<p>Hello!</p>
<p>I am currently a junior at a small state school, studying psychology. </p>
<p>I am currently the first person in my family to attend college. I started off with a community college and received a 3.9 GPA while working 30 hours a week. I also was awarded psychology student of the year at this college.</p>
<p>I have now transferred to this state school where i continue to study psychology. I have also decided to double major in sociology, because the programs are so linked. My gpa did not transfer, so i finished my first quarter with a 3.8 and with last quarters grades of an a-, b+ and b, it took my gpa to a 3.6.</p>
<p>I also am working 25 hours while attending university. I got a job doing ABA(applied behavior analysis) with children living with autism. I am a team lead, which means i pick programs to run and tutor/coach the kid about different aspects of life.</p>
<p>I have put myself through undergrad with scholarships, financial aid and a job.</p>
<p>I have also had to learn about a lot of things by myself, limiting my college options. </p>
<p>I really want to pursue a funded Phd program. I truly have no one to talk to about graduate school.</p>
<p>How good of a candidate would i be, and what can i do to make myself a better candidate? </p>
<p>I know research is important, so i just started as a research assistant for a sociology professor, but i plan on pursuing psychology.</p>
<p>HELPPPP
I feel like i am going crazy here!</p>
<p>It is more important to actually “do” research than the field in which you do it. Graduate programs look at ll the transcripts and will calculate a composite GPA so your strong performance in CC will not be ignored. nevertheless, you probably need to work at raising your GPA and the current school too.</p>
<p>I am a physics professor and so I cannot tell you about psychology but generally Ph.D. students are supported as Teaching or Research Assistants. My suggestion is that you go speak with your academic advisor or another faculty member in your current school whom you particularly trust. That individual can give you a much better idea of your prospects.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Yes, it is more important to do any research than none at all, but the research should actually be related. Although sociology and psychology are related fields, the research techniques that sociologists use can be very different from the ones psychologists use, especially depending on the subfield of psychology you intend to enter. If you want to be a cognitive or experimental psychologist, for example, research experience in sociology won’t really help you much. If your interests are in developmental or social, the sociology may be better suited for that depending on what you’re doing with the sociologist. If you plan on clinical, that can really be a toss-up depending on the kind of clinical psych program you intend to enter. But generally speaking, the kinds of research that clinical psychologists and sociologists do are very different.</p>
<p>Also - I’m not sure what your intent was for sharing that you were first-generation or that you worked during college, but generally speaking, graduate schools will not care about that too much. The kind of work that you are doing will be appealing to clinical and developmental programs as well as applied social, if that’s your goal. But research is king, and that’s really what’s going to help you get in. So concentrate on getting research experience - and if you can, get some experience in a psychology lab.</p>
<p>If you want to do clinical, know that most clinical PhD students take 2-3 years after they finish undergrad to do research. Either they work as a lab manager/research coordinator in a psych lab or a related field’s lab, or they work as a lab technician or research assistant somewhere. Especially given that you are a junior and you are just now beginning research, you may find this necessary to get in somewhere. Even if you are aiming for another field like developmental or social, this may also be helpful for your field.</p>
<p>The other thing that’s really important is fit. You want to make sure that your program is a good fit for you, so start looking for programs now (assuming you are applying in the fall of 2013) and thinking about how you want to craft your personal statement. Think about what kind of research you want to do for at least the next 5-6 years. That will help you select programs and advisors who can help you get to do what you want to do.</p>