Doing a master's degree online?

Graduate School
1

<p>I just wanted to know if doing a master's program online is looked down upon? I want to eventually go for a PsyD in Clinical Psychology, but I want to get my master's online. I've always done better academically taking online classes, but I'm not sure if it will be looked down upon when applying to a PsyD program.</p>

<p>And the schools I'm looking into for an online master's program are all legit schools; none of them are diploma mills or for profit schools. My undergrad degree is from a for profit school. So should I try to go to a campus for my master's or do it online? Doing it online would allow for more time to work and intern.</p>

2

<p>Yes, it is looked down upon, especially in psychology. In order to get into a doctoral program in clinical, you will need research experience (which you can only do in person) and to foster relationships with professors who can write you a recommendation letter (something that is better done in person). The research experience is likely to be a bit less important for PsyD programs, but the recs will be important still. This is especially important because your undergrad is from a for profit school.</p>

<p>*
Related, but not what you asked:</p>

<p>Generally PsyD programs are four years long but don’t offer any kind of financial support. That includes 3 years of coursework (year-round, including the summer term) and the internship. For example, Pepperdine estimates that the total tuition costs of its PsyD program are $107,200. That’s not including living expenses, books and supplies, and other miscellaneous (estimated to be around $31,000 per year). That’s also not including the debt you’ll incur at this master’s you’re planning, which are required for many PsyD programs.</p>

<p>Clinical psychologists average $68,000 per year ([Psychologists</a> : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Life-Physical-and-Social-Science/Psychologists.htm]Psychologists”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Life-Physical-and-Social-Science/Psychologists.htm)), with 90% of psychologists making below $111,000 per year (and the high range is for industrial-organizational psychologists, who generally make more money). You can see how this would be untenable debt for a clinical psychologist.</p>

<p>If your goal is to become a licensed therapist, there are several other less expensive ways to do that:</p>

<p>-Get a master’ in social work and become a licensed clinical social worker. Your local public university probably has an MSW program at which you can do this.</p>

<p>-Get a master’s in mental health counseling and become a licensed practical counselor. This is not as widely accepted as the MSW across the U.S., but it is an option.</p>

<p>-Get a PhD in clinical psychology at a fully funded (or at least a partially funded) program. Most PhDs are funded in this field, but in exchange they have more of an emphasis on research and are competitive, so you would need experience assisting a professors in research. The flip side is that if you have a bachelor’s in psychology, you don’t need a master’s in the field to get into a PhD program, so you save time and money.</p>

3

<p>I ultimately would like to work with veterans and their families at navy and air force bases and feel like a PsyD would be beneficial. I hate research so a PhD is not for me.</p>

4

<p>Strikefire, juillet is making a distinction between a research PhD, like experimental psychology, and a PhD in clinical psychology, which would still have a therapy practicum, so to speak. Check out Harvard’s website to read about their PhD in clinical psych, and compare it to another school. At least, this is MY understanding of things. I am in a similar position right now as far as selecting a grad school.</p>

5

<p>So would a master’s be beneficial for me or should I just look to go into a PsyD program?</p>

6

<p>Seifer is mostly correct about my intentions. There are clinical psychology programs that are primarily research focused; they are called “clinical science” programs. Although they do train students to do therapy and are APA-accredited, leading to the potential for licensure, their real focus is research and the preparation of students to enter academic careers. A partial list can be found [here[/url</a>], although there are some clinical programs I know of that aren’t included but are heavily research-based (Michigan comes to mind).</p>

<p>HOWEVER, as Seifer said, the majority of clinical psychology PhD programs are scientist-practitioner programs. That means that they balance research with preparation for licensure as a clinical psychologist, although in different degrees - some programs under this model are primarily therapy with very little research and are actually kind of akin to PsyD programs, whereas others have a more 50/50 balance, and some may actually be pretty close to clinical science-type programs. An example of a good, well-reputed scientist-practitioner clinical psychology PhD program [url="&lt;a href="http://www2.binghamton.edu/grad-school/prospective-students/academic-programs/overviews/clinical-psychology.html"]SUNY-Binghamton’s"&gt;http://www2.binghamton.edu/grad-school/prospective-students/academic-programs/overviews/clinical-psychology.html"]SUNY-Binghamton’s</a> clinical psychology PhD program](<a href=“http://www.pcsas.org/accredited-programs.php"]here[/url”>http://www.pcsas.org/accredited-programs.php), who says their goal is “to train sensitive and caring psychologists who are scientists…able to translate the empirical knowledge of psychology as a scientific discipline into skilled and effective research and/or practice.” You can see from their [list</a> of alumni](<a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/psychology/graduate/clinical-psychology/alumni.html"]list”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/psychology/graduate/clinical-psychology/alumni.html) that the majority of their graduates go on to do clinical therapy work as staff psychologists. However, Binghamton also [fully</a> funds](<a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/psychology/graduate/clinical-psychology/prospective-students/funding-information.html"]fully”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/psychology/graduate/clinical-psychology/prospective-students/funding-information.html) ALL of their incoming doctoral students.</p>

<p>There are plenty of scientist-practitioner clinical psychology PhD programs out there like that, such as Boston U (all students funded for at least 3 years), Case Western (all students funded), University of Central Florida (all students get a tuition waiver at least), etc. If you visit the list of APA-accredited PhD programs in clinical psychology ([Accredited</a> Programs in Clinical Psychology](<a href=“http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/programs/clinical.aspx]Accredited”>APA-Accredited Programs)) and visit the departmental websites of some of the more reputable non-profit universities, you will see that many if not most of them offer some kind of funding for their PhD students in clinical psychology.</p>

<p>However, most PsyD programs do not. I do know that James Madison’s PsyD program funds everyone (although you may need loans to supplement their $14,000 stipend, but that’s much better than nothing), and a handful of other programs (Indiana State, Long Island University are two) give small partial scholarships to some of their students.</p>

<p>With regards to hating research: Now, students mean different things when they say they “hate research.” If you hate research with a passion and it truly makes you miserable, then a clinical psychology PhD probably isn’t for you. You will be required at minimum to write a dissertation; you probably also will be expected to assist your professors in research projects. Keep in mind, though, that many reputable PsyD programs also require dissertations (James Madison’s program, referenced above, is one of them). Also keep in mind that in a clinical psych PhD program, the dissertation project you will be working on will be related to mental health and the provision of services. The idea is to prepare therapists who will keep up with the latest science in the field and thus provide evidence-based therapy to their clients, and the best way to understand science is to do some yourself.</p>

<p>If you would simply not prefer to make your career actually DOING research, but wouldn’t mind doing some very applied, practice-oriented research with clinical patients/clients during your PhD in exchange for a fully-funded degree, then a PhD program may be the better bet for you compared to a PsyD that you have to pay for out of pocket.</p>

<p>Honestly, if you hate research so much that even doing a dissertation is distasteful, I really recommend going the master’s route. See below.</p>

<p>As for whether a master’s would be beneficial for you - yes, it would be. You can do clinical work with the military with an MSW if you become an LCSW. In fact, the military recruits social workers pretty heavily. A quick search for “clinical social worker” yielded 137 results on USAJOBS. Searching “social worker veterans” yielded 133 results.</p>

<p>Another option is to get a master’s that will allow you to get licensed as a licensed professional mental health counselor (LPMHC). When you visit program websites read VERY carefully, as most master’s programs in psychology will not qualify you for licensure as a professional counselor. Most programs in clinical psychology DO NOT lead to this licensure; these programs are usually prep programs for PhD programs. Most of the master’s programs that do lead to licensure are called something like “Master’s of Professional Counseling” or “Master’s of Mental Health Counseling”.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Given your interests in military or veterans’ health, I encourage you to look into the Health Professions Scholarship Program. The Army, Navy, and Air Force each run their own versions of these programs; they pay for your tuition and fees, give you a book allowance, and give you a pretty generous monthly living allowance while you are in school. In exchange you commit to work as a military officer providing the services for which you’ve been licensed for a certain amount of time. Each service’s is a little different; the Navy will cover the costs of a PhD or PsyD in clinical psychology, but not an MSW or a master’s in psych. The Air Force is a little more nebulous about what fields they cover, but I had a friend who was earning his MSW under the AFHPSP so I know they cover that. I’m pretty sure they also cover a PhD and probably also a PsyD in clinical psych. The Army HPSP says they pay for graduate programs in clinical or counseling psychology, but it’s not clear whether that includes master’s programs. A healthcare officer recruiter would be able to give you accurate and up-to-date information.</p>

7

<p>I saw this and I thought of this thread:</p>

<p>[Military</a> mental health services at USPHS Commissioned Corps](<a href=“http://www.usphs.gov/aboutus/dod-hhs.aspx]Military”>http://www.usphs.gov/aboutus/dod-hhs.aspx)</p>

<p>The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service of public health officers, has a deal with the Department of Defense. USPHSCC officers are placed at or nearby military bases to do psychological counseling and therapy with military members. This is an attempt to help reduce the current shortfall there is in psychological counselors in the military. The USPHSCC takes psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, and clinical social workers into their mental/behavioral health practice.</p>

<p>So if you wanted to be a military counselor, you could get the PsyD, PhD or MSW and enter this service to do that.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the responses. I really appreciate you all taking time to write all of them. I’m really looking into Industrial/Organization psychology now. It’s really interesting.</p>

9

<p>So basically, any online masters or doctoral program in psychology is a bad idea?</p>