Once more dealing with rejection

[wsmith]

Today I got the news that not only had I been rejected for admission to the doctoral program at MSPP, but also the Masters' program. I'm not sure what to do now. I don't really want to go back to Lesley, though I suppose that's an option if I've got nothing else.

At this point I'm committed to psychology and can't really go back to my old career with any success, but I can't seem to get into a program to move me forward. Does anyone have any creative thoughts?

Comments

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

I have a friend whose passion is veterinary medicine. She hit many bumps like this one on her way -- she even ended up studying abroad -- but she's a practicing vet now. It took a few unglamorous assistant/tech-level jobs to bolster her application.

[wsmith.livejournal.com]

If I could find a program that would take me, I'd study abroad. I just don't know how to look that far afield. What I've looked at seems to imply that other countries do psychology differently than here from an educational standpoint.

[lagaz.livejournal.com]

when I can carve out a piece of time from my end of grad school hell, we will talk about this.

[wsmith.livejournal.com]

That would be cool. I hear school has gone well for you. I'm thrilled that you're almost through. :)

What I'm probably going to end up doing, even though it makes the path an extra-long one, is go to cambridge college for a couple of years, get a masters', get licensed (so a total of about 3.5 years) then try to get into a phd program somewhere (another 5 years,) then get re-licensed (another 2 years) for a grand total of 10.5 years. I was really hoping to be done before 50.

[siderea]

couple of years, get a masters', get licensed (so a total of about 3.5 years)

Hmmmm, depends on how many credits you'd be transfering in with. The masters' program is 2 years full time (took me 5 years part time) and then it's another 2 years full time post-grad to get the license (planning on it taking me 3.5 years post-grad part time).

[wsmith.livejournal.com]

Cambeidge college will only take 9 credits max. That won't even cut off a full semester.

[siderea]

Yeah, that's about what I remembered. Also, FYI CC: they're on the trimester system, even if they do call them "semesters". That 2yr plan comes with expectation that you're carrying a full course load summer semesters. Licensure track is 62 credits, so 10 and a bit credits a semester.

[siderea]

BTW, are you aware that UMass Boston has both a Masters' counseling program and a PhD program in clin. psych.?

[wsmith.livejournal.com]

I just found it. It's not grouped with the Clinical PhD, instead being associated with the education school. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm well past the application deadline for September and I really need to be in school this year for a number of reasons apart from just wanting to get on with it.

[siderea]

Also: Bridgewater State College.

[wsmith.livejournal.com]

That professor who was so horrid at Lesley was teaching a course there as an adjunct but was tenured at Bridgewater. I don't want to go anywhere where they would give that sort of person tenure.

[siderea]

I confess, the intern I worked with whom I most thought a flaming idiot was a BSC student, and I've been rather unfavorably impressed with them. Also, their MHC program page has a error wrt licensure law (swift, guys, real swift).

[wsmith.livejournal.com]

Hey, the UMB masters' program FAQ has this sentence as one of its questions:
"In what type of settings do mental health counselors work in?"

[siderea]

Maybe it's OK to end a sentence with a preposition if it also starts with one. :)

[shnells.livejournal.com]

have you been getting any research experience? i think that aspect is really key for progressing further with psych. i volunteered to work in the social psych dept at harvard when i was in undergrad and it was incredibly invaluable. you could also contact nalini ambady at tufts. she used to work at harvard and was doing some really interesting work with thin slices of behaviour. granted my info is over ten years old but at that time she was always looking for help. she is also super nice and may be a huge help in guiding you towards further studies in psych.

[shnells.livejournal.com]

something else you may wish to consider are different types of fields that highly use psych. for example, i was psych undergrad but didn't want to do the type of research required for doctoral or master's program and ended up taking occupational therapy which uses a lot of psych in its curriculum.

otherwise, consider what type of psych you wish to practice ie academic vs clinical. if it's clinical, consider what type of clinical work you wish to do and then contact practioners and see if you can shadow with them to learn more about the field. this type of field experience can get you mega kudo points when you want to pursue further education. hilary may also have many pointers for you.

hope that helps