Realized What I Want To Do With My Life Pretty Late In The Game

[SilverNemo]

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Hello Everyone, bare with me while I share with you just what exactly my story is.

Currently I am a Junior in my undergrad career. I am a Psychology/Biology double major and minoring in chem as well. My first year of undergrad I considered myself a pre-med student and then my sophomore year I switched to pre-dentistry. Ever since taking AP psych in high school, I had always found psychology fascinating. That's why I decided to double major in it because I genuinely loved to learn about. But I always just thought that my interest in the field was simply something that I liked to do, and I never seriously considered making a career out of it.
I come from a family that has always struggled financially, so even when I would play with the notion of become a psychologist, many people would often tell me that psychologists don't make very good money. And coming from a family that always had (and still is) financially struggling, that was a major turn off for me.
Anyway, I just began this past summer really digging into my psych courses and I also took a bio course called Mammalian physiology. I was enamored with the nervous system chapter and it was most definitely my best section in that entire course.
So finally, lately, I think this has a lot to do with me simply finally maturing, I decided to really sit down and do some serious research of professionals in the field of psychology. I want to apply to masters of PhD programs and concentrate on hopefully one day become a neuropsychologist.
Now the problem, my overall GPA as of now is around a 3.01. My psychology courses GPA is actually around a 3.7, it's my chemistry that really took me down.

If I work really hard to improve my overall GPA and continue to do well in my Psych courses, could I apply to a Masters program or even (I know this is ambitious) a PhD or PsyD program my senior year. I know applications are due are December (right?) my senior year, and if all goes well, my overall GPA should rise to ~3.4-3.5. And I also have yet to take GREs too.

What should I do everyone? Advice? Anything?

Sorry for the long post, but thank you all in advance as well.

 

[ndlek21]

This might get moved to WAMC, but I'll still respond quickly. You still have time to raise the GPA. Definitely keep the Psych GPA up, raise the overall as much as you can, and form good relationships with professors who can vouch for your ability to handle schoolwork and research. If you have read anything on this forum, you should know that research experience is paramount. Get involved in psychology research if you aren't already. Like..today. I switched majors and career trajectories in my junior year, but it put me way behind as far as research experience goes.

Go join a lab in something you're interested in. You'll probably have to devote a significant amount of time doing menial undergraduate tasks like data entry, but hopefully it will give you the chance to focus in on exactly what your interests are and immerse yourself in the psychology literature. You might even get a publication (esp conference presentation) or senior thesis if you want. These are all good things, and you cannot REALLY know that you want to get a PhD in psychology unless you learn how to research!

 

[SilverNemo]

This might get moved to WAMC, but I'll still respond quickly. You still have time to raise the GPA. Definitely keep the Psych GPA up, raise the overall as much as you can, and form good relationships with professors who can vouch for your ability to handle schoolwork and research. If you have read anything on this forum, you should know that research experience is paramount. Get involved in psychology research if you aren't already. Like..today. I switched majors and career trajectories in my junior year, but it put me way behind as far as research experience goes.

Go join a lab in something you're interested in. You'll probably have to devote a significant amount of time doing menial undergraduate tasks like data entry, but hopefully it will give you the chance to focus in on exactly what your interests are and immerse yourself in the psychology literature. You might even get a publication (esp conference presentation) or senior thesis if you want. These are all good things, and you cannot REALLY know that you want to get a PhD in psychology unless you learn how to research!

Oh sorry, didn't mean to post in the wrong forum, but thank you so much for your response! I'll go ahead and start looking for research positions, my school is actually huge when it comes to psych research, it's the biggest researching field on my campus, so hopefully I can find something even though the semester has already started.

 

[KillerDiller]

Since finances are a concern, just make sure you apply to schools that pay you to go to school and not the other way around. (There are funded options for both masters and doctorate programs).

 

[SilverNemo]

Since finances are a concern, just make sure you apply to schools that pay you to go to school and not the other way around. (There are funded options for both masters and doctorate programs).

I'm doing my research and keeping record of programs around my area, and I'm also making sure to keep track of which programs are funded or not, thanks for the reminder.

So I know that getting into research ASAP is really important, but my semester has already begun and most undergraduate positions have already been filled. Any suggestions as to what I can do in the mean time until I can look for research positions in the upcoming spring semester? Can I shadow? Volunteer?

 

[KillerDiller]

So I know that getting into research ASAP is really important, but my semester has already begun and most undergraduate positions have already been filled. Any suggestions as to what I can do in the mean time until I can look for research positions in the upcoming spring semester? Can I shadow? Volunteer?

Start by volunteering in a lab at your school. There are most likely at least one or two labs there that would welcome free help.

 

[Terapueta24]

It's not really too late in the game if you take a year off between undergraduate and graduate school. Start volunteering in a lab now and who knows, you might be able to get a paid position in the year off. Then you would have a much stronger application! I took a few years off and really don't understand what the rush is to go straight from undergrad to grad school.