I am a recent undergrad from UCR. I majored in Creative Writing and graduated with a 2.8 cumulative gpa. I am thinking to apply to the MS program in Psychology at CSUF in the future. I know I have a low gpa and am aware that most graduate programs require a 3.0 undergrad gpa. Are my chances of getting accepted to any Masters program very slim? Can I take some classes at a CC to increase my undergrad gpa? Any advice will be helpful! Thanks.
Courses at another school will not change your undergraduate GPA at UCR. They will just show as a separate GPA on your CC transcripts. However, if you haven’t taken enough psychology courses as an undergrad to satisfy some basic prereqisites for the masters program, you will need to take some to be competitive anyway.
The MS admissions page for CSUF states, “Applicants must have a minimum 3.0 GPA in psychology course work and an overall GPA of at least 2.5 to be considered. Applicants are rarely admitted with lower than a 3.0 overall GPA. In addition, previous supervised clinical work (paid or volunteer) and research experience are required.”
Why do you want to pursue a masters in psychology? The program website states, “For those students with the M.S. as their final objective, our program prepares them to apply for the Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) and the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) licenses. The M.S. program meets the requirements of the Business and Professional Code, Section 4980.37, for MFT and LPCC licensure.” Is this your goal? Or are you considering using the MS as a stepping stone to a PhD?
If this is something you’ve given some serious thought to, then I would recommend gaining some of the clinical work experience the program is looking for while taking some psychology courses*. You would need to do very well in your psychology courses and on the GRE (including the psychology subject test). You also want to work toward getting great letters of recommendation. This will help offset some of your undergraduate GPA. It seems the program has a low potential cut off for GPAs (2.5), so you may get past the initial rounds if the rest of your application is really solid.
** The site even tells you what courses are needed to satisfy prerequisites:
"Applicants for the M.S. program typically have completed an undergraduate major in psychology, although majoring in psychology is not required. However, all applicants must have completed the following prerequisites.
introductory psychology, intro to statistics in psychology, and research methods, physiological/biological psychology, abnormal psychology, psychological testing, advanced statistics, field placement in psychology (or qualifying experience).
All applicants must ensure that their course work includes research methods, biological psychology, abnormal psychology, psychological testing, advanced statistics, and supervised fieldwork experience prior to admission. Students can complete PSYC 461 Psychological Testing and PSYC 465 Advanced Statistics after admission to the program, although this may delay graduation. Because Psychological Testing and Advanced Statistics are prerequisites used for classified standing, they must be passed with a grade of B- or better."*
I already read that info on the website. Do you think it will hurt my chance of getting accepted into the program because I don’t have a Bachelor’s in Psychology?
As stated, a degree in psychology isn’t required if all of the prerequisites are met. However, I think all other aspects of your application (supervised experience, GRE, recommendations, grades in additional coursework) need to be very strong to offset your undergraduate GPA and demonstrate that you are a serious candidate for their program. Have you taken any prior courses in psychology? What led you to pursuing this degree?
Yes, I took 2 courses at UCR. I like helping people with their problems.
- You didn’t even major in that discipline
- You’ve only taken 2 courses in that major
- You have a sub-3.0 GPA
You do the math…
Yes. Even if you take the prerequisites, the prerequisites are the bare minimum required for admission. You will still be competing with other applicants who will have largely majored in it in undergrad. You should go above and beyond the minimum - taking 1-2 additional electives in psychology will make your case stronger. Also, if you don’t have any volunteer clinical experience (the field placement mentioned), you won’t be eligible.
With a sub-3.0 GPA and very little background in psychology, then you have slim chances.
Consider an MSW instead - you can still get licensed to practice and actually have more flexibility in job prospects, but social work doesn’t require any specific undergraduate degree. There are also many other ways to help people besides providing direct therapy, so consider that as well.
What is an MSW?
Oh it’s Masters of Social Work.
You need to know that the pay scale for MSW’s is really low.
Why do you want to major in psychology NOW? You’ve already graduated with a degree in creative writing. There are so many qualified grad school applicants for psychology. It will be very tough.
Because I enjoy helping people and I think being a therapist is a very rewarding job. Yeah, I know but I don’t want to pursue a career in writing.
The pay scale for a social worker in clinical practice isn’t going to be a whole lot lower than the pay scale for a master’s-level therapist in clinical practice, though. In the same city in the same kind of practice, they will make similar amounts of money. I’m offering it as an alternative for a master’s in psychology leading to clinical practice, not as a sort of general suggestion.
@twilight_girl09, have you ever shadowed a therapist or had an informational interview with one to ask them about their day to day work? Have you considered other potential careers in which you can help people? There may be helping careers that you can do without returning to school, although they won’t be direct therapy. You don’t have to pursue a career in writing just because you majored in creative writing in college - there are many jobs that don’t require any specific major or degree that you could potentially do.
Ok, I’ll consider it. No, I haven’t but I have done quite a bit of research on MFT. I am planning to shadow a therapist later.
A lot of times, day to day experience can really reveal to you what you like or don’t like to be doing 
There are things I thought I would enjoy until I actually tried them…and I did not.