School Psychology

[AutumnWind]

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I'm about to apply to a few grad programs in school psychology here in CA. Here's the only thing holding me up...how the h*ll do people do the internship hours? Does anyone have any experience with this?

I've taught HS the last 2 years while I completed my teaching credential, and now I'm going to apply to get an MA or EdS in School Psychology with the hopes of becoming a school psychologist. Everything is gravy until you read that you have to complete 1200 hours (1 full school year) of an internship/fieldwork. This can be a paid position, so I looked up what was available. Nothing but unpaid internships and 5k-stipend internships.

I know that many of you are probably not in my position, but do they expect you to leave your mortgage and expenses behind for a year to complete these hours? And please, refrain from the 'suck it up' comments, I understand your point of view. I'm just trying to see if anyone else has had experience with this and if there is any other way to complete the hours without losing your home. Thanks!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I'm about to apply to a few grad programs in school psychology here in CA. Here's the only thing holding me up...how the h*ll do people do the internship hours? Does anyone have any experience with this?

I've taught HS the last 2 years while I completed my teaching credential, and now I'm going to apply to get an MA or EdS in School Psychology with the hopes of becoming a school psychologist. Everything is gravy until you read that you have to complete 1200 hours (1 full school year) of an internship/fieldwork. This can be a paid position, so I looked up what was available. Nothing but unpaid internships and 5k-stipend internships.

I know that many of you are probably not in my position, but do they expect you to leave your mortgage and expenses behind for a year to complete these hours? And please, refrain from the 'suck it up' comments, I understand your point of view. I'm just trying to see if anyone else has had experience with this and if there is any other way to complete the hours without losing your home. Thanks!

Are you referring to the one-year pre-doctoral internship that's (I believe) required before graduating from a school psychology program, or is the program you're looking at actually requiring 1200 hours of experience prior to applying for graduate school?

If the former, then I believe (although please, those in school psych correct me if I'm wrong) the one-year internship is similar to that in clinical psychology in that it's paid (albeit at a low rate, likely in the low- to mid-$20k/year range). If the latter, then the numbers you've turned up may be right.

 

[FadedC]

Well I know in NYC if you do an internship at a non APA site (which is most schools) you aren't going to get paid. It's probably similar in California. Since the original poster is talking about a specialist degree, an APA internship is not even an option.

So yeah your not going to be able to work during that time. You also will not be able to be able to work full time in your 2nd year since you will have practicums to complete. Alot of people manage to work in their first year though.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Well I know in NYC if you do an internship at a non APA site (which is most schools) you aren't going to get paid. It's probably similar in California. Since the original poster is talking about a specialist degree, an APA internship is not even an option.

So yeah your not going to be able to work during that time. You also will not be able to be able to work full time in your 2nd year since you will have practicums to complete. Alot of people manage to work in their first year though.

Maybe it's different in other states? I know that in my non-NY/CA state school-based internships are paid--and sometimes pretty well, too! A lot of schools I interviewed at (pretty much spanning the country) did mentioned that those students who didn't go the APPIC route for internship were paid. However, I'd have no problem believing that NYC/CA are exceptions!

 

[aagman01]

Here is what I have seen/heard..........

Internship year salaries vary by state/city/region. NYC , California (at least in the vicinity of the big cities), and Boston are three areas I know of that don't pay. Upstate NY I have heard does pay (e.g. Buffalo, Syracuse). There are also some exceptions (if bilingual) that I heard of in NYC. Other areas pay very small salaries for internship year, such as Chicago and Seattle ($15,000 per year for internship). Still other places pay full salaries or near full salaries for the internship year of $40,000 plus (e.g. Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin that I know of).

Maybe it's different in other states? I know that in my non-NY/CA state school-based internships are paid--and sometimes pretty well, too! A lot of schools I interviewed at (pretty much spanning the country) did mentioned that those students who didn't go the APPIC route for internship were paid. However, I'd have no problem believing that NYC/CA are exceptions!

 

[AutumnWind]

The numbers could be due to the poor economy, especially in CA. Every inter position I've seen was either unpaid or they give you a stipend anywhere between 5k and 15k. I've yet to see a single fully paid internship this year. In the past I've seen a few, but it seems that more and more School Psychs are expected to take it up the tail pipe to finish their licensing, and districts are going to take advantage of it. After all, your internship is at the end of the program, so I'm sure there are quite a few desperate psychologists out there when they finish their program, look at their mounds of debt, and need to finish their hours asap so as to start paying off that debt.

 

[gradstudent0000]

Does anyone happen to know which states have requirements (or restrictions) affecting their internship opportunities -- such as only allowing in-state residents to complete internships there, or not allowing students from out-of-state schools to do internships there? Apparently Connecticut is in that boat, and I was wondering if any others were, too. Any info would be appreciated. I'm especially wondering about Washington state.

thanks 🙂

 

[deleted176373]

I'm about to apply to a few grad programs in school psychology here in CA. Here's the only thing holding me up...how the h*ll do people do the internship hours? Does anyone have any experience with this?

I've taught HS the last 2 years while I completed my teaching credential, and now I'm going to apply to get an MA or EdS in School Psychology with the hopes of becoming a school psychologist. Everything is gravy until you read that you have to complete 1200 hours (1 full school year) of an internship/fieldwork. This can be a paid position, so I looked up what was available. Nothing but unpaid internships and 5k-stipend internships.

I know that many of you are probably not in my position, but do they expect you to leave your mortgage and expenses behind for a year to complete these hours? And please, refrain from the 'suck it up' comments, I understand your point of view. I'm just trying to see if anyone else has had experience with this and if there is any other way to complete the hours without losing your home. Thanks!

While there are some good suggestions, the idea of an adult living reasonably in this country after getting an advanced degree on $20,000 dollars is pretty unreasonable. This is doubly true once you have real bills (mortgage, car payment, etc) especially if you have children and child care costs to consider.

I hate to say it, but the internship situation throughout psychology really sucks in general. Looking back on it, I don't think I could have afforded to not get paid a substantial salary during graduate school and internship. I was extremely fortunate.

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice beyond living on student loan money, and that will create a huge debt load that you would have to consider. The way you would pull that off is by taking the maximum loan each semester, banking that money to live on during your internship year, and planning on going into a public service job when you finally graduate, which would allow you to use the current loan repayment program to reduce your payments to 10% of your salary over 10 years and loan forgiveness for the rest of the balance.

Problem is that this is risky, what happens if they change the rules or discontinue that program? You're left holding the bag on a whole bunch of student debt that you cannot ever escape other than through paying it off. Believe me, I am not recommending it.

 

[FadedC]

Yeah it's a rough situation in general, although it's often not quite as bad for a specialist school psych degree just because you can start work as soon as you gruaduate and positions frequently pay well and have high growth potential (100k+ eventually is not unheard of at least here in NYC, which is pretty good for a 3 year degree).

While there are some good suggestions, the idea of an adult living reasonably in this country after getting an advanced degree on $20,000 dollars is pretty unreasonable. This is doubly true once you have real bills (mortgage, car payment, etc) especially if you have children and child care costs to consider.

I hate to say it, but the internship situation throughout psychology really sucks in general. Looking back on it, I don't think I could have afforded to not get paid a substantial salary during graduate school and internship. I was extremely fortunate.

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice beyond living on student loan money, and that will create a huge debt load that you would have to consider. The way you would pull that off is by taking the maximum loan each semester, banking that money to live on during your internship year, and planning on going into a public service job when you finally graduate, which would allow you to use the current loan repayment program to reduce your payments to 10% of your salary over 10 years and loan forgiveness for the rest of the balance.

Problem is that this is risky, what happens if they change the rules or discontinue that program? You're left holding the bag on a whole bunch of student debt that you cannot ever escape other than through paying it off. Believe me, I am not recommending it.

 

[strad48]

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice beyond living on student loan money, and that will create a huge debt load that you would have to consider. The way you would pull that off is by taking the maximum loan each semester, banking that money to live on during your internship year.

That's exactly what I did. Fortunately, I had already kept my living expenses, including mortgage very very low. I also was self-employed prior to going back to school, and I was able to continue that work throughout my program and internship.