MA/MS Human Development..to Psychology

[screamingonthecouch]

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Human Development with a double emphasis in adolescent development and women's development. My interests are in the effects of traumatic experiences on development and identity across the lifespan. I have a year working with families in crisis, and just research from my senior thesis course. I have a couple of questions for people that are knowledgeable about psychology programs at the graduate and doctoral levels. Hopefully this is the correct thread, here goes first of all I am not a competitive candidate I think for a couple reasons one is my undergraduate education is a mess (different schools, bad grades withdrawals), when I finish I will have a 3.5 GPA at best. I intend on taking the gre but I am not sure how that is going turn out, I plan on paying for preparation which I expect can help me get decent scores. With that said here are my questions how are human development majors viewed within psychology departments? Is it possible to or feasible to attend a MA program in Human Development then try to get into a phd psychology program? I am also considering MA programs in Marriage and Family Therapy, Trauma Studies, and child Development. My major goal though is to study trauma, ptsd, post traumatic growth and treatment at the doctoral level. I would also appreciate any feedback on Human Development as a field in general.

Thanks

-Couch

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[doasisay]

I got an MA in human development before starting my MA/PhD in clinical psychology, and I don't think that it was a benefit at all. It came up in interviews, but that was mostly due to the prestige of the school I attended for my MA. I didn't get the degree to help improve my changes of being admitted to a doctoral program (my undergrad GPA and GRE scores were solid) - I had originally intended to get a PhD in human development and changed my mind along the way. Honestly, I wish I hadn't done it - I have a lot of debt from that degree, and I wasn't able to use any of my coursework or my thesis to fulfill any of the requirements in my current doctoral program. I think that you would have more success spending a year or two working as a research assistant (particularly in a position that might allow you to publish/present your work).