Psy.D the right choice?

[Shannon2022]

So I’m a senior at Kent State majoring in psychology and a minor in human sexuality. My gpa is 3.8

I’m applying to Psy.D and maybe some PhD programs. In clinical and counseling psychology (but preference for counseling psych)
Important parts of program are ones with training in biological aspects of mental health and a strong social justice emphasis

I’ve worked in a social psych lab (though during covid virtual) and will be in 3 labs ish next semester 2 being clinical.
I’ll be helping at a virtual summer camp this summer.
Not sure how competitive I am.

my main goal is to provide therapy, advocacy, and assessments are
something I’m interested in.
Cost of attendance is not a huge barrier for me though programs that are 60k a semester I’d like to avoid.

areas of psychology I’m interested in,
Neuro possibly
Health
Rehabilitation
Women’s health
Geriatric (but want to work with all ages)
Primary care
sex therapy/gender affirming care


Things I’d be worried about with masters:
-Salary
-I think Psy.D and PhD programs give a lot more training time.
-I like the biological aspect and find it important and feel the LPC or MSW don’t as much.
-Market seems a bit saturated with masters level clinicians.

things worried about with Psy.D and phD
-commitment though I feel I’d feel more confident about my abilities after a Psy.D or PhD program.
- competitiveness And not a stats person but am open to a dissertation neutral really.

thoughts? I’ll probably apply to mostly Psy.D and phD with some MAs and MSWs

my top choices are Chatham, widener, and point park.

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[summerbabe]

Cost of attendance is not a huge barrier for me though programs that are 60k a semester I’d like to avoid.

Unless you have or will have access to generational-type wealth, this should very much be a barrier because even at $40k/year in tuition, you could be looking at $1500-$2000/month in student loan payments if you want to pay things off in 20 years. Or payments potentially pushing towards retirement if you're paying less per month. Lots of old threads on this forum on the financial ramifications of self-pay programs so take a look and fire up an Excel sheet and crunch the numbers.

I’ve worked in a social psych lab (though during covid virtual) and will be in 3 labs ish next semester 2 being clinical.
I’ll be helping at a virtual summer camp this summer.
Not sure how competitive I am.

Have you gotten on any posters, papers, or are there plans for that in the future? Or has your experience been more on the running experiments, managing data, etc? This is often the biggest thing that separates applicants since most do reasonably well with undergrad GPA and at least average GRE scores.

-I like the biological aspect and find it important and feel the LPC or MSW don’t as much.

Generally true but it will depend on what type of program you attend. For example, people doing qualitative or multicultural research will probably focus less on this than people studying SMI or neuropsych so YMMV.

-Market seems a bit saturated with masters level clinicians.

Also generally true but many areas (especially metros) are also saturated with psychologists. But rural areas and states not experiencing migration booms generally have a need for more psychologists.

my top choices are Chatham, widener, and point park.

I knew a Widener grad and they seemed competent. However, they also did private practice outside of their 40/wk VA job and I wouldn't be surprised if this decision was driven a lot by student loan debt.

 

[psych.meout]

areas of psychology I’m interested in,
Neuro possibly
Health
Rehabilitation
Women’s health
Geriatric (but want to work with all ages)
Primary care
sex therapy/gender affirming care

While there is obviously overlap in these areas, as with most areas of psychology, but they are fairly disparate research and clinical practice areas. It would probably be good to take some time to figure where your strongest interests lie so you can find programs that offer research and clinical training opportunities in those areas.