13 Things I Need to Do to Apply to the MedFT Doctoral Program

Earlier this week I found a Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) doctoral program offered at East Carlina University. I want to become one of the luck 10 who are accepted into the program! I'll need to do a few things before I can submit a complete application.

1. Complete my MA in ABS. I should graduate in December 2007.
   
2. Take the General GRE. I bought two study books. I took a practice test to see what my verbal baseline score is. I got a 550 whizzing through the test. So I won't need to study too much for that. I know that I'll really need to brush up on my math.
   
3. Either try to publish a journal article or work on writing my essay of why I want to earn a PhD in MedFT. I'll have to pick the brain of my one faculty who has a PhD and see what he suggests is the better "professional writing sample" to work on submitting.
   
4. I'll need to simultaneously apply for scholarships, graduate assistantships, and maybe even a fellowship. These would all cover my tuition. I hope.
   
5. Buy a book or two about medical family therapy and become familiar with the concepts and theories. I have a basic idea of what it's about, but should be more textbook savvy.
   
6. Find out as much as I can about the city of Greenville, NC. This is where the university is. I already found out that the city has a Cracker Barrel, Fuddrucker's, and Checker's Drive-in. It might be more useful to know what real estate costs are.
   
7. Put the buzz in Pooky's ear to start looking for potential jobs, unless he can transfer into a position via Home Depot. But him looking for a job now is a little premature.
   
8. I probably wouldn't mind moving to Greenville anyway. I liked what I saw of North Carolina when I visited my older brother.
   
9. I will need to start buttering up various important faculty and supervisory people in my life as I'm sure I'll need stellar letters of recommendation.
   
10. I will need to become more diligent at my internship and in my coursework. I've been flailing about with how I've been handling myself. Time to get a grip and get more intentional and organized.
    
11. I'll have to consider the application costs and GRE expenses. It ain't going to be cheap to apply. If I am called for an interview it definitely won't be cheap!
    
12. The program takes three years to complete. I have a lot of anxiety about writing a dissertation.
    
13. The earliest I'll be able to start is fall of 2008. I am assuming this since I won't be making the deadline for this year. What will I do between December 2007 and September 2008? I will still look for work that pays, and will consider doing volunteer work to try to get as many client contact hours as I can.