<p>Hey everyone, I'm new to this site, and I really need some good advice.</p>
<p>I'm a 24 year old recent college graduate, finished with a 3.26 gpa in January.</p>
<p>If i was to apply to a PhD or Masters program, it wouldn't be by this years deadline (December 2014), but next years deadline (December 2015). I would like to use this time to study for the GRE and score high on it. There's other reasons why I would wait this long to apply, which will be covered in the next points.</p>
<p>Here are the things that are causes of concern for me:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I do not have any research on my portfolio as of yet, I want this next year and a half to be focused on contacting a few professors that I established a relationship with at my university, as well as a behavioral therapist I have networked with, and conduct two separate research studies.</p></li>
<li><p>I also was not able to intern my last few years of my bachelors due to a reason I will cover next. I would utilize this next year and a half to intern in a behavioral-oriented job.</p></li>
<li><p>I have a felony in my record, due to a car accident that I was involved in (as a driver) I drove recklessly, crashed and injured myself and the passenger of my car. This happened two years ago, I grew tremendously from this experience, although I was not one to drive recklessly consistently. It only takes one time to mess up horribly.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Considering these 3 concerns, as well as my gpa, is my desire of entering graduate school for I/O psychology even realistic? </p>
<p>If you start doing research, let’s say, this August, by December 2015 you’ll have ~1.5 years of research experience. That’s edging on enough, but still puts you at a bit of a disadvantage (the most competitive applicants have 2-3+ years of research experience, but I think I/O is a slightly less competitive field than, say, social or developmental). But keep your ambitions smaller - it’s better to do intense, high-quality research in one lab with one PI than it is to try to split your time between two research projects. Especially if you also want to intern.</p>
<p>I don’t think the felony on your record will make a big difference in admissions.</p>
<p>It’s not impossible, but you are beginning from a significant disadvantage point with the low GPA and only about one full year of research experience. You’d be competitive for MA program, but not necessarily PhD programs. You may benefit from doing an MA in I/O psych and then applying from there to a PhD program in this case. Another option is to outweigh the low GPA with more research experience. You could maybe seek a job doing I/O research - perhaps as a research associate or managing a professor’s lab - and do that for 3 years, apply to grad school in your third year working there (so after two full years of working for him or her). That will make you a stronger candidate for a PhD program.</p>
<p>What a coincidence, I commented on my discussion at the same exact time that you responded to it! lol</p>
<p>Anyways, I really appreciate the response, so considering the PhD would be very difficult to attain at this point, I should probably just get my masters. You mentioned that I could possibly apply for a PhD after taking my masters. Now would I have to graduate with distinction with my masters in order to qualify for the PhD? </p>
<p>Why don’t you talk to one of the Professors at your alma mater and get their thoughts?</p>
<p>Good idea, I will definitely give that a try. </p>
<p>Well yes, you would have to do well in your MA program to have a good shot at the PhD. 3.5+, with research experience undertaken during the MA and glowing letters from at least two professors in the MA program.</p>