Should I pursue a Masters before PhD in Clinical Psychology?

[psychealth]

Hello all,

Thank you in advance for your honest responses and taking the time to read my ridiculously long post. I've seen this question come up several times and I wanted to create a similar post in hopes of receiving advice for my specific situation. I graduated from a UC in 2018 with a BA in Psychology and minor in Human Development. Due to high tuition costs as an out-of-state student, I completed my degree in three years to save some money. During my undergrad years I volunteered as a research assistant in two labs. The labs were social/personality psych focused as there was no clinical psych program at my school. My tasks at these labs were pretty elementary (i.e., data entry, participant recruitment, coding, experimenter role, etc.) and I have no experience with publishing, poster presentations, IRB submissions, or grant writing.

Immediately after graduation, I moved to the Bay Area and started a job in a workers' comp mental health clinic, where psychologists (mainly PsyDs) provide psychotherapy to injured workers. Although I got promoted to a higher position within my department, the job is largely about clinical experience rather than research. I've recently begun applying to research assistant jobs that are relevant to my interests, but opportunities have been limited. Looking back, I should have held out and waited until I was offered an RA job; however, being fresh out of undergrad, I was worried about my financial situation and was willing to accept almost any job in the psych field ASAP. I also should have looked into applying to other RA jobs much sooner than now...

Instead of wallowing in regret, I'm trying to plan out my next steps. Do you think applying to a master's program is worthwhile for me? My options seem to be:

1. I continue applying to RA jobs until I am offered a position that will provide me with more research experience. --I am hesitant about this because I am unsure of just how long it will take before I become a competitive PhD applicant. Obviously it will take time after obtaining the RA job to gain all the meaningful skills I lack. Also what if the first RA job I am offered can't fill in all my gaps?

OR

2. I apply to a master's program in Research Psychology or Clinical Psychology. I know there aren't a lot of these out there but I have a few programs in mind. --Also hesitant about this option because I may not even be offered admission given my lack of more advanced research experience.

OR

3. I continue to apply to RA jobs and prepare to apply to master's programs, see which opportunity comes first, and take it from there... This option seems the most reasonable to me IF I have a decent chance of being admitted to a useful master's program.

*I am also worried about obtaining LORs! There is one graduate student (now PhD) I can reach out to from the lab in undergrad but no other professors I got close with that I would feel comfortable asking. My current job has multiple doctors that would write me a great LOR but they all have PsyDs, and that seems to be a concern for PhD programs.

Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Psych GPA: 3.8
GRE: Have not taken and currently studying for it

Thank you everyone! I appreciate any advice or stories of your own experience.

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[YoungFrancis]

Option 3 sounds good. RA jobs and a MA in psych can fill similar needs...research experience and the potential opportunity to publish or present.

Another option is to find an okay RA job or continue with your current job and then volunteer in other labs that are close to your interests.

All of your experience will be useful for applying to doc programs so I wouldn't beat yourself up about any of it. I wouldn't worry about your LOR writers being PsyDs either. What would make the most sense: ask one person from your current job to write you a letter and then two other letter writers that can speak to your capacity to do research. It sounds like applying in 1.5 years (Fall 2022 application season) would be doable if you can latch on somewhere in the near future. I could see it working out in Fall 2021 as well if you move fast but it's likely a stretch given how long it takes to get your name on something.

 

[R. Matey]

Apply for everything and see what happens.

 

[PsychPhDone]

Masters are best for people lacking gpa or coursework. There are plenty of RA jobs in the bay area and they're likely to start popping up publicly in about a month when current RAs finalize grad school plans. Sign up for job alerts (stanford, ucsf, cal, usajobs for San Francisco and Palo Alto VAS, NCIRE, and PAVIR). Also cold email PIs whose work interests you. They would rather find someone by having them fall in their lap than do an exhaustive search.

 

[Temperance]

Apply for both and see what happens. The biggest pitfall of a master's program would be the cost, especially if you don't get an assistantship of some sort while attending, so any chance of avoiding that by getting a paid, full-time job instead would be worthwhile. When interviewing for research assistant positions, ask about opportunities to give conference presentations or assist with manuscript writing. There are some RA jobs that won't provide that, but many will; PIs are cognizant that they are hiring people who are using the RA job as a stepping stone to graduate school, and many want someone to make use of their data.

For what it's worth re: letters of recommendation, a letter that can be a strong attestation to your potential in a graduate program is what matters, especially when paired with other strong attestations to other aspects of your skills and character (so someone can speak to your clinical skills while someone else speaks to your research skills).

 

[Coffee_and_Psychology96]

I agree with everyone saying apply for both. Getting a RA position would be ideal since you'll make money and get the research experience you need, but a master's program could also help you. Like others have pointed out, keep in mind that master's programs charge a tuition and assistantships aren't as common (but they do exist!). I wonder if the psychologists you currently work with would know of any research opportunities? Wouldn't hurt to ask!

In addition to emailing PIs of interest, here are some links I've found helpful in finding RA opportunities:

2023 Psychology Grad School Positions - Psychology Grad School Wiki

psychgradsearch.wikidot.com

Internship & Job Opportunities | Department of Psychology & Neuroscience

See below for current listings of internships, paid jobs, research, and professional development opportunities. The lists below are not exhaustive. Be be sure to make use of other resources like Linkedin® and see our listing of Other Job Boards.

psychandneuro.duke.edu

Post-Graduate Research Jobs

Job postings will be updated as they come in. Please check back regularly. If you'd like to view other job boards and read some advice on how to apply for post-graduate research positions in psychology, see this helpful resource.

undergrad.psychology.fas.harvard.edu

Post-bacc RA Opportunities (keep in mind this forum will be shutting down and moving to a new site soon, but it will be good for you to check this one to see where they move to!)

 

[psychealth]

Option 3 sounds good. RA jobs and a MA in psych can fill similar needs...research experience and the potential opportunity to publish or present.

Another option is to find an okay RA job or continue with your current job and then volunteer in other labs that are close to your interests.

All of your experience will be useful for applying to doc programs so I wouldn't beat yourself up about any of it. I wouldn't worry about your LOR writers being PsyDs either. What would make the most sense: ask one person from your current job to write you a letter and then two other letter writers that can speak to your capacity to do research. It sounds like applying in 1.5 years (Fall 2022 application season) would be doable if you can latch on somewhere in the near future. I could see it working out in Fall 2021 as well if you move fast but it's likely a stretch given how long it takes to get your name on something.

Thank you for your input! I will keep that in mind about the LORs. I made a spreadsheet of master's programs with potential faculty that share the same research interests as me. I plan to narrow it down to programs that provide funding in the form of teaching or research assistantships while applying for RA jobs in the meantime. Hopefully things work out in the end.

 

[psychealth]

Masters are best for people lacking gpa or coursework. There are plenty of RA jobs in the bay area and they're likely to start popping up publicly in about a month when current RAs finalize grad school plans. Sign up for job alerts (stanford, ucsf, cal, usajobs for San Francisco and Palo Alto VAS, NCIRE, and PAVIR). Also cold email PIs whose work interests you. They would rather find someone by having them fall in their lap than do an exhaustive search.

Yes, I am hoping to see more jobs posted within the next month or two. Good idea about cold emails, I am definitely going to reach out to some PIs very soon.

 

[psychealth]

Apply for both and see what happens. The biggest pitfall of a master's program would be the cost, especially if you don't get an assistantship of some sort while attending, so any chance of avoiding that by getting a paid, full-time job instead would be worthwhile. When interviewing for research assistant positions, ask about opportunities to give conference presentations or assist with manuscript writing. There are some RA jobs that won't provide that, but many will; PIs are cognizant that they are hiring people who are using the RA job as a stepping stone to graduate school, and many want someone to make use of their data.

For what it's worth re: letters of recommendation, a letter that can be a strong attestation to your potential in a graduate program is what matters, especially when paired with other strong attestations to other aspects of your skills and character (so someone can speak to your clinical skills while someone else speaks to your research skills).

Thank you for your response! I am definitely leaning more towards a RA job if I can land one soon. I was worried some PIs would be slightly put off by me stating my specific needs for opportunities to give conference presentations or assist with manuscript writing but you're right in that they should already be mindful of that. I just don't want to come off pushy/needy since I'm assuming they'll have to take extra time to train/prepare me for those tasks.

 

[psychealth]

I agree with everyone saying apply for both. Getting a RA position would be ideal since you'll make money and get the research experience you need, but a master's program could also help you. Like others have pointed out, keep in mind that master's programs charge a tuition and assistantships aren't as common (but they do exist!). I wonder if the psychologists you currently work with would know of any research opportunities? Wouldn't hurt to ask!

In addition to emailing PIs of interest, here are some links I've found helpful in finding RA opportunities:

2023 Psychology Grad School Positions - Psychology Grad School Wiki

psychgradsearch.wikidot.com

Internship & Job Opportunities | Department of Psychology & Neuroscience

See below for current listings of internships, paid jobs, research, and professional development opportunities. The lists below are not exhaustive. Be be sure to make use of other resources like Linkedin® and see our listing of Other Job Boards.

psychandneuro.duke.edu

Post-Graduate Research Jobs

Job postings will be updated as they come in. Please check back regularly. If you'd like to view other job boards and read some advice on how to apply for post-graduate research positions in psychology, see this helpful resource.

undergrad.psychology.fas.harvard.edu

Post-bacc RA Opportunities (keep in mind this forum will be shutting down and moving to a new site soon, but it will be good for you to check this one to see where they move to!)

Thank you for those links! I did not know about the first one and will add that to my list. I've been checking the others nearly everyday for positions in the state of CA. Perhaps I will have to consider relocating if nothing comes up in the next month or two...

Unfortunately, the psychologists I currently work with do not know of any research opportunities. Quite a few graduated from Alliant and don't seem to have people in their social circle who are actively involved in research. Side story but one of these psychologists attempted to lead my department on individual research projects with goals of publishing and it was a complete mess. I know I'm not the one with the doctorate but there were a lot of red flags and I ultimately felt he was not providing proper guidance. It felt like he was unaware of all the intricacies involved in academic research.

 

[Redpancreas]

Apply for both and see what happens. The biggest pitfall of a master's program would be the cost, especially if you don't get an assistantship of some sort while attending, so any chance of avoiding that by getting a paid, full-time job instead would be worthwhile. When interviewing for research assistant positions, ask about opportunities to give conference presentations or assist with manuscript writing. There are some RA jobs that won't provide that, but many will; PIs are cognizant that they are hiring people who are using the RA job as a stepping stone to graduate school, and many want someone to make use of their data.

For what it's worth re: letters of recommendation, a letter that can be a strong attestation to your potential in a graduate program is what matters, especially when paired with other strong attestations to other aspects of your skills and character (so someone can speak to your clinical skills while someone else speaks to your research skills).

@Pritycool