General Advice/ Direction to set myself up for Ph.D. program in the future!

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koko1210678

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Alright, I posted in here once before but for the sake of going an entirely different route want to start a fresh forum for questions.

My ultimate end goal is getting into a fully-funded PhD program for Clinical Psychology. There's no way in hell I'm getting in with my GPA right now.

I'm trying to figure out what I can do to boost my chances of getting into a PhD Clinical Psych program.

So the basics:

-Undergrad GPA: 2.6 overall (my major GPA in Criminology was not much better)
-My GPA is low because I suffered from PTSD from being raped on campus and didn't get it treated until I was nearly graduated. I avoided going to campus as often as possible, which meant skipping out on class, which meant tanked grades. I'm past that now and I fully accept responsibility for my GPA, I just wish it could be forgiven and I could get a second chance somewhere!
-Haven't taken the GRE yet, but I'm not too worried about it. I have always done exceptionally well on standardized tests and will take a GRE course just as a refresher for anything I might have forgotten.
-I have a little over two years experience as a volunteer court appointed advocate for children in foster care.
-I am trying to get work in a mental health or child welfare type setting.

In the end, I'm not too worried about not having enough clinical experience to get into a program. I am concerned I don't have research experience and I'm concerned with my GPA obviously.

I can't get into a decent master's program. (I was thinking of getting my MSW or a masters in counseling so I could be licensed.) I've called so many of them to speak to their advisors and most of them have said the cut-off is 3.0, sometimes they'll provisionally admit exceptional students with a 2.7 or above. (*Curse word*). The only schools I can get into are the for-profit types and I don't think I'll be improving my chances of getting into a decent doctoral program with a masters degree from University of Phoenix (though if I'm wrong, please let me know!!)

I've been brainstorming ways to get into a doctoral program and I'm thinking that maybe, if I go back to FSU (where I live still anyway), that I could get my second bachelor's in psychology. After a semester of good grades, I'd be eligible to intern/work in one of the psych labs (there's a lot of opportunity for students) and then continue my volunteer experience as a child advocate. That should take care of my GPA issue (I hope, I'm not even sure if doctoral programs look at second bachelors or if they average the two GPAs or what)...and the research issue (by working in one of the psych labs) and would include my "clinical" experience.

What do ya'll think? Should I go for my second bachelors? Would that improve my chances of getting into a funded PhD program?

Or are there reputable Universities that will take students who have a low undergrad GPA for a masters degree in something I could get licensed in (e.g. social work or counseling)?

I'm just trying to figure my life out. I really screwed the pooch with a low undergrad GPA unfortunately. :(

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