<p>I have an undergrad in psychology. I'm considering going to grad school. My overall GPA was a 2.7, but I attended 2 colleges and when I transferred for my final year and a half, my GPA was a 3.2.</p>
<p>I'm not looking to get into some top academic school because I'm realistic, but I would like to attend grad school for my masters and then a doctorate with hopes to become a clinical psychologist.</p>
<p>Would I still be able to get into a grad school with those grades?</p>
<p>I also don’t really have anyone to give me recommendations. Since I went to school online, my teachers don’t really know me.</p>
<p>Most graduate schools I looked at had a GPA cutoff of 3.0 to be admitted to the school, but there might be exceptions or schools/programs that don’t have a hard cutoff.</p>
<p>I’d recommend you try to get some experience in the field you want to go into. Your research experience (or relevant experience in your field) are probably going to be the most important part of your application. Also, if you take a couple years to get some experience (maybe as a research assistant in a psych lab or working in some counseling setting with clinical psychologists or perhaps doing behavioral therapy with special needs kids or whatever), you may also be able to get letters of rec from the people you work with. And the further away you are from school, the less important your GPA will be.</p>
<p>Thanks, but it’s been near impossible for me to find any entry level psychology jobs.</p>
<p>You may have to be creative with what you look for and flexible in what your willing to accept. It doesn’t have to be an entry level psychology job–anything that will give you experience relevant at least tangentially relevant to what you want to do could be helpful (at the very least, in getting a psych job).</p>
<p>Do you live near a university or anyone doing psychology research? You may be able to volunteer in their lab (and get some other random job to pay the bills). Could you shadow a clinical psychologist, at least, to demonstrate that you understand the profession and to build some contacts? Are there any post-bacc programs you could do to raise your GPA or any other programs that would give you relevant experience (perhaps, give you a chance to meet more professors for letters of rec, research experience, or just general advice)? Could you volunteer in any counseling (or even just healthcare) setting (planned parenthood, any sort of organization for people with mental illness, even working with disadvantaged or special needs kids could give you valuable skills)? You wouldn’t be the counselor, of course, but you have to start somewhere.</p>
<p>Have you tried asking any clinical psychologists for advice? Perhaps, contact the schools you’re interested in and ask for suggestions or if your GPA will be a barrier. Contact psychology professors at nearby schools, or who are doing work that you would be interested in. Contact anyone who is doing what you’re interested in doing in the future (especially if they’re in your area), and ask if they have any suggestions for you.</p>
<p>You should ask this question in the graduate school forum. There’s a frequent poster there who is a Ph.D student in psychology.</p>