Non-Trad Applicant needing a little help with where to start...

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ab103

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Hi all - I just stumbled across this forum and thought it might help me answer some questions...please excuse me for being long-winded.

I'm 33 and graduated in '99 from a large state school in the south with a BA in Psych. My GPA was ~3.3. I've been working in the computer field since graduation, but I've been going back and forth about returning to school for years - for either a PhD in Clinical Psych or an MSW. I went as far as volunteering at some labs at my old university and taking the GRE about 6 or 7 years ago, but I was enjoying my job at the time and decided to stay put for a while longer.

Now the time is right, but I honestly have no idea where to begin anymore. I've recently moved to a new state with only 2 programs - 1 is great and highly ranked and the other is not far from #100 (according to some rankings that I've found - but it is accredited). The better program is ~2 hrs away, while the lower ranked one is ~30 minutes.

I know that it's too late for me to prepare for a 2010 application, so I'll be looking at improving my resume over the next year. I know I'll need to take the GRE again, and my score will be ~1400.

My end goal would be to concentrate on therapy right out of school with some research on the side - then have the flexibility for more academics down the road (which is why I'm leaning toward the PhD over the MSW).

So for my questions:

- Can anyone give me some advice on what I should be doing in that time?

- I assume that I should contact these departments to see about potential volunteer opportunities - but are there other options that are non-university based routes I could go? There's a large university hospital in my town that's well respected in medicine, but I'm not sure how I would even find out about information there.

- Given my age and lack of experience, is the better school out of my reach? Should I put my concentration on either a PhD at the lower-ranked school and MSW programs?

Thanks for any advice!

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In my personal opinion, school "rankings" don't matter nearly as much as fit with a potential mentor. If both programs are accredited (also look at things like time-to-graduation and internship match rates), the more important question is: what do you want to study while in grad school? For any PhD program, this question is a must. Perhaps less so for MSW, but I don't know enough about MSW programs to give proper advice.

As for what you can/should do to prepare, absolutely take the GRE again. Also, getting involved in the field again will be important. Your age isn't a big deal (there are plenty of people who go back to school after doing something else for awhile--including people on this forum) but to show prospective schools that you're serious, getting involved with psychology again is important.

Contact the people at the university about research assistant volunteer gigs, and absolutely contact the hospital too. Most hospitals have psychologists and some may be doing research (though I'm not sure how to get involved as a volunteer--but asking won't hurt). You could try contacting profs at your old university and see if they know anyone at the schools near you.

Really though, think about what you want to study. Applying to schools just because they are nearby or highly ranked (whatever that even means these days) isn't as good as applying based on match. Also, if you're really set on doing a PhD in psych, you could consider moving...
 
Thanks for the information. Both schools actually have faculty I'd like to work with - I did not mean to imply that I was purely looking at rankings (or proximity), I just was not sure what kind of a role they played into job prospects and placement, but I did find a stat for matches on the lower ranked school - and they're at 100% for the past 2 years. So it sounds like either one would be a good fit.

I'll be contacting them and the hospital over the next week - hopefully I'll be able to get some volunteer work for this year. :)

Thanks again.
 
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