I think forums like this are VERY educational and informative, we are all in the same boat. I remember a student telling me, who was at Yale, that when she posted on a college forum that she was applying and her stats, she was shot down big time....no way would she get in. Well, she is. I have to try to be optmistic because I tend to see the glass "half empty" sometimes. In Psych, it's easy to get discouraged because there are so many students and so few slots. But again, what is the harm in trying?

 

[tinkerfur]

Thank you for the answers everyone! I am so sorry for not adding what degree I wanted to recieve. I want to get an MSW, which is why I am SO concerned about the research and volunteer work. I hope that helps!

 

[pingouin]

Quite honestly, if you want to work and you want to get more experience, then do it. Grad school will ALWAYS be there, and having some time off may guide your decision a little better regarding goals. It's much harder to take some time off to do the things you want to do after grad school.

An alternative to work is to do volunteer work. I'm talking about something like AmeriCorps, Teach for America, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, or any other number of programs that are out there. Typically a 1-2 year commitment, usually doing some type of "with people" work, and your basic needs (food, housing) would be covered plus a small monthly stipend. It's an excellent experience for those who do it, and for the people they serve. Plus, quite honestly, it really looks good on a MSW application.

As for research experience, that's not something the programs focus on. You'll be required to take a few research classes after you get in, and you could always pursue a research concentration (does not allow you to work or be licensed clinically) or even a PhD/SW if you are interested.

 

[thepsychgeek]

I am a junior at state school going into my senior year this fall. My GPA is around a 3.5, and I have held leader positions in Psi Chi and Alpha Lambda Delta. I hate talking about myself, but I did community service and volunteering, but I have absolutely no experience in research. The main volunteer opportunity I had was working with autistic children, but that was only for a semester. I noticed schools such as BC and Smith put strong emphasis on students who already had a year experience in the social field.
My question is, should I work a year after graduating and then try applying? I feel like I have no chance getting into these schools when I see that people have had so much experience in their work and volunteering services. Should I apply, and if I don’t get it, just try again next year? I’m very lost, please help!

Since you said you want an MSW below, I'm curious as to why you need the research experience. If you want to pursue social work research, then OK, but if you want to practice, the research component isn't all that important. Your GPA is quite good for an MSW candidate (mine was lower than yours)! Try volunteering in your local community, or take a year off and do VISTA or AmeriCorps (essentially two branches of the same service).

FYI, though- I got into Smith with less than a year of volunteer work in the social field. It is possible!

 

[WannaBeDrMe]

Since you said you want an MSW below, I'm curious as to why you need the research experience. If you want to pursue social work research, then OK, but if you want to practice, the research component isn't all that important. Your GPA is quite good for an MSW candidate (mine was lower than yours)! Try volunteering in your local community, or take a year off and do VISTA or AmeriCorps (essentially two branches of the same service).

Depending on the program, the MSW applicant pool could actually be quite competitive. (shhh, don't tell the phd board, I like being underestimated)

I ditto the people who chimed in with Americorps... there are wonderful opportunities all over the country. They don't pay very well... but the experience is top notch. If you don't want to take time off, keep Americorps in mind as MANY programs allow you to complete the hours part-time while you are in grad school and pay $1-$2k per semester.

If you are only in your junior year... why not get some research experience if you feel it's important? Start calling around and emailing about summer labs. There will have been last minute cancellations and if you are flexible with location/work type... you can find something.

"Hopeless" is a strong word... learn to choose your words carefully.... especially within this field.

Good luck with your process.

 

[apricot3]

I took a year off after undergrad. and I'm very glad that I did. Go ahead and apply, and if you don't get in you can take the time to get some more experience.
In my opinion, social work is the kind of field that you really need experience in to be sure about. I'm not trying to discourage you at all, it sounds like you are passionate which is great! But I really would recommend getting some more experience in- not just so that you can get in, but also so that you can be confident in your decision and well, be experienced.
It is a really challenging career and I'm glad that I have the experience I do because I know that it is what I want to, despite the challenges.