tanneraustin

My guess would be the use of some sort of curve for course grades. If below a B- is failing like in many programs, they might assign failing grades to a certain number of people based on how well they do relative to other students, perhaps regardless of how well they do objectively.

I'm not sure about the advice you were given about PhD programs only being used for academic or teaching positions. While a Master's in IO will get you plenty of job opportunities in applied settings, I've been told by several faculty and students that a PhD in IO is preferable for applied settings because it gives a leg up over Master's students for positions of leadership in consulting firms, human resources departments, etc. Your pay will be higher, you'll have more status at the onset of getting a job, and you'll have more knowledge to help organizations. I'm also not confident that two years of training in IO would be enough to prepare me to truly be successful without significant job experience first.

I am in agreement with the others here that you're misinterpreting his post. I'm not trying to start an argument, but he was merely posting a possible connection. I don't think his post resembles a rumor at all, and being hurtful was clearly not his intention and not likely the outcome either. Your slightly inflated empathy toward whichever individuals might be affected by the connection he drew are peculiar to me as well.

It's probably best not to keep your hopes too high. I'm a student there, and they brought in 8 students for interviews and gave offers to (I believe) 4. If any of those 4 don't accept, it is likely they will extend offers to one or more of the remaining 4. Though I can't say it's not possible that they were unimpressed with those extra 4 and extend offers to people who didn't visit.

The funding isn't bad at UCF. I believe they offer roughly $10,000 for nine months, cover most if not all of health care, and have plenty of opportunities for summer funding though TA positions (if available), internships in Orlando (which there are a ton of), or research funding through your advisor. But keep in mind that there is no state income tax in Florida, and housing is relatively cheap, so you may get more out of that money than in other places. I probably wouldn't get your hopes up about getting an offer off the waitlist. There was one student here on Gradcafe who got one off the waitlist, but I was told by the program director that they accepted 12 people with the expectation of 6 taking the offer. I imagine they easily fill those six spots with 12 offers and one or two off the waitlist. But I hope I'm wrong! Good luck!

Virginia Tech has had their interview weekend and extended offers already. Good luck!

I second most everything Bren wrote. Regarding jobs, I've been told from multiple sources that the job market is amazing in I/O. It is ranked as the number 1 fastest growing job area right now, and the unemployment rate is virtually zero. However, as Bren wrote, PhD programs are research intensive, meaning applied experience like internships is not particularly valuable for getting accepted. Some programs offer opportunities for applied experience during your 4-6 year track for the degree, but you will have a lower chance of being accepted if you do not have some research experience prior to applying. However, Master's degrees tend to be more on the applied side. Job opportunities are still plentiful with a Master's, but you may be stifled by or hit a ceiling in organizations because of people who have PhDs who have higher status simply because of their higher degree.

Excited to meet you if you accept! I'll be accepting my offer very soon. I visited last week, and you should be excited. Their department is impressive... new psych building, tons of resources, and the sense of community is great.

I got waitlisted at UMSL as well. I've received an offer from UCF and I plan to accept most likely. If you don't end up getting into UCF, sorry if I'm the one responsible!

Did you take the Psych GRE? According to GT's I/O site, they prefer it but don't require it. I didn't take it. I'm using that as my excuse for not getting an interview.

I haven't officially, but in all likelihood I will commit at UCF.

Congrats! I had an offer from them as well, but I chose to decline. I was a little iffy that their PhD program just started last year, but I think they'll continue to grow and eventually will be a great program.

You clearly have the basic credentials to get into a program. I got into UCF's PhD program this year with GRE scores of 159V/157Q, a 3.6GPA, and 1.5 years of I/O research experience in two different labs. I also had a second authorship on a publication in high school which probably helped me. My guess is that your background is more biology than psychology oriented, and biological psychology, while at times relevant to I/O, is much less relevant than areas such as social, personality, and cognitive psychology. Because programs accept so few people, they're big on fit between student interests and professor interests. I fit well with UCF because my research interests (social network analysis in particular with Dr. Wang) meshed with the program. Professors don't care so much that you're a stellar student if you'll come there with interests that have no place in their research.

That's a good question. I'd imagine that they are considered together, but I'm not sure. Academics know the value of international students I'd imagine, so I doubt there would be any intended or unintended disadvantage given to them.

I've been told by a professor at Virginia Tech who did a postdoc at GT that they will extend offers in the next week or two.

I'm an undergrad at Virginia Tech who's quite involved with the I/O professors there. They have extended offers to their interview weekend which is at the end of February. They choose from those people who to accept. Good luck!