After several months of research, I finally decided to apply to the Walden Psych Masters program. However, after several weeks of stringing me along, they finally told me that the 3 credits that I had to transfer (a research class in Quantatative Methods) would not transfer into their program. In any event, I am back to the drawing board and hoping for some input from the experts. Here are my questions: 1. Has anyone out there ever transferred Masters-level psych classes into B&M APA approved PhD program. If so, how many credits were you able to transfer? 2. My second choice school was University of West Alabama. Has anyone ever run into isssues with the degree "MSCE"? I wish that it was just called a MS in Counseling Psych! 3. Another option for me would me to take night classes at a local college. The degree would be a Masters in Counseling Psych. The problem with this option (other than taking me away from my family 2 nights/week) is that the degree is 57 credit hours and I know that best case scenario for transferring credit into most PhD programs is usually 30 semester hours max. What if I only took 30 hours and then transferred without the degree? Would that be looked on disfavorably by the PhD admissions committee? Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I appreciate any help or guidance that anyone can offer! Aloha, Christine
I wish you the very best. You've chosen a tough subject, especially when it gets into the areas of cognitive pyschology.
Hope my scatter-gun approach hasn't resulted in too much irrelevant garbage, but here's a sampling of prior DI DL MA/MS/PhD in Psychology & PsyD programs: http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19454 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18816 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18796 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18549 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18422 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17948 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17889 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17483 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17319 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17162 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16968 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16888 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16768 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15713 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15506 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8259 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3088 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2952 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2928 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2900
Hi Christine - My replies come in the order that you raised the issues. 1) I'm surprised that you'd throw away the Walden program over a measly 3 credits. Especially since your apparent alternatives are going to cost you much more. 2) Don't worry about what they call the degree in West Alabama. You should only worry about what sort of licensure it will buy you wherever you plan to practice (and maybe you could ask about their record of getting their graduates into PhD programs too) 3) You should not, I repeat, not assume that you can "transfer 30 credits" into any PhD program. Has any PhD program told you that you could be admitted (this is competitive admissions, mind you) without a Masters degree and without any especially relevant experience? And that they'd accept 30 credits in transfer? I'd be surprised if the answer is yes. As for the "2 nights away from my family" part, you're not going to avoid that regardless of which program you attend. As Jimmy said, you've chosen a tough subject. If you go for a PhD then you'll be doing this for years and years. After it's all over, a single 3 credit undergrad course will seem like nothing at all. Good luck with your studies. Jack
Thank you for the responses. I am still reviewing the threads. I decided against Walden not so much because they wouldn't accept the 3 credits, but because of the way that it was handled. They kept trying to get me to committ to the program before they told me the class wouldn't transfer. I felt that they were unprofessional. I spoke to Argosy and Alliant, which are the 2 schools that I am considering applying to. They both said that BEST case scenario would be 30 credits, but that determination isn't made until after a student is admitted. At Argosy, for example, if the courses have an 80% overlap, they will allow a student to petition for credit. Anyway, it is something to keep in mind in choosing a program. Thank you for your comments about UWA. I have heard some good things about them. UWA has many of the same classes as Walden, but only costs about half the price, so I am leaning toward them. Thank you again for your responses!
Walden is a good school. I wouldn't trash Walden over a 3-credit QMeth course needing to be repeated. 1. Sorry. Not me. But I would plan on about 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours. 2. I'm manic-depressive and I'll be honest with you, my mental health counselor says she has encountered some rather snarky attitudes from the admissions folks at the PhD Psychology programs because she has an MA in Counseling. 3. You will have to insist to your family that you need your own time for so many hours a week even if you do your master's via DL. I don't think that your admissions people would look favorably on leaving your master's program incomplete. If your concern is that 57 graduate level semester hours should put you near dissertation phase upon entry into doctoral studies, why not consider a good foreign dissertation-only doc for your PhD?
DL PHD PSYCHOLOGY/PSYD PROGRAMS Capella University www.capellauniversity.edu (BG15, 156) Charles Sturt University www.csu.edu.au (BG15, 104) Fielding Institute www.fielding.edu (BG15, 159) University of Luton www.luton.ac.uk (BG15, 139) University of Melbourne www.unimelb.edu.au (BG15, 140) Open University of the Netherlands www.ouh.nl (BG15, 166) Pacifica Graduate Institute www.pacifica.edu (BG15, 167) University of Pretoria www.up.ac.za (BG15, 143) Saybrook Graduate School www.saybrook.edu (BG15, 171) University of Sheffield www.shef.ac.uk/~psyc (BG15, 180) University of South Africa www.unisa.ac.za (BG15, 144) South Bank University www.lbsu.ac.uk (BG15, 172) University of Tasmania www.international.utas.edu.au (BG15, 146) University of Teesside www.tees.ac.uk (BG15, 181) Union Institute www.tui.edu (BG15, 175) Walden University www.waldenu.edu (BG15, 183) DL PHD COUNSELING PROGRAMS Capella University www.capellauniversity.org (BG15, 156) Liberty University www.liberty.edu (BG15, 162)
Pacific Graduate School of Psychology has a 100% DL MS degree that, once completed, feeds 100% into their B&M APA-approved PhD program in clinical psych. The school has respectable pass rates on the licensing exams. I just finished the MS program, yesterday! Hooray! But I'm stopping at the master's due to time/money/wife ("hey, go on and get your PhD; just plan on doing it as a single man, with half your stuff!") constraints. The downsides: expensive; very academically demanding-- it's the identical curriculium that the B&M students get; and if you go all the way, you eventually have to move out to Palo Alto. But you'll learn a lot, and it seems to meet your criteria. pgsp.edu
If money were not an object, I would have already enrolled in PGSP. I spoke to their admissions people as well as a graduate of the program, and I was quite impressed. However, $30k for the Masters which only equated to the first year of the Ph.D, is just too rich for my blood. Congrats on getting your Masters-I bet that you are thrilled to be finished!
