Applemiu

Hi Vulpes, I completely agree with you. I think that your schedule sounds very reasonable and it is what we should all strive for, with proper organization and focus, considering maybe a couple of late evenings every week and a few weekends here and there when necessary (before exams, before grades are due, etc.). I did my undergrad at an elite program (top 15) and I can tell you that basically nobody puts in that kind of non-stop hours (like 9AM-10PM every day), unless maybe they all work from home? I doubt it. About half of the students get good TT jobs. My advice: get up early in the morning and dedicate a few hours every day to work/study/research only; no email, messages, browsing the internet etc. This will boost your productivity.

My advice is: apply. Maybe apply to just a few schools, but apply anyway. If you get in then, great! if you don't get in, it will be enormously useful the next time around. About research, I think that working with the Social Psych professor during the summer would be useful. Hope this helped!

To raise the quant scoe I recommend Magoosh, I really liked how you can customize the practice tests. My advice: set the timer at 30 minutes for 20 math questions.

Stanford is awesome. Have you visited it?

I think you are fine - just remember to apply to a wide range of program and diversify the rankings a bit (so if you apply to let's say, 7 programs, I would not choose them among the top 7 programs but the top 15). Good luck!

St. John is in Queens, a little bit far away from the city. I worked in a restaurant close to the university for almost a year. I don't know the area very well because I was just commuting to work everyday. That said, the prices will be lower than in other New York areas (because you are far from the city), so you might find something more affordable. My advice is to try to contact current graduate students at St. John (in your area or other areas, it doesn't really matter) and ask them about housing options and tips.

You can go into marketing or market research, HR, or also work in Higher ED as admission officer (usually the entry level position got Higher ED) and then advisor.

Sorry, I don't.

Are you attending St. John in Queens? You can find housing there that's more affordable than Manhattan, but you will also be far away from Manhattan.

I sent you a PM.

I know it's hard to wait but IMHO is better not to email POIs at this stage.

Nobody can answer a question formulated this way. You are asking people to predict your future. How can I know whether the U of Chicago "brand" will help you finding a job assuming that you do "decent" work? If you have the impression that graduates of the "Big Three" can get jobs no matter what, then it's the wrong impression. You should just look for a place where you have a good fit and that you are happy to attend. Then do your best work, and see what happens.

Sorry, I do not. But look at all the colleges in the CUNY system, some have masters in Neuroscience and some other in General Psychology. Once you get into a (relatively cheap) Master program in NYC you can also reach out to NYU, Columbia etc. to attend colloquia, volunteer, get connections...

Agree. Write to them and talk to them, you'll see you can get in.

Check this one too: http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/Psychology/Grad/masters/behav_neuro/index.html