PhD/PsyD Non psych major seeking advice in psyd/phd route

[elbuck3l17]

Hi there! I've been going through tons of these forums to gauge how I might begin to enter this process but have been too shy to bring up my own thread until now.
I'm a senior with a degree in biology (GPA 3.4) and about 9 hours in psychology (intro, abnormal, developmental, A received in each class). For the past year and a half, I've felt more and more certain that I want to head into the clinical psychology route and even have a few research interests in mind. Again, I was a biology major and have had no psych research experience and little experience with volunteer work involving my fields of interest. I understand that many graduate programs have pre-reqs, which I was already prepared to take at CCs and nearby state universities, but I was wondering what else I could be doing in the future in order to make myself a competitive applicant as I am fully aware of how limited spots in PhD programs.
Should I head the masters route knowing I would be gaining the research experience I lack? Is there some way to gain research experience without having to do earn the masters? I live about 45 minutes outside of DFW, Texas so I'm truly not near many universities or hospitals that are looking for RA's (trust me, I have been searching). Am I just not looking in the right places? I see so many threads advising applicants to rack up more research hours but I am stuck on where and how.
Maybe I've already answered my own question, but I am welcoming any advice that current or aspiring clinical psychologists have to offer. If the masters track is my best or only option, what type of psych masters would be best for going onward to a PhD program? Many thanks!

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[psych.meout]

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[deleted343839]

Did you have any research-related coursework or undergraduate assistantships related to your biology major? If so, these speak to your potential for graduate-level work and would be important to highlight in your application.

You could try getting paid research experience as a full-time research assistant or study coordinator after graduation. Maybe you could relocate to DFW where many more such opportunities would be available? If you went that route, I think it would be important to make sure that you are involved in behavioral or mental health research with human subjects. It would be a good idea to also fit in at least one psychology department course in statistics and research design, preferably two.

I think a master's would be worth a look if you really had no research-related coursework on your record and weren't able to get this from a reputable university in some other way. If you move forward with a master's, look for programs that are research-oriented and have a good track record of sending graduates on to Ph.D. programs. But I'm not sure it's strictly necessary in your case.

As for volunteer experience, I wouldn't worry about that as that ranks pretty low on an admission committee's list of priorities. Study for the GRE instead.