VulpesZerda

I haven't even applied yet and I already can't handle the family conversations I have about grad school. It's nice of people to ask about my plans, but I just can't understand why it's so difficult to explain it all to them. At my extended family party and my SO's extended family dinner this week I found myself saying multiple times that psych major does not equal therapist career - always with a puzzled look to follow. When I say the words "applying to PhD programs" they give this doubting expression. Finally, when I explain that PhD programs often fund and pay their students, that's when they flat out don't believe me. It's honestly easier to tell everyone that I'm going to be a therapist.

Any research or clinical experience? Good letter writers? Those things are highly valued in this process

I think I would too.. Everything else you have going on makes you a very strong applicant for sure. One of my programs (social psych) says they look for above 80th percentile in at least one section. So I suppose not all programs expect two amazing scores.

Ditto.

I am confused as well. I ordered my official transcript and asked for a digital copy so I wouldn't have to print, scan, and shrink. It's really weird and I'm not sure if it'll pass for "official". They use something called SCRIP-SAFE. Apparently it can be validated on their website but it still looks extremely weird. I know the dpi is dots per inch, and that it has to do with the quality and maybe the size. Aside from that, I'm not sure. I would scan it then look at the properties of the document to view its dpi. Hopefully someone who knows a little more about this can help, too

I'm inclined to guess that they might not even notice. Like fuzzy said, it's easy to miss. Even reading your post and expecting you to quote a phrase with an error, my brain filled in the missing word the first time I read it. Try not to worry

Would anyone be willing to critique my SOP? :-)

Thanks very much Dedi and shana! Also, the fact that it's November is freaking me out. I have to submit an application in 23 days to utilize my fee waiver, and my hard deadlines for many others are Dec 1. Ahhh, I'm not ready!

The percentiles for the AWA are very interesting. 3.0 = 15% 3.5 = 38% 4.0 = 56% 4.5 = 80% 5.0 = 93% See that jump from 4.0 to 4.5? Whereas in the math, your 1 point difference is not a very large percentile difference (162 = 83% and 163 = 86%). So to answer your question, 0.5 on the AWA matters more than 1 point on the math. If you got a 4.5 or above on your second test, go with your second test. Edit: this is just what I would do. I don't know what field you're in, so I actually don't know how much I should assume about which scores matter more!

Hm... Thank you for letting me know your experience, very helpful! But. My actual degree-granting university puts this course on my transcript, without the grade. (It was a stupid elective I needed and didn't want to take at my own school.) So it's not like they wouldn't know about it. Meh, I suppose I can just ask and see what my schools say. But I am hoping to get away with unofficial transcripts... PS: Sorry for semi-hijacking the thread!

Maybe you could look into programs that fall under Public Health, so that you can become a health educator, and then tailor your career to individuals. I don't know much about people seeing a counselor for physical health. But you could consult at a hospital, maybe. I'm not into counseling psych, and I want to get the PhD in Health Psych so that's why I haven't looked into your route very much. Hopefully others can chime in about the CACREP and other things I can't answer.

I took one course at a community college one summer between freshman and sophomore year. I didn't have an advisor or student services, but completed the course for a transfer credit. I wish I didn't have to get those transcripts, because it's a royal pain. But I do. Do you think I should actually list this CC in my applications under "Schools attended" or will transcripts be enough?

Haha yeah, I probably won't ask. He did say, "this could change, but I doubt it" so maybe he wants to at least have the option of picking a student if those circumstances do change. It stinks not having this program at the top of my list anymore just because of professors' labs being full. The program itself is so awesome and it was my favorite location, too.

Thanks, good ideas there. I just checked the website of this program. When I was first in contact with professor X, there was nothing about new students in 2015 on the website. Now, professor X's page says he is taking students, professor Y says he isn't, and professor Z indicated a brand new research direction that I have no interest in. Guess this can't be my top choice anymore. But I do find it strange that the website says X is taking students. If I had never emailed him, I would be getting my hopes up for nothing.

I can, and I did, but leaving the top one out would feel really odd because he's obviously a closer match. Basically, there are about three closely overlapping topics I'm interested in, and three corresponding professors. I'm mostly interested in Professor X, topic X, so I emphasized it the most in the SOP. I also talked about Y and Z, but not as much because they're my second and third choices. So should I re-do my SOP and leave out the X stuff? Or keep that stuff, and still mention Professor X?

Just found out the my top POI on my entire list is no longer taking students. He said that could change, but he doubts it will. There are other faculty in that program I match with enough so I"m still applying. Should I still mention this POI in my SOP? I really like his research and my SOP is quite tailored towards those topics. An adcom might think I'm clueless if I don't mention him, but if I do, and he's not taking students, does that look bad?

Thanks Gvh and bsharpe! I'm sure a practice test will allow me to detect any possible improvements.

I'd like to ask anyone who used Magoosh: was their score predictor accurate for you? For my first test, I didn't use Magoosh to prep and I scored 157 V 149 Q. Within a few days following that test, I began doing 3-6 hour study days, every day, using Magoosh. Two weeks and 350 practice problems later, my score predictor is stuck at 151-156 V and 149-154 Q. Not sure how to interpret this, but it sure is discouraging.

1. CDC behavioral scientist 2. Professor 3. Alpaca farmer 4. Travel photographer 5. Freelance writer/blogger I'm working on 1 and/or 2 slowly but surely. Number 3 is something I hope I can do by my 50s (it's expensive to get going). 4 and 5 are things I enjoy doing now but do not get paid for. This made me happy to think about!

It must be tough reading those passages with English as a second language. I have a hard time myself and I'm a native English speaker. It could help to practice reading dense passages using the remaining month you have. Try the Economist or a similar publication; just get used to the length and density of these pieces. Also, they will almost always ask you about the main idea of the passage, so automatically figure this out while you're reading ("actively" read). And, since you know your strengths on the verbal section, it might be a good idea to use the test's feature that allows you to skip questions. Since each question is worth the same number of points, you might as well get all the easy points first. That is, do all the SE and TC questions first since they're easier for you. Good luck!

Thanks...yeah, I dunno. It's not doing a lot of work that I mind at all -- I just really have never been this busy in my life, lol. Anyway, I wasn't a fan of the topic, plus even though I found about forty references to start the outline and was supposed to do the bulk of the writing, he was only planning to give me third author. Not sure what he and the other author were planning to do, but oh well, doesn't matter anymore.

Reading this thread makes me think maybe I made a bad choice a few weeks ago. I was in a similar position - except I'm an undergrad and the person asking me to do the work was a fellow from an internship that ended in April. He wanted to start a review paper with me; I sent him an outline before leaving to fly across country for an 8 week intensive summer research project. I told him that I *might* be able to start actually writing the paper when I returned... knowing that I would be taking a full course load. Well, things got really busy because I'm right in the middle of the application process, plus I picked up a second job. I told him that I'm sorry but I just don't have the time. I was extremely polite and apologetic in the email but he simply never responded. I know opportunities like this are important so maybe that wasn't smart of me?

Oh no! I feel you on that. Maybe your migraine made you sick? I was preparing myself to email two professors Thursday to say I can't attend class, and then they both cancelled! It was a miracle. Earlier in the week I had a presentation on the worst day of the pain. After I finished my talk I tried to stay and watch other people's but my migraine made me throw up. Fun stuff! My glasses give me headaches too, but not migraine headaches. For me those come from stress, lack of hydration, lack of sleep, or a number of other random triggers.