Azarashi1

I feel like crap and kind of like a failure:(

I (will) have a master in cognitive neuroscience (and BA in psychology), so I have plenty of bio, cog neuro, neuroanatomy and physiology, but that's about it - probably the reason why Emory completely ignored my application . I applied to a mix: neuroscience, cognitive science and psychology. Very broadly, I'm interested in social neuroscience (learning and decision making). I have some fMRI, TMS and EEG experience but no pubs . I've heard back from one neuroscience program (my dream program: MUST GET IN!) and informally from a PI in a psychology one. Lost all hope on Emory and on another psy program as it seems that invites have already been sent out. And even if I get invited, I'm really scared that I'll screw myself during interviews, with English not being my native language and me being very nervous and all that . What about you? And are we really so few?

Cool, a cog neuro thread! Thanks for starting it! Are you guys applying mostly to psychology or neuroscience programs?

About the dreaded 'What other programs are you applying for?' question. I was asked and answered honestly: I applied for a few programs in the US, and am interviewing for two of them. I will decide if I want to apply for schools in Europe as well later on, when I hear whether I got into US programs or not. This is possible because deadlines are staggered. Do you think I revealed too much? Should I change my answer for my next interview? I mean, how honest is too honest? And, I know it's little bit off topic, but: is there any non native english speaker here? If so, do you also have the impression that your level of english drops shockingly during interviews ?

It amounts to the same thing

So, one of my PoI got in touch with me to have an informal "interview" (as I am an international student it will be on Skype). Just to give you a sense of how informal this is: the deadline for this school hasn´t even passed yet! What kind of questions could come up? And I do know that there are several threads about Skype interviews in the apposite section, but it is my very first interview with a US school, so I´d like to know a little bit more about what is usually asked specifically to psychology students. If anyone had, in the past, an informal ´chat´with a PoI, could you please tell me how it played out? Thank you very much

I'm in a similar situation! Have a BA in Psychology and a M. Sc. in Cognitive Neuroscience. I am applying to Neuroscience, Psychology and Cognitive Science programs, so I never know if I should hang out in the biosciences forum (but I have no wet lab experience) or the psychology one I'm also applying to Rutgers (Psychology) and Iowa (Neuroscience), so we have a few schools in common . Really really really wanted to apply to UCLA (I adore Lieberman's work) but as I am an international applicant with a non US degree I was discouraged by pretty much everyone from applying to the UCs. What's the focus of your research?

I've had a similar experience (but in a Master program and in a slightly different context). And the problem was not just on a personal level (i.e., the way this person constantly treated me like crap): I also felt that since this person was very unorganized and ignorant about the research we were supposed to be carrying out, I suffered from an academic point of view, too. Have no idea why this person was acting like that. If I had to guess I'd say it was more out of carelessness and insensitivity than pure meanness. Or maybe because everybody loves to 'wield power' whenever possible. However, I was NOT in a position to complain to the PI or someone else, so I just suck it up. I really hope it's not the same for you, and I'm glad you don't like the research anyway .

Hey! I applied as well, but for me it's a super mega reach school, so I don't really expect to hear from them unless they were very distracted while reviewing my application (I mostly did it because of the fee waiving for those who applied before October 31st...it was my first and 'practice' app, in a way ). Even though Emory has some AMAZING labs! Plus, the rumor is that they're not very friendly toward international applicants (not that with my stats I'd get in, if I were American ) How do you know they're going to send out invitations today? I wish I had that info for my other schools. On Dec. 1st I was invited by one university that has a deadline in January (reeeeally surprised), but I haven't heard back from others whose deadlines were way earlier. Should I consider myself rejected?

Yes. I keep on thinking about the time (I haven't graduated yet, and I am doing research, but I am currently living abroad and could have used my evening for more interesting things) and money (applied to 10 schools and I also had the TOEFL to take and send out) spent on this whole thing and I really start panicking. And lately I think about it ALL THE TIME. It's chronic, low-level stress and never ending worry about the future. And now I have heard back from one school, and I do nothing but obsess about what they might ask me during the interview.

I was wondering the same thing... I am a non native speaker, and in my country there is the TOEFL score cutoff that probably prevents some from applying... Plus, the application process is unbelievably cumbersome, so maybe not that many? Ok, wishful thinking

I am applying to some of the schools you are, and have the same scores (well, I have a 4.0 and v165, but that doesn't make much of a difference). Actually I am more worried about the Q(159), because for Duke and Emory the average is usually higher (for Duke, for example, is 164). I doubt they care about AWA, but it seems to me that for Neuroscience Q is quite important... what do you think?

Have you thought about Europe? Phd programs don't usually have exams, just the final dissertation...

Well, about Canada, what I've been told by my advisors (and I've also confirmed it checking out the U of T website) is that international students are much more expensive than domestic ones, so you have to be a truly exceptional candidate to get in (and I really am NOT ). I'm still applying because I got a honors scolarship and I decided to invest (=waste) my money in Ph.D application fees, but I'm not keeping my hopes up... Same goes for the US. As you probably noticed, here in Europe things are a little different, so the whole process of applying has been next to impossible for me. I mean, in my country it's really hard to get your professor to tailor your LORs for each school, and having to write a Personal Statement about the experiences that changed my life was really a first (American schools, y u no happy with simple research statement?? ). And then the TOEFL, the GRE, the neverending drama with the transcripts because EU schools issue them in a different format...Still, I'd love to be able to study in States, mostly because I feel that the way Ph.D programs are structured suits me much better (5 years, heavier courseload, closer supervision(?)). If you don't mind asking me, why don't you want to take the GRE? I mean, initially I was intimidated too, but if I managed to score decently, everybody can, believe me And also, is there any way you can get around your supervisor and talk to someone else about what is going on and the reasons why you want to leave?

I don't know if this can help but: I am an European master student currently in Germany to do some research (my MS internship), and even though I am learning tons of new things, I can tell you that I'm having some problems in the lab as well. Nothing major, but it is a stressfull situation. And I feel that the enviroment is a little anarchic: if I have an issue with my direct supervisor (who by the way is a Ph.D. student), there is no one I can report to, and my only option is sucking it up. The situation for me is only temporary, but still sometimes it's pretty hard when you live it and breath it for hours and hours a day. Even though there would probably be the option of coming back and doing my Ph.D here after I graduate if I wanted to, I really can't imagine staying, so I am applying for schools in Canada and in the US, which I don't really have any chance of getting into... Gotta love flushing money AND time down the toilet If you want to complain to someone who is in a similar situation, you're welcome to pm me

I am right now doing my Erasmus in Germany, in Tubingen more precisely... I am not German, and I more in the neuroscience field but maybe if you're interested in Tubingen I can help you some. Anyway, here there s hould be no tuition for Master programs (and it should be the same for all public programs in Germany).

I am now in the process of writing letters to potential POI too, and I can differentiate between those who reply with emails like the one you received (which is pretty standard) and those who actually actually took the time to make specif comments about my background, about my international student status, and even asked me too send more info about myself (gre, cv, unofficial reports) to let me know if I am really a competitive candidate for their program. Of course a standard reply is still better that a no reply... But I am no expert, I'm in the process of applying too...

I'm appying this year too, so I am not by any means an expert, but what I was told is that AWA is almost never considered, especially if your verbal score is high and if you are applying for a program which isn't heavy on the writing (e.g., english). What I've heard a lot is that if you write a good sop, it will even out your analytical score. (BTW, I am in your same exact situation: my AWA score is 4, plus I am a non native speaker...)

Hi, quite a few schools list in their websites list the median (or the average) and the range of the GRE scores of the previous year' (or so) applicants. At least for the programs I am interested in, it doesn't seem like they just throw away anything that isn't above 80 percent...but it's just my impression. I also exchanged email with a canadian social psychology professor, and he told me that to get into his institution I needed to have al least 70% for quant and verbal (seems like nobody really cares about analytical writing...)

@deconstructing I can relate! I am an international student and 27 (so if I managed to get into a program i would already be 28, when I start). In my case, it's because I have two bachelor degrees (I know it might seems strange, but it's fairly in my country). Anyway, what I've been told repeatedly is that American schools enjoy having eclectic students in their programs, and I like to think that the fact that we are a little older means that we've had the chance to accumulate several diverse experiences:) From what I've heard the major problem that schools have with international applicant is the fact that we cost more than domestic ones, hopefully this issue won't add up with the age issue and make our admission impossible...

I have a similar problem - actually my verbal was surprisingly ok, but my AW is awful, I got a 4.0 too. On the toefl I have 116 (28 in writing) but come on... if you took the toefl you know that it is REALLY easy compared to the GRE. Anyway, what I've been hearing from a couple of POI I've emailed to is that the cut offs for considering your application are around 70%, and usually only for verbal and quantitative. Don't know how true that is though.

What I think is that non native speakers, at least those whose first language is a Latin language, actually have an advantage, because the words that come up are mostly latinisms, so a word that is obscure for a native speaker will be very similar to one that in spanish, french or italian is used in daily...same goes for syntax...

I took the test on august 29th and results were there on september 8! So if you're lucky probably around ten days...

I don't know if this can help you, but I am a psychology student in Europe (which means, if you don't know how our school system works, that I haven't had anything to do with math for the past 5 plus years beacause we only take major related subjects). When I approached the gre I could barely multiply fractions (not kidding). I used the official ETS guide and the princeton book with 1014 questions and the "cracking the gre". In the end I got 159 (which is probably still lower than what you're aiming at, but for me-being me-is stellar). I think that if you use any books I used to practice I will do more than fine next time:)!!

Hi everybody! I just got my GRE scores and I'd like to have a sincere opinion on it. First of all, my area of interest is social psychology/cognitive neuroscience (depending on the university I'd be applying for...) Secondly, you should know that English is not my first language (All of my education was in a non english speaking european country). Ok, so my GRE scores are: 159 (77th percentile) for Quant, 165 (95th percentile) for Verbal, and 4 (a lowly 49th percentile...I know, apparently I can't write...) for Analitical Writing. I don't know if it has any kind of relevance, but my TOEFL score is 116 (30 for both listening and reading, 28 for speaking and writing) I have a very high GPA for my country, but here we don't measure out of 4 (but out of 30) so I don't really know how the conversion would work out, if the admission offices just do a proportion or what... So... where am I? Do I have any chance of entering a good program? I know these might seem vague questions, but please understand that in my country we just don't have to deal with things such as standardized testing, so it is really hard for me to understand my scores.. Every help and feedback is very much appreciated and valued! Thanks a lot in advance!