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[taryn]

I have a bit of a conundrum. I graduated magna cum laude in 2008 from a state university (B.A. in French, minor in psychology) and immediately entered an M.A. program in professional writing. My cumulative GRE score was decent: 680 verbal/460 quantitative (I'm absolutely horrible at math). I was torn between writing and psychology when applying to programs but naively chose the writing track because I thought it would be more applicable in a number of fields. A semester into the writing program, I decided that I sorely missed psychology and that I want to pursue an M.S. in school psychology upon earning my M.A.

And that brings me to where I am now: I'll be graduating with my M.A. in December. Next month, I'm returning to my undergrad institution and taking two additional psychology courses (quantitative and experimental) in hopes that having these core classes--on top of the 9 I've already taken--will bolster my transcripts. I'm also trying to secure a summer position at a counseling center since I didn't get any field experience during undergrad.

If all goes well, I'll be graduating from my M.A. program with a 4.0., and my thesis will concern the use of writing as a therapeutic tool in counseling. I'm just concerned that the schools will see my application and go, "Why does she want another Master's when she already has one?" (I plan on explaining in my letter of intent that I want the M.S. so that I can work in schools, whereas the Ph.D. is more geared toward private practice and research, but I'm still nervous.) Do schools look poorly upon students who have a change of heart regarding their career choice? Or who will have two "comparable" advanced degrees? Also, I'm applying to my undergrad institution as one choice (and I'd love to go there, actually), but I don't know if being an alum will hurt me or help me. And my combined GRE score is 80 points below their preferred minimum--I'm just not a good standardized test taker.

Obviously, I'm anxious about the whole process--partly because I've found a potential career that I want to pursue and seems to really suit me (hooray!), and partly because I'm panic-stricken that if I don't get into an M.S. program, I'll be painfully unemployed.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

[systeme_d_]

I am not in psych, but in my opinion, you are doing everything right.  You'll be taking more psych classes, looking for a summer gig, and spinning your personal statement toward writing as a therapeutic tool.  Your MA in professional writing will likely boost your application.

You may want to re-take the GRE.   Other than that, I think you should be fine. 

[juillet]

I'm in psych.  I considered going for school psychology programs, but ultimately decided to do health psychology instead.  In any event, this is what I gleaned from looking into school psychology programs at the time.

I don't think school psychology programs would wonder why you want another master's when you already have one.  School psychology is a practice degree; you can't practice with a writing MA, and it's understandable that you'd want an MS in school psychology so you could actually practice school psychology.

As a side note, Ph.Ds in school psychology often work within schools and do school practice.  It's considered a scientist-practitioner degree and many of those applicants are gearing up for working within schools or as administrators of psychological programs in schools.  I don't think you have to explain why you don't want a Ph.D, just talk about why you want an MS (because you want to work with kids and practice in a school-based setting).  Lots of people get more than one master's degree.

You actually may look to apply to Ed.S programs in school psychology (specialist's degree) -- the pay is better, and in some states you may need an Ed.S instead of an MS to practice.  Visit www.nasponline.org for more information (the website to the National Association of School Psychologists); their page is very informative.  Only specialist level and doctoral level programs in school psychology are approved by the NASP, although I know in many states you can use just an MS to practice.

Also, don't say "I'm just not a good standardized test taker."  It's defeatist.  You CAN study for the GRE and raise your score -- you just need to practice and learn the strategies.  I used to tutor the SAT and the first thing I always did was forbid my students from saying "I'm just not good at taking tests!"  It's not a natural talent; it's something that has to be learned and sharpened.  People with high scores on the GRE didn't come out of the womb knowing how to do it.  (Sorry, I put on my tutor hat for a second there :D)

I think your total GRE score (1140, if I added correctly) is fine for master's programs, but you might want to try to get up that quant.  Psychology programs are one of those fields that value scores in both areas, because so much of psychology is quantitative.

[laurel_knx]

Also, don't say "I'm just not a good standardized test taker."  It's defeatist.  You CAN study for the GRE and raise your score -- you just need to practice and learn the strategies.  I used to tutor the SAT and the first thing I always did was forbid my students from saying "I'm just not good at taking tests!"  It's not a natural talent; it's something that has to be learned and sharpened.  People with high scores on the GRE didn't come out of the womb knowing how to do it.  (Sorry, I put on my tutor hat for a second there :D)

I think your total GRE score (1140, if I added correctly) is fine for master's programs, but you might want to try to get up that quant.  Psychology programs are one of those fields that value scores in both areas, because so much of psychology is quantitative.

I agree in general with juillet (I won't pick a fight on the degree of malleability of test scores). A Quant score of 500 is attainable given your previous score, and that seems to be the arbitrary but official minimum at many places. As an added bonus, if you're going to take a quant/methods course, prepping for GRE Quant might help you brush up your math skills in preparation for that as well (or vice versa).

I hope you've done your research already, but note juillet's advice that (a) a masters doesn't qualify you to do school psych everywhere and (b) PhDs in school psych do often work in the schools.

Other than that, I think you've got a good game plan. I don't see any reason the MA will hurt you, especially if you incorporate those interests into the application somehow (i.e., don't treat it as a mistake, but just a different path you took purposefully).

[deconvoluted]

An aside: if you are willing to spend some money, you can buy a higher quant. GRE score by hiring a skilled tutor.  It really works.

[deconvoluted]

(apologies: there's no edit button on the above post, which was stupidly sent before reading the whole thread.)

[notaprof]

(apologies: there's no edit button on the above post, which was stupidly sent before reading the whole thread.)

Okay newbie, but you just used up your one complimentary mistake.  You will have to pay for any mistakes in the future!  ;o)  Welcome to the fora.

[deconvoluted]

Thanks for the welcome.  I appreciate your leniency :)

[msparticularity]

OP, educational psych is a pretty stats-intensive degree, as you appear to already know. Is the psych class you're planning to take at your undergrad alma mater stats-based? If so, success in that will definitely support an argument that you can do stats, even if you don't excel on exams in general, and the GRE quant in particular. This is something that you and your referees should explain in your application materials, also. Also be aware, though, that some programs have a pretty heinous qualifying exam in stats early in the sequence--you might want to check into the requirements at your desired program.