# Graduate School in Counseling - Advice Appreciated



## Samolety (Jul 17, 2013)

Howdy, y'all,
I've been lurking around here for a few months, since I rediscovered my personality type and finally started being myself. I am in my senior year of a B.S. in Aircraft Systems, which will also mean an A&P Mechanic certificate (license to work on aircraft). Thing is, I started with this degree back when I thought I was an INTP and was trying to be one. After going through depression, counseling, and recovery, I have realized (among many other things) that I find maintenance confining and rigid, and I find true passion in counseling. I have been told by a psych professor here who knows me that I would make an great counselor and she strongly encourages me to become one. 

I'm cramming a psychology minor in my last year at my school, and I plan to head to graduate school for a Master's degree in counseling. I decided to break my lurker status and post here because I sure would appreciate some advice from those of you who have done the grad school thing. 

- What should I expect, what should I be sure to do/not do, what do you wish someone had told you?
- What school did you go to, did you love it or hate it, why? What made it so good or bad?
- Location: I would love to go to graduate school in another country, currently Canada is at the top of my list with the University of British Columbia and Trinity Western University being at the top of the list. I have also considered the UK with the University of Edinburgh. In the US, I am most interested in the Pacific Northwest. If anyone has an opinion on the schools I listed or other schools in these areas, that would be amazing!

Thanks in advance for any information! If anyone else in the boat of entering grad school has questions as well, feel free to ask here, it'd be great to have a general grad school information thread.


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## abrayto (Feb 20, 2013)

Well I have not attended graduate school yet but I am in the same boat as you. I plan on applying for graduate school in counseling this fall and I have been attempting to do some research. Currently, I work for the University of Wyoming and I have talked to several graduate students here because they do internships in my office. What I've been told (again this might only apply to UW) is that the program isn't exactly academically challenging but it is extremely emotionally challenging. There will be clients you see that may trigger personal issues for you and you will have to learn how to deal with that while still being objective towards the client.

Also, people have told me to think about what exactly I want to accomplish with my degree. You could become a marriage and family therapist, or even a career counselor and that narrows down what schools you could attend. Personally I am looking at UW because they have a general mental health track that will expose you to lots of different areas in counseling versus just getting a masters in Student Affairs.

Lastly, your internship is crucial. If you have an idea of what you would like to do try and get experience in that area. My office does career counseling and students learn everything from resume writing to MBTI interpretation. We actually just hired our last intern as an advisor in our office.

You may already know all of this but I hope it helps. I'm in the same boat and its kind of overwhelming.


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## Aradella (Nov 11, 2013)

Hey @Samolety. I'd say to get in touch with an alumnus of the school's you're hoping to get into. Also, see if you can do some job shadowing at the school, or with people who are in the role where you want to live (if you can squeeze on the time). This forum may be hard to find people who are in the same boat with education. What made you choose UBC or Trinity Western over other schools in BC?


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