Non-Traditional Applicant For Psych Programs

[ditadoll]

Hi everyone.....my situation is a bit odd...I graduated from UCSD in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology (Physiology and Neuroscience)..I originally wanted to go to medical school and was a pre-med but it did not happen. Unfortunately my father became really sick and I ended up taking care of him and being his caregiver for a few years until he was moved into hospice. When he went into hospice I went ahead and started working in an unrelated field, insurance. I am an Insurance Agent still and honestly, I truly dislike my job and want to go back to school to pursue a graduate level degree within Psychology or Mental Health (either a Master’s Or Psy.D). I have even considered going Pre-Med again to go into Psychiatry but I am so lost....I always wanted to work in the mental health field, I volunteered in the Neurobehavioral Mental Health Unit at UCSD’s hospital while a student and that experience really solidified my admiration for the field.

At age 32, I know I have been out of school forever and my chances right now of getting accepted if I applied to a program right now, would be slim to none. The importance of grades, research and internship experience is vital however internships and research positions are hard to get when you're not an actual enrolled student. I don’t want to make excuses for anything but I want to be realistic. I just am wondering if anyone has any advice to give in my situation? Should I take more classes? Get another bachelor’s degree? Volunteer? Nothing is guaranteed, but I am willing to do what it takes to reach that goal. To be a clinician in the mental health field is something I feel I would truly be happy doing but I don’t even know what to do or how to start :-/. Thank you everyone.

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[counselor2b]

Hi everyone.....my situation is a bit odd...I graduated from UCSD in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology (Physiology and Neuroscience)..I originally wanted to go to medical school and was a pre-med but it did not happen. Unfortunately my father became really sick and I ended up taking care of him and being his caregiver for a few years until he was moved into hospice. When he went into hospice I went ahead and started working in an unrelated field, insurance. I am an Insurance Agent still and honestly, I truly dislike my job and want to go back to school to pursue a graduate level degree within Psychology or Mental Health (either a Master’s Or Psy.D). I have even considered going Pre-Med again to go into Psychiatry but I am so lost....I always wanted to work in the mental health field, I volunteered in the Neurobehavioral Mental Health Unit at UCSD’s hospital while a student and that experience really solidified my admiration for the field.

At age 32, I know I have been out of school forever and my chances right now of getting accepted if I applied to a program right now, would be slim to none. The importance of grades, research and internship experience is vital however internships and research positions are hard to get when you're not an actual enrolled student. I don’t want to make excuses for anything but I want to be realistic. I just am wondering if anyone has any advice to give in my situation? Should I take more classes? Get another bachelor’s degree? Volunteer? Nothing is guaranteed, but I am willing to do what it takes to reach that goal. To be a clinician in the mental health field is something I feel I would truly be happy doing but I don’t even know what to do or how to start :-/. Thank you everyone.

Depending on what you want to do, a masters degree may very well be sufficent. Do you only want to provide therapy? If so, a masters degree would prepare you to do so. If you want to do more assessment based work or be a full time professor than the doctorate is the way to go. Not that you can’t do therapy with a doctorate, it just would likely be overkill if that is all you are interested in. Certainly a PsyD or PhD would provide you with more options and give you a skill set that is applicable in many other areas as well as a greater knowledge base, whereas the LPC, LMFT or LCSW LICENSE is a bit more limiting. As far as research, you can definitely get a paid research assistant position to get the needed experience. If you have any connections at UCSD you may want to start there. Doctorate programs in general will be much more competitive than a masters degree. I imagine that you will also likely need to take a few psychology based courses if you have not already such as general psych, abnormal, personality, statistics, or research methods. If a masters degree is the route you go than research experience is not as important. Good luck!

 

[StellaB]

I absolutely second what counselor2b said about master's vs. doctorate. Think about what you want to do, then do everything you can to get a realistic sense of how much money you're likely to make doing that work, and then carefully decide what education to pursue with regard to getting the right training with absolute minimal debt, zero debt if at all possible.

Regarding being a nontraditional student - I was 29 when applying for grad school and working in a completely unrelated field. I volunteered to get the research experience I needed (just contacted an old professor and he had a project going on that he needed help with, so I did that on nights and weekends), as well as the clinical work I needed to make sure I really wanted to do that kind of work. Apply broadly, and give a good story about why your path has been what it is. I went to a fully funded PhD program that was pretty balanced in terms of clinical/research focus. When I was where you are in the process (just starting to look into options), I had this overwhelming sense that I had missed the boat. It was not true at all. Study hard for the GRE, persevere, and don't take on debt.

PS - Obviously I can't know first-hand what my cohort-mate's experiences were, but I frequently felt during grad school that my age/maturity was a big advantage. I was not distracted by the kinds of things 23-year-olds are, my life felt more settled, I was already accustomed to working 60+ hours a week when necessary, I had the confidence to be able to hear critical feedback, and it seemed like doing therapy was a lot easier with more life experience.

 

[ditadoll]

Thank you all for your replies, it has been helpful!

 

[Sanman]

Something to think about...
What are your goals?
What are your salary expectations?
Are you geographically restricted?
How long can you be without a salary?

 

[ditadoll]

Something to think about...
What are your goals?
What are your salary expectations?
Are you geographically restricted?
How long can you be without a salary?

My goal is to work as a Clinical Psychologist, possibly in a hospital or even prison populations, with at-risk youth, or even own a practice or work in a private clinic. I have looked into the MFT program at Alliant University here in San Diego where I live but I have asked people that are current and former MFT’s and they have advised they do not make very much salary wise and have a lot of student debt, some have switched careers from being an MFT to something else as well so it has been a bit discouraging in regards to wanting to get an MFT, however I do understand everyone is going to have their own unique experience. Salary expectations....I do want to make a decent living, at least over +55k per year. I live in San Diego, California but I am willing to relocate to any city. In regards to not having a salary, I may have to work part-time but I am willing to figure out a way to make this work, my family is willing to help me while I get through. The sacrifices in the long run I feel would be worth it.

Thanks!

 

[jdawg2017]

My goal is to work as a Clinical Psychologist, possibly in a hospital or even prison populations, with at-risk youth, or even own a practice or work in a private clinic. I have looked into the MFT program at Alliant University here in San Diego where I live but I have asked people that are current and former MFT’s and they have advised they do not make very much salary wise and have a lot of student debt, some have switched careers from being an MFT to something else as well so it has been a bit discouraging in regards to wanting to get an MFT, however I do understand everyone is going to have their own unique experience. Salary expectations....I do want to make a decent living, at least over +55k per year. I live in San Diego, California but I am willing to relocate to any city. In regards to not having a salary, I may have to work part-time but I am willing to figure out a way to make this work, my family is willing to help me while I get through. The sacrifices in the long run I feel would be worth it.

Thanks!

If your goal is to be a "clinical psychologist," by definition you would need to pursue a PhD or Psyd. If your goal is to be a "therapist," MFT or MSW (etc.) programs are fine. PhD programs are very competitive, even if you have everything stacked your way (e.g., pubs, posters, etc.), whereas PsyD programs (usually not or very poorly funded) are not as competitive, but you would take even on more debt that would make getting a PsyD vs MFT (if the purpose is to perform therapy) marginally better, at best.

If you are not interested in research and assessment, I would honestly advise at this point in your life the things frankly you would need to get in order (e.g., research experience, letters of rec from relevant sources, etc.) make the PhD route (and even PsyD route) not seem like the best choice if the goal is to be a therapist. Clinical psychologists are increasingly being trained to be more than therapists since masters level clinicians have eaten up that share of the market.