Chubberubber

I stand corrected!

I had to calculate everything by hand during the first 2 statistics courses I took (intro to stats and statistic methods for psychological research), and hated every minute of it! I got so many answers wrong becuase I had a stupid miscalculation (like switching plus and minus or + and * -that happens to me a lot!). Not to mention that when you get to the slightly more advanced stuff you have to have tons of pages with endless tables in order to do things like t-tets, f-tests etc. I see no reason to force students to calculate things by hand unless they'd have to do it in the final exam...

First of all- if only 60% of the final grade is determined by tests, then it's a very good start. What is the other 40% determined by? Seems to me like in order to do well (meaning- more than just passing), a student in your class can't focus solely on the tests. But, to answer your question- I would have the entire grade be based on weekley statistical analysis projects combining whatever was learned in the past class with everything that was alreadt taught. I would phrase the question in a way that wouldn't tell the students which statistical procedure to carry out, but rather give them a question and see if they can understand themselves which procedure is needed and how to carry it out,

I also had a child during the final semester of my M.A, and I did plan ahead so that I would have the lightest courseload possible for that semester. I can't add anything new in terms of how to do it technically, but if I were to give you one advice it would be this: You can put off work, you can't put off your child's first smile. Try and find that place inside you that allows you to see raising your child as more than another task on your to-do list. It may sound obvious, but I actually found it very difficult and I feel like only now I'm starting to figure it out. If it means taking extra time off to really be able to bond with your child- do it, even if it would dely graduation for a bit. I had to be seperated from my daughter for a month for reasons beyond my control when she was just a month old, and definitely felt like it took her a good while to get used to me and trust me after I returned..

The international thing is a problem in and of itself because of funding (not just to public schools but also to private ones since a lot of their fellowship money also comes from federal resources). In addition to focusing your research, I would also try and see if you can secure outside funding. Good luck!

tea bag

I would like it if someone reached out to me (via e-mail, definitely NOT facebook) to sort of break the ice. Personally it would make me more relaxed to know there would be at least one friendly face there. However- it's something that I would've never done myself (reaching out before hand) because I'd be too timid of possible reactions. As the couple of replies here show- it is very much dependent on the specific individual you want to reach out to, and you have no way of knowing how might they act...

Well, that can really go either way. They might really like you and don't feel the need to have you go through another round of interviews as well! No reason to lose hope just yet!

these rankings can be very skewed (like all rankings actually). FSU can be ranked higher if their faculty members publish more (which could be the result of more faculty mambers than the other universities you mentioned) or it could be more diverse, or it could be that they have more funding options for graduate students... It is also very possible that FSU has a very good psych department and/ or that the have faculty who's highly specialized in a very narrow field which is why they publish more and are able to secure more funding. I'm using all that just as examples for what would make one university rank higher than other when it doesn't "make sense". I have no actual knowledge of FSU's psychology department nor of Notre Dame or Fordham's...

To the best of my knowledge, and as countless people in this forum have mentioned in past threads- whether or not you get in has way more to do with fit than with "objective" measures. You can have a 170/170/6.00 GRE with a 3.97 GPA and 3 publications and still not get into Harvard if you don't fit the research interests of your potential POI and vice versa. From my (limited) experience, programs are good at reading between the lines and see whether a certain applicant will be a good fit or not. If I were in your position, I would focus my attention on certain POIs and direct my research efforts next year towards their work.

Thanks! I figuered it must be something like that, I thought it was specifically targeted to LORs and didn't realize why bother making a law that almost everyone will waive their right for. Good to know that was just a by-product of a law that makes sense.

Can someone please explain why os this so common to waive the FERPA right? I doid waive it, but just because I thought that's what everybody does. I still don't understand why though...

It's a combination of research activity (publications, citations, high impact factor etc.), student support & success ( stipend, where do graduates of the program end up, how lond does it take to graduate, how many publication/ presentation opportunity students get), how strong they are in elements scholars view as important, how diverse they are, and something called "R-Rank" (how similar they are to other good programs?). You can find it here: http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124708/ In many ways it's better than US news because it's about more than popularity, however it's still skewed and also it takes years and years to compile so these rankings might not reflect the current situation (the last NRC rankings were released in 2010, and before that in 1995).

Depends on what you need the degree for. If you just want to have the knowledge of these fields then it sounds like a great idea. If you're looking to do research or hope that this degree would add to your academic protfolio then it's a defferent story...

I also heard that there's a direct bus (possibly a stanford bus?) that goes from Berkeley to Stanford, which might make it easiyer to live in the better town and still attend the university you fell fits you more. Also- does anyone know if there's any kind of subsidized childcare at Stanford? Or anything like the grant justastudent said that UCB has?

Agreed. Also, a POI is a Professor Of Interest- the professor you want to work with at an institution.

Are they willing to cover your intrernational travel completely? If so, I'd say it's a pretty good indication that they expect you to be there. If not, then it's unrealistic to expect you to attend and they probably know it. Do you have someone in the program (a professor/ administrator/ adcom member)? It would be best to explain the situation to them and ask them straight.

I'm in a very similar situation (newborn and all), and have lived in the area in the past. Berkeley is a bit cheaper than palo alto and a more fun city to live in. However- the cost of living is offset by the difference in stipends. I'm not sure about childcare at sranford, but I know that you can add your child to your healthcare plan at a reasonable price. I would imagine Stanford has more of a "grad community", especially ones with babies, however PA as a city is probably a bit less family friendly than berkeley (but not by much). It ultimately comes down to where you feel more comfortable rasing a family- a rich suburb (PA) or a small city. I do like Berkeley as a city better, and we're looking into the option of living there and me attending stanford (if i'll get in), but a lot of it is because we have family in berkeley...

I've been in your place exactly, and ended up not going. I asked my POI as well as other grad students in the program and they all said it's totally understandable if I don't come. In fact, my POI actively tried to dissuade me from doing so because they couldn't fund international travel and didn't want me to pay for anything out of pocket. We had a great Skye interview and things seems to be going on track since. Bottom line- I think you're fine if you don't attened, just keep an open line of communication to your POI and program administration.

Assuming you're talking about the psych NRC rankings- go with that. The R1 thing is for the university as a whole. If you're going into psych it doesn't really matter that there's a ton of astrophysics research going on at the school.

I learned that one the hard way... However, the ending is what makes it annoying. If it's just "you sound like a good fit for our lab", then that it is much more promising!

I'd just let them read the e-mail for themselves (and watch their reaction )

Another one I just realized: "I will be happy to work with you"= go ahead an apply for the program, but it means nothing after you've applied...

AMEN!

I don't have any clear data on this, but I would imagine that if you get your PhD from a prestigious program, but you're only "average" there, it would put you on par with someone who was excellent at a lower ranked program when it comes to applying for the same job. Thing is, if you're an average PhD candidate at a top program, there's a good chance you would have been a "rock star" at a lower ranked one (especially if that program was a better fit in terms of research interests) so ultimately- it doesn't matter. Go with the most prestigious pragram you feel like you could be successful in, and UChicago is a very prestigious school and their psychology department is home to one of the most prolific and original researchers in my field.