When it comes to graduating college, there’s three routes you can take: a gap year, job searching, or continuing your education (grad or med school). Everyone takes their own path for their own reasons. Some people leave, take some time for themselves, and then come back to school. Others leave and never look back. Although societal pressure can cause us to stress about our future, remember that this is your life. You’ll be the only person suffering or flourishing from your actions. At the end of the day, choose what works for YOU!
A Head’s Up
For the next few paragraphs, I’ll be explaining my experience with applying to graduate schools, which might look differently to everyone else, or it might be similar. Either way, take my words with a grain of salt. As a psychology student, there isn’t much to do with a bachelor’s degree, unless I’m interested in sales or HR and I am not. For me, the obvious choice was to continue my education and get a master’s degree.
Why not a PHd? What’s the difference?
When it comes to higher education, the major options are a PhD or master’s degree. Those that wish to create their own research or become a professor will typically shoot for a PhD, while others will decide on a master’s, or nothing at all. For me, I never considered a PhD because I’ve never cared for research or working in a lab, however I did apply to one PsyD program.
The difference between a PsyD, a Doctorate of Psychology, and a PhD, a Doctorate of Philosophy, is that the majority of PhD programs focus purely on research, whereas PsyDs strongly focus on the clinical side of things. In practical terms, a PhD is more behind-the-scenes and PsyDs will be hands-on. Whenever it comes to choosing a doctorate program, do research into what field you ultimately want to end up in and which program will fit that better.
The fun part… applying
In the fall semester of my Senior year, I spent many weeks creating my applications for nine different schools. The cost of applying ranges from $50-$75, depending on the school, and I had to pay for my transcript to be delivered to three schools, so this isn’t exactly an inexpensive endeavor. Though most of the deadlines were only beginning in the spring semester, I was hoping to get it done before winter break, so I could actually use the break as intended.
For most applications, you need 3+ letters of recommendation, and they encourage you to use professors. In my experience, I struggled building connections with my professors because, not only are my classrooms full of 300 students, but I also couldn’t bring myself to go to office hours strictly to get a letter from them. However, I was a transfer student from Blinn, and I asked one of my professors there to write one for me because those classrooms are significantly smaller and I felt he knew me pretty well. My second letter came from the place I volunteer at – SARC. The Sexual Assault Resource Center is a facility that’s dedicated to helping survivors of sexual assault; there is the 24/7 hotline, accompaniments to the hospital, group therapy sessions, and more. Since I’ve completed almost 300 hours there, I asked the director if she’d be willing to write one for me.
Lastly, I used my manager from work. Although some people frown on people using coworkers – or anything other than someone “professional” – I felt like a recommendation from my boss of five years was more influential than a professor that I’ve met only a handful times. Again, my opinion. Eventually, I did use another professor for a few applications, but that was more of a ‘last-minute’ decision. When it comes to professors, it’s significantly harder to get a recommendation letter from a person you have only spoken to a few times, so I’d lean towards finding someone you believe thinks highly of you. After all, it’s a recommendation letter.
Now what?
Once you’ve filled out the applications, written your personal statements, and sent in your transcripts and letters of rec., the next step is to simply… wait. After some research, the general consensus is that I’ll hear back anywhere between March and June. Obviously, I’m hoping to hear back between March and April since I’ll have to move there, but it’s only February, so I still have some time before I get any updates. So, I’ll be the one checking my email and application status for the next few months!
If you’re in the same boat as me, just try to enjoy the last semester of your undergrad! Rather than having your eyes focused on the future, remember that things are happening in the now. Don’t let the world pass you by!