Illvm

hey i'm in the same situation as you on the short list. i emailed the professor who originally notified me of this, and she emailed me back today saying that there are no updates yet but there should be more information in about a week. so if we are patient for the next week we should hear something!

Can you please stop posting about "reverse discrimination" in the psychology forums? Last time you did this you received nothing but a negative response.

If you don't get into grad school, please don't tell us it's because you're a white male.

The fact that you, and probably most of the people here, have assumed I'm a white male, or a male at all, probably from my choice of avatar, just goes to prove my point: you're stupid AND biased. Your judgments are made from incredibly stupid assumptions that have no basis in fact whatsoever. I don't mind pretending I'm a man in order to point out how biased you are against men. It's absolutely disgusting. You people need to open your eyes about your own personal problems. The reason I'm against bias is because I've been victimized by it in the workplace. But unlike most people, I don't think that reverse bias is any better. It's just as ugly. Peoople in a psychology forum should be a little more aware of their ignorant biases. I guess that's my own stupid assumption at work.

There are TONS of factors at play when it comes to graduate admissions in psychology. There are many idiosyncrasies, and therefore what "worked" for one person will not necessarily work for another person. 
  With that being said, here are some observations I have after my year applying (I applied to top-tier Social Psych PhD programs for starting in Fall 2014):   1) There is no substitute for quality research experience. Period. Applicants who made it to the interview stage were, for the most part, in their second year out of college (i.e., graduated in 2012 and were applying to start in 2014) and had been doing research full-time since graduating. I also fell into this category. Like me, most applicants who got interviews at top (social psych) programs had also conducted a two-year honors thesis project or at least some project that clearly demonstrated individual thought and contribution during undergrad. I had about four years of solid research experience total at the time I applied, and for most other (successful) applicants this was the rule rather than the exception. While I did meet some applicants who were still in college at the time of interviews, they were truly outstanding students and were in the minority. Programs need to know that you truly understand what doing research is all about, and having a proven track record of doing research speaks for itself.   2) Letters of recommendation matter a lot. A key way to stand out is to select recommenders who are research experts and who can and will write letters that clearly illustrate your proven research prowess and potential. I would personally caution against getting more than one letter of recommendation from professors who only know you in a classroom setting (i.e., through coursework  and not through research). Several professors I applied to work with later remarked that my "superlative" letters of recommendation really helped my application stand out. Similar to the point above, programs want to know that you know what research involves. If you cannot come up with at least two recommenders who know you in a research capacity and can vouch for you in that regard, that might be an indication that you should get some more research experience before applying. This may not be the case for everyone, but it's just my observation; this might also be different for clinical versus experimental psych, and Masters versus PhD programs.   3) Reach out to your contacts and perhaps even contacts-of-contacts. Get as much information and feedback as you can from people who were once in your shoes. About six or seven months before applications were due, I began contacting every grad student in my field that I knew and asked for advice and tips on the process. They were all incredibly generous with their time and expertise. Many were even kind of enough to share the Statements of Purpose that they had used in their applications and give me feedback on my drafts a few months later. Don't be shy about reaching out. The worst someone can say is no. And in science especially, a huge part of the discipline involves mentoring more junior researchers and reviewing other people's work; it's just part of being in the field, and grad students should know this (just make sure that you are gracious and reasonable with your requests). If you know a grad student in a program you're interested in, definitely talk to him or her and find out what's happening in the department (e.g., which professors are currently collaborating); these tips might really help you craft a very program-specific Statement of Purpose.   4) It's almost a cliche, but start writing your Statement of Purpose early and do tailor each application to each program. At several interviews, the professors interviewing me had annotated copies of my statement in their hands and would mention something I had written about from time to time. The statement should be clear, succinct, and compelling. Give yourself plenty of time for editing and getting feedback.   5) Applying to grad school can be pretty expensive. Not including the time spent doing research (which may often start or even remain an unpaid endeavor), studying for the GRE, writing applications, etc., paying for application fees (about $100 each) and sending GRE scores ($25 per school) adds up. You may also incur interview-related expenses (e.g., buying interview attire, paying for travel if the program doesn't cover that) or have to pay for conference attendance to help build your CV. It's just my two cents, but make sure you really know what you're getting into before shelling out that kind of money and time. If you are applying to a program that wants to see GRE scores in the 80th percentile or better, for instance, ask around and see how seriously they take that cutoff, and then perhaps retake the GRE if your score is not competitive. If you think you might not have enough research experience to be a competitive applicant, ask around and see if you should consider waiting a year or two.   There is so much more to say on this topic (e.g., what to do to stand out at the interview stage), but I hope this helps with the main components of the first few steps. Good luck to the Fall 2015 applicants, and please feel free to PM me if you have specific questions (particularly for social psych PhD programs).              

Got it! I did get official notification from grad coordinators at some of the schools that they will be sending out interview invitations early January. Keep my finger crossed..
 
p.s. We have UCSB in common! 

Related question - do people send updated transcripts? I'm about to get a 4.0 this semester with some important classes. Realizing this made me wonder!