Careers and Graduate Schools in Psychology

1. Careers and Graduate Schools in Psychology Psych 183A Dr. Robert Levine Fall, 2005

2. Jobs with a Psych B.A. • Community & Social Services • Human services worker • Social worker • Program director • Volunteer coordinator • Human Resources • Employee development • Training coordinator • Recruiter • Education • Child care worker • Peace corps • Teacher’s aide • Scientific Research • Opinion survey researcher

3. Residential Care • For developmentally delayed • For delinquents • For the elderly • Management & Business • Banking • Sales • Public relations • Restaurant & hotel • Student Affairs/Services • Admissions • Career services • Residential life • Student activities • Alumni/development • Probation/Parole/Law enforcement • Parole officer • Correction officer • Juvenile intake worker

4. Money! (B.A.)—very roughly. . Overall Average: $26-$27 • Human Services - $19K • Management - $26K • Sales - $26K • Student Affairs - $22K • Corrections/probation/parole/law enforcement - $23K • Customer Service - $25K • Child & Youth Care - $13-$19K • Human Resources - $24-$26K

5. What’s the competition? EVERY YEAR: • 70,000 psychology bachelor’s degrees • 10,000 new master’s degree graduates • 3,000 new doctoral degree graduates

6. Graduate Degrees • M.A./M.S. • School psych • MFT • MSW • I/O psych • rehab counseling, guidance counseling, others • Doctorates • Ph.D. • PsyD • EdD: Doctorate in Education

7. Clinical Degrees • Master’s of Social Work (MSW), M.A. in counseling,MFT,M.A. in School Psychology • PsyD: practitioners – much less research. • MD: psychiatry Counseling & Clinical: 46% of psych doctorates • PhD: Counseling Psychology • PhD: Clinical Psychology

8. Getting Into Graduate School: Qualitative Data(in order of importance) • Grades and GREs • Letters of recommendation • Research experience • Work experience • Clinically related public service • Extracurricular activity • Interview (if applicable) • Personal statements

9. After Graduation • 50% of research psychologists work at universities or colleges

10. Want More Money? • Become an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist • 1999: $90K (median) with 13 yrs experience • Consulting firms (42%), business/industrial settings (31%), self-employed in business (14%)

11. Other high-paying doctoral positions • Research administration/educational administraction • Research: $83.5K (16yrs) • Education: $82.5 (22 yrs)

12. Psych Degrees & Salaries • School psychologists - $71K (20 yrs experience) • Clinical psychologists - $65K (16 yrs) • Counseling psychologists - $60K (15 yrs) • Doctorate in Social Work - $40K • Psychologists – Research positions - $60k (10 yrs) • Faculty: $52K (15 yrs)

13. Cal State University Professors • Starting: $45K • Ending: $93K

14. Steps to Begin Your Quest for Acceptance At the beginning of your junior year, investigate programs that interest you. Talk with faculty, students, and advisors about programs. Request that the schools or the departments send brochures, catalogs, applications, and other available materials to you. For each school, compile a list of all required course work, test scores, GPAs, and any recommended activities. It is recommended that required course work be finished and the grade reported on your transcript prior to your application to a program. Take the Graduate Record Examination-GRE-(or any other required test) and any required specialty tests (such as the GRE Psychology Subject Test). The scores must be available when you need them. Remember that General Test scores take three weeks to be sent to schools; Subject Test scores require six weeks. Make sure you know the deadlines for submitting your application and other materials. These deadlines will vary from year to year. Write your vita (resumé). Have it reviewed by a faculty member or advisor. Write your statement of purpose. Have it reviewed by a faculty member or advisor. Contact potential referees. Ask if they can give you a good, strong, supportive reference. Do not leave this to the last minute! Some faculty will allow you to review the reference letter they have written; others will not. Obtain extra copies of ALL transcripts or arrange to have them sent to the appropriate schools. Plan to spend around $200 in application, mailing, and transcript fees. Many programs charge an application fee which can range from $15 to $50 or more depending on the school. At OSU, transcripts are available from the transcript office. (Some schools will want two copies of each transcript.)

15. Senior Year Monthly Check List • May Decide which schools/programs interest you, and be sure you have ordered application packets from each program. • June • Take the GRE (if required), especially if applying for financial aid or fellowships, etc. • August • Register for the GRE (if you did not take it in June). • Register for the GRE Psychology Subject Test (if required). • September • Begin narrowing down your graduate program choices. • Update or start writing your vita. • Write the first draft of your statement of purpose. • October • Verify with your instructor/professional referee(s) that they are willing to act as a reference for you. Talk to them about schools to which you will be applying and deadlines for the letters. • Arrange to receive copies of your official transcripts.

16. November Take the Psychology Subject Test. Prepare a short description of your qualifications, including grade point averages (overall GPA and psychology GPA) in order to familiarize the referee(s) with your record. Providing your vita may be very helpful to the referee. Provide all relevant forms to your referrees. A stamped, addressed envelope for each letter requested should be provided. Write the final version of your vita. Prepare the final version(s) of your personal statement of purpose so that it can be reviewed by a knowledgeable person prior to submission. Narrow your program choices. Make sure that you will have the money in December to pay for any necessary application fees. This amount could exceed $200, depending on the number of programs to which you apply.

17. December • If applications are due in January, it is time to prepare the final copies. They should be mailed at least two weeks before the deadline. Keep a copy of each application. Send important materials by certified mail and request a return receipt. • The following items should be sent out at this time: • typed application for admission • requests for financial aid information and proof of need, if requested • personal statement, if required • vita • fees (check or money order) • undergraduate transcripts from all institutions attended and graduate transcripts where relevant • writing sample if required • stamped, self-addressed postcard for verification of arrival of application materials (requested by most schools anyway). You could include a second postcard to be returned when all application materials have arrived (this could be very helpful when letters of reference are sent separately from the application materials). • The student should be careful to ascertain that each part of the application packet is sent to the correct address. Sometimes financial aid forms and application forms are sent to a different office than admission materials. Materials might need to be sent to the department, graduate college/school, or financial aid office. • MAT and GRE scores will be sent by the testing services to schools requested on the application forms. Requests for copies to be sent to additional schools may be made in writing (see addresses previously listed) accompanied by appropriate fees. • If letters of recommendation are to be sent out directly by faculty members, students should check to see if this has been done. • You may want to call the school and see if a site visit or interview would be encouraged. Some schools set up an interview process for the applicants who remain in the applicant pool after initial selection procedures have been implemented.

18. December-January • If the student has not received acknowledgment of the receipt of application materials within a reasonable amount of time, then a telephone call for verification may be necessary. • February - March • Some programs will require (or strongly encourage) interviews of candidates. Interviews will be conducted in person or over the telephone. Sometimes interviews are required prior to final acceptance letters being sent. If possible, participate in the interview. If, due to cost of travel or loss of school/work time, you are unable to participate in a face-to-face interview, ask if a telephone interview would be acceptable. • April • Depending upon the application deadlines, graduate schools begin to send out letters of acceptance in March and early April. Many schools attempt to reach successful applicants by telephone as well as send letters. The student is usually given a set period of time in which to make his/her decision. Graduate departments of psychology must give the student until April 15 to make his/her decision. It is sometimes difficult to make an intelligent choice since you may be on the waiting list of a more preferred school and on the acceptance list of a less-preferred institution. To complicate matters further, some schools do not inform students on the waiting list of their status until the primary candidates have either accepted or rejected their offers of admission. A telephone call to the graduate programs may, at least, confirm that one is still being considered. If you do make your decision prior to the deadline set on April 15, it is very helpful to immediately advise your chosen school as well as other schools so that your place may be offered to students on the alternate list.

19. A few tips • Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows • Be ready for rejection, lots of it • Don’t be overly seduced by money • Think about form as well as content; lifestyle • Reach for a career you have a passion for