Mtorey

Ok thanks so much for the advice and quick response. As for your question, I've sent him a few e-mails and stopped by his office, but it doesn't seem like he's ever there. I don't want to start stalking his building waiting to see him walking in (although that's always on the table). I'll probably just set up a meeting with the replacement referee and explain my situation. He might even be willing to just have the letter ready while I wait to see if I hear back from the other one. Either letter would be good, but the current recommender's letter is pretty important since I let my nerves get the best of me during the GRE (verbal: 90th and quant...40th). He's a nuclear science prof, and he would probably be willing to mitigate any concerns they might have about that quant score. It's really the only weakness on my app as of now though...if only he'd get back to me. Anyway, thanks again for the advice.

Hey everyone. So I'm experiencing the age old "third recommender falling through" dilemma right now, and I'm about to just give up ask another professor as a replacement reference. I have three questions: 1. I don't know how long it usually takes to write a letter, so will my replacement referee feel like this is a little last minute? The deadline's in two weeks, so I'm wondering if he will get annoyed by the time constraint. 2. Should I mention in my meeting with him that he's a replacement recommender? I feel like explaining myself would help clarify why I'm asking him so close to the deadline, but I'm worried he'd get offended at the fact that he's a backup. 3. Should I wait to see if my current third recommender finally responds to my e-mails? It's possible that he's just busy. The deadline is getting close though, so I don't know if waiting any longer would be a good idea. Thanks in advance.

Based off of the average percentile ranks of accepted students posted by most of the psyc research programs I'm applying to, verbal seems to be more important although I'm sure someone with a decent verbal/ high quant can still be very competitive. It does seem to vary quite a bit, but I've noticed that the mediocre to good programs have average scores around: Verbal 83% and Quant 65%, and that trend generally stays the same with the so-called "Ivy League" schools as well. For example, UCLA's averages are somewhere around: Verbal 93% (163) and Quant 74% (158). I know that seems weird since it's research oriented, but I'm just calling it like I see it. Not to mention data analysis mainly requires you to abstract information from a data output page and put it into words. There isn't really a whole lot of math involved there. None of the research programs I've come across have listed that their average quant percentile was higher than their average verbal although I'm sure there are some out there. That being said, things like fit and experience definitely play a major role in admissions (for a good discussion of this topic go to Harvard's psyc dept page where they discuss gre scores) as well, and I doubt anyone would be disqualified based on his or her verbal score if the other is high.

Just keep calm. I'm going through the same thing right now, and it's normal to freak out considering its a pretty big deal. I'm not exactly an expert, but from what I understand, it's ok to be a bit eccentric in your thinking. I'm not sure about your specific field, but I know that for the most part academia is filled with borderline-autistic introverts who think WAY outside the box on a lot of things. The important thing is that the idea is both well thought out and communicated clearly. It's ok to be a weirdo as long as you take the time to really think through an idea and rely on sound logic. If that sounds like you and the idea isn't discussing the implications of a zombie apocalypse, then I think you'll be fine. Don't be afraid to stand by ideas that you truly care about. Pep-talk aside, I'm not sure if I know of any threads related to this topic, but I'd suggest you keep looking. At the very least, it'll provide you with a temporary distraction. Best of luck.

Hey everyone, I was wondering if you'd like to share your thoughts on my SOP. If you don't have time for that, it'd be awesome to get some help with the wording of one sentence in particular (underlined in the 2nd paragraph). I've condensed its content down to be as succinct as possible, but while it's grammatically correct, it just seems a little lengthy. I've been staring at and thinking about it for way too long now, so I can't tell if that's a bad thing or not. I could really use an outside opinion as well as any suggestions for a revision. Thanks so much in advance. Prompts: Type a Statement of Goals (no other guidelines were given like a word limit, format, etc. I decided to focus on my future interests since they call it an SOG instead of an SOP as well as stick to the typical 1-2 page length): In the future, I plan to obtain a PhD in psychology in order to pursue an academic career investigating time perception working as either a professor or in a pure research setting. I hope to address what I consider to be several key questions such as: What is the relationship between phenomenological experience, attention, memory, and time perception? How can neurotransmitters, specifically serotonin and dopamine, affect the way in which we perceive time? Do factors that influence processes such as sensory perception or memory (e.g. the fight-or-flight response, psychotropic drugs, brain abnormalities, mental illness, etc.) also have an effect on time perception? How does the brain keep track of time in the absence of external sensory stimulation such as while we are sleeping? I consider these questions to be especially important because their answers will help us determine the extent to which time perception is a distinct process, independent of other modes of cognition, giving us a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomena as it stands in and of itself as well as in relation to other systems. There are several reasons why I would like to attend Made-Up State University before moving on to pursue a doctorate. By now it may be obvious that a major driving force behind my decision to apply is my desire to work with Dr. Pepper whose research on time perception has had a significant impact on my thinking. Several of his publications touch on some of the key questions I listed above. In fact, I first began considering MUSU as a prospect for my graduate studies after reading a paper Dr. Pepper co-authored outlining the striking similarities between timing and working memory systems in the brain. Furthermore, considering that I plan to integrate concepts from several different disciplines into my future research, I believe that both volunteering in your visual perception and cognitive neuroscience labs as well as enrolling in several specific courses you provide, such as Perception and Psychopharmacology, will help me broaden my skillset and achieve a stronger, more specialized grasp of the fields I plan to incorporate. Therefore, I believe MUSU will help me both deepen my understanding of various areas in psychology and gain experience in the specific field I plan to pursue in the future. At (my undergraduate university), I have had the opportunity to gain a great deal of research experience, which has firmly solidified my passion for psychological research. For six months, I worked under Dr. Strangelove assisting a PhD candidate with the literature review for her dissertation, which examined gene-environment interactions in the etiology of schizophrenia. This required an extensive amount of independent work, and in addition to familiarizing me with the literature, it also helped me learn to analyze and link large amounts of information from a wide variety of sources. Furthermore, since August of 2012 I have been working under Dr. Ya Who in the Visual Cognition Lab at MUU. This has been a fantastic learning experience for me as I have been able to get both a taste of what life in a lab would be like and also a significant amount of hands-on experience in a research setting. Most importantly, I have learned the value of utilizing creativity in order to develop and test theoretical concepts, and during my tenure in the lab, I have been able use this in order to create and design an eye tracking experiment of my own, which relates to time perception and examines the way the brain extracts information from both time and space in order to optimize behavior. Dr. Who has been kind enough take me on as a volunteer research assistant while I carry out the study, and I hope to publish the findings soon. In conclusion, I believe that I would thrive at MUSU. I am extremely motivated and eager to get to work. I have already begun to develop a focused set of interests, and I believe that admittance to your program would help me tremendously in advancing them even further.

I'm currently applying for a research assistant position in a visual cognition lab. I've already submitted 3 strong letters of rec from people I've been working with in the visual cognition lab at LSU, but since they're all going to say more or less the same things about me, I figured adding in a 4th recommendation might be a good idea in order to add some variety into the mix. Therefore, I asked my former medical physics prof for one as well. He just sent me a copy of the letter he sent, and I wanted to get your thoughts. I'm also planning to use him as a reference for grad school applications, so this letter will likely resemble the one he'll be sending then. I let my nerves get the best of me during the GRE (felt like I was sky diving for 4 hours straight) resulting in a disappointing score: Verbal: 90th percentile and Quant:...40th percentile. Since his course required a strong grasp of some pretty complex mathematical concepts and I got the top grade, I figured it'd be a good idea to include a letter from him to show that I'm not mathematically challenged. Upon reading the letter, I can't tell how strong it is. It's definitely not weak; however, I have to admit that I don't really have much experience with evaluating letters like this. Anyway, this post is long enough, so I won't waste any more of your time. I was just wondering if I could get your thoughts about it, and where you'd place it on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being very weak and 10 being very strong). Thanks in advance. Note: for the sake of anonymity I've changed the names in the letter . Dear Dr. Who, I am pleased to provide a recommendation in strong support of Mr. James Bond’s application for a full-time research assistant position in your lab. I have known Mr. Bond since January of 2012, when he enrolled as a senior student in my course at Made-Up State University (MUSU). The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the various applied aspects of (gives course description). Mr. Bond and I have kept in contact since then. Mr. Bond is an enthusiastic, dedicated, and determined student. His assignments were always completed in a deliberate, organized, and thoughtful fashion. His approaches to complicated problems were inventive, methodical, and thorough. He excelled in all aspects of my course. Mr. Bond met deadlines and was helpful and supportive of his classmates. He consistently scored in the top of my class and demonstrated not only a natural intellectual ability, but also a keen intellectual curiosity. He never hesitated to spend additional time on a basic concept until he was satisfied with his level of understanding of the material. Mr. Bond received an “A” for my course and I would rate him in the top 10% of all undergraduate students I have interacted with over the past ten years at MUSU. His impressive overall grade point average proves his excellent scientific comprehension. He has received academic awards (Chancellor’s Honor Roll and Dean’s List) during his studies at MUSU. He has also been actively involved in research activities since January, 2012. Complementing his abundant natural talents, Mr. Bond is an industrious, polite, and self-motivated person. He is compassionate, dependable, and trustworthy. He exercises mature judgment in his decisions and is responsible. He has a friendly personality and a cooperative spirit and gets along fabulously with the faculty and the students. Based on his excellent academic performance, related research experience, and fine character, I expect that Mr. Bond will make significant contributions to his field. I therefore highly recommend Mr. James Bond for this position. If you have any questions regarding him, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Dr. Strangelove