NewEmpiric

Well, I just called the Boulder POI. He was very understanding and said that I could either: 1) Go to the Boulder weekend instead. 2) Go to the WUStL weekend as originally planned, and find an alternate date to visit Boulder. He basically said that most professors understand that there's some level of competition to get students for the same interview weekends, and they understand that students have to make tough decisions, figure out alternatives, etc. He was really nice about it. Having said that, he did say that I might be missing out on the full experience if I'm not there for the official Boulder interview weekend (which is probably true).... I think this is the option most of you have been advocating. I'm going to have to think about this.

Thanks to you both for responding. Indeed, they're both the same days, Thurs - Sat, so they're truly conflicting.

Hello! I have an issue that I was hoping to get some advice on. I've been invited to two interview weekends, both are on the same weekend. The first is at at WUStL, and I already told them yes. The second is at UC Boulder, and I just received the email from my POI this morning. I have to be honest... I'm more interested in Boulder (better fit with my interests) but I do hate to go back on my word that I'd be at WUStL's weekend (the Prof at WUStL was also really nice... again, I hate to go back on my word). Any thoughts on how to handle this? What's protocol?

For what it's worth: I just received an email from my POI at Boulder (Cognitive). ... they may still be making decisions.

All right! First one! POI at Oregon just contacted me to invite me to an on-site interview.

Thanks to you all for responding. Interestingly, I just discovered a researcher at Oregon, Elliot Berkman, who I think studied with Lieberman. ...good suggestion.

I'm primarily interested in cognitive and affective control, and I'm looking for programs/labs to apply to. I have the cognitive control labs set already, but the affective labs are harder to find. Do any of you know labs that focus on affective control, affective neuro, and/or emotion regulation? I'm targeting Davidson (Wisconsin), Wager (Colorado), and possibly Egner (Duke). Any others?

I'm applying to psychology/cognitive neuroscience programs this fall. I was hoping that people might be able to offer some advice on choosing a final Letter of Recommendation writer. I already have 2 lined up, one from a Psych professor that I work for (the PI of my current lab) and a computer science professor that I've been working/publishing with. Both should be excellent LORs. I need to choose my third and have 2 main options: 1) Another psychology professor. She has written a recommendation for me in the past, and offered to write any others that I might need now that I'm applying to PhD programs. That is, she thinks I'm a great student and wants to write one. Pros: She's enthusiastic about me. She knows that I'm a good student (I took an undergrad class with her). She's a professor. Cons: She only knows me as a student. No research with her and she knows very little about my skill set. 2) A former manager/mentor. I worked in marketing analytics for a number of years, and this person trained me to use most of the data analytics tools that I currently know like SAS and SQL. She also taught me techniques like regression, etc. Though she's not an academic, she does have a PhD in psych from a top 30 psychology program. Pros: She knows me very, very well, so the LOR could speak to my personal character. She knows my abilities with stats/analytics. It will be a very enthusiastic LOR. Cons: She's not a professor. Thoughts on who I should ask?

What are you looking to study specifically? Any particular areas of interest?

Yeah, I really didn't like that test. The funny thing is, I took it a couple of years ago and immediately swore that I'd never take it again. Now a few years later I find myself saying "well, if I studied just a little more, may be I could get an extra X points...." Just drill, drill, drill. Then, relax and just do your best.

Yep.... I'm applying. Where are you looking?

This topic comes up from time to time, and i've read some of the responses. Still, I want to ask about my specific situation. I've posted elsewhere that my undergrad GPA wasn't great at all: 2.9. Some factors: - It was 8 years ago. - I have taken about 2 years worth of post-bacc classes, with roughly a 3.9 (the only B was in a totally irrelevant class) - Recent psych and CS classes are at 4.0 (including 3 graduate classes) So, I know people suggest that you can either 1) address it _very_ briefly in the SOP, or 2) write an additional essay. My question is as follows: Talking about my old GPA doesn't fit at all in the current structure of my SOP. I putting it in would probably interrupt the flow, and detract from what I want to talk about (my research). For schools that don't allow a secondary essay then, should I try to fit it into my SOP? Or, should I just leave it out and really focus on whatever recent successes I might have had?

Perfect. That sounds a lot like the approach I'm using now. Let them lead the conversation: if they want to talk more, they'll ask. Otherwise, don't be a pest.

Well, it sort of depends. I've known people in the analytics world that probably made 100K to 120K with a masters from a top 50 econ program and several years experience. Naturally this is a little different from a masters in psych, but it gives you some idea; the marketing analytics world takes lots of social science MA/PhDs generally, whether econ or psych. Right out of an MA program, 80-90 wouldn't be unheard of, if you had a good understanding of quant (regression, ANOVA) and an ability to work with large volumes of data. This later point involves some learning of database tools (SQL), statistics packages (SAS), and having a true mastery of excel. Some of that can be learned on the job. Location also helps. Analytics jobs in places like Chicago, NYC, and Charlotte North Carolina (2 big banks in Charlotte) pay quite well. Less so in Des Moines, Iowa.

Depending on how many quant classes you take, a person with a masters (or ideally, a PhD) can go into industry and do quite well. I knew several PhDs in consulting and corporate marketing/analytics that probably pulled down at least 150K per year. More if they went the management route in the analytics world.

I currently have a short list of about 12, but that changes from day to day. I'm hoping to apply to about 8-10.

@ eucalyptus Thanks for the info. This does help and allays my fears a bit. I have a question though about contacting POIs. When you mailed them, what sorts of responses did you get? I ask because I'm wondering how to handle them going forward. One was very positive (you'd fit well... I look forward to reviewing your app), one was very curt but said "yes" that my idea would fit, one was positive but upfront that the lab might not have room, and one never responded. Did you follow up with POIs over the course of a few weeks, or did you just let the conversation die off if they didn't ask questions?

Indeed. http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4270093.aspx It also helps to look at all of the websites for the departments you're interested in. For example, I made a list of the top 100 psychology schools from USNews (let us set aside how accurate these things are) and then went to each one's website. I searched around the website for admissions statistics and put everything into an excel spreadsheet. Note, only about 30% seem to publish admissions stats on the department website, but sometimes you'll get a really detailed one like Arizona: http://psychology.arizona.edu/programs/g_each.php?option=9. This might sound like a pain, but it only took me an afternoon. It's been really helpful to have a rough rank ordered list that I can compare GRE scores against, etc.

Thanks to you both for responding. @cogneuroforfun To your point: You're right, I didn't say anything about research interests (though perhaps should have). I'm interested in cognitive/affective control and neuroimaging of the PFC. All of the schools I plan to apply to are places doing excellent research in this space. Now that I've identified those places, I'm left only with schools that are typically highly rated (top 30ish in USNews). So, my instinct is to do just what you said and to apply to departments that are doing research I like....I just don't want to be too unrealistic and end up empty handed come April.

Everyone I talk to seems to give the following advice: Apply to a few top programs, a few mid-tier programs, and a few "sure things." The problem is, "top" and "sure thing" will be different for everyone. I've tried to get some advice on this from professors, but no one seems to have a good sense of what will be competitive where. So, I want to see if any of you have some advice. My Stats: Undergrad GPA: 2.9 (Ivy League physics program. I'm switching to cognitive neuroscience). Post-Baccalaureate GPA: 3.9 Psychology GPA: 4.0 GRE: 1420 (660 V, 760 Q) Age: 30 (not sure if this is relevant) Publications: 1 journal paper, submitted (network modeling paper, first author) 1 journal paper, in prep (EEG/ERP, first author) 1 paper to be presented at a symposium (net modeling, first author) 1 poster presentation, accepted (reaction time, cognitive control, second author) I'm optimistic that I'll be competitive somewhere. However, when I tell people where I'm planning to apply (mostly top 30 programs), I still get the "well, you should apply to some backup programs too." Admittedly, I haven't been forthcoming with everyone about my stats, but the point should be clear: I don't know where I should be aiming. I want to be realistic. Can anyone offer insight?