I've never really written a reddit post before so please bear with me.
I'm an international student who started her BS in psych during the pandemic, which majorly affected by GPA for the first two years. I also could not work legally during this time and therefore really only have volunteer experience at local non profits. After grad, I worked as a BT for a year and have taken undergrad classes to improve my GPA. However, through all of this, I know I don't really have a lot of research experience or anything that makes my application stand out. I'm also at a time crunch that if I don't start grad school this fall, I would have to go back to my home country (one I haven't lived in since before middle school).
At the end of the day however I don't want to regret my program or my degree. I know I want a PsyD over a PhD but recently I have been exposed to a LOT of ppl saying jobs don't value PsyDs as much or most programs are degree mills (adler, NOVA, alliant).
So I think my major concern is just that, outside of EPPP rates, I can't find any substantial reasons these programs are bad. I don't want to regret something that I have worked towards for - and will continue to if there are any programs outside of these that are significantly better. Honestly, however, I see every program with bad EPPP rates, or an outdated, conservative program. Adler right now is my number one just because of their focus on community involvement, but I think my imposter syndrome would just get worse at how many "they accept anyone there!!" posts I've seen.
This truly just became a rant, but honestly, are there any good PsyD programs I should be working towards? Or should I accept going to a program that's called a "degree mill" or risk having to leave the country and starting over all again?
Thank you to whoever read this! I appreciate any and all feedback