? for Grad School students...

[Freedom~Mama]

I am just trying to get as prepared as I can in advance. I still have about 3 years left to go to get my Bachelors (in Early Childhood Ed.), but I have always had a dream of getting my Masters in Counseling. I know it is still early, but what can I do in the next few years to get myself ready to apply to a graduate program? I already know the minimum GPA requirements and that shouldn't be a problem...I am wondering more about getting experience, volunteering, internships, etc. For those of you that are currently in Grad School what if anything did you do before you got your Under Grad degree to get ready/prepared for applying to Grad school? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

[SoulCakes]

I'm not sure if my experience really applies, because I did my undergrad and master's in the same field in the humanities (no internships here!). But I originally began my undergrad in pre-med. I applied, and was accepted, for a volunteer research position at the local teaching hospital and helped organize an overseas trip to provide free medical attention to an impoverished village. I had to do some scouting around to find these opportunities, but they were readily available, as well as many other opportunities that I just couldn't cram into my schedule.

After I switched majors, I just went straight into working for professors at my school, grading assignments for them, doing extra research projects, and attending a few conferences in the area I wanted to study.

For counseling, I would recommend scouting out a few schools that you might want to attend and taking a look at what they want in their applicants. Some schools are more explicit about this than others (you could even email the department contact and see what they recommend). Otherwise, I would see about volunteering at a counseling center near you, and asking the counselors there what opportunities are available and what they would recommend for someone applying for graduate school.

Good luck!

[Holland73]

I am currently in a Masters of Counseling Psychology program.

My suggestions:

1. Find a couple of schools/programs that you are interested in and look at the prerequisite classes and other admission requirements.

2. Do you know what population you would like to work with? If so, start working/volunteering with that population. If not, start exploring what area of counseling does appeal to you and/or dabble in all areas to find what fits best for you.

Personally, my passion lies with working with severely emotionally disturbed adolescents. So, I am currently researching and talking to people in the field for both a future internship and to get an idea of what kind of positions are out there and the experience they are looking for.

[outlier]

Network! Find a professor at your school who has the degree you plan to seek or is doing the kind of work you would like to do someday and see if there are any opportunities to work for him/her. Volunteer if they don't have money to pay you. As a pp said, do some extra research projects and attend conferences with them. You want to show the schools you eventually apply to that you have a variety of experiences under your hat ("Of course you'll accept me! I've been doing this kind of work for years now!") and references with first-hand knowledge of the quality and type of work you're capable of who will write you awesome letters of recommendation.

[Freedom~Mama]

Thanks to all of you that have replied! You have been very helpful!

[Sierra]

My situation is different in that there was a big gap between my undergrad program and my grad program. I also am going into a different field than my undergrad, however.

I too would suggest building relationships with professors. Make yourself stand out in all the positive ways you can because you'll be seeking reference letters later...especially those whose work relates more to the counseling field! But if you take any time off after your Bachelors, be sure to keep in touch with those folks. My undergrad department had 100% turnover after I left due to some departmental changes (they went from an undergrad and grad department to a grad-only department). I actually had trouble finding these folks, though luckily the one person I was able to track down remembered me well.

Also, you might as well fit in some study now and then for the GRE because heck, you have the time. None of my schools required it, but then all of the sudden, the year I was applying one of my top choice schools announced it would be a new admissions requirement just months before the application deadline). Bamo! There went most of my application time...sunk into studying!