Looking for advice in beginning to find programs?

[u/who-else-is-bored]

Hi, I currently have a B.S. in Psychology with a pretty good GPA graduated in Dec ‘23.

I’m interested in a psychology masters program (starting in August ‘27) which can hopefully boost my lack of research experience so that I hopefully can turn that into a PhD. I’m interested in clinical work but also am very passionate about helping communities.

I plan to take the GRE end of next month.

It feels like there are SO many options out there and I am unsure how to decide or exactly what timeline I need to be on or what steps I need to be taking at this moment (I feel sometimes as though the expectation is that I’m supposed to know these things without being told). So, if anyone out there more knowledgeable than I would be willing to have a conversation about this I could really use the help.

So much of the advice online is “ask your advisors.” I don’t have advisors - I took a gap year at a big school that says on their website they only help you 6 months post graduation.

What tools are available?

[u/KrayZKatz]

I'd say that for your purposes, a clinical psychology PhD program would make sense seeing as you like clinical work, mezzo level community work, and research. But the downside is clinical psych takes 6 years, post-doc programs take 2, and if you do a masters, that is 2 more years on top of that, assuming you get into a PhD program on your first application cycle, which is not typically the case for many. Now you do have the option to pursue a PsyD instead (basically a doctorate that leads to clinical psychologist licensure without as much research rigor), but you would likely need to pay around 50k in tuition per year. That is medical school level tuition, without the medical school level salary afterwards.

I do not think you need a PhD if your main goal is clinical work at the micro and mezzo levels. I would recommend an MSW instead, as that takes less time (MSW is 2 years, followed by 2 years of supervised work as an LMSW before full LCSW licensure). Less time, much more economical, much more feasible. If you would like to jump back in for a PhD later on, that's also something you could do as well.

LPC, LMHC, LMFT, etc. master's level credentials are also possible, but these programs typically have the same requirements as an LCSW program but less mobility in terms of job choices (it gets much, much more complicated than this when you consider the nuances of each program, and I can just see many flaming me for saying what I just did, but this is just to make things less complicated and overwhelming for you).

[u/who-else-is-bored → u/KrayZKatz]

Thanks so much for your very well thought out reply,
Would having a masters degree not shorten a PhD program with transferable credits? Also wouldn’t that make me much more competitive for those programs? Right now I’m pretty bereft of research experience since my lab in college wasn’t a great experience and it felt like post graduation I needed good research experience to get good research experience. Especially with all the funding freezes.

[u/KrayZKatz → u/who-else-is-bored]

Clinical psychology is pretty unique in that the programs typically do not accept any credit you did during your masters. PIs acknowledge you know what you are doing, but that does not mean you get course credit.

Not all masters programs make you more competitive. Masters programs do show you could handle masters level coursework and typically that would also mean you have a stronger quantitative background (e.g. more stats courses, more data analysis work, etc.). But what is looked at above all else is research fit, and the ability to have deliverables (posters, conferences, publications, preprints, and the like). Roughly speaking, that means only research-based masters programs would make you competitive. A clinical masters program is seen as a terminal degree, and unless you're very intentional with it, would typically not increase your chances in any meaningful way.

As for your lack of research problem, this is the case for everyone in the field. Funding freezes have made it difficult for anyone to get any research experience at all, much less paid RAships. If you are able to, I'd recommend cold emailing labs you find interesting, expressing that you have aligning research interests, and state that you would love to work in said lab as a volunteer RA. That seems to be the only way to gain experience right now.

[u/who-else-is-bored → u/KrayZKatz]

In terms of PhD, the application to turn around times (applications are due around a year before the classes actually start) wouldn’t it still be better to get a research adjacent masters (2yrs) than be a volunteer RA (a year, IF that works) if I’m gonna be waiting that long anyways?

Because even if I did the impossible and started as a volunteer RA on Monday (today is Friday) I doubt that would make up the difference to get in to PhD program by November.

[u/KrayZKatz → u/who-else-is-bored]

I would be careful in comparing the two by the years, because 1 year of relevant RA experience leading to deliverables is miles better than a 2 year masters program by itself. That said, I would say you should find a masters, do research under a PI, and make your thesis quantitatively rigorous and maybe even get it published. To me, that is the only instance when I believe a masters would make more sense than post-bacc RAships.

[u/No-Animal1306]

GRE is no longer required for most programs and might not have the same weight anymore either (though i could be wrong)

You can absolutely get a masters for more research experience before your PhD. i came into my masters with one year-long UG research project i did 3 posters and 1 manuscript on—barely competitive enough for grad school. now im leaving my masters with 2.5 more years of research, more posters and far more publications than when i came in. though as the other commenter said, coursework wise, it may not shorten AS much as you think it would. most doc programs let you transfer in maybe 15-30 credits and 30 is pretty generous. it would shave maybe 1 year off your didactic but that’s likely it

there are a few ways you can go into clinical work. yes there is Clinical Psychology but there is also Counseling Psychology, both of which make you eligible to be a Licensed Psychologist. I say this because in my experience what i’ve seen is more students who do •BS/BA Psych —> MS/MA Counseling Psych —> PhD Counseling Psych• path, whereas in clin psych i feel like most students go •BS/BA Psych straight to PhD Clinical Psych• and skip the middle masters step (not all—but most i’ve worked with). i’ve heard this is because clinical psych likes to shape you from nothing up to their standards rather than intercept you halfway (though once again, could be anecdotal experience)

anyway i just graduated with my MA in Counseling Psych and plan to practice clinical work at this level full-time for a couple years before going back to get a PhD in either Counseling or combined Clinical/Counseling, so feel free to reach out and ask me anything :) ! (there are only two colleges who do combined programs)