Second bachelor's?

psych_2 · June 24, 2009, 7:08pm

I’ll be graduating next year (if all goes as planned) as a psychology/social work double major and applying to school psychology programs, mostly doctoral PhD/PsyD programs and some specialist programs (school psych doesn’t have MA programs). I’ve really enjoyed all my clinical and research experience as an undergraduate, and I’d be thrilled to get into a program and pursue a clinical/research career, with more emphasis on the clinical side. However, due to the competitive nature of these programs, there’s a good chance I won’t get in and not for lack of trying (substantial research, teaching, and clinical experience–ask if you want to know more)

In terms of back-up/gap year plans, I’ve considered finding a full-time, paid RAship (these are pretty hard to find), continuing working part-time at my current RAship and volunteering and enrolling for one credit/semester to maintain health insurance through the university, applying Americorps (competitive, though), and applying to funded General/Experimental MA programs in psych to build my credentials (competitive, though not as bad as doctoral programs)

Also, I’ve recently looked in the possibility of going for a second degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) and then applying to audiology (AuD) programs. My research/clinical interests involve working with people with physical and sensory disabilities and people who are Deaf (I spent substanial time around Deaf people when I was younger), so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch, and AuD programs are generally less competitive than psych programs (I’ve considered audiology on and off throughout undergrad but fell into psych and have really enjoyed it). I’d love to get into school psych programs, but if it doesn’t happen after one or two cycles of applying, it may not be “meant to be.”

Most AuD programs require or recommend a degree in CSD, which I wouldn’t have. My school started a CSD program and couple of years ago, and my home state university has one as well. If I take some CSD classes this year (I only have my social work practicum, one social work class, and two psych classes left for my degree), I could probably finish in two semesters, maybe 3 at most. I’ll have no undergrad debt. I would have the options of either returning to the university in my hometown and get instate tuition or staying at my OOS university, where I may potentially be able to scare up enough work to cover a good part of my expenses. Either way, I’d also get some more experience related to audiology and do some shadowing, though some of my experience may “cross-over,” so to speak.

Has anyone or anyone’s kid gone the second bachelor’s route? Any thoughts on it?

Thanks!

mmaah · June 24, 2009, 7:21pm

How great to have so many interests that will also serve so many people in need. As a practicing psychologist who trains grad students in psychology, I am impressed with how you are thinking ahead and assessing both what is needed for grad school and reality based about the difficulty in admissions. While you might be a strong candidate for clinical psych training, it is important to factor in the cost of the doctorate relative to earnings–unless you can for sure get into a funded Ph.D. program. The audiology direction has so many possibilities and definitely serves an underserved population and is likely to be a good domain in terms of work and earnings. I’d suggest you really explore graduate degrees in that area and see whether there are some that incorporate the psychosocial/counseling aspects of adapting to hearing loss/deafness, etc. You might also look into grad programs in Rehabilitation Psychology. This is an area that is going to have huge growth I think–between the aging population and veterans’s needs. Boston University has a well-known program. Combining all your interests is possilbe–just needs more research. I don’t think you need a second B.A. There are grad programs that take students with BAs in other majors as long as you can make a case for being prepared for the academic work in the new field.

psych_2 · June 24, 2009, 7:53pm

^
Thanks! I have a pretty strong background in psych and a love of the combination of clinical and research you get in the field.

I’ll have lots of research experience, including a few publications, a paid RAship, and multiple theses. Fortunately, most school psych doctoral programs (even PsyDs, surprisingly) emphasize research training and offer strong funding. I’d looked into rehab psych, but with some notable exceptions, I dislike the attitude many people in the field have told disability (that it needs to be “adjusted to” or “cured”). I’m more interested in looking as disability as an almost cultural factor, and fortunately, my mentors/advisors/collaborators are big proponents of this view (see the ICF’s functional model of disability, for one, or the Deaf community for another). Hence, my interest in working with the school system–in part, because I’ve found people that acquire disabilities at birth or in childhood, adolescent, or young adulthood seem to adopt it more into their “cultural lenses” and also because I think more attention needs to be paid to PWDs in the educational system and adaptation, intervention, resiliency, and success in that area.

I found the way my collaborator said it to be a really strong, good expression of sentiment–“you don’t ‘adjust’ to having a disability anymore than you ‘adjust’ to being an ethnic minority.” While there are some people in rehab psych (including some of our co-investigators) who I admire endlessly, I’ve found that school psych will give me a better range of opportunities, more research matches (key to applying), and more opportunities to do what I want in terms of clinical and research work. There aren’t many professors who study these areas in clinical or counseling psych–the people that do typically work in only academic medical centers or full time researchers at UCEDDs and not as official “mentors.”

Edit: Can you tell I have a lot of passion for this field? :)

Erin_s_Dad · June 24, 2009, 8:05pm

There was recently a thread about whether a second bachelor’s was worth the time/cost. Search for it.

psych_2 · June 24, 2009, 9:34pm

Tried. Couldn’t find it.

MidwestMom2Kids_1 · June 24, 2009, 10:11pm

Was this it?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/729413-second-bachelors-degrees-considered-real-thing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/729413-second-bachelors-degrees-considered-real-thing.html</a>

juillet · June 24, 2009, 11:17pm

Second bachelor’s are generally not worth it. If there are pre-requisites that you are missing to get into audiology programs, then take those pre-requisites as a non-degree student while working (preferably working for the university so that you can take them for free or at a steep discount). Or you can get into an audiology or CSD master’s program, if there are some, which will be far more useful than a second bachelor’s in the field. A degree in psychology will likely be enough to get you into a CSD master’s program (there were a couple people from my department who were going into CSD and audiology when we graduated).

And personally, I would not go to a doctoral program that did not fund me, especially in school and clinical psychology.

With your qualifications I don’t think you should worry too much about not getting in…it happens, of course, but with your record (publications, lots of research experience, your thesis) and solid grades and scores you should gain admission to at least an Ed.S program in school psych.

I will warn you about something – it’s not completely cool to compare ethnic minority status to disability status. They’re completely different, the comparison often offends people, and I actually think that your collaborator is wrong – some people do indeed have to adjust to having a disability if they acquire it after they are born and were used to living without the disability. (In addition to that, there’s actually a lot of adjustment an ethnic minority has to do for living in a majority culture – I’m black, trust me, it’s there.)

psych_2 · June 24, 2009, 11:50pm

Thanks for your perspective. While I agree there’s definite differences and people do “adjust” to both to some degree, I think I can be equally offense to people with disabilities that their disability is treated as something wrong, defective, or shameful, or something that doesn’t matter. I’ve certainly been influenced by disability, and I’ve worked in multicultural psych and have seen a lot of similarities between the two fields, especially in regards to cultural norming of measurement tools. But there are differences, and my sincere of apologize if I offended you. I’m curious as to how you view disability. :)

psych_2 · June 25, 2009, 1:02am

Also, I think there’s a significant continum on both ends–some people embrance their ethnic identity and make it a large part of their day-to-day life; for other people, it plays a smaller (or at least less visible) role. Same type of thing for disability. I’m confused about how you would view disability (especially physical/sensory disabilities) if you don’t consider it a cultural factor. Granted, there are differences in terms of how you acquire disability versus having ethnicity passed down through family, and most ethnic groups have stronger cultural identitifications, but still, how do you view disability if not as cultural factor? IMO, the view of disability as a tradegy is really offensive to a lot of people with disabilities, but I’m really interested in how else someone would view it.

compmom · June 25, 2009, 8:46am

As the parent of a child with disabilities, we really appreciate your perspective. The lack of a “cure” and chronicity are not well-understood by many educational institutions. We also get very tired of the kind of tv movie mentality in which kids with disabilities are spoken of as “amazing” and so on, when all they really want to do it feel valued as themselves in an ordinary manner.

I wonder if you would be interested in the relatively new field of “Disability Studies.” Goddard College has a major in that, on the graduate level, and you do most of the work independently under the guidance of a professor. Other schools must have programs in this as well. I haven’t looked into it.

There are also organizations such as the Federation for Children with Special Needs that need help. And you could be a therapist for kids and families with disabilites, as another direction to go in. There aren’t very many good ones out there.

There is a huge need for advocacy. We especially feel that there needs to be a culture change at the college level. Disabilities are truly the last frontier of “diversity.” Policies on accommodations need to be legislated, because right now, college students with disabilities, while having some protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act, really don’t have any mandated rights at the college level. They have to depend on kindness, which is never a good thing.

Or, you could look into law school, and advocate from that position.

I understand that your interests are clinical and research work, but someday, with the passion you have for this, you may want to go in another direction, so I am just introducing these ideas for later!

psych_2 · June 25, 2009, 1:38pm

^

Thanks for the post!

My advisor, community psychologist, actually recommended disability psych programs, but I’ve loved my clinical work in undergrad, and I really, really would like that to be a key component of my professonial career.

psych_2 · June 25, 2009, 7:25pm

Also, and perhaps I should have said this before, but I have no interest in going into academia–I’ve seem the ravanges of the tenure track, and it’s not for me. Doing research as part of an research institute or hospital or in collaboration with a university are things I might be interested in, but I’m not interested in going the straight academic route, though I respect those who do.

Second bachelor's?

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