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Hi everyone, great forum! I know my first post is long, but am grateful for any insight since I didn’t see my exact situation addressed in prior threads.
My goal is to enter an APA accredited Clinical Psychology PhD program that has a Forensic Psychology emphasis. However, all of the feedback I have gotten from programs and professors is that I lack research experience. I will admit that my interest in research developed in the middle of my MA which is likely considered late in the game. Therefore I agree that I need to gain more research experience, but am finding it more challenging to find opportunities than I thought. I’m in my 30s and work full time so I guess that makes me a nontraditional student. My academic/research experience is as follows:
BA Psychology – I completed the first 2 years at a community college where there were no research labs or out of class research opportunities. In class research assignments were mostly observation or surveys. The majority of the faculty was adjunct and/or working in private practice and not doing any research. I transferred to a University to complete my last 2 years and while all professors had research projects, assistant opportunities were only available to grad students. In class opportunities were limited to data collection/input into SPSS and surveys.
After graduation – I spent a little over a year working in the nonprofit sector doing survey research and setting up focus groups. I liked the work, but at the time didn’t have my own research interests and didn’t really see how I’d make a career out of it. A number of volunteer opportunities (non-research) in several clinical populations led me to the decision to return to school years later and I thought I would be content working in applied settings.
MA Forensic Psychology – Completed at a University and smaller research papers and literature reviews were the only research opportunities available since the program had more of an applied focus with no thesis option. The combination of classes/work experience/personal growth is really when my research interests developed and led me to want to conduct my own experiments/studies and therefore answer my own questions. A few professors were conducting off campus research projects and had assistant opportunities available for undergrads, but hadn’t developed anything for grad students. They encouraged me to pursue research further and consider the PhD route, but aren’t able to assist me in gaining experience.
What options have I considered to gain more experience?
1) Research/lab assistant jobs in academia or private/nonprofit sector – Ruled this out as soon as I learned that they require a few years of experience. I am open to volunteering, but am finding prior experience is still key and I don’t have enough yet.
2) Went back to my undergrad University – It’s been awhile and 90% of the professors I had retired or relocated. The department as a whole is doing plenty of research, though none close to my interests, but will only work with current students.
3) Went back to my community college – I figured this was a long shot and found out they haven’t done much to create research opportunities. A couple of the professors are doing private research, but are only working with current students.
4) Volunteering at other nearby Universities – I have no problem volunteering nights/weekends for as long as necessary. A few campuses are working on projects closer to my interests, but they are only working with current students. Even the ones doing research unrelated to my interests are working with current students only.
5) Taking graduate level research courses through Open University at nearby campuses and trying to work with professors to develop my interests/projects – The challenge is this option is on a space available basis and because programs are so impacted there generally isn’t space. Plus research classes/labs tend to be offered during standard business hours and that could create some challenges with my need to work full time.
I probably haven’t thought of everything so suggestions are very welcome. However, here is my latest idea:
What if I took a few graduate level research courses online? I found a few schools (and no not any of the “degree mills” constantly in the news) that are appropriately accredited, offer a couple of degrees in class/hybrid/online only Psychology MS programs, and will let me take individual classes. The campuses are not in my state so doing online classes would be necessary. Though most of my education has been brick and mortar I have taken a couple of hybrid and online classes and did not have trouble working independently or using the technology.
The classes I’m looking at require actual research projects and aren’t just theory/background, so my thought is that I could tailor the projects to my interests (which I would strongly prefer as it is more relevant to my long term goals) and possibly work with the professors to create additional projects/poster opportunities/etc. Has anyone done something like this? Is it really possible to have my research adequately supervised within an online class and develop a rapport good enough to ask for a letter of recommendation? Any thoughts on how PhD programs will perceive this? Am I nuts for even considering it a viable option?
My goal is to enter an APA accredited Clinical Psychology PhD program that has a Forensic Psychology emphasis. However, all of the feedback I have gotten from programs and professors is that I lack research experience. I will admit that my interest in research developed in the middle of my MA which is likely considered late in the game. Therefore I agree that I need to gain more research experience, but am finding it more challenging to find opportunities than I thought. I’m in my 30s and work full time so I guess that makes me a nontraditional student. My academic/research experience is as follows:
BA Psychology – I completed the first 2 years at a community college where there were no research labs or out of class research opportunities. In class research assignments were mostly observation or surveys. The majority of the faculty was adjunct and/or working in private practice and not doing any research. I transferred to a University to complete my last 2 years and while all professors had research projects, assistant opportunities were only available to grad students. In class opportunities were limited to data collection/input into SPSS and surveys.
After graduation – I spent a little over a year working in the nonprofit sector doing survey research and setting up focus groups. I liked the work, but at the time didn’t have my own research interests and didn’t really see how I’d make a career out of it. A number of volunteer opportunities (non-research) in several clinical populations led me to the decision to return to school years later and I thought I would be content working in applied settings.
MA Forensic Psychology – Completed at a University and smaller research papers and literature reviews were the only research opportunities available since the program had more of an applied focus with no thesis option. The combination of classes/work experience/personal growth is really when my research interests developed and led me to want to conduct my own experiments/studies and therefore answer my own questions. A few professors were conducting off campus research projects and had assistant opportunities available for undergrads, but hadn’t developed anything for grad students. They encouraged me to pursue research further and consider the PhD route, but aren’t able to assist me in gaining experience.
What options have I considered to gain more experience?
1) Research/lab assistant jobs in academia or private/nonprofit sector – Ruled this out as soon as I learned that they require a few years of experience. I am open to volunteering, but am finding prior experience is still key and I don’t have enough yet.
2) Went back to my undergrad University – It’s been awhile and 90% of the professors I had retired or relocated. The department as a whole is doing plenty of research, though none close to my interests, but will only work with current students.
3) Went back to my community college – I figured this was a long shot and found out they haven’t done much to create research opportunities. A couple of the professors are doing private research, but are only working with current students.
4) Volunteering at other nearby Universities – I have no problem volunteering nights/weekends for as long as necessary. A few campuses are working on projects closer to my interests, but they are only working with current students. Even the ones doing research unrelated to my interests are working with current students only.
5) Taking graduate level research courses through Open University at nearby campuses and trying to work with professors to develop my interests/projects – The challenge is this option is on a space available basis and because programs are so impacted there generally isn’t space. Plus research classes/labs tend to be offered during standard business hours and that could create some challenges with my need to work full time.
I probably haven’t thought of everything so suggestions are very welcome. However, here is my latest idea:
What if I took a few graduate level research courses online? I found a few schools (and no not any of the “degree mills” constantly in the news) that are appropriately accredited, offer a couple of degrees in class/hybrid/online only Psychology MS programs, and will let me take individual classes. The campuses are not in my state so doing online classes would be necessary. Though most of my education has been brick and mortar I have taken a couple of hybrid and online classes and did not have trouble working independently or using the technology.
The classes I’m looking at require actual research projects and aren’t just theory/background, so my thought is that I could tailor the projects to my interests (which I would strongly prefer as it is more relevant to my long term goals) and possibly work with the professors to create additional projects/poster opportunities/etc. Has anyone done something like this? Is it really possible to have my research adequately supervised within an online class and develop a rapport good enough to ask for a letter of recommendation? Any thoughts on how PhD programs will perceive this? Am I nuts for even considering it a viable option?
