Just got accepted to a School Psych MA program, am I making a mistake?

[Eeveepony]

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Hello 🙂 I was hoping someone out there could answer a question for me please, or at least give me some guidance.

I'm finishing up my BA in psych right now and I just got accepted to a Masters program in school psych. I absolutely am in love with this field. However, now I am worrying because job prospects seem bleak. I'll be in Texas (originally from Long Island, NY) and I'm not sure if this opens my chances of finding a job after my 3yr program.

The program I got into is pretty good and it's experience in the field from day 1 so I am hoping this improves chances.

Would it be possibly a better option to finish this program, then work (attempt) full time to pay off my loans (~$60k with MA and BA), then continue a PsyD/Ph.D program at night/part time? It's not possible for me to get into a PhD/PsyD program at this point, as my GPA was too low, but my research and volunteer/work experience was extraordinarily high (which is how I got into the MA program). Is anyone else doing this?

I will be licensed in TX after all is said and done, but I'm debating even going out of the country to find a job if need-be. Thankfully, besides my license, I have no ties to anywhere I go. Is anyone facing the same issues?

Sorry if this is all jumbled! Thank you for any advice/reassurance/tips you can give me.

 

[sabaijae]

Hi, this is very (even eerily) similar to my situation. Sounds like you're going to Trinity?I'd really like to hear some helpful answers as well. 🙂

I'm looking at the average starting salary for School Psychs vs amount of time in school/living cost while in school, etc and it gets you thinking ... School principal salaries are quite a bit higher (it seems) without as much schooling.

Regarding going abroad, I've been living/working outside the US for the last eight years and have been thoroughly enjoying it. Only drawback is that if you work for an international school abroad, it's almost always for a 2-4 year contract, so if you dont mind the global nomad lifestyle (and perhaps culture shock) ... it's nice.

 

[Eeveepony]

Yup! Got accepted into Trinity 🙂. I was supposed to study abroad in Sweden for my undergrad, you are so lucky!

 

[Ettevi05]

Not entirely sure what you're really asking, but from what I can tell is that sure, diversifying your schools is great when it comes to education and landing a job. Not only will you have experience in living in two different parts of the US but you will also have connections/potential networking in two different places. You can always start in an MA program and later apply to a PhD or Psy D, this is especially good when you lack in the GPA, GRE, Research department. A lot of people do this, and I plan on doing this too since I had trouble getting into my favorite PhD programs (I am likely going into an MS+PhD track, with the option of applying to other places after MS). Just make sure to do well in your program in order to balance out your undergraduate career.

Now, I think a lot of people in different careers are having trouble landing decent jobs because of the current economy but hopefully, after you're done with your schooling, job prospects will be much better than now.