BeingThere

Many I/O programs do not interview. Some professors will do a phone "interview," but very few I/O programs use interviews as part of their decision process. I know that none of the programs I applied to will do formal interviews. (I applied only to I/O programs.)

Here are some things to consider: --how many of those 230 applications are complete, filled out correctly, and will be reviewed? And of those, how many have scores that fall around the average of the admitted students? --how many of those 230 applications are from students who applied to 10 other schools and may or may not take an offer if they get one from this school? (Students with very high scores likely get more offers?? So their chances of accepting any single offer they get go down??) --what does the school's website say they consider in their application review? Stats? Research experience? Work experience? LORs? A school that gets 230 applicants and accepts around 3% of those is competitive just by the numbers. Even if the average GRE scores of admitted students was a 280 combined. In other words, it's not about the numbers as much as it is about the pool of applicants for any given year and what things the adcom considers and how they weight those things. If you are close to the average on GRE scores or on GPA, you might as well assume you have a chance. How big that chance is, no one can tell you until they look at the pool of other applicants for that school and whether any accepted applicant is likely to accept the offer they get. There are probably other considerations but it's early and I'm only halfway through my first cuppa.

My current school's transcript does not list a cumulative, except for their school's. (My other transcripts do.) So I had to do the calculations for my all-career cumulative up to this point. It's not recorded anywhere on a transcript. I think I've figured out that "degree GPA" and "cumulative GPA" are different (the distinctions being obvious in the names.) So I did calculate everything to get my cumulative.

thanks, MsD and Lisa. Some schools are just asking for a cumulative GPA. I guess I will have to call each school to get clarity on what they mean by that. Where I am asked for a breakdown of my GPA at each institution, I give that. And of course they all have my transcripts. It's when they ask for a "cumulative" GPA that I am not sure what they want. I thought maybe there was a standard for what "cumulative" means, but it sounds like there is not.

So, I've got a question about calculating my GPA. I have attended four schools. My current school does not use any previous schools' grade points in their GPA calculation. Which is great for me because that means I'm technically graduating (fingers crossed) with a 4.0 from my current school. However, My GPA from the other institutions is lower than that. I have about 85 hours of transfer credits that my current institution is counting toward my degree, but not counting toward my current GPA. I have also taken coursework in the past which my current institution is not counting as transfer credits. Soooo...to calculate my real, all-career GPA, do I include absolutely all coursework from other schools, even the coursework that is NOT counting toward the necessary credit hours and coursework for my degree? Or do I calculate the GPA only with the courses that my current institution listed as counting as transfer credits toward my degree? My current institution has no opinion on this matter. Anyone have a solid answer for me?

QUOTE: "I notice my research focus (on paper) is neuroeconomics on how rewards and punishments are reflected in the brain. I guess this trajectory of research focus was intentional at my end, but I also wonder if I'm being untruthful to myself. People often make fun of people who work for money and glorify those scientists who pursue the truth with little financial incentive. I thought I was the latter, but at this point, I'm not sure which one I am." Is this irony? I am not making fun of your predicament because it sounds like a difficult place to be in. However, I can't help noticing that your focus on decision-making and neuroeconomics does sort of mirror your own dilemma. Is one arising from the other? For myself, because I'm betting my research interests will evolve over time, I'm cutting as wide a path as I can now. Is there a (funded) path you can pursue now that will get you to Jungian theory down the road when you aren't worried about funding so much? I'm a big believer in following your dreams (no pun intended) but I also think you are wise to consider practicalities. There may also be ways down the road to collaborate with others on Jungian topics, bringing whatever your research expertise is to that collaboration.

I am not sure how your degree and training would translate to I/O. Some students have a business background but I would say most have a psych background. I would definitely suggest you take some psychology courses. If you feel you remember enough from your intro course, I would suggest some upper level courses in social, personality, cognitive, etc. You will also want to take more stats if you've been out of school for a while. The first thing I did to learn about the field of I/O (and I was already a psychology major) was to pick up a used text book. I got Paul Spector's "Industrial Organizational Psychology: Research and Practice" for, I think, about $40 on Amazon. My edition is about ten years old, but the basic theories and issues that I/O psychologists deal with are well described in his book. It is a good overview of the field. The second thing I did was to take a course in Industrial Psych and one in Org Psych. Not all schools offer these unless they have I/O grad programs, but it's worth your while to take these classes if you can find them. On many school websites they list the minimum requirements for entry into their program. For instance, they will say how many credit hours of psych above intro courses that they want students to have. You can look into SUNY and see if they have such requirements.

Here's an exercise that might help: Play a little game of mad libs with yourself. Write out a few sentences that look like this: "From my course in _________________, I found that I was interested in _________________." "Assisting in the ______________ lab, I learned how to _________________." "During grad school, the three things I want most to learn are ____________,___________, and ______________." "From working in ____________, I developed an interest in ________________." "The thing(s) I enjoyed most about __________________(course, lab, research), was ___________________." You can make more sentences like this and then fill them in. Of course this is NOT how your statement will look or read. This is just to get words on paper. (You can even copy and paste these sentences into a text editor if you really are afraid of the blank page.) Don't worry about the grammar and writing eloquently. That will come in your next drafts. Just put nouns and verbs together now. Another huge thing that helped me break the ice with that first statement of purpose was to NOT start with the first paragraph or the first sentence of the statement. I just wrote things down and re-ordered them later. I didn't have my opening sentence until I had written a draft for a couple of different statements. And a third idea is to print out your prompt and go and talk to a friend about your interest in grad school and the Yale program and how your experience relates. When you say something brilliant or cogent, make a note of it. Then when you are alone at your laptop, take those notes to begin your statement with. (I also did this and it helped quite a lot.)

I was speaking more in general life terms. When you are 32 or 35, you will find that you still have as much intellectual vigor and passion as you did when you were 24, only you may know more about yourself << because that often comes with age. (I would be very surprised to learn that programs would weight age much if at all in the selection process. You can be fantastic at 22 and you can be fantastic at 35. Or 40.) Being in a similar age cohort is a different question - that's more about personal preference and tolerance for difference. Caveat: I am not saying everyone should have gap years or wait til they're older. I'm only saying that there's probably some wisdom in bending with the flow of your life. If circumstances make it necessary to take care of other things rather than jump right into the grad school, then take care of those things in your life. And I'm saying that doesn't have to be the end of your dream at all.

I've heard that it's not a good idea to mention any kind of mental illness in an application. So, I don't know how you are handling that or if you are not mentioning it. But that is neither here nor there, as I don't have any personal experience to offer. I would suggest you make sure your illness is under control before you consider a PhD program. I'm sure you are aware of the amount of stress you are likely to encounter and if stress is a trigger for your symptoms, you might need to be able to be sure you can treat them effectively so they don't interrupt your work. No one here can tell you whether you should apply. But your concerns do sound, um, concerning. You are correct that high scores/GPA will only get you so far. They certainly will not help you deal with stress/pressure or mental illness issues. But here is something I hope will give you some hope. You sound young (late 20's??) There is plenty of time. Take care of yourself and school will be there when you are ready. I'm a non-traditional applicant and I hear about people in their 20's fretting about "wasting time" and I just shake my head. You have time, whether it seems that way or not.

The latest drinking game: read over your personal statements and take a drink every time you read the word "interest" (in any form) or "research".

Best of luck to you too! Thanks for starting the thread, btw! I know there are more of us out there.

Hi Munashi! I'm applying to 11 PhD programs and two master's programs. I really want a research career, so hopefully I'll get in to a doctoral program. I've got all my GRE scores and transcripts sent, my letter writers have been given their info packets, and I'm finishing up my SOPs. Should be done with SOPs this weekend. Then once all my LORs are in, I'm done! Unless of course there are any snafu's with schools not getting transcripts, etc. I hope all goes smoothly with those things I can't control! How about you?

I did not say that I think she would write a bad letter. Letters take our recommenders' time and energy to write. She could have had a very valid reason for limiting it to 15 (that's a lot of writing about how special and gifted and "top 1%" each student is). I am putting myself in her shoes. If I absolutely thought a student really shined and the world would not be right unless they got into a PhD program, I would agree to write them a letter if I possibly could at all. I think any professor realizes that we students only have a limited number of people we've developed substantial enough relationships with to actually get a great letter from. Just as there is a difference between a bad and great letter, there is a difference between a good and a great letter.

Oh no! That is a bad situation to be in. However, I am not sure I would write that professor imploring her to change her mind. She obviously has limits to what she can do and she has set those limits. I am wondering how good a letter she would write you if she is saying no now. She obviously doesn't feel so strongly about you that she is willing to stretch herself to do it. But, if you feel like that is your only option, well. . . Are you applying this cycle? (It does seem a little late to just now be asking profs for letters.) If you aren't applying 'til spring or next fall, can you develop some relationships in the next few months with profs who at least know you by name now? I'm not clear from what you wrote; are you saying you only have one LOR from an academic source at this point? Are any of those outside-academia sources from people in a field related to your area of interest? If you've been out of school for a little while, I'm sure that makes it harder.

I didn't list my coursework on my CV, but I've seen others' with a section for "relevant coursework". I would leave audited courses off, but if you gained any skills from those courses you could list them under "skills" or whatever heading you choose for that. IF you do list the audited courses, of course you want to clearly notate that you only audited them. If you gave a talk about a psychology topic, you could list it but I don't know if it would mean much. Depends on how big a deal it was. I gave a talk about research at an event on campus but I'm not going to list it because a) it wasn't a big deal, and b.) I have enough actual research presentations to list that I feel adding that would be padding. Hope that helps.

Just got my Psych Subject GRE test score. 93rd percentile so I think it's decent. Two of the schools I'm applying to require it and one strongly recommends it. One of those schools state that it is a key consideration in admissions decisions. Hopefully this will help me!

This.

There were a couple of POIs who didn't respond to my emails, but I had identified two POIs from both of those schools and the other POIs from those programs did respond. So I at least know that one POI at each of those schools are taking students. I have not sent second emails to the non-responders because a)I already know that I will apply to that school whether those particular POIs are taking students or not, and b)I really have no other burning question for them that requires a response. I will still indicate my interest in their research, along with that of the other POIs, in my statements of purpose.

To Sportpsych's desire for a more standardized measure, I think that's what the GRE and GPA are for. As for the labyrinthine and idiosyncratic application processes each school has, well, I'm sure it sorts out who is good at following directions and who is not so good at it. Warning, insufferable optimist post follows: I am finding that each personal statement is helping me further clarify my thoughts about each program and giving me an opportunity to get better at "talking" about my interests and my area. I think it's been a good process for me. In writing about my choices and my intended direction I have also clarified (for myself) what exactly it is that I want from my doctoral studies beyond the degree. In a funny way, I feel a little more mentally prepared for grad school after writing the personal statements.

1. Official transcripts are issued directly from your school in a sealed envelope, usually with some marking on the envelope flap or some indication that the envelope seal has not been tampered with. 2. Your GRE scores are low compared to what seems to be the average scores of students accepted into PhD programs in I/O. Go here to search through a list of I/O programs and see GPA and GRE averages for I/O programs: http://www.siop.org/gtp/GtpLookup.asp <<this site also has links to I/O program websites where you can read about the general standards and program content of each program. 3. You should (ideally) be interested in the specific research of a specific professor(s) at that university. Professors need to have expertise in the topics you want to research in order to be able to advise you. Additionally, they want students who know their research topic areas so the students can be useful to them as RAs. Again, use the siop.org site links to go read about faculty research interests on program websites. For example, to say you are interested in selection is a bit too broad. You should refine that a bit to, say, assessment centers or personality as it relates to selection or whatever other more specific aspect of selection would be of interest. 4. Depends on the program you apply to. Most schools strongly prefer students with research experience, for a number of reasons which I won't go into here, so your lack of research experience will put you at a serious disadvantage for many programs. Your practical I/O work experience is great and will definitely be a plus. Do you know what I/O topics you are interested in conducting research in? Is there something about the experiences of your current job that have made you want to research a certain area? Why do you want to get a PhD?

Altboy2011, It might be most useful to you to consult a statistics textbook. There are several that would give you useful examples of IV/DV distinctions and which statistical tests are used for which types of questions. A beginning text that goes up to multiple regression and ANOVA should give you all the information you are looking for. (I'm unclear due to your grammar, but you might need to understand MANOVA as well.) You might have to do some reading, but in the long run it will help you tremendously to get clarity in general about these basic statistical issues. The Andy Field book is a good go-to book for ease of reading and great examples.

All right, we really are down to the nitty gritty now. How do you head your statement of purpose? With just your name? Your name and address/contact info? Your name and the program of study you are applying to? No heading?

I find it difficult to believe that a professor would say this. Are you sure she wasn't referring to some other shortcoming in your qualifications? Do you have research experience? A complete lack of research experience would probably be a deal-breaker. But going into PhD programs from undergrad is common. You usually get your master's along the way, but you are committed - and accepted - for the completion of your doctorate. I have not come across a single person inside academia who doesn't know that you can go from an undergrad straight into a PhD program. What do the other professors in your department tell you?

Would be worth a phone call to the department office or graduate coordinator to ask for clarity if you are unsure. I could make a guess, but one phone call would clear it up.