Grimnir

Not sure what you mean by "many", but the average admitted GRE for a social science graduate program is 155 to 160 for both sections and an overall of 310 to 320 from my research unless you are applying to schools ranked 10 to 15. As an example, the median GRE of students entering UPenn's psychology program is 162V/160Q. That being said, I agree with your assessment of the OP. Another career might be a better choice for you OP and will save you a lot of fruitless work.

That's where the info in my original post came from. Thanks.

This is also very low...Is it because you are being paid from a fellowship rather than a stipend or do you have a large amount deducted for school expenses? I was estimating I would be paying around 22% like I do when I normally work...

So I have been doing some research on the finances of graduate school and I am wondering how stipends are taxed? I was always told that they are taxed just like regular income (rates vary based upon state) but taxed nonetheless. Then I was reading about individuals whose stipend tax rate was extraordinarily low like 5%. I also found this link https://www.hrblock.com/tax-answers/services/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=66614 which says stipends in pursuit of a degree are not taxable. So can anyone shed any light on this issue?

I'm planning on applying to schools ranked 20 to 50 and fully funded. I might apply to one reach program ranked higher than 20, but with a 156Q I'm not sure it is worth it. I think a max of 3 to 4 points is possible if I studied and took it again, but that is very iffy given my past experience with taking math exams under pressure. Thanks for the input!

the GRE? I took my exam a few days ago and underperformed on the math, as expected. I've never been good doing math under pressure. I scored 156Q/164V. So my question is, is this going to hurt me from getting into biopsych PhD programs? Is it worth retaking? I don't think the score reflects my math abilities at all. I got A's in courses like Calc I and II, physics, chemistry and statistics at a top 10 public school. I have 1 year of so-so research experience and 6 months of full-time research experience. No papers (yet). I'm not sure that studying at this point is going to help much.... For reference my practice scores were: ETS exam 1 (before studying) 154Q ETS exam 2 158Q ETS exam 3 159Q Manhattan prep: Exam 1 156Q Exam 2 157Q Exam 3 161Q Exam 4 153Q Exam 5 158Q Exam 6 158Q Input is greatly appreciated..

Yeah so I'm from a small town, and to be honest, not a huge fan of big cities. 1) Because the cost of living is higher and 2) because tons of people and high crime rates grate on me. Are there any respectable PhD programs in (cognitive) psychology that are in smaller cities? All I really know is Cornell and Penn State. Any input is appreciated!

Well, I'm taking my exam in about 2 weeks and I can't improve my quant score at all. I've been studying for 6 weeks probably 15 hours a week and I'm getting no where. This is on top of working well over full time hours. I started off scoring a 155 and I've taken 4 practices and scored from 154 to 157. My major issue is time. It causes me to read questions wrong and make mathematical errors. I've always been this way. Anytime I am required to do math problems in timed conditions, I crumble. My scores on the quant section in no way reflect my math abilities. I understand 90% of the problems yet under pressure I cannot do them. If I were to take the test untimed I would be scoring around 160-163 (I've taken untimed exams) unfortunately the test isn't untimed. I've done 450 magoosh problems and this hasn't done jack for my score. I have the manhattan GRE 5 lb book of problems too which I did a while back, but again, it wasn't improving my score. Not sure what my issue is but I'm getting very frustrated at this point. Not sure how to get myself into the 160 range. My goal is a 160. Definitely considering pushing back my test date....Any input on how to push a score into the 160 range is appreciated or anyone with similar stories... Oh and the funny part is I score 165+ on the verbal. Talk about divergent scores. Thanks

I'm in a similar situation except we're both applying to graduate programs and hoping we get into the same school or schools very close to one another. Her chosen profession is a lot more lucrative than mine so I'm considering working while she finishes her degree, but it is a tough decision...I think you really need to evaluate the level of commitment and the potential for a future together. I don't think anyone can tell you what is more important. Have you discussed it extensively with him? What are his thoughts?

Yeah so I made a mistake regarding my loans. I had no financial knowledge when I was 17 and applying to schools and just trusted my parents to do the right thing for me financially. It didn't work out that way. That's in the past. Not really, but no point in whining about it. But it is going to affect my future career decisions.... Thus I have two options at this juncture... Option 1) I wanted to get a PhD in psychology (specifically quantitative psychology) but given the amount of loans I have, I am questioning whether it is the right decision to let these loans accumulate interest for 5 or 6 years (the majority accumulate interest, a few of my federal loans don't). I've calculated I'm going to accrue about 3500 in interest a year while they are deferred. So the possibility exists I will accrue 20k in interest. Depending on my stipend level I may be able to pay half or all of this by saving 150 to 300 a month and being extremely frugal. Option 2) I can try to find jobs in business that pay more now, and pay down my loans and either find an employer to pay for graduate school or attend part-time while I work and not accrue any debt. I have a BS in Psychology from a public ivy and I graduated cum laude, but most of my job experience is in research although I did work for one business for an internship. I was thinking I might be able to find an entry level job doing market research or low level finance work. Any advice would be greatly appreciated....

Major in Psychology or Neuro and Compsci or Stats.

Thanks. I appreciate all the advice. My greatest regret in undergrad was not majoring in statistics so hopefully I can get what I want this time around.

Well, my hesitance to do a masters is that 1) it will extend the length of my overall education 2) I will need to reapply 3) stipends are nonexistent or measly (400 bucks to 800 bucks a month). 4) I have loans which will accrue interest so time and money is a factor As for R I am majorly strapped for time, but I am going to try to make it happen. I know JHU does their data science course series so maybe I will give that a go. I think the best path may be to find programs which have a heavy emphasis on statistics and methodology, but may not be quant programs persay.

I wanted to apply at the PhD level, but I may apply to one or two paid MA/MS programs as backup (although I only know of one funded quant MS in the US). Depending on how my current job goes I may have some moderately rigorous quantitative experience under my belt before apps are due. I have some basic programming experience (but not in R),but I haven't applied it to data analysis, yet. I think 85th percentile is doable for me so I guess that's not too much of a problem. Not really any way for me to make up for my lack of quantitative coursework though...

I enjoy research, and the idea of consulting is very interesting. I could see myself going industry or academia. I'm curious what you guys were making out of college with a psych degree that was higher than non post-doc PhD salary...? If you don't mind disclosing. And what sort of job was it? The average salary for a psych bachelor's is atrocious somewhere around $35,000 a year last I checked. The worst post-docs out there pay more than this according to the research I've done. I'm not excessively concerned about money. I'm certainly not banking on a six figure salary. As for quant it really does seem to be the best route. I love the flexibility and the emphasis on methodology and statistics But I'm worried because... 1) I haven't done any research that is quant heavy 2) My math background is only up to Calculus II although I have taken stats and a course on assessment and measurement 3) The GRE quantitative scores needed may be way too high. What sorts of GRE quant scores do these programs accept on average? And if I'm not misinterpreting it does seem that quant and ed psych appear to have the best employment prospects outside of counseling and clinical?

Well, my interest is in biopsych that is clinically oriented. From what I have read, it is possible to study this in general experimental, quant and biopsych (obviously) programs. Likewise a lot of human factors/engineering programs have neuroscience oriented research as well. The major diffeence is educational psychology which would be mainly focused on designing measures and assessments. I feel that I find these fields equally interesting and the major hang up for me is employability. I'm not as scatter brained as it would appear. Statistics/biostats isn't an option as I absolutely refuse to take out more loans to pay for my graduate education.

So I've decided that clinical/counseling psych isn't for me. I don't really want to interact with people in that manner. And I/O seems very boring to me so I've ruled that out as well... What other fields within psychology have the best job outlooks in your opinion? I really do not want to be in the situation [again] where I am graduating and not able to find work within a reasonable time period. I have student loans. They need paid and the stress of not having a job is killer. My background is in psychology/neuroscience/bio. I worked in a neuropsych lab for a year doing lab work that wasn't the most rigorous training for research, but I did learn quite a bit. I'm currently working full time doing research that is more analytical. I plan to apply Fall of 2014 for doctoral programs (and maybe a paid masters or 2 as back up). While my goal would be to be a tenured professor, I have no illusions about the difficulty of this path. I want job security. I plan on loading up heavily on statistical and programming knowledge so that I am marketable as possible as I know these sorts of skills are in demand.... So far I have considered the following PhD areas ...As far as salary goes I haven't really seen much difference among these fields for PhD holders (correct me if I'm wrong) -cognitive neuroscience/biopsych related programs -quant psych* -educational psych(assessment, evaluation, measurement etc.) -human factors/engineering psych -school psych(lukewarm about this one) -also general experimental psych programs. *heavily leaning toward this, but not sure if my background is right Any insight is appreciated. I've been having a hard time locating solid advice on fields outside of clinical/counseling psych. Thanks!