lypiphera

For anyone that has reapplied for the NSF GRFP, or know of people who did, did you use the same basic project in your second application and just edit based on reviewers, or did you have a new project your second year? Or if you plan to reapply, what do you plan to do? I ask because I got an honorable mention last year and have now already completed the main project I talked about in my application. I'm not sure if I should just use the same application to start with anyways and just edit what they said, or if I should be writing about a follow-up project since I've now completed the one I talked about. The only thing reviewers comment on was expanding broader impacts, so they liked the project itself. On the one hand, I did well enough to get HM, so I don't want to stray far, but on the other hand, I don't want them to think I've done nothing in my first year. Of course the general topic will be the same, but the actual project I discussed in the research essay will be done by the time I reapply. What do you all think, or what did you do?

Given that your employers wrote you letters of recommendation, they must know there's a chance you would be leaving and wouldn't be upset if so. I can't imagine not telling them immediately - if you have a good relationship, they would be happy you will be moving on and will be glad to know ahead of time. I let my manager know right away when I had decided, and they were happy to have advance notice. I picked my end date, and I've been helping train my replacement the last couple months. Unless you have a really bad relationship with a spiteful boss, I don't see any reason to not tell them. They knew it was coming and helped you get there, so they deserve to know in as much advance as possible what your plans for.

If you know you want to go for a PhD, definitely apply to both. As others mentioned, most PhD programs cover the same coursework as masters and you can get your masters on your way to a PhD. You will have lost time getting the masters first, and it will likely have less funding than a PhD program Having said that, there are two reasons to apply for master's programs as well. One is if you can't get into a PhD program because of your undergrad credentials. Yours don't seem that bad, so if you can get great rec letters and a really convincing statement of purpose, I would think you would have a shot. Still good to apply to both. The other reason is that many careers only require a masters, so make sure to look into potential careers and see what the qualifications are.

For the general GRE, I didn't take it multiple times, but I did study a lot before taking it the first time and did well. My two main sources were a Kaplan study guidee and the ETS website, which has a lot of good material, practice tests, and even software that lets you practice taking the test exactly how it will look on test day. That won't be as important for you since you already took it, but they had live sessions and workshops and more, and I never paid for anything other than the Kaplan book. My advice would be to go through the whole book, making sure you are solid on all the basic math concepts, and then take as many practice tests as you can find, reviewing each time to understand every wrong question.

Good luck to you all on housing assignments! I turned down the guaranteed housing and plan to find an off-campus apartment close by. Anyone else doing the same?

I might try posting this in the Sociology forum. As a non-sociology major, I'm not sure how to give advice on this, and I want you to get the best answer for your field. I'm not really sure what you're trying to study - is there some hypothesis you are testing? Again, this is from my expertise in psychology, so maybe someone in sociology would immediately know what you are talking about.

I have done this twice and used methods others have mentioned. The first time, I had my parents sign as a guarantor, which was an option in my lease if you don't make 3x the rent. The second time, didn't have a job yet and my husband's job wasn't even close to 3x, so I gave them a copy of my bank statement to show that I had enough money to support us until I found a job. If neither of those two are an option, I would just show the complex your budget, proving you have enough to pay for rent and living each month, and hope your credit is good enough that they are satisfied. If a place still isn't satisfied after that, they are probably only want "higher-class" people there, and you'd be better off finding another place that isn't snobby.

I would second the Samsung comment - I have a series 9, and even if you don't need the high-end processing or solid state drive, I've been very happy with its durability and portability. My favorite distinguishing feature (I am assuming this is on the other series as well) is the matte screen - it doesn't have the glare problem of a regular LCD screen, so I can use it outside or in bright light just fine. I wish more laptops had that. I got mine right as they were about to come out with the updated model, so I got it at a great deal for $900 (I think the new model is around $1400). As the previous poster mentioned, the lower numbers have a lower price for what is still a great laptop.

All the schools I went to had different procedures for how/what to fill out and how long it took. I think it's fine to ask for confirmation politely, saying you just to make sure there's nothing else they need from you, but after that I would probably wait at least 3 months before asking about reimbursement. My checks arrived ranging from 2 weeks and 2 months, and I did not always get a confirmation. Some wanted physical receipts in person, others said email was fine.

I like this idea a lot, and I think it would help smooth over most of the issues. If you have a website where you talk about your research interests and talk about possible RA positions, you can direct people to apply through the professor/professor's lab, again, IF your professor approves of it all.

I think it would be fine IF your professor thinks it is fine. I would put that as the final word - if you run it by them and they think it's a good idea because the projects are different enough to not fall under his/her lab, then go for it. If they seem skeptical, it's not worth pushing it. They will need to sign off on whatever you do and ultimately be responsible for your RAs, etc., but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong about having your own lab website as long as everything is open and honest.

School 2 sounds like a no-brainer. You love the advisor, it's a better fit for your interests, the funding will make a huge difference, and you're already accepted to a PhD program. AND, it's the one that you already accepted. Withdrawing from an ofer after you agreed does not go over well, and may start you off with a bad reputation that could hurt more than a few higher ranks may help. If it was a difference between a top 10 school and a top 250 school, I might reconsider, but a difference in rankings of 25 is just not that big of a deal. Already being in a funded top 25 PhD program in a great school is just such a great offer I can't imagine risking that for a chance of a higher ranking (and possibly lower fit). You say you think you can get in anywhere, but it just doesn't work that way. Schools have so many great candidates that at the top tier, it ican be a crap shoot that is no guarantee, even for the best student.

If it's been that long, it's certainly appropriate to email. Most likely you were waitlisted - I found out I was on a waitlist after emailing a school after an interview, and I got the feeling I wouldn't have heard if I hadn't emailed them (about another matter, actually). If they didn't outright reject you and you didn't get an offer while someone else did, they likely send out the first wave of acceptances and will move on to the next waves once people respond to the offer. It can get very close to the deadline when you find out, but it's certainly still possible. Good luck!

Your clinical experience sounds good, and one year of research experience is decent (obviously more is better but it's not a big barrier), though having some kind of publication will be important. If you haven't done research before, I'm guessing you don't have publications, so do your best to get at least 1 poster presentation in. Usually an RA can present a poster with a study he/she is working on, maybe not the main analysis that will be in the paper. If you are a co-author on a paper, that would be great, but it's unlikely to be published (or even accepted, if it's not done yet) by the time you apply. If it is submitted or in progress, you can list it as long as you are clear that it is only submitted or in preparation (and don't like the journal it is submitted to). Since you only took a few psych classes and will not be done with your Masters when you apply, I would recommend taking (and acing!) the GRE subject test in psych. It will show you do have a good knowledge of psych even if you didn't take the classes. All the schools I applied to said the GRE Subject test was not required, though some said it was recommended, especially if you didn't major in psych. Study a bit and take it soon so you have time to take it again if needed.

It sounds like you're doing it right, so the only thing to do is keep doing it. Jobs are always in flux, so just keep contacting labs, hospitals, business, etc., and searching for openings. If you're near a VA hospital, I would highly recommend looking into health services research there. I work at one now in research (with a BA and no other experience) and it's a great experience, lots of research training. We have a high turnover because it's a common job for students who have a bachelors and want experience before grad school - people are hired to be an RA for specific projects for a set time period. I know our center doesn't always keep job openings up to date, so just call and ask (or if you can get a professor to mention you, that's even better). I know my LORs were really what made the difference in my application, so make sure they are strong. If grad students are the only ones who can write you good ones, than I guess that's what you can do, but if you can get a professor to do at least one positive one (if not thorough), that would be a good bonus. Just keep doing searches for research assistant jobs (e.g. http://emrandehr.jobamatic.com/a/jobs/find-jobs/q-Research+Assistant) - don't give up when you've gotten through them all; just widen your field and start again. Some that require experience should be satisfied by what you've done already, and it never hurts to apply. About your interested in research, it sounds like your interests lie within I/O, Social, and Cognitive psychology just as well as HF (maybe even more than), so look into jobs in those areas as well. When applying, you can cast a wide net and look into all of those areas, focusing on the topics that you mentioned.

I applied to 10. I wasn't really thinking of them as reach, average, or safety schools at all, since I know they are all so competitive and it really depends on fit. I just searched though social psych universities across the country and looked at every programs research, and made a list of the places where I was interested in the research. I then contacted all the professors, and ruled out places where the professors I was interested in were not accepting students.

Yes, all the two-word cities have a comma in between the words for some reason. Took me a while to find Orange County this way, which, by the way, is the highest I saw by browsing, and 146.4%. Anyone have higher than that?!? Also, I don't know about others, but I have a different amount in the first year than others. I went with the base stipend and not the added first year fellowship funds and did not include summer funding, which is not guaranteed all years. Edit: Aha, San Francisco and San Jose are higher - makes sense!

I got married recently, and went a bit in a different direction - my last name was fairly unique (meaning hard to pronounce and spell for people), whereas my husband's was short and easy. I didn't think too much about people searching to find me (maybe I should have!), I changed my name to my husband's because it seemed easier in life in general (e.g. less spelling my name over the phone). It seemed like the right time to do it because I was applying to graduate school, so I could change before I had a lot of publications under my maiden name. I did have a few posters and one paper, but they aren't exactly in the specialization I am going into, so it's less important to me if they aren't found. As for searching, there are a lot more people with my new name (19 on LinkedIn) than there were with my old name (2 on LinkedIn), but if they search for social psychology and/or my institution, I think I'd be the only one - it's not so common as other people are discussing. The toughest comparison is actually my sister-in-law, who i now have the same name as, and she is in sociology! Oh well. I plan to keep my Microsoft Academic and Google Scholar pages, etc., maintained, so that it will be hopefully easy to find me and the things I've written. It's not a problem to list publications that have your maiden name on them. I also plan to use my full first-middle-last name when possible, because I am definitely the only one with that. Someone mentioned divorce, and while that is of course obviously a possibility, I wouldn't let it rule your decision making if you want to change your name. A professor I know was divorced, and she was very well known with her married name with quite a publication record, so she kept her married name after the divorce. There are ways to deal with it. I went through all the name change paperwork just recently, and it was not a huge deal. I used a web service (Missnowmrs.com) where you put in all your information and it generates it on the forms you need so that you don't need to find the forms or fill out all the repetitive information again. I think that it's usually $30; I spent $15 with a Groupon for it, totally worth it for the time it saved. It was a bit of a hassle, but it's over now and wasn't a big deal. My final piece of advice is to really think about just what you want, personally, ignoring career logistics momentarily. Really spend some time thinking about what you would like to be called, what feels right to you. There's nothing wrong with either choice, and either will work out fine in the end.

1) I would not go without funding, but I would definitely wait longer to receive the information. If they said funding info would come, I would absolutely wait and see what it is. I would email within the next week about it, letting them know you are excited about their program but would not be able to attend without funding. 2) I don't think it's common, but I believe it does happen on occasion. It's very reasonable to ask them to tell you for sure before then. If they don't tell you by the 15th, and you haven't been accepted to other schools, I would tell them you accept but can only attend if they offer funding, and hope it comes in quickly or they let you wait to enroll until they find out. 3) I would definitely not accept if you haven't heard from other schools you are considering. A lot of people on this forum go through a lot of distress when they accept an offer but then want to decline. Wait until the absolute last day if you haven't heard from a top choice so that you don't have that problem. While rescinding after accepting can be done, it is very frowned upon, requires a written release from the school (depending on situation), and will not put you in a good light. 4) I would guess this is not very common, but I don't know for sure. Most places I look at give the most funding in the first year, so if they can't afford any funding the first year, I find it hard to believe they would be likely to find it later. 5) I don't know about this. My understanding is that tuition waver comes with RAing and TAing, because you are en employee, but if you are not doing those things because you are not getting funding, I don't know how that would work.

I would probably say no, it is not worth it, but of course it's a very personal decision. If the difference was a small difference in stipend, I might say the prestige is more important, but this sounds like a significant difference, and I wouldn't want to go into debt if I had an option not too. When looking for jobs, the name-brand of Harvard will be important to some people, but most will look at what you've done. ESPECIALLY in the nonprofit sector, university prestige isn't as important. If you were going for an MBA and looking to go into the private sector, it would be a different story, but not in the nonprofit sector. And for me, the added of incentive of my significant other would be extremely important to my decision, but of course that would depend on how long you have been together, how committed you guys are, etc. If it's really new or casual, it might not be a big deal, but if you really think this could be a long-term relationship, I would absolutely take the option to avoid a long-distance relationship since it's both possible AND a better choice financially. When you add up the cost of living, tuition, and especially shortness of program (starting a "real" job one year early will make a big difference in your income), I doubt the prestige of the Harvard name will make you enough extra money to account for that in the long run. That's just a guess of course, and obviously you need to decide what's best for you. Are the programs similarly interesting to you, both a good fit, or are there other factors weighing in on this?

If you can't find a job as an RA in human factors, I would broaden the search to psychology and related fields in general, and look outside the academia arena as well. You may not be eligible for a paid position in the lab you are in now, but you can look far outside of it, even if it's not 100% the area you want to study. I am heading to graduate school in social psychology because that's what I want to do, but I have been working for the past 2 years as a full-time RA in clinical psychology at a hospital. Maybe the experience wasn't as perfect on my application as it would have been if it were social psych, but the experience of research and the opportunity to be on a couple papers and posters was invaluable. I would recommend looking at any RA position, even outside of human factors and even outside of academia. I'm curious as to what your experiences are that make you sure you want to go to graduate school. I'm not doubting you, just want to know what your motivation/background is to help give more directed advice. One point of concern is having graduate students write your letters of recommendation - it makes sense because they have worked closest with you, but what I heard is that admissions committees will take the opinion of a professor (the more experienced the better) more seriously, whether they should or not. Try to get the head of the lab and any other professors you've worked with to write one for you, though make sure they say they can write a good one. Other than that, I would agree with the masters program, trying to find either one that can be done online or at night so you can also work, or trying to get one of the admittedly competitive funded positions. Best of luck! I hope it works out for you.

I was going to say School X until I saw that you don't plan to stay in academia. As you've said, outside the field where people know specific professors, the brand name of a school can help you get a job. It does worry me that they have no one studying the area you are interested in, BUT, if they know that's what you want to do and are willing to support you, I think it's okay. I would ask your potential advisor(s) at School Y to make sure they are okay with you pursuing the region you want, but I would also make it clear you are open to other areas. You seem to have a clear idea what you want to study, but many people change their mind in graduate school.

To the above two posters, I know people who have done it. My brother did the same - he is waitlisted for his top-choice MBA program but won't find out until late summer, so he enrolled and put a deposit down on the school he did get into. If he gets accepted, he plans to just lose the deposit and go with his dream school. Personally, I would feel really bad about this, but if the school is accepting people that late, I'm not sure what other options people have. My gut would be to tell them truth after putting my deposit down, so they know there's a chance you won't actually enroll, but that could cause a lot of bad feeling if you do end up going there. If you do get accepted and rescind your first enrollment, I believe they need to give you a written release, if you've signed anything. It probably will cause some ill will, but if it's best for you in the long run, it's probably worth it.

I used my gut to rule out schools that I just didn't have a good feeling for, but after that I went with objectives. Of course, deciding which factors to prioritize in the objective stats (e.g. stipend amount, research productivity of POI, student outcome data) is a subjective experience, but I went with what I knew was rationally best for me in the long run. Out of my top two schools, my gut was telling me school A because I just loved it there, while school B, while still great, didn't give me that same awesome gut feeling. However, I went with B because after long consideration of the objectives, it seemed like a better decision. I think I was being swayed by how much I liked and got along with the other grad students and how much personality I fit with the students and faculty, which while important, is not what I should make my decision on. Going with school B was a hard choice because I know of studies showing that your gut reaction is often "better", and that when people think more about the decision they tend to side with objective facts they can specifically put into words, which doesn't always encompass the important factors that are hard to verbalize. Still, I am confident that my gut was pulling me towards personality (again, school B still had great people, just didn't get that same "click" right away) whereas rationally I should go with the objective facts. School B has a better research fit, a better location, more research-productive and highly-regarded faculty, and a more integrated department.

I ended up going with the first school, the one with less money but with a better research fit and two highly-regarded professors in the field. It was hard because I really did like the second school a lot, but I think this was the right choice for my career. I was able to get a first-year fellowship which includes no TAing and some funds for research expenses. By the end of the first year, my husband (hopefully!) should have found a job in the area, so I don't think I will go into debt with the lower stipend. I definitely plan to apply for additional grants, fellowships, etc., to try and reduce TA load in the future, but it doesn't need to be a lot, since I do want to TA. Thanks for the advice everyone!