neur0cat
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Posts posted by neur0cat
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On 29 March 2016 at 9:56 PM, FeelTheBern said:
For reference, my SO got a 163 on Verbal, and 148 on Quantitative. His Quant. was low but because his Verbal was over the 90% and combined his score was over 310 he decided not to retake it. He got into his top-choice program and was never questioned about his GRE by the school he was accepted to (he was only questioned about his Quant. score by one school during an interview). In the end, people will tell you different things, but it's really up to you whether you think it would be worth it to retake it
I will say that Clinical Psych programs are ridiculously competitive, so GRE scores may be more important than they are in my SO's field (Cognitive Neuroscience) Good luck! I definitely think you have a great looking application where you stand right now!
@FeelTheBern Just out of curiosity, I was under the impression that Cog Neuro programs tend to appreciate higher Quant scores -- would you say this is not true? If you don't mind me asking, what programs did your SO get accepted to?
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Hi,
I'm revamping my CV for the graduate school application cycle in fall. Was just curious as to what would one list under research experience, i.e. ABC lab, supervisor, duration of involvement? Would it be more helpful to: a. provide a description of the projects you were involved in, or b. list responsibilities and tasks you performed. I find that most CVs either have more of a focus on one or the other and for the sake of brevity, I wonder which is more useful to grad committees / your potential advisors.
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On 16 May 2016 at 11:17 PM, TakeruK said:
Generally, I wouldn't do this. To me, this just raises questions---why didn't you pursue it? Also, being nominated doesn't necessarily mean very much because it's not easy for the person reading your CV to know whether it's an award that anyone can nominate anyone and nomination doesn't mean much, or if it's the type of award where nomination means something significant. But if you expect your audience to know the significance of the nomination and that the nomination is an achievement in itself, then include it. Otherwise, you may be able to include it in your SOP that your work on X resulted in this achievement.
Thanks very much for the insight!
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This was interesting to read. Just curious, I'm applying for a PhD this fall and would like to know if I should state in my CV that I had been nominated for a particular award (regional) but I declined to pursue it further. It's more of the prestige than of any monetary value, really.
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@Gvh Hi, thanks for your advice! Would you feel comfortable sharing your stats (perhaps via a PM if need be) and program interviews you received? I guess I'm just worried my Quant is insufficiently good especially since it seems Cognitive Neuroscience/interdepartmental umbrella programs tend to be a little more inclined to consider Quant scores due to the nature of the field. Stanford, Yale, and MIT are also programs I am aiming for and these programs are awfully competitive. I hope I am not being overly ambitious given my application profile.
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On 10 May 2016 at 6:39 AM, another_time said:
Hi, your stats are stronger than mine were and I got interviews/acceptances at some programs in top 20 for cog neuro. I applied to 10 schools, got accepted into 4 and interviewed at 5. My choices were strongly oriented to a specific sub-field and I made more-than-just-email contact with most PIs before writing my personal statements. I was told by one PI that he considers Q much more important than V, but your Q is not that bad.
If a school posts their GRE stats, it is safe to assume they care about them more than schools that don't. If you can meet or exceed their admittance averages, you are probably fine. My opinion is that there is no need for overkill since you have some really good credentials already and you could be working on something of more substance. I would go with accomplishing something more substantial than spending the time and effort needed to roll the dice for a 4pt increase in your Q score (or whatever you might shoot for).
I think at your level, you should be rounding out your skill-set and experiences, applying for predoctoral grants, networking, building a website... - not fretting over making GRE cut-offs.
All that said, I retook the GRE to increase my Q. My AW went up and my V score went down, but not enough to make me regret retaking (although I did have a "circumstance" for my first score). It really depends on how much time and energy you have. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life!
Hi there, thanks for your advice - I appreciate it! If you don't mind sharing, what scores for the GRE did you eventually get and which schools did you get interviews at? I think I'm just worried I might be prematurely cut from the top programs or if there were no choice but to dramatically reduce the applicant pool.. not sure if increasing the Q by something like 2 points (up to 85 percentile) would make a difference.
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Would greatly appreciate any advice I can get - thanks!
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Hi All,
I know it's relatively early for such threads but I just took my GREs and wanted to get some opinion on whether I should consider a retake in light of my other achievements and goals. I intend to apply for cognitive neuroscience programs (either under psychology or neuroscience departments depending on the school) and I am gunning for top programs. I'd appreciate any helpful advice or feedback from those who've been through the process!
Here are some of my stats:
Female, International Applicant
Undergrad Cumulative GPA: 3.91 at a large state school (not a UC school), Major GPA (Psychology): 3.97
Did a Masters in Neuroscience at a top UK university (especially known for neuroscience). Graduated with Distinction.
GRE scores: 167 V (97%), 161 Q (80%), AW unknown
Publications:
- 2 peer-reviewed papers (1st author), 1 review paper (albeit in a journal with a pretty high IF), 2 papers currently in the process of being submitted.
- 3-4 posters at international conferences (SfN, INS)
Awards:
- Young Investigator Award at a national conference (oral presentation of poster)
- Best Undergraduate Honors Thesis Award
- Tuition Scholarship for Academic Excellence
- Multiple Dean's Lists
- Phi Beta Kappa
Research Experience: ~5 years including UG honors year+MS. Worked in both labs and research hospital settings (my interest lies in cognitive neuroimaging and disorders).
Other relevant information/skills: UG TA, relevant technical skills such as familiarity with Linux, MATLAB, use of neuroimaging software.
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Basically I am unsure if my current GRE scores are competitive for top tier programs. I know MIT BCS has mentioned competitive scores fall in the range of >85 percentile for both V&Q and my Quant is a little weaker, though I'm not sure if my Verbal score will make up for it. In addition, the fact that I am not a local applicant and I did my bachelors at a state school makes me a little wary of how my application would stand if I were to apply to top programs (e.g. Stanford, Duke, UC Berkeley etc). I think I am in the range for Duke and Berkeley based on their past admission statistics though again, I'm not sure if the fact that I am international and from a state school in the US would put me at a huge disadvantage.
Would appreciate any advice/opinions!
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Hi All,
I have two parts that are related to this question. Firstly, does having "a good fit" necessarily imply that one has had some prior, concentrated research experience that is aligned to that of the particular lab/adviser that you are interested in? I'm asking this because I have worked on different topics /different populations (e.g. healthy aging, neurological populations, children) in my undergrad thesis, masters thesis, and later on when I took a year off to do research. The skill sets used are pretty similar -- I work extensively in imaging, but the focus of the labs and projects I've undertaken can be quite different. I've always wanted to do a PhD eventually, but I really wanted to expand my horizons and find out what I wanted to focus on for the next few years of my life (i.e. what piques my interest the most, what I absolutely had no interest in etc). I have to clarify that I didn't jump from lab to lab in a few months, but was with each lab for at least a year. I'm not sure if this varied experience may prove to be disadvantageous in any way though.
The second part of my question is: After working on different projects, I have arrived at the realization that I would like to (for a lack of a better word) "go back to my first love", which was the topic/field that I did my undergrad thesis in. Unfortunately, as that was a very early stage in my academic career, I do not have a lot to show for it compared to having 3 publications from my recent work. Does this automatically mean I am a poorer fit for labs that focus on topics I have now identified to be of my interest? Would my research experience and publications in other semi-related fields count for anything?
Would greatly appreciate any advice or opinions!
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I am currently a Psychology undergrad and my career goal is to ideally work with the brain regarding mental disorders involving what exactly causes certain disorders, methods of treating and curing mental disorders, that sort of stuff. I plan to graduate with my B.S. next summer, at the latest, so I am now attempting to research graduate schools to find a good fit. While it seems that my interests are tailored more towards the neuro- field, should I be applying for Neuroscience/Neuropsychology programs strictly instead of a Psychology program, or would it not hinder me too directly?
Any advice regarding programs/schools to apply for, and the entire graduate school system at large, is much appreciated. Thank you in advance for any assistance.
I have the same problem as you - I graduated with a BA in Psychology in the U.S. (however, I do have 1 year of biology and chemistry, and have taken a few higher-level psychology courses with a science component, e.g. behavior genetics) and recently graduated with an MS in Cognitive Neuroscience in the U.K. I have been looking up different programs and potential faculty to work with recently as I plan to apply next year. Most of the faculty I am interested to work with hold double positions in psychology and neuroscience as a lot of the work I am interested in involves neuroimaging. Hence I am also a bit unsure if I should apply to Psychology or Neuroscience programs eventually. Some schools like Duke do have an integrated program in Cognitive Neuroscience, but others don't.
Fall 2017 Applications
in Psychology Forum
Posted
I'll be 27 when I start -- applying this fall too, so if you consider yourself old, I'd be ancient!