ihatechoosingusernames

If there is a cut-off, then you have no chance.

As a wise person once said,
"May the odds ever be in your favor"
I feel everyone's pain! Last year was nerve wrecking to say the least but I'm sure you'll all do great!

I'm originally from Washington and graduated from college in Seattle  Bastyr and Northwest are...meh. Seattle U is fantastic and has a great reputation, and Western is also great. I grew up very close to Bellingham and it's a fantastic place to live, especially if you love outdoor activities. It's slower-paced than a big city like Seattle (Bellingham is called the City of Subdued Excitement for a reason!) but there's still a lot to do and experience while you're up there. They have a beautiful campus. Is there a specific type of counseling psychology you're looking at? You might also take a look at Antioch University or Seattle Pacific University.

In my case, I emailed saying I'm planning to apply to their program, and that I wanted to see if I seem like a good fit for their lab. I did a short paragraph (maybe two sentences) about my interests, then a short paragraph about my research experiences, then closed asking if I seem like a good fit for their lab and asking what they look for in a prospective student. I also attached my CV every time, and from their responses it seems like they looked over it.
When I applied last year I basically just said I was going to apply and asked if they were taking students, and this year I got much more encouraging responses. I think including some of your interests is key. If you have any legitimate questions about their research to ask, that also might get you in the door. 

I first noticed this disparity five years ago when I was working with clients who had psychotic diagnoses.  
I'd advise you to rewrite the SoP. Probably, you can read some other SoPs related to you field and then come back to it after few days.

You can mention poster presentations if you are already using a sentence to talk about other presentations or outcomes. For example, if you are writing about the outcomes of a project and you say something like "I gave an oral presentation about this work at Student Meeting X", you can then append something like "and a poster presentation at Regional Conference Y". Or if you are using some space to discuss presentation experience, you can just mention that you have presented posters. But you can also not include this information and just leave it in the CV.

Nope. Didn't get it. Fuck you all. I'm done. The whole system is an unfair and ridiculous clusterfuck.

Not gonna lie, I was trying so hard to find a research fit in a school in New Orleans. I'd LOVE to live there  Wayne State's also on my list. 
   

If it wasn't for the fact that you guys want people with Master's degrees, I would have applied to the Community and Applied Social Psychology degree in a heartbeat. I'm actually finishing up a grad certificate at UML in Victim Studies, and I love how the psych and criminal justice departments have so many people with research interests in interpersonal, domestic, and sexual violence. 
 

Not gonna lie, I was trying so hard to find a research fit in a school in New Orleans. I'd LOVE to live there  Wayne State's also on my list. 
   

Hey guys! I'm just adding a link to a post on reddit by an IO Psychology professor who is answering questions about grad school. It looked like he would be answering questions for the next few days (through 10/27). This might be a good resource for some of the people on here with questions that are hard for us to know as other applicants!
 https://www.reddit.com/r/IOPsychology/comments/3pox8l/iama_the_io_psychology_professor_that_runs_the/
 

I've noticed that a lot more schools (or a lot more of the schools I'm applying to this time around) are accepting unofficial transcripts. They'll only need the official transcripts once you're both accepted and choose to go to the university. That's 100% the way it should be done. 
 

3 of 4 of the programs I am applying for don't require official transcripts unless you are offered and accept a place in their programs... Yay for me! Saving a bunch of monies there and a few headaches! 

However, this depends on your interests. For example, in my area there are really only a few researchers doing the work and they're all pretty much the only ones in their department doing this research. So... if I were to follow the above rule, I'd have no places to apply to. On the other hand, I've talked to all of them about their situation and about their labs. I've gotten 1 maybe response and 1 no response. However I know that both are planning on expanding their labs in the near future so chances are good that they'll take on a grad student or two. The other 2 I have literally had several hour long conversations with and feel great about my prospects on. Nothing is guaranteed but unless I get a no then I am going to apply anyway. 
If I had a bunch (more than the 4 I have) and wasn't sure if I should apply in the first place then maybe I would take a luke warm response as an indication that I should invest my efforts elsewhere.
Keep in mind that a bunch of PI's really feel that responding in an encouraging way might skew their own decision making unfairly against the less social ones who aren't sending emails or reaching out to contact them. *shrug* 

Well, then, why don't you have the money, if that is the case?  
I think I should add to my signature this pearl of wisdom: being honest does not mean being candid. Just say that your financial situation makes it impossible for you to afford to pay for official transcripts at this time, but you hope that this will not preclude you from applying to X University. You will be happy to provide an official copy if and when you are accepted to the university. 
 
(I wish all schools just did this in general, along with GRE scores. It's such a waste of money to have all these official copies of everything sent to multiple schools. Sure, they'd want to see an official copy before officially accepting anyone, but I'm only going to attend one school, so why should I have to pay 8-10 times? </rant>)

This. In grad school an undergraduate student did most of their work for me. I wrote the first draft of the letter; my advisor bulked it up and signed it. 

What you should do is see if the doctoral student and PI can collaborate on a rec letter for you that would be signed by the PI. A letter from a doctoral student will not be valued in any way by an adcom.

Plenty of people start off as pre-med before realizing they can't make the grades and switching majors.  It's nbd.  It's your last 2 years that matter most.

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."

I don't think you know my background so I won't be offended by your ignorance, but I did post a disclaimer, did you notice that?  At least I identified my program, unlike your anonymity.  And most programs have much in common, so, yes, I think it was a helpful post.  Now, can we help the OP rather than needlessly attacking others?

I said my view does not represent the common wisdom, but looking at the replies makes me wonder how carefully my post was read.  There was a much broader question posed by the OP.

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."