pospsy

Hi my fellow grad students, my dropbox is full, and I desperately need more space for a new study. Please help me out. http://db.tt/OAaZZ7Z

You should look into NSF GRFP or Ford Fellowship. These fellowships will pay for your tuition and give you a stipend that is likely higher than what a typical program offers. You can also take them to pretty much any grad program you want.

1. It varies. Some programs don't expect first year students to do any kind of research, some do. As you can imagine, those that do expect 1st year students to do research often have less class requirement (though they often need to take "research credits" to fulfill the requirement as a full-time student). 2. Priorities of TA and RA are often given to students who received internal funding. But if you just want experience and are willing to volunteer, you can usually find one. 3. Again, it varies. Some programs require first year student to TA, Some don't. But no matter what, you should get involved in research whether or not you get an official RA position. As you are not funded, I would assume your program does not require you to teach. If that's the case, then I think officially you only need to take classes, but you probably want to do some research for you own good (whether you get a RA position or not). 4. Think. I personally think thinking is an underrated aspect of graduate life. Read a lot, but set aside time to just think and to integrate what you have learned so far. Try to read something outside of your field too! True innovation often comes across field rather than within field. Do try to have a social life, make new friends, and develop new hobbies =)

I love my program too (Social Psych PhD)! I love my advisor. He's smart, helpful, and fun. Other faculty are pretty awesome too. And we have a poker night like every other month I love the classes I am taking. I love my cohort as well as other grad students in the program. I love my undergrad RAs too! They are very motivated.

Last year awardee dropping by. I was about to go on the fastlane website to submit my annual report. Then I found out this year announcement is coming out soon. Last year, I actually didn't know it will be posted after the maintenance and slept peacefully the night before. I am still not sure why, but I checked email using my iphone in the morning while I was still in bed. I was really surprised by the email and honestly thought I was dreaming. Still can remember that moment... Anyway! Good luck to everyone!

Um...i guess it depends on the dept. For my dept., they have fundings for all the people that are nominated for fellowship, so if they don't get it, the dept can still fund them. The university fellowship here look for strong academic record (GRE/GPA) and diversity/ community service kind of thing.

That's a GREAT sign! Usually dept won't nominate people they won't accept for a fellowship because they usually have a quota for how many people they can nominate. So whether or not you get the fellowship, you have a really good chance of getting into this school.

I agree with everyone, and just want to share that I know a person who graduated from college and took 2 years off to work as a full-time RA. He had 11 publications by the time he applied to grad school. I think SOP is the most important thing because it actually shows your thought and insights, whereas for publications, I have seen people being list as authors simply because they helped proof-read the manuscript.

Hi Everyone, The tax season is coming, and I have no idea how to file tax for my GRFP fellowship. I don't even know how much tax I am supposed to pay. They did not withdraw the tax in the first place, and there are no W-# forms. Can anyone point me to some kind of resources that would shed light on this? Or Does anyone have a similar problem? Thanks.

I have heard great things about this program, but I don't think this is in any way research intensive. As the name implied, it's focused on the applied side of positive psych. And I think it's mostly online with on-campus meeting once a month, so if you don't take the initiative, it's hard to build up a good mentor-mentee relationship with the faculty. However, if you do take the initiative and do research with the faculty in addition to completing the program requirement, it can be very helpful, especially if you are applying to work with professors in the field.

I got the NSF last year, and I used the Science style because it saved me space. The default of my discipline, though, is APA style.

This is a paper that just came out this month from PSPB. They ranked social psychologists as well as social psych program based on how much impact the psychologist/ department made (i.e. how many times they were cited). Cumulative impact is pretty straight forward. It's cumulative impact. (like the one shown in Appendix A). Career-stage impact is the impact after controlling for years since phd. I think it might be helpful to those applying this year. http://psychology.utk.edu/news/top50.pdf

You already have a strong application. But I have to say the competition is crazy. I first took the GRE two years ago and got a very decent score. My undergrad advisor insisted that I needed to get above 1400 because apparently that's what strong programs look for. Another advisor of mine allowed me to peek at the profile of the shortlisted applicants of several application cycles before (with all private info deleted), and none of them has a GRE less than 1400. And he told me applicants have only gotten more and more competitive. (I studied at a public Ivy for my undergrad.) I personally think GRE has a lot to do with how much time you are willing to put into it. I took it once after I studied ~700 words, and I got a score in the 500 range. I retook it after I studied perhaps around 1800 words and got a score in the 600 range. I honestly think I can get a score very close to 800 if I studied 3000 words. And given your stellar GPA, I really think you have the ability to do greater than 600Q and 580V. I personally think if the couple of the top programs are your "dream" schools, then you should retake it.

How about Matthew Lieberman or Naomi Eisenberger at UCLA?

Yep, I heard back from my POI arranging a phone interview.

That's my major concern for submitting a proposal, but there are no specific instructions from the dept. so i guess my question is what the adcom looks for in a writing sample? is it just about english? my ability to make a cogent and coherent argument? or my ability to write a long essay?

should i submit my nsf research proposal (2-page single-spaced) as my writing sample? there are no specific instructions from the dept or the grad school. I think this is my best piece of writing and it can show my thoughts too. I have done an honors thesis, but i don't really like it when i look back, and i think it would take way more time than i want to polish it. anyone sending their proposals as their samples? if not, what's your take on it? if it helps, i am applying to psychology phd program.

I finished my app at 4:50pm yesterday. Phew. My project is a combination of subfields from psych. I submitted it as "cognitive psychology", then i realize I can submit for "psychology - other" which would fit my project much more. oh well..

I thought i will apply to BC to work with Maya too, but i am applying with my girlfriend and she couldn't find a school that fits her interests in Boston. Sounds like BC would be a great choice for you! People usually take years off to strengthen their apps, narrow down their interests, and make sure they have a strong passion in research. Having said that, I think you have a good idea of your interests while not narrowing down too much, which is good for grad school. For interest and passion, you really need to ask yourself why you want to pursue a PhD in psych and why you want to study positive psych. For psych GRE, you can look for schools that don't require it. It's probably not worth it to take the psych GRE only for schools that recommend it. Save your time to contact prof, and write a better SoP. Now is not too late to contact prof. In fact, most professors have a better idea whether they are going to accept students now than two months ago. Write to famous prof is totally fine. Just keep the email short and polite. They are super busy people. Ed retired, btw. Mike is at Claremont which to my understanding, does not guarantee funding for PhD students. ranking matters but not so much. The fit with the professors that you are planning to work with is way more important. educational effectiveness sounds to me like the quality of classes. if that's the case, it's not so important because most of what you do in grad school is research rather than taking classes. You should check out Richard Lucas at MSU (he's a student of Ed Diener). oh, and you should look at the editors in those positive psych journal. People who published in it may not be the most ideal people to look at because if their research is indeed very important, they would have published their research in journals like JPSP.

I have very similar interests as you do! (Mine = Positive psych + emotion in general, with a secondary focus on affective forecasting and social connection) Awesome GRE score! You probably don't have to worry about your GPA because of your stellar GRE. PhD usually offers a full package with fellowship/TA-ship/RA-ship, and you should be able to survive with the stipend. I am not familiar with the process for international student though. I think you need to submit some sort of financial statement? For letter of rec, if you got one from your thesis advisor, that will probably be a relatively strong one. Hopefully you can get two more letters of rec from someone who knows you or you have taken multiple classes with. (Preferably from psych) For psych GRE, you can try walk-in. I am not sure how to go about doing it, but there are definitely people who register on the spot and take the test. (You still have the November one. Some schools will consider it, though it may be too late for some.) You, being a good test taker, should be able to score high in the subject test, and this will help offset your "low" psych GPA (3.4 is decent, I don't think it's low at all). Obviously, you want to focus on your thesis as your research experience. Show your knowledge in the field! (As you enjoy reading works from those great researchers.) If at all possible, try to link your thesis to your interest. I never thought of my field as related to positive psychology, but I found a way to link them. Perhaps, you can try to draw from other psych classes (especially lab classes) and extracurricular activities to demonstrate your potential as a researcher. The big names that you mentioned will probably attract a lot of super-impressive apps. It's up to you whether you want to apply to work with them. (If you have money, then go ahead because your interest fits perfectly with them) Here are some researchers who definitely focus on positive psych(I know less about research on relationship.) : Sonja Lyubomirsky at UC Riverside Maya Tamir at Boston College Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley Laura King at U Missouri ....etc Here's a website with faculty who are interested in positive psych: http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/ppfaculty.htm Hope this helps!