FinallyAccepted

CU has sent out all invites for interview weekend, which is Feb 21 & 22. Sorry. (I got rejected from CU multiple times before getting in, if it makes you feel any better...)

Yeah, it's not uncommon to take a couple cycles.

I'm in a top 25 Social Program, and I had no publications, but I did have one conference presentation that was mine, first author (that won an award in my presentation session at a student conference). So see what you can do about doing your own research. Additionally, if it's an option to you, maybe beef up your GRE quant score or really highlight the extent to which you helped with the various projects' statistical analysis in your SOP (and maybe your letter writers can do that as well). The GRE won't necessarily keep you out, but it's just one more thing you have control of with a limited amount of time in a super competitive field. Additionally, as much as you can maintain fit with the various social psych departments, try to cast a wide net.

You could plan to work with the professor during the summer regardless and still apply this year. I was in a similar boat. I was getting a general psych masters to be more competitive (since my undergrad is in social studies education), but it wasn't a prestigious school, and there weren't a ton of research opportunities for me. I applied to PhD programs and didn't get in my first year. I got in the second year I applied. I tried to get more research experience after I didn't get in (also at my undergrad university) but despite the professor sending my contact info to the lab coordinator and my multiple times of emailing the lab coordinator, she just didn't ever email me back, so I gave up on that track and tried to beef up my SOP, my CV (I had won some awards since the previous application cycle), etc. It takes time and money to apply, so it's up to you whether you think that expense of both would be worth it, given your current situation. If you are not particularly hurting for either, it might be good to try it out this year and see how it goes.

This is a really good suggestion and something to think about since rec letters are so important. Keep them updated, too. Let them know of anything interesting you find in your research so they feel they know you (present tense) rather than knew you (past tense). An aside: I'm 31 and starting my program this year, and the other new student entering our program is older than I am. So age doesn't have to be a negative factor.

I planned in advance, so I dedicated a weekend to each unit so I wouldn't have too much going on. Some weekends I took a test, so I could start to see what areas I was doing well on and which I wasn't. Additionally, when you get to the test, try not to sweat it. I teach intro psychology for a living (or at least until a couple months ago), and there were a number of questions that I didn't know. I was starting to question how effective of an educator I could be if there were so many holes in my knowledge, but when I got my score it was in the 99th percentile. So try not to get discouraged during the test itself. You can still miss quite a few and do well.

A lot of the psych GRE is stuff from a Psych 101 type course. So go back through an intro text (I also used the Kaplan review), and when your head hurts from too much reading, watch Hank Green's psych crash course videos. They're about 10 minutes each, but they're entertaining, and if you realize there's something you don't understand from the video, you can go back and review it, since they're pretty basic.

I have a Masters in General Psychology, and while I didn't specifically ask them why they chose me over others (don't need them reviewing that decision too much... ), that might have been part of it. This was also my second year applying to PhD programs. So you might not be able to immediately jump to another PhD program, you might even start looking to volunteer to work in someone's (who you'd like to work with) lab. Before I was accepted this year I was starting to apply to lab jobs for next year because I knew that I probably needed more research experience and the possibility of a publication to be a competitive applicant if I tried again for year 3.

Now, I did read the original post and one of my questions to the OP early on was whether she knew that the professor was aware of what her boyfriend had done. I didn't get a response that indicated that the professor definitely knew. I taught high school through this past school year, and I definitely had students who made it a mission to make my life hell. I've often seen students and former students (who've graduated) in restaurants around town. If I saw a former student and explained to my husband who that student was, my husband would never dump water onto her head and curse her out. Yes, he would be acting of his own accord if he decided to do that, but even if I never asked him to (which of course, I would never do), I couldn't just let that go if I was aware of it. I would apologize profusely to that student because it's so inappropriate. I get that my husband is his own person, but that would never have happened had it not been for what I told him. I couldn't be with someone who I had to apologize for strictly because I would feel the need to apologize for something like that. But, as I mentioned before, we don't know if the professor realized it since the OP did not talk with her about it after that. One other thing that might be relevant to people's interpretations and responses of the situation (and others who read the original post please correct me if I'm wrong), but I thought the OP was already moving on to another school. Did I read that she was entering a PhD program and wasn't going to have a lot of further interaction with this person? -that the OP was concerned about moving on to a new department in a small, close-knit field where even though she wasn't in the same vicinity, that the influence of this professor could still reach her? Does that sound familiar to anyone else? It might just be memory reconstruction, but when I read it and was trying to figure out what the appropriate course was, I thought that's what stood out to me as a factor that was considered by the OP.

Before you start, you will want to make sure you know what specifically within social psychology you'll want to study, and having experience with research could help narrow that down for you. Make sure that you are picking places to study based on the fact that your research fits there. Realistically, you'll want to cast a wide net of places that you have a good research fit, because there's always the possibility that you have fit with a professor who doesn't end up taking students for funding reasons lowering your pool of places to apply. I don't know how similar econ PhD programs are to psych PhD programs but that'll be one of the most important things for your successful application. Social is super competitive. I believe (don't quote me as I'm not yet there) that CU-B Social took 2 new students this year.

So has everyone finalized this year's living situations? We've sold our house, and my husband has found a job. All the pieces are coming together for our big move. I'm really excited to move (T-19 days), but nervous about not initially knowing anyone there besides my mentor.

Well, the fewer of you there are, the more attention and help from your mentor and others in the department. I'm one of two new students in my department (which is already pretty small) so there's less competition for lab space, I guess. It's probably better to take on 9 new people who are exceptional than to take 18 which include those who won't really benefit the department. I've also heard that some places are trying to take fewer students since many fields are having difficulty placing all of their graduates as it is now.

Did you end up figuring things out with this guy?