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- Feb 17, 2016
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Hi everyone, first time poster, long time lurker here. Its looking like this years grad school application season won't be working out in my favor, and I'm trying to decide what my next steps should be.
For a long time I have known that I want to get a PhD in clinical psych and ultimately do primarily clinical work while staying involved in research to whatever extent I can. I recently graduated college with a BA in psych and have since been working in a research lab at a highly reputable AMC. Over the last few months, I have developed a strong interest in neuropsychology and although I have very little experience with it, I am fairly certain it is a path I want to pursue.
Although there is much that I like about my current job it is not related to neuropsychology in the slightest. Furthermore, although I do work in research, my role is almost exclusively clinical. I am considering a few different options that I think could give me research and/or neuropsych experience that would make me a more competitive candidate for clinical programs next year (some hopefully with neuropsych concentrations or research opportunities):
1. Go to a masters program (IF I get in) that would allow me to work with a neuropsych researcher, and possibly present posters and write a manuscript. It would also let me improve my gpa but since my undergrad gpa is high that is not something I'm particularly worried about.
2. Stay at my current job which like I said is in a respectable research lab but with no neuropsych, and not too much research oriented work.
3. Find a job in a research lab that *might* be at a less of a big name institution, and not a neuro lab but would let me do more data entry, manuscript prep, running participants etc.
4. Find a job in a neuropsych research lab, which would give me exposure to this interest but would be quite different from my other research experiences
5. Find a job doing neuropsych testing and try to volunteer in a research lab in my free time.
My inclination is to aim for one of the last two options. However, I'm worried that switching research focus will make me a less desirable candidate for next year, and I am eager to enter a program as soon as I can. I'm also worried that switching institutions might come off as a downgrade of sorts since where I work now is thought of very highly. I would love to hear thoughts from members of the neuropsych community (or others!) on which options they think are the most or least helpful to my goals. Sorry for the long post, I hope my questions and potential responses will be helpful to others on here as well!
For a long time I have known that I want to get a PhD in clinical psych and ultimately do primarily clinical work while staying involved in research to whatever extent I can. I recently graduated college with a BA in psych and have since been working in a research lab at a highly reputable AMC. Over the last few months, I have developed a strong interest in neuropsychology and although I have very little experience with it, I am fairly certain it is a path I want to pursue.
Although there is much that I like about my current job it is not related to neuropsychology in the slightest. Furthermore, although I do work in research, my role is almost exclusively clinical. I am considering a few different options that I think could give me research and/or neuropsych experience that would make me a more competitive candidate for clinical programs next year (some hopefully with neuropsych concentrations or research opportunities):
1. Go to a masters program (IF I get in) that would allow me to work with a neuropsych researcher, and possibly present posters and write a manuscript. It would also let me improve my gpa but since my undergrad gpa is high that is not something I'm particularly worried about.
2. Stay at my current job which like I said is in a respectable research lab but with no neuropsych, and not too much research oriented work.
3. Find a job in a research lab that *might* be at a less of a big name institution, and not a neuro lab but would let me do more data entry, manuscript prep, running participants etc.
4. Find a job in a neuropsych research lab, which would give me exposure to this interest but would be quite different from my other research experiences
5. Find a job doing neuropsych testing and try to volunteer in a research lab in my free time.
My inclination is to aim for one of the last two options. However, I'm worried that switching research focus will make me a less desirable candidate for next year, and I am eager to enter a program as soon as I can. I'm also worried that switching institutions might come off as a downgrade of sorts since where I work now is thought of very highly. I would love to hear thoughts from members of the neuropsych community (or others!) on which options they think are the most or least helpful to my goals. Sorry for the long post, I hope my questions and potential responses will be helpful to others on here as well!
