advice for psyd/next steps
hi all!
i am a senior undergraduate student about to graduate with a BS in neuroscience with a minor in psychology. i plan on taking a gap year to help boost my applications for when i do apply. however, i have had a hard time navigating through what the best steps would be. i have been looking into getting a job in a related area to help, but most of what i see is RBT/ABA jobs. i am interested but it is not really my long-term goals to do that type of work. i have been thinking about getting a PsyD and then maybe going into forensic psychology. i have also been trying to gain research experience, but i do not have anything concrete yet.
i am a pretty average applicant as of now. i know how small the PsyD cohorts are and there are many strong applicants out there. i have been in a psychology research lab and a small internship in child development for a year but will soon stop once i graduate. i don't have any publications, and my GPA is a 3.04. i have a pretty strong background in neuroscience and psychology through my courses though.
is it best to pursue a master's to compensate for a low undergraduate GPA? my GPA really struggled when i was a human physiology major before i switched to neuroscience. i started to do way better my last 2 years of college after the switch (i didn't enjoy my classes, and had to take A&P, physics, orgo 1 & 2.. all of which i did very mehh in).
ANY advice would be greatly appreciated. also noting that i am in a blessed situation where relocating for jobs or research opportunities will not be an issue for me.