Tolman's Rat

I had one last week and another coming up this week. The only two local-ish schools to which I'm applying (within a 2-hr drive) He took me and his grad students out for lunch. We socialized, and the discussion gradually moved toward talking about the atmosphere of the program and finally to mutual research interests, my own work, potential projects, etc. I spent the beginning of the afternoon just chatting with his grad students, and then another hour or so in his office and touring the facilities. It felt more like he was selling me on the program than like a typical interview, though I obviously did talk some about my own experiences and skill set. Similar thing coming up this week, except they want me to give a presentation on my current work to familiarize the grad students with what I'll be bringing to the table. Again, though, I'm going to be spending the day touring the facilities, chatting, and being taken for lunch! Enjoy your visit!

Forgot to mention the craft beer. Had my fair share of that when I was there! I have a few. Jeff Elman and Marta Kutas are the main ones, though there are at least three others with whom I'd really enjoy working. My current advisor knows Prof. Kutas fairly well. He said she's a bulldog...fantastic scientist but very demanding and speaks her mind when you don't meet her expectations. It's an unbelievable program, so it doesn't surprise me that the questions were terrifying.

I love San Diego Quite easily the best place I've ever visited...but I'm a sucker for places with perfect weather, pristine beaches, where everyone is active and happy and friendly, great food, great culture, and excellent academics. Maybe I'm just weird. I'm assuming you are applying to the CogSci program at UCSD? I will be applying there as well.

You probably won't find all of them. It can help to discuss with any advisors that you might work with. Tell them the programs you're interested in. Often, if they're familiar with that research. they can identify other similar programs. Also, find papers that interest you and then use the "Cited by" function in PSYCInfo. That will give you an idea of all the communication on a given topic.

The issue with a paid position is that, oftentimes, you aren't working towards a publication, at least as someone with a BA. Those where you have the opportunity to make real intellectual contributions are very rare. Sounds like you got one, and you're lucky for that. Most paid research positions with a BA, you're more likely to be doing things like data processing and collection. Sounds like OP is at a small school too where it might be difficult to find any sort of paid position, let alone one where intellectual contributions are possible. I kind of hit the jackpot, working with two people who are both cited extensively by my POIs, have two papers nearly ready to be submitted, 6 conference posters. It's been unpaid, but I've also been working as an academic editor helping scholars who speak English as a second language get published in international psychology journals. It's a difficult process and the biggest issue is that you can be a perfectly qualified candidate who doesn't get in just based on probability. The more you do, the less likely it is that programs can pass you up, but that's not to say that OP can't get in with the profile s/he presented, because it's very competitive vs. other undergrad applicants.

Not I/O, but I was in a similar predicament two years ago when I first applied (GPA similar, 3.85 overall, 3.96 in Psychology). I really wanted to go for my PhD, so I applied. At the time, I did have research experience, but it was very menial (i.e., data processing, data collection, basically being a lab hand) and not closely related to what I wanted to do. With how competitive programs are now, I think it's gotten to the point where you can't just demonstrate that you have the potential to do very well, but that you're already doing that level of work and ready to take it to the next step. One thing that can be telling is looking around at grad student CVs for the programs you want to apply to. What would they have looked like before they entered the program? What had they already accomplished? Perhaps someone in I/O can give you better advice, but generally students with a Master's degree aren't treated much differently from students with a BA (this varies across programs) because the Master's and PhD are rolled into one program anyway. I think that a lot of schools would prefer to have you for the full 5+ years. If I was debating between getting research experience for a year or applying to Master's programs, I would certainly go the research route without making a commitment to a program that might not ultimately be beneficial. I might be a bit cynical because of my own experiences, but even a letter of recommendation is of less value when it's not coming from someone with whom you've conducted research. I look at the LORs that I have now versus what I was working with 2 years ago, and that alone could be the difference maker. Add on top of that the skills you can acquire, experience you can gain with the review process, people you can meet at conferences and workshops. Send some feelers out to the programs you're looking at and try to get a gauge on what they think about you. Of course, best option would be to send e-mails to faculty members you're interested in, because admissions counselors will give you the runaround As the poster above mentioned, send your CV, but first start some discourse and ask if they'd be willing to look at your CV. Otherwise, they probably won't open it.

Haven't yet, but most definitely will. I wish there was a way to just re-take the quant. My GRE vocabulary is not what it once was! I'm thinking that I'll take it around the end of the summer--give myself a chance to re-take if something goes horribly wrong. Have you found a set of prep materials that you find reliable and helpful? I really like the Manhattan set (would have been better if I actually, y'know, used them properly).

Yeah, as I mentioned in my original post, those GRE scores act as a filter, and my point was intended to emphasize that, while good scores won't get you in, bad scores will almost certainly knock you out. Unfortunately, if yours doesn't make it through the first pass, it's over. For instance, I thought I could overcome my low GRE-Q score with my exceptional statistics history and experience TA'ing the stats/research design course at my undergrad institution for 2 years. But they don't even get to that if they see the crappy GRE score. They say they look at applications "as a whole," but this is only the case after the filtering process has taken place

I never really considered putting my Coursera history directly on my CV. I mention the skills that those courses developed, for instance, that I know how to program in R. I suppose I never saw the value in saying "hey, I learned this on Coursera." I'd be interested to know if those skills carry more weight if they see that they were developed by faculty at University X through Coursera, rather than just appearing to be self-learned.

My work recently has been in cognitive neurolinguistics (effects of semantic transparency on processing of compound words), and I'll be looking to apply to programs that offer similar opportunities. So, hello, competition!

I am returning to the applications scene after a 2-year hiatus, during which I worked in a cog neuroscience lab (presented 4 posters in the meantime, putting finishing touches on 2 manuscripts for submission) and also worked as an academic editor for second-language English speakers looking to submit to international journals. Really hoping this strengthens my profile! My big lesson learned last time was that, by probability alone, you're probably not going to get in unless 1) you have an exceptional profile/exceptional fit and 2) you get lucky, given the sheer volume of applicants. To combat this, obviously top-notch GRE scores and casting a wide net are two ways to strengthen your chances. GRE scores might not be a huge factor, but they're a filter. I did great on verbal and writing (92nd and 95th percentiles, respectively) but awful on the Q (60th percentile), as I just didn't take it seriously enough. Don't let something stupid like the GREs keep you from being accepted! And as long as you don't have unbelievably narrow research interests, you have to be open to several schools, even significant relocation. Unfortunately, that's the reality of the admissions process these days. When I applied, the programs I was interested in had 300-400 applicants for 10-15 positions. This year, looking around, it was commonplace to have 600+ applicants for the same number of positions.

I'm getting a bit more tense...found out earlier in the month that I would not be interviewing for UCSD Psych. OK, it was my last choice, and the fit wasn't incredible (only applied there because it was a free app after already applying to UCSD CogSci - big deal for a broke international applicant) However, I just saw a CogSci interview invite go up on the results today, and I'm really hoping that all interview invites haven't been sent out by now. It's my second choice of four, and my last two applications are for really competitive programs. Getting close to starting prep plans for another year in lovely southern Ontario.

Seems that Berkeley will be sending out invitations for cognitive/developmental programs by the end of the week – interview weekend Feb. 11/12.

School: UCSD Area: Social (second choice cognitive) Rationalization: Was the worst intellectual fit, and the only real reason I applied there was because I love the CogSci program there and it was free to submit an application to another department (as an international student who spent over $300 on applications to schools in the US, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for one extra lottery ticket). It's the only social psych program to which I applied, I'm more interested in cognition/development but the research topics currently being studied in those areas at UCSD Psych are not of substantial interest to me.

You could always contact your POI(s) and ask if those are only invites that will be sent out, or if you have any chance at acceptance after the first wave. I'm sure this varies from program to program.

This was my approach as well. After looking at some of the SOP guidelines for my programs, they asked to discuss some faculty members who "might be able to help with your research". I talked about one at length who I thought was a great fit, and then a few others who were interested in similar topics but might offer a slightly different perspective. For example, I applied to programs where intra-departmental collaboration is very common, and I talked about how other researchers could help me build an understanding of a topic from the perspective of statistical modelling (e.g., Bayesian networking) or from a developmental perspective.

Mine is updated as well.

Social. No word from CogSci yet, but it's a really competitive program and I'm not overly confident. Going over the CVs of their grad students, it seems they primarily admit super-students. Thanks, I appreciate the reassurance. UCSD Psych was my last choice of my four programs of interest, so there's a bright spot . I am interested to know the PI.

I e-mailed my POI and got my answer. Interview invites for UCSD Social have been sent out (and presumably department-wide given the message content). He said that there were a lot of candidates he really liked that the department decided they couldn't bring out. Welp. My confidence is way down. That was probably my best shot at getting in somewhere. My other programs are better intellectual fits but also far more competitive. Thanks.

Also - those of you who have been asked to interview, has your status on the application site changed, or did you just receive an e-mail? I only ask because I am neurotically checking my app status far too often and would like to receive confirmation that I can stop...

I noticed that someone has an interview with UCSD social psych. If you post here, would you care to share with whom you will be interviewing? Were you contacted by the adcomm or by a POI?

That happened to me for two of my POIs (luckily I had already contacted other POIs from both schools) but I just sent them a quick note shortly before the deadline. I don't know if it was a good idea, but one ended up sending me a manuscript of his that I looked over and it helped me make a few last minute revisions to my SOP. The other, I mentioned a research idea and he said he looked forward to discussing my ideas at the interview stage. Not sure what any of that means, but the point being, I don't think it would hurt to send over a quick note last minute. Mind you, you won't want to ask if they are accepting students. Then it will seem last minute and frantic. Perhaps just give a quick background on yourself and throw out a few research ideas based on what they've done. At the very least, it will get your name in their head as they review applications. As far as I know, this type of initial contact is a very important part of the application process. It gives them someone or something to remember as they look through potential applicants. One of my POIs said something like "it would be great to have a fellow Canadian in my lab! I'm from Montreal" and another said "I love having students with a philosophy background in my lab, it sounds like you'd be a great fit". Again, not trying to say that these statements mean anything in and of themselves, but to me, it means that there's something by which they might remember you, and that certainly can't hurt your application chances. They might go through the applications and say "Oh hey, it's that Canadian student who really knows his X and Y" or "Hey, that's the philosophy enthusiast who has read Also Sprach Zarathustra auf Deutsch, he really seemed in tune with the direction in which my lab is headed"

Happy 2013! At this point, I have taken a similar approach. I'm comfortable moving forward even if I don't get accepted and trying again next year. I am starting to really doubt my chances since my quant GRE score is poor (despite excellent stats background) and I studied at a lower tier university. I know what I need to do to strengthen my application if it needs to happen, and know that I have solid options through next year if I need to wait it out. That said, I'm hoping for the best and really, really envying those who have been accepted already.

Mine still reads incomplete as well. Also, my official transcripts have been in with them for weeks, but that section still says incomplete as well. I got in contact shortly after the deadline and the grad admissions advisor was rather short with me, presumably because of a high volume of e-mails. I tried to get in contact again and received an automatic e-mail response. I don't expect to get in, given that I didn't take the subject GRE, and my POIs (Ps O I?) have been less receptive there than anywhere else.

Thanks everyone. For myself, I know that it's not a lack of direction, just an appreciation for the complexity of topics in psychology. I know I'm driving myself crazy, I just need some reassurance at times. lewin - I know, I've heard this one several times, but it's my first go around and I know where I want to be. The programs to which I am applying, and my POIs, are perfect fits and I'm fully prepared to keep trying until I get in. It's not just about going to grad school and getting my PhD, it's about doing research that I'm passionate about and being in a place that I will be happy for the foreseeable future.