Want to get into Masters Psychology Program but have Art Degree

[cme]

Hi! Sorry if this subject has been covered, I tried to do a thread search but nothing directly matched my search.

I graduated from a private art college with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2003, with a 3.22 GPA. Currently I am working full time as a graphic designer, and want to switch career paths and get my Masters in Philadelphia. The programs I wish to apply to locally are for Counseling Psychology Masters of Education (M.Ed.) and also for Human Sexuality, MEd. The Human Sexuality program interests me the most, the university also offers joint programs for my ultimate goal of a PsyD - Joint PsyD/MEd in Human Sexuality. I have a long ways to go and I have to attend part-time for now but I wanted to make sure I got the ball rolling in the right direction.

I have looked into various programs and have spoken with academic advisors and they say that no pre-reqs are required to apply to the masters graduate program. My gut tells me I need to take some courses just to get caught up and to be competitive with other Masters applicants that have undergrad in Psychology already. All I have is a ton of art courses and a few English - but no math, statistics or biology or any psychology curriculum at all.

So my question is, in your opinion, would any of the following courses help me in applying for my masters (from shortest to longest amount of time).
1. Community College - Social and Human Service Assistant Proficiency Certificate
2. Community College - Women’s Studies/Gender Studies Academic Certificate
3. Community College - A.A. in Women’s Studies/Gender Studies
4. Community College - A.A. in Behavioral Health/Human Services
5. Private College - Adult Education Psychology Baccalaureate
6. State School - Psychology BFA

Can I also cherry pick and only take courses that I think are relevant to what I'm missing? Since the college doesn't require pre-reqs, will they be able to see (or care) that I've been pro-active taking relevant courses in the meantime? Or should I stick to a path and get the certificate/degree behind it then apply to the masters?

Also I need to take the GREs and begin volunteering asap. I have no letters of recommendation that would relevant aside from my volunteer leader for the my work at the local SPCA and my manager at the radio station I part-time at. Any advice you can give would be fantastic, thanks in advance.

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[lookitssara]

Many masters counseling programs really don't care what your academic background is, so long as you were a decent student. Sometimes they even welcome diversity.

You can absolutely pick and choose different classes that you think would give you a background so you're not behind. I would recommend an intro psych class for sure. If you're really interested in human sexuality, a women's studies/gender studies course could be pretty useful as well. You are generally required to send in transcripts from ALL colleges attended, so admissions people will definitely see that you have taken some additional courses that are more "in the field".

In terms of not being behind...I would look at what classes first year students generally take. If there is a stats or research course, you could find an undergrad text on this just to get yourself familiar with terms. Same with basic psychological theories, abnormal psych, etc.

 

[lrn1]

My first two years were at a private art school too, but since I only received an AA, and wanted to get a BA at a state school in a different major, I couldn't transfer without specific course having been taken. With that said, you probably won't be able transfer to a state school right away if you wanted a second bachelors. However, you may only need to take a handful of courses at your community college and then transfer for a second bachelors. A second bachelors is going to take just about as long as an AA (2 years) but you will get to take all of the upper division courses in the major your pick (human sexuality, psych, etc). What you need to find out first is whether or not your private art school is accredited. Mine became accredited right before I finished up. If it is not accredited, you will probably have a huge problem getting into a graduate program regardless. If you find out it is accredited, I would meet with an advisor at a state school and find out how many credits will transfer, and what courses you need to take at your community college before you can do so. If it looks like you will need to take more than a handful, then maybe an AA or just a handful or courses would be a better option, but I would get advising from a grad program that you are interested in attending in the future.

I hope that helps. I know how much of a pain it can me. It took me four years to get an AA in photography. Then I was told by an advisor from my community college that nothing would transfer. I end up earning another AA, which took me 3.5 years, and then finally transferred to a state school for 1.5 years. As it turned out, the state school accepted everything from the art school - so I did a lot of extra work, which wasn't necessary. In California, in order to transfer to a CSU, they require a certain level of english, a speech class, and I think a critical thinking class. The rest of the required courses for transfer are based on the major you transfer into, so a person might be required a statistic class for psychology or something like.


Basically, if you can do the research and find out if a second bachelor's wouldn't require much more - go for it. Otherwise, I would get some advising from the program you are interested in. Better to do it now, then to find out later that you didn't need to take certain course or others would have been better. With backgrounds like ours, it's really difficult to tell how it will be looked upon in the application process. If your program was like mine, we didn't take any courses in the behavioral sciences, math, hard sciences, and barely any english. Private art schools are different form public schools, because public schools will still require that you take courses in those areas. Some graduate programs consider a background in these areas necessary. You should really seek advising directly from a program.

 

[lrn1]

By the way, have you considered a career in art therapy? this might be an angle to work from or perhaps an area you will want to additionally practice in..