TheMercySeat

Hi all! As a current applicant, I want to make sure that I am 'smart' about identifying a program that is right for me. With this being said, I am seeking out input into which skills make psych PhDs more marketable for professor, industry/government, and nonprofit jobs (since there's no predicting what the market will look like in 5-6 years, I don't want to narrow this down to a single sector). So, offhand (and hopefully this will get some creative juices flowing for folks that are willing to help me, and hopefully other applicants that see this message, out): 1) Tech skills: Which programs should I inquire about? How important are programming skills? Which programming languages? 2) Stat skills (also related): Is it worthy to seek as much advanced statistical training as possible? If so, which techniques should I hone in on? For example, I perk up when I see opportunities to learn SEM. 3) Project management/project planning: Is this common to learn in graduate school, or is it so rare that I should I forget about even inquiring about it? I will appreciate it if anybody could either (a) add to the existing points, or ( add new points.

:sigh: I believe you already took the time. Explaining myself- AGAIN- I'm sure the person I referenced meant it's something that is generally more relevant to US schools and moreover, much of the world (yes, other countries do, in fact, have respectable institutions) does not care about the GREs. ANYWAY, here's Tom with the weather...

No responses? I think I sense a trend.

Hi all! I wanted to consult the masses, re: professorship. I was recently at a PhD program interview weekend and, whenever I asked students about career aspirations, they'd anxiously make vague notion of "maybe a professor position at a partner university." During formal interviews, I got mixed reactions when I said I'm interested in doing a combination of a research job + adjuncting "because tenure track positions aren't as common as they used to be"... From agreement to absolute denial ("what?! No! I never heard of that.") Seeking out perspective from recent PhDs and current students.. What is your read on this? I am deeply concerned about being trained for positions (full time professor positions, let alone ones with tenure) that potentially don't exist. Please help! This is baffling. I know there's a stigma against alt-AC in most programs, and I have no idea what to do. I don't want to be shot out of all of my upcoming interviews because I have thought critically about these issues

It's not even about 'selectivity,' as far as I'm concerned-- it's about whether an average score on one subscale negates an otherwise strong portfolio. The GRE is the 'gold standard' in the US, but in some countries it isn't even a consideration

Note I didn't say Canadian, either. I noted while browsing universities in the UK that many of them made no mention of GREs on their website. At all. If one wants to infer no GREs = 'subpar' institution, then I hope they take a long, hard look @Oxford's admission requirements.

THIS. I work among people that earned PhDs in Germany, Australia, and other countries. As stated by one of them, "the GRE is a silly American test made for silly American schools." The reason why I didn't apply overseas were financial, to be honest. Australia is expensive to travel to I have the upmost respect for international PhDs.

THIS. I work among people that earned PhDs in Germany, Australia, and other countries. As stated by one of them, "the GRE is a silly American test made for silly American schools." The reason why I didn't apply overseas were financial, to be honest..

I actually considered applying out of the country because I thought my GRE scores would screw me out of all US schools.

You're in Canada, right? Things might be different in terms of saturation and funding.

Congrats, avatar!! @fuzzy, the small gift is a great idea that I haven't even considered. Thanks!!!

Perhaps I have been in the workforce for too long, but I think it might be SoP? It is mentioned on a few different sites in a grad school context, though: http://www.graduateprograms.com/applying-to-graduate-school/what-to-do-after-your-graduate-school-interview-2/ http://www.psychologyinaction.org/2014/01/13/interview-tips-for-students-applying-to-phd-programs-in-psychology/ Not real sure which is the fairest of them all in terms of templates/guides

Does anybody have any advice or any links to preferred templates that they are willing to share? How about advice for how many people should receive a thank you note? Of course I plan to send one to my potential mentor, but it appears as if I will be meeting several professors at some upcoming interviews. Is it appropriate to send perhaps a less rigid one to graduate students who agreed to put me up for the night, or is that 'too much'? I found these examples at a glance, but the last paragraph seems a tad pushy to me ("I hope the program has a good feeling about me"): http://gready.blogspot.com/2006/03/graduate-school-interview-writing.html I need some help achieving the balance between 'too much,' being perceived as being pushy, or failing to express appropriate gratitude. Any words of wisdom will be much appreciated because I am cluelessly winging it at this point

I don't know what implications this has for any posters on the forum, but some programs at certain universities are still accepting PhD apps (Utah State University, UT San Antonio, University of Nevada - Reno). Admittedly, I don't know how 'good' these programs are by the metrics of posters on this forum-- my search hasn't been dictated by ranking, but in opportunities to advance target skills that are transferable to industry, academia, and the nonprofit world (grant writing, research, and advancing stat knowledge), receive full funding, study my topics of interest, and build up my portfolio (conference, pubs, etc). I'm certainly not advocating to apply 'just anywhere' to go somewhere, but perhaps it could help to consider taking a look to see if any programs with a later deadline host professors with your topic of interest?

I'm in industry research at the moment. When I was hunting for RAS gigs, I noted that many universities offer paid research assistant jobs, as do federal positions such as the VA. Private sector positions also open up periodically (I.e., Rand, ETS, ACT, Pew).

I am in a similar spot (mid-20s) and I kinda gave up on clinical. To be honest, I came to the realization that I enjoy research more than practice, and while the degree prepares you for research, you're still required to do practitioner internships. I ended up leaving the clinical world as a (lower level) therapist for a research assistant position about three years ago and never looked back. I am a strong advocate of encouraging posters here to consider a research assistant position, but I am naturally biased I love my research job so much that I feel mild apprehension about leaving it for a PhD program. I wasn't expecting to feel any apprehension at all because I knew that I wanted a PhD ever since I started taking MA classes while in undergrad in 2008. As an individual that is really passionate about research, (1) all of the research asst duties I perform have made me a more desirable PhD applicant/research asst, and (2) it gives me a new perspective on rejection (i.e., "they all rejected me? Alrighty then. I guess I will apply for that promotion and just keep doing research, presentations, and pubs.")

Thanks!!! That's very helpful.

Does anybody have any insight into exactly how the wait list work? As in, is it possible to be waitlisted without having an interview, or do most programs wait list only if they interviewed you, but did not place you in their final cut? Is there a lot of variation across programs in how it works? I will appreciate any information that you have on the topic!

I got offered for one interview, but then I was told to book my flight ASAP. It might not be in the best taste if I try to redeem the offer (I'm a nonclinical PhD applicant)

Wondering this myself!! I'd love me some financial support

My friend got into Wisconsin-Milewaukee about a decade ago, but took a job with the Feds instead. Now he makes ~120k/year with a BA in sociology I should also mention that he's military, so his career path is probably closed off from civilians.

I've been instructed to not "look desparate." Not sure what 'desperation' looks like in this context My plan of action is to read a lot about the department and my POI's work, which seems painfully obvious.

I'm a private sector MA. Our PhDs are big quant/IO people, so I concur with EastCoasting. Many of them interned with my company prior to employment. One young PhD recently remarked that he wished he learned more grant writing in school. While he still got hired, he implied it would help him grow faster in the company.

Quoted for truth!!!!

if you want it badly enough, you make time! I had to tap into my PTO to manage producing quality app materials without becoming too overwhelmed. Small sacrifices