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I saw that this thread was sort of posted a few years ago, but with somewhat different circumstances, so I thought I would ask it again (hopefully at least one or two other people are wondering these same things)
I'm currently a Junior looking to go on to PhD programs in Clinical Psych (emphasis on Neuropsych) that are more research focused (75-85% research to put an arbitrary number to it). Right now, I'll have three years in a Cognitive Neuroscience lab without any publications, and no presentations outside of my own school. My GPA is 3.9, and I anticipate very good GRE scores based on all the practice tests I've taken and how well I've been preparing.
While my credentials are solid, I know I will likely need 2 years of RA experience before applying realistically to the schools that I'm most interested in (particularly Boston U, Colorado Boulder, and SDSU/UCSD). Recently, though, I've really been considering doing Teach for America after graduation before going on to PhD programs. Ultimately I want to know whether this will help or hurt my application, and whether I would still need the 2 years of RA experience after TFA. I think its important to note that I have no desire to work with children or adolescents in Grad school (for some reason the idea of working with them as a teacher sounds great, but I just don't want to study that population...can't really explain why).
I'd really appreciate any input from people who have been in or heard about a similar situation.
I'm currently a Junior looking to go on to PhD programs in Clinical Psych (emphasis on Neuropsych) that are more research focused (75-85% research to put an arbitrary number to it). Right now, I'll have three years in a Cognitive Neuroscience lab without any publications, and no presentations outside of my own school. My GPA is 3.9, and I anticipate very good GRE scores based on all the practice tests I've taken and how well I've been preparing.
While my credentials are solid, I know I will likely need 2 years of RA experience before applying realistically to the schools that I'm most interested in (particularly Boston U, Colorado Boulder, and SDSU/UCSD). Recently, though, I've really been considering doing Teach for America after graduation before going on to PhD programs. Ultimately I want to know whether this will help or hurt my application, and whether I would still need the 2 years of RA experience after TFA. I think its important to note that I have no desire to work with children or adolescents in Grad school (for some reason the idea of working with them as a teacher sounds great, but I just don't want to study that population...can't really explain why).
I'd really appreciate any input from people who have been in or heard about a similar situation.