Masters Before Clinical PhD Program

[clinpsych55]

Hi everyone, just wanted to get your two cents on an issue that's been puzzling me:

It seems to me that more and more people are getting masters degrees before entering a combined MA/PhD program in clinical psych, even though these credits don't transfer, for the most part. I'll be applying to PhD programs next year and am currently taking time off in between undergrad and grad school working as a research coordinator. Does the growing number of MA students applying put me at a disadvantage since I only have my BA, or will my paid research experience make up for it?

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[deleted343839]

I'm not sure this is true. I'm not aware of such a trend. It sounds like what you are doing is fine, assuming your academics are in good shape, you have strong letters of rec, and you've done well on the GRE.

 

[Justanothergrad]

One point of clarity: credits don't transfer because you would have already used them for completion in a degree (masters) and you can't double dip them for your doctoral work. That doesn't mean programs don't let you waive coursework, but that is a program specific decision. Some do; some don't.

Otherwise, I agree with MamaPhD.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Students who are doing a masters first are either being mislead by schools wanting that easy student loan money or making up for deficiencies in their application or shifting gears from counseling or social work. If you are doing research and getting paid, I think you probably have a leg up on them so long as your other stats are good as Mama said.

 

[clinpsych55]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I do feel confident about my stats overall -- other than my quant score, which I'm working on raising. It might also be my area of research that especially attracts people with masters degrees (namely MSWs) since I study foster youth/child welfare.