Getting a second BA, this time in Psychology

[raskolnik]

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How will this affect my chances for applications to doctoral programs?

My first BA was in Religious Studies, I am currently in grad school for Religious Studies, but my family no longer has the money to fund grad school, and RS isn't what I want to do anymore after spending time taking psych classes. I can get a Psychology degree in only 3 semesters, so I would be graduating again in Spring 2012. I would like to pursue a doctoral program after graduation.

My religious studies GPA is poor (2.7), will this continue to haunt me, or will my new degree be considered?

 

[PsychBoxe]

As long as you really pull up your Psych GPA to over a 3.0 (try for a 3.4) and your overall Undergraduate GPA gets to a 3.0 or higher, it will not be a huge issue. However, if you do choose to apply to graduate programs, interviewers are likely to question why you chose to change educational directions. Make sure to have a genuine arsenal of reasons to support your interest and devotion to psychology, and also provide sound, confident reasoning why you will not make the same educational change with psychology.

 

[BiopsychStudent]

Bare in mind that this is just an iteration of what I've read around SDN, and there are many others who can answer this better than I:

A B.A. in Psychology really isn't worth a whole lot, and if you already have your BA it may or may not be worth it to go back. And even with a B.A. in psychology you'll likely not be competitive for doctoral programs without additional research, clinical, and professional experience. At best it might help you become a research assistant with additional experience, but its still unlikely to open many doors by itself.

In your situation, from what I've read, an M.S. in clinical psychology or experimental psychology might help you. I don't know how competitive you'll be for such a program (usually you don't need a significant psych background), but completing it would both prove you (1) capable of completing graduate-level work, and (2) give you opportunities to create a thesis and empirical research project, which would make you a lot more competitive.

 

[raskolnik]

Well, I only did one semester of grad school, and I wasn't formally admitted to the program yet. It's not much of a transition, really. I've been working with my mentor for the past year or so in Religious Studies, that's what that was about.

I am aware that I need research experience, but how competitive are these schools? Are students struggling to get accepted? I really just need to study at any APA-certified school, as far as the Army/Navy is concerned. I know at top schools the acceptance rate might be 5 students out of 300 applicants, but surely not every school in the country is going to be this way.

 

[erg923]

Not every school gets 300 applicant every year, but acceptance rates are rarely above 7 or 8% at any university based ph.d program. Psy.D programs (particularly at professional schools) have higher acceptance rates, but they cost a ton (requires more in loans than the median psychologists salary would justify) and quality/rep is questionable at many. There are some very high quality university based Psy.D programs but these are nearly as compettive as most ph.d programs.