pepperdine masters?

[rayhole]

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Hey everybody,
So ive read around a few threads looking for information on the Masters program at Pepperdine, and didn't find too much. But I did see that many people have or are currently in the program and were wondering if anybody wanted to discuss their admissions experience? As well as your student profile at the time (gpa, gre, research/clinical experience, publications...) I am an undergraduate who ultimately wants to enter a psyd program, and pepperdine is definitely one place I am interested in, although they require a masters...so i was wondering what their masters program is like and if I should even consider it! I know that the psychology world is quite competitive and it would be nice to hear from a person who is there or has been there. It would mean a lot to me if someone would help me out! Also if there is a thread somewhere that i missed, a point in the right direction will also be appreciated. THANKS!

 

[GSEPSteven]

I'm finishing up my master's at Pepperdine in West L.A. right now and waiting to find out if I have gotten into the Psy.D. program. I have had a really great experience overall and chose Pepperdine for my mater's because I did my undergraduate work in another field and decided that I wanted to make a career change. If you would like to know my stats going in to the program, you can PM me.

Overall, I have had a lot of really good training and I have liked most of the professors and my classmates. As an aside, there are two programs; one is an M.A. with an emphasis in MFT, which prepares you for MFT licensure, while the other is a strict M.A. in psychology, which is geared more for those students interested in pursuing a doctorate. I am in the latter program.

Another important thing to note is that successful completion of the M.A. program at Pepperdine in no way guarantees admission to the Psy.D. program, and the Psy.D. tends to be on the competitive side, meaning that many qualified applicants, both from within as well as from other schools, will likely be turned away.

I hope this information helps a little and I'm happy to answer any other questions. I have a few friends in the field doing master's-level work at local public state universities, and others who have gone directly into the doctoral track at either a more research-oriented school or a professional school. Good luck on this journey.

 

[SpiritBender]

I’m so glad I checked this forum today!! I got into the gen MA program for fall of '09 but deferred it to this fall and I can't wait to start!!
For Ray: Pepperdine will look at your application from a broad standpoint. The world of psychology is very competitive but don’t worry I didn’t get in based on my G.P.A (3.025 overall 3.6 major), my letter of intent (pure garbage I think), nor my GRE (980). So I’m pretty sure the reason I got in was based on my internship, rec letters, and experience: My internship was as a TA for the psychology dept, long story short I actually taught 2 blocks of Introduction to Psychology, Counseling Methods, and Introduction to Psychology and Religion for two semesters. My rec letters were from the director of the internships/externships of the psychology dept, the head of the philosophy dept (my double major) and the direct supervisor of my internship (the guy whose classes I taught while he stayed home sleeping haha professors they are a riot). My exp was as a camp counselor for 4 years, adolescent boys’ counselor for 3 years, actually teaching/lesson planning for 2 years, i was the psychology club president for 3 years and I was one of the psychology tutors for all 4 years I was there. I’m not bragging I’m trying to show you where else you can draw strength from for your application by time I got serious about school my 2.7 G.P.A couldn’t be fixed so make yourself competitive also by getting to know the higher ups for rec letters and work on your experience to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
For Steve: Hey man how are you doing? Can I ask you what is the living situation like out there I’m looking into Culver City, Hawthorne, Westchester and Mar Vista for a 1bd 1 ba for about 1000-1100 is that doable out there??

 

[rayhole]

thank you guys for responding! I am glad to know that a camp counselor counts as experience!!! I mean, I of course see why would it would be, but hadn't really thought about it. And I just turned in my app for a TA internship so lets hope I get it! Did you apply straight out of graduating? (congrats on your admission btw!)

 

[GSEPclinical]

Hello hello! I thought I would write you b/c I remember how frustrating it was for me when I was looking for forums on Pepperdine and couldn't find much. I was actually just admitted to Pepperdine for the MA in Clinical Psych with an Emphasis in MFT program. I'm thinking about getting a PsyD as well, and I think this program will be very beneficial.

Going into the program, I had a GPA of 3.3 and a psych GPA of 3.5. My GRE score was a 1080. I asked two prominent professors who knew me very well to write my letters of recommendation for me. I was a research assistant for a year and a half, and I was a teaching assistant for two undergrad psych classes. I believe I wrote a pretty good personal statement. I tried really hard to not make any sentence boring.

I graduated in June 2009 but went straight into a different type of program last fall. That didn't work out, so here I am! I'm super excited to start at Pepperdine in the fall!

I hope this was helpful, and best of luck to you in your application process! 🙂

 

[SpiritBender]

Yea Ray I applied last summer around June and was accepted by July, it counts anything like that sounds great especially if it was a sleep way camp because it shows definite leadership abilities.