Psychology masters??

[SarahMn]

I'm going to be getting my psychology B.A. in June '10, and my gpa is fairly low (both cum. and psych 3.2). I want to work with eating disorders, so I would like to get into a clinical psych program. I haven't taken the GRE yet, I plan on taking a year off (so I'll take it in Dec. '10).

I have been a research assistant for 2 years in the psychology department as an undergrad.

What do you think my chances are of getting into a master's program if I score an average GRE score?? Do you think that clinical psych is the right path for EDs?

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[73BARMYPgsp]

I'm going to be getting my psychology B.A. in June '10, and my gpa is fairly low (both cum. and psych 3.2). I want to work with eating disorders, so I would like to get into a clinical psych program. I haven't taken the GRE yet, I plan on taking a year off (so I'll take it in Dec. '10).

I have been a research assistant for 2 years in the psychology department as an undergrad.

What do you think my chances are of getting into a master's program if I score an average GRE score?? Do you think that clinical psych is the right path for EDs?

What kind of license are you trying to obtain with a masters degree in clinical psychology? From this, a whole series of considerations follow.

 

[whypsy]

If you're just going for your LPC which you can receive at your Master's level of training, you still need a PhD supervisor to sign off on your work. However there's many Master's level clinical and counseling therapists who do a world of good in both therapy and research in the field of ED. I would suggest finding a book or other resource that deals with the roles of the clinician vs the counselor.

A 3.2 gpa with an average GRE score are probably not good enough for PhD programs. Those numbers are definitely not enough for competitive programs and are maybe passable at a very low tier Clinical psych PhD program.

The 2 years of lab experience is a bit better than average. How are you letters of recommendation? Strong letters can help balance some things out.

My suggestion is to take that year and really focus on getting a good GRE score, research/work in your field of interest, and research programs/professors that are doing what you want to do.

 

[PsychStudent21]

Your GPA isn't really bad. It would be hard to get into a good PhD program, but you should be able to get into masters programs.
Many graduate schools focus more on your last 60 credits, so if you have a stronger GPA for those 60 it helps a lot.

2 years research experience is a great plus (especially if you attended a strong research university) and you have a focused interest so that's good.

 

[whypsy]

You could try for a few mid/low end PhD programs that are of interest. However given your stats, I'd suggest a mid range master's program in either counseling or clinical. From there you could get your LPC for practice or set yourself up to be competitive for PhD.