Turning a BS in Bio into a PsyD.

[jsturd2]

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I'm sorry I've already posted this in another forum. Someone told me I'd probably find better advice here.

I've decided to make a big change in my career path. I've been pre-podiatry for a while. I actually got in but realized my heart wasn't in it, and I gave up my spot. Now I'm looking to go into graduate school in Psychology. I eventually hope to become a clinical psychologist working with children and adolescents. I'm interested in neuropsychology as well, but I don't know if I want to go down that route.

I just graduated with a BS in Biology and a minor in Psychology (19 hours of Psych; all A's except one B). I worked in the Genetics research lab at school, but I've got no real Psych research experience (except for a required research project for my Experimental Psych class, which I doubt counts). No mental health experience, but I've shadowed 3 doctors and 1 Podiatrist. I've taken the MCAT but not the GRE; however I'm in the process of brushing up for the GRE and plan to take it later this summer.

I don't know anyone else doing Psych graduate work, so I've come to you guys for help. First, since I don't have a BS in Psychology, is it better for me to get a Masters first rather than jump into a PsyD/PhD program? And also, I want to become a great candidate (I've given myself a year to do so), and I was wondering if you guys had any advice on how to make myself more appealing.

 

[PHD12]

I'm sorry I've already posted this in another forum. Someone told me I'd probably find better advice here.

I've decided to make a big change in my career path. I've been pre-podiatry for a while. I actually got in but realized my heart wasn't in it, and I gave up my spot. Now I'm looking to go into graduate school in Psychology. I eventually hope to become a clinical psychologist working with children and adolescents. I'm interested in neuropsychology as well, but I don't know if I want to go down that route.

I just graduated with a BS in Biology and a minor in Psychology (19 hours of Psych; all A's except one B). I worked in the Genetics research lab at school, but I've got no real Psych research experience (except for a required research project for my Experimental Psych class, which I doubt counts). No mental health experience, but I've shadowed 3 doctors and 1 Podiatrist. I've taken the MCAT but not the GRE; however I'm in the process of brushing up for the GRE and plan to take it later this summer.

I don't know anyone else doing Psych graduate work, so I've come to you guys for help. First, since I don't have a BS in Psychology, is it better for me to get a Masters first rather than jump into a PsyD program? And also, I want to become a great candidate (I've given myself a year to do so), and I was wondering if you guys had any advice on how to make myself more appealing.

What are your career goals and specific interests (e.g., therapy, testing, research/teaching)?

You may have not come on this board to hear this, but I would highly recommend looking into child and adolescent psychiatry. You already went through the hellish process of pre-med courses and took the MCAT, and you actually did well enough to get into a program! Instead of switching career paths completely, and having to get years of research/clinical experience, it is much easier and more efficient for you to try and go the psychiatry route. Right now there is a HUGE shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists and it's the easiest of the residency programs to land. On the other hand, the PsyD will cost you 100-250K in loans (unless you get into the 2-3 programs that have good funding), is going to take 7 years of training on average (that doesn't include the years of research/clinical experience you will need to get into a good program), and will be way more difficult to land a job and to make ends meet. Salary potential of PsyD is 1/3 that of a child/adolescent psychiatrist.

If you decide to go the PsyD route, Baylor and Rutgers are the only programs I have come across with consistently good outcomes (high apa match rates, high EPPP pass scores) and are at least partially funded. They usually accept 5% or less of applicants. Avoid most professional programs (any "university" name you haven't heard of before like alliant, argosy, and any online school).

 

[jsturd2]

What are your career goals and specific interests (e.g., therapy, testing, research/teaching)?

You may have not come on this board to hear this, but I would highly recommend looking into child and adolescent psychiatry. You already went through the hellish process of pre-med courses and took the MCAT, and you actually did well enough to get into a program!

I'm definitely more interested in therapy than research and teaching, which is why I was thinking PsyD. But having looked through the schools' information and seen what I'd have to pay is making PhD look better and better.

You're right. That's not what I'd hoped to hear. I got into podiatry school, and it is different from medical school. I don't have the GPA or MCAT scores to get into medical school (3.2 GPA; 22R MCAT). But thanks for the advice all the same.

 

[PHD12]

I'm definitely more interested in therapy than research and teaching, which is why I was thinking PsyD. But having looked through the schools' information and seen what I'd have to pay is making PhD look better and better.

You're right. That's not what I'd hoped to hear. I got into podiatry school, and it is different from medical school. I don't have the GPA or MCAT scores to get into medical school (3.2 GPA; 22R MCAT). But thanks for the advice all the same.

Did you apply to medical school? I would be surprised if you couldn't get into *any* MD or DO program. The people i know who made it into good psychiatry residency programs went to medical school abroad because they couldn't get into a US one, but they had lower GPA's than you (2.8 or even lower). That is how easy it is to get into psychiatry residency.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Unfortunately, a 3.2 overall GPA is going to leave your application unread at many psych PhD or good PsyD programs due to automatic cutoffs. if you are serious about a doctorate, you might need a master's first to prove you can do it. You will also need some relevant research and hopefully you can get that through a solid MA program.

Speaking of master's, if you don't want to go to med school but want to be a clinician, why not a licensable terminal master's?

Dr. E

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Did you apply to medical school? I would be surprised if you couldn't get into *any* MD or DO program. The people i know who made it into good psychiatry residency programs went to medical school abroad because they couldn't get into a US one, but they had lower GPA's than you (2.8 or even lower). That is how easy it is to get into psychiatry residency.

That explains a lot about the quality of psychiatrists I interact with...sad.

 

[MBellows]

That explains a lot about the quality of psychiatrists I interact with...sad.

We've had to do pediatric neuropsych evals because there's one that likes to prescribe near lethal doses of various mixes of ADs, APs, and attention meds. Then again, this person never attended a psychiatry residency and the medical system is too ignorant of its own stupidity to develop meaningful scope of practice laws for who can and can not call themselves and practice under a certain title.

But for OP, there's also a good chance you could get into a Direct Entry NP program and have less educational overhead and (probably) less liability.