Virtual handouts for undergraduates
Exploring Options in Psychology
· What Can I do with a Major in Psychology?
· Career Options for Psychology Majors
· What to do if your Grades aren’t so Hot
· Beyond the Bachelor’s Degree
Planning for Graduate School
· Graduate School Timeline, Checklist, and Worksheet
· Surviving and Thriving in Graduate School
· Applying to Graduate School – Writing a Compelling Personal Statement
· Applications that make the Schools you Want, Want you
· When Demand Exceeds Supply: Second-Order Criteria used by Graduate School Selection Committees
If Graduate School is not for you
· What Employers want from Psychology Graduates
· Career Paths after your BA in Psychology
· Job/Career Search Action Planning Guide
Selecting a Degree and Specialized Program to Work Toward
· Value of a Master’s Degree for Gaining Admission to Doctoral Programs in Psychology
· Clinical vs. Counseling Psychology
· Graduate School in Clinical Psychology
· Selecting a Doctoral Program in Professional Psychology: PhD or PsyD, Counseling or Clinical
Summaries of the Articles
Exploring Options in Psychology
What Can I do with a Major in Psychology?
¨ What is Psychology?
¨ What are psychologists interested in?
¨ What competencies should I have in this field?
- Human relations, communication, research, creativity
¨ What are my career opportunities in this field?
- Human services, business, psychologists, communication, public administration, general
¨What are my graduate/professional school opportunities?
¨ What kind of experiential opportunities should I pursue?
- Summer, volunteer, part-time work to gain experience
¨ Identifies additional sources of information for the Miami student to contact
Career Options
¨ Types of positions
¨ Employers of psychology majors
¨
Fields that psychology majors can enter
Which Course, Which Course?
¨ Undergraduate courses expected by graduate psychology programs
What To Do If Your Grades Aren’t So Hot
¨ How to make other qualities about yourself stand out more
- If you need to take a class over, do it. Prove to them you can do better.
¨ What should I get involved in?
- Become involved with research and helping professors with projects
¨ What do programs notice about my GPA?
- Strong GRE scores may compensate for a weaker GPA
- Realistic GPA scores for graduate school entry
¨ How valuable is my GRE score?
- There are different requirements for different programs
- It matters, but it isn’t everything that a graduate school is looking for.
¨ Strategies that Don’t Work
- Saying your professor was boring an unfair
- Blaming other people for your grade
- Thinking your GPA won’t matter once they see your references
¨ Who should I ask to write my recommendation letters?
- Professors that know you
- Did well in their class
- What makes you stand out in their class (not grades, necessarily)
¨ What to say on applications about my grades
- Convince evaluators you can do better
- Improved performance when goals were re-evaluated
- Don’t go into too much detail
Beyond the Bachelor’s Degree
¨ Strategies on acceptance into psychology graduate programs
- Persistence with applying
- Preparing in advance
o Research, letters of recommendation, GRE, resume, and letter of intent
¨ What are some other resources I can use for the application process?
- Graduate Study in Psychology
- Psychology Department Faculty
¨ What about costs – the time and money to apply?
- Application fees
- Cost of transcripts
- Duplication costs
- Postage
- Long-distance phone calls
- Hours needed for application process
Timetable, Checklist and Worksheet for Getting Into Graduate School
¨ Month by month checklist of what needs to be done
¨ Practice applicant worksheet
¨ Practice program worksheet
Surviving and Thriving in Graduate School
¨ Applying and choosing grad schools
¨ What to do once you get there
Writing a Compelling Personal Statement
¨ Keep in mind that this article is biased towards research-oriented grad.
programs
¨ The basics of writing a good personal statement
- Length: no more than 2 single spaced pages
- Writing style: check for style and accuracy
- Tone: not really a “personal” statement: think of it as a “professional” statement
- Feedback and revision: have professors or others proofread and edit your statement, make necessary changes based on their advice
¨ Key Components of the Statement
- Previous Research Experience
- Current Research Interests
- Other Relevant Experience
Career goals: What do you ultimately want to be doing?
Applications that Make the Schools You Want, Want You
¨ Your Perspective- applications should have a clear sense of purpose
- What psychological specialties are enjoyable for you?
- What skills have you developed?
- How will you make a difference?
¨ Individuals in Your Audience- have a person in mind
- Whom does someone you know recommend?
- Who is eager to talk about the programs they know?
- Are distant places actually close at home?
¨ The Culture in Your Audience
- What are the program’s interests?
- How does the department rate?
¨ The Final Steps
- Communicating your sense of purpose
- Trusting your audience
When Demand Exceeds Supply: Second-Order Criteria Used by Graduate School Selection Committees
¨ What are the three primary criteria used to evaluate applicants by doctoral selection committees?
- Grade point average
- GRE Scores
- Letters of recommendation
¨ What are the least important aspects?
- Ability to speak a language other than English
- Geographical origins of applicants
- “Legacy”
¨ What is the difference between clinical and experimentally oriented programs?
- Far more qualified applicants apply to PhD programs than are accepted
¨ How can I get involved with research? Where can I take my projects?
- Psi Chi student presentations
- Undergraduate Research Conferences
- Psychology Department
- Independent Studies
¨ How to become familiar with faculty at a potential school
- Read their publications and see if it’s something you are interested in
If Graduate School is not for you
Faculty Forum – What Employers Want From Psychology Graduates
¨ The importance of qualities, skills, and abilities that psychology graduates need
- Listening skills
- Desire and ability to learn
- Willingness to learn new and important skills
- Getting along with others
- Ability to work with others as part of a team
¨ What are the most appealing qualities to potential employers?
- Enthusiasm and motivation
- Grades
- Communication and interpretation skills
- Nature of students’ non-college jobs
- Types of extracurricular activities
¨ What is the most useful skill?
- Social skills
- Personal skills
- Communication skills
¨ How important are the electives I choose to take?
- Being a well-rounded individual is important
Career Paths after your BA in Psychology
¨ Gives information on careers in psychology, resources
¨ Percentage of graduates in various jobs/ pursuits- grad school, employment
Job/Career Search Action Planning Guide
¨ How to organize and prioritize my career/job search
- Meet with a divisional advisor
- Visit the Career Exploration and Testing Center
- Meet with a Career Counselor
- Make a list of careers you might enjoy
- Meet with faculty to discuss options
¨ How to discover my interests and skills
- Visit Career Resource Library
- Conduct informational reviews
- Join student organizations in the area of interest
- Define some career goals
- Utilize the Internet
- Complete an Internship
¨ How to find a career that interests me
- Identify your skills
- Attend seminars and workshops
- Form a resume
- Identify references
- Practice interviewing skills
- Make an appointment with a counselor in CPPO
- Begin networking with family and friends
¨ What are my goals?
- Identify who you want to work for
- What skills do you want to use in your job?
- Where do you want to live?
- When are you available for employment?
¨ How to execute my job campaign
- Register with the CPPO
- Participate in on-campus interviewing
- Identify the best resources for finding jobs
- Seek off-campus interviewing opportunities
- Use the Internet
- Continue networking with friends and family
- Prepare cover letters
Selecting a Degree and Specialized Program to Work Toward
Master’s and Myth
¨ Details the myths associated with getting a master’s degree
¨ The PhD and PsyD are not the only routes to take
¨ Top 7 Myths regarding this degree - these myths are NOT TRUE:
1. Everyone should go directly for the doctorate. --- FALSE
2. A good master’s program will be APA approved/accredited. --- FALSE
3. You cannot do counseling/psychotherapy with only a master’s degree. Alternatively, you cannot get licensed with only a master’s degree.--- FALSE
4. If you get a master’s first, then decide to get a PhD, you will have to start over. None of your work will transfer, etc. --- FALSE
5. Not many people get master’s degrees. Almost everyone goes directly to the PhD. --- FALSE
6. You cannot get a good job with only the master’s.--- FALSE
7. People with the master’s, even those who are licensed, are not really therapists. --- FALSE
Value of a Master’s Degree for Gaining Admission to Doctoral Programs in Psychology
¨ Importance of criteria across psychology programs
¨ Effect of having a master degree on admission chances
Clinical versus Counseling Psychology: What’s the Diff?
¨ Salient Differences:
-Size, location, professional activities, theoretical orientations, employment settings, graduate admissions, research areas
Clinical:
- More doctoral programs
- Housed in schools of psychology
- Similar daily activities as counseling psychologists: psychotherapy, teaching, research,
- Supervision, also work with more disturbed and pathological populations
- Prefer eclectic/integrative approach and the cognitive orientation, also favor behavioral and psychoanalytic approaches
- Mostly employed in private practices and universities, more likely to work in hospitals
- Similar admission standards with clinical standards being slightly more competitive
Counseling:
- Less doctoral programs
- Not based solely in psychology departments, can be housed in other divisions
-Similar daily activities as clinical psychologist such as psychotherapy, teaching,
- Research, and supervision, but see healthier and less pathological clients
- Prefer eclectic/integrative approach and the cognitive orientation, also favor humanistic approach
- Private practices and university counseling settings most common
- Similar admission standards as clinical programs, slightly less competitive
School Psychology
¨ How school psychology has grown over the years
- Grown from individual to diverse populations
¨ What exactly to school psychologists do?
- Deal with special education
- Work in public or private schools
- Diverse ages
- Human services/mental health clinics
¨ How can I find training programs for school psychology and what do they entail?
- Training in specialists, master’s, and doctoral levels
- Educational psychology departments
- 40 hrs. with master’s level to 124 hours at doctoral level
¨ How flexible is school psychology? What about salary and job satisfaction rates?
- Public salaries are lower than private businesses
- Very good for men and women who want to marry and raise a family because of school hours
Human Factors/ Ergonomics
¨ What is HF/E
¨ Examples of HF/E applications
¨ Issues addressed by HF/E
¨ Career Opportunities
¨ How to learn more about HF/E
Graduate School in Clinical Psychology (and other related professions)
¨ Your Interests- finding out what your career, research goals are, which type of program and degree fits those interests
¨ Experiential Activities- what you should get involved in to enhance your chances of getting into graduate schools (research, honors thesis, volunteer work, related clubs, shadowing professionals, developing relationships with professors, etc.
¨ Investigating and selecting programs- figuring out exactly what program is best for you
¨ Determine your Qualifications and Strengths- GPA, GRE, research, letters of recommendations
¨ Applying to Programs- applying to ONLY to programs matching goals, estimating likelihood for success
¨ Application Materials- statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, curriculum vita
Selecting a Doctoral Program in Professional Psychology: Some Comparisons Among PhD Counseling, PhD Clinical, and PsyD Clinical Psychology Programs
¨ What is the difference between clinical and counseling psychology?
- Both programs prepare doctoral-level psychologists
- Clinical programs: more numerous, housed in departments or schools of psychology, work with seriously disturbed populations, person-centered therapy, employed in hospitals
- Counseling programs: located in departments and divisions, work with healthier/less pathological populations, conduct career and vocational assessment, employed in counseling centers in schools
¨ What are the specific credentials I need to apply?
- GRE scores are similar: averaged 621(verbal), 627 (quantitative) and 648 (analytical)
- GPA: averaged 3.5
Updated Monday 3 April 2006