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Yeah. My point was that cog neuro people tend to have bio/chem backgrounds and not just psych backgrounds, so their GPAs might be lower. Clinical usually has the highest GPAs just because clinical is so insanely competitive. Although with sample sizes so small, this isn't always true. No problem! I think most schools look at applications holistically, and so research experience + strong letters of recommendation can make up for so-so scores, but if you're applying to really competitive places it may be more of a factor. I think it would be really interesting to see how much GRE scores can be boosted with intense training. My guess is that with sufficient practice and the right strategies you might be able to bump your score up by 1/2 to 1 standard deviations, but that might vary a lot from person to person. I was able to go from scoring in the low to mid 160s to 168-170 on the official practice tests after a month of doing an insane number of practice problems. Just familiarizing myself with the different problem types and learning tricks/shortcuts helped a ton. You will also become really good at mental math if you don't use a calculator when practicing, and this allows you to solve most of the GRE problems super quickly. This is really important if you're anything like me and tend to make a lot of careless mistakes. If you finish the sections fast enough, you'll have enough time at the end to double-check your work. Best of luck!

I feel ya'. All I can say is keep at it and make sure you are using good sources. My go-to recommendations are Magoosh, official GRE practice books from ETS, the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of practice problems (math only), and Khan Academy. Brushing up on vocab is also worth doing using the Vocabulary.com app, Quizlet, Word Power Made Easy, etc. There are also some super nerdy (but kind of addicting) vocab podcasts. That's a good point about GPA. My GPA wasn't all that great either compared to a lot of applicants around here (a little better than a 3.7). Some of that was down to me not having the best study strategies early in college and some of that is just down to the fact that uncurved bio classes are pretty tough. I don't know what it was like at your school, but at mine psych classes were *much* easier than bio/neuroscience ones. A B+ in a bio class was actually quite respectable while as in a psych class it meant you didn't really try. If you look at UC Berkeley's admissions stats (http://psychology.berkeley.edu/students/graduate-program/faq-gpa-gre-toefl) you'll see that cog neuro people have the lowest GPAs. The sample size is too small to draw any firm conclusions, but my intuition is that's not purely coincidental.

The importance of the GRE varies greatly from school to school and maybe even year to year. Your presentations and research experience will go a long ways, but a mediocre GPA (by grad school standards anyway) and GRE scores won't do you any favors. I know that retaking the GRE is expensive and a pain, but in your case I would strongly recommend it. I've posted about this several times in this thread, so take a look at the past couple of pages. For the more competitive schools on your list, you should ideally be scoring >80% quant, >90% verbal, and at least 4.5 on AW. A strong research background and letters of recommendation can compensate for lower scores, however. The way I see it is this. What will help you more at this stage, pouring 100+ hours into research or GRE prep? In your case, almost certainly GRE prep.

If you had a 4.0 that might be a problem (but even then, given your other accolades I don't think most admissions committees would bat an eye), but with a 4.5 you are squarely in safe territory. If you want to convince schools of your writing chops, submit a thesis or publication.

You are probably one of the most qualified applicants I have seen around here. I would NOT retake the GRE. AW isn't that important anyway--I know that I didn't bother preparing for it. I scored basically identically to you (170V/168Q/5.0AW/99% Psych GRE), but my other stats were no where near as good as yours. I didn't apply to uber competitive schools like Harvard/Stanford, but I was accepted at UCLA, UMichigan, and others. I think if you find a POI with a good research match you are just about guaranteed acceptance anywhere.

Definitely check with the Directors of Graduate Studies to see if this is the case. I know this is true for California schools like UCLA, but I'm not sure if it's universally true across the country.

You have a lot going for you. Solid GRE scores, research experience in a lot of different labs, academic awards, and real-world work experience. The one thing blotting an otherwise excellent application is a mediocre cumulative GPA. What you need to do is convince admissions committees that you have turned over a new leaf and have the academic chops to succeed in grad school. This can be done in your statement of purpose, where you may want to explicitly mention your early lackluster grades and how you have made an effort to turn things around, and by having your letter writers emphasize that you have the aptitude to do well. Also, if you were working while taking classes, maybe you can discuss how this limited the time you were able to devote to coursework and studying. You don't want to make excuses for yourself, but if you've been working 20-50 hours/week I think you have a valid reason for not being a straight A student. I think it's ridiculous that a couple of bad grades early in college can undermine one's admissions chances, but that's just the way it is. Try your best to get very high grades this year so you will have a more competitive GPA next year if you need to reapply. Cut back work hours if necessary. A 4.0 senior year certainly wouldn't hurt. : ) You will also need to explain why you are interested in IO psych or quant and how your various research experiences have prepared you. Previous research experience is perhaps the most important factor in the admissions process, so make sure you highlight this in your statement of purpose. Since the research you've done is quite different from what you plan on doing, you should explain how the general skills you've acquired will transfer to a new area. Best of luck!

Yeah, retaking the GRE is probably unnecessary. I'll be the first to admit I'm biased because the GRE helped me compensate for a merely good GPA (I feel like all psych majors who get into competitive clinical programs have >3.8 even though the data say otherwise). Don't worry too much about the psych GRE. I had a lot of fun studying for it. After all, you are reviewing stuff you probably already learned at some point and that is mostly interesting to you. When studying for exams keep in mind the principle of diminishing returns. By studying let's say 60 hours you can significantly improve your score. Studying an additional 60 hours will help but not quite as much. And studying another 60 hours for a total of 180 will probably only improve your score marginally. So spend your limited study time focusing on key concepts and famous names and theories. Don't expend a ton of effort worrying about the nitty gritty details (unless you're a huge nerd like me and have fun doing so). With a big, comprehensive exam like the psych GRE it can be easy to lose the forest for the trees. As long as you score >90% you should be fine (and even >80% is probably good enough). With a psych background and some focused study this isn't very hard to do. Using ETS' scoring charts, some back-of-the-napkin math tells me you need to answer about 83% of questions correctly to do this, less if you don't provide incorrect answers to the questions you don't know. On that note, I think it's actually better to guess on any questions where you can eliminate at least two of the five multiple choice options. This is because you will have a 33% random chance of getting the right answer and are deducted .25 points for every incorrect answer. So just purely probabilistically, you will maximize your expected score by guessing on any questions where you can eliminate two trap answers.

I don't know what to say other than keep at it and don't lose hope! There are some people who genuinely do have a math disability (dyscalculia) and maybe this is you, but if you are scoring in the 42% chances are you just need to build up your math intuition. I used to believe this was something that was more or less intrinsic and set in stone by young adulthood, but now I think it's a skill you can develop just like any other (thanks Anders Ericsson and Carol Dweck!). So the first step is to build up this math intuition by doing a combination of learning about math theory (Khan Academy, Magoosh, mathisfun.com), doing a lot of practice problems (Khan, Magoosh, Manhattan 5 lb. Book, official ETS problems), and perhaps most importantly, thinking about the abstract relationships between mathematical concepts. Also, do mental math whenever you get a chance. Think of this kind of like going to the gym. At first you aren't going to be able to run for very long or lift much weight, but with repeated practice and the progressive overload principle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_overload), you can work your way up. I think math ability functions similarly. A big part of math intuition is thinking visually about abstract concepts. The most basic example of this is the number line and something like absolute value. A natural way to think about absolute value is the distance from zero. This is something you can easily visualize using a number line. Or take the case of the Pythagorean theorem. It's really just a formal way of saying that there's this special relationship between the sides of a right triangle: https://www.mathsisfun.com/pythagoras.html This same relationship also underlies the distance formula. If you think about distance in a Cartesian plane, you will see that you are basically just drawing a right triangle when you calculate distance. Visualizing math will help you with fractions, probability, combination/permutation problems, rates problems, and all kinds of things tested on the GRE. Don't underestimate the power of repeated practice, especially if it's distributed in time (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacing_effect). To get really good at something there aren't any shortcuts. You just have to do that thing a whole lot. It's like that training sequence in the Karate Kid (wax on...wax off). So create a daily schedule for yourself where you are alternating between learning a new concept and practicing problem solving. Do this at least 2-3 hours per day. Interleave the types of problems you solve (so don't just do a bunch of triangle problems one after another, mix things up just as the real GRE does. The Magoosh practice problems do this for you). Remember that for the real exam you will have a time limit, so do your practice problems under timed conditions. Learn tricks and shortcuts to find solutions more quickly (the Magoosh videos have a lot of these, and the Magoosh blog even more). If you do all of this I think you should definitely be able to score >60% and potentially much higher than that. Final tip: try to have fun! Seriously, if you change your mindset from "I can't wait 'till I'm done with this stupid exam" to "yay, I get to learn about math today!" you will probably do a lot better and not stress out nearly as much. It'll also help motivate you to actually practice problem solving every day. Best of luck and have faith in yourself!

My understanding is that there's a pretty big difference between PhD and PsyD programs, PhD programs being primarily research-oriented while as PsyDs focus more on practice. So you'll first want to decide where you want to fall on that divide (research first or practice first). Also, PhD programs are almost always fully funded, while as PsyDs may not be or may not provide you with a stipend. Definitely something to consider. Reviewing the recent literature and hunting down prominent names in the field is a good way to find potential advisers as Anxiousapplicant recommends. I took a less efficient but perhaps more comprehensive approach. I started by identifying a research topic (you've already done this). Then I visited the faculty pages for the top 60 psychology programs in the US. I instantly eliminated schools that didn't have faculty researching something I was interested in or only had one faculty member that was a good fit for me. I then made a list of all potential advisers in a big spreadsheet and closely reviewed their lab webpages one by one. As you can imagine, this took some time but helped me get a better sense of what I was really interested in and what I wasn't. I narrowed this list down to eight schools that had multiple advisers I might want to work with, were well regarded in my research area, and were located in a geographic region I would be willing to live in for five or six years. I made my final decision after interviewing and getting a sense for each adviser's working style as well as how supportive I felt the other grad students in their lab were (an important factor that I think is overlooked by a lot of applicants). As Anxiousapplicant said, picking an adviser is deeply personal and IMO by far the most important factor when choosing a program. There's not a one size fits all approach, but hopefully you have a sense of how to find advisers. Either take Anxious' strategy of 1) looking for names in the recent literature or 2) comb through the faculty webpages of all schools you might potentially apply to. Asking your current adviser for suggestions is another option.

That quant score unfortunately does put you at a disadvantage. I would get in touch with the DGS' of the programs you are considering applying to and ask them if they have cutoff scores for the GRE. Many places won't even review applicants with scores below a certain threshold. How did you prepare for the GRE in the past? Given your GPA I take it you are a bright and motivated person, so there shouldn't be any reason you can't raise your score if you prepare properly. I used a combination of Khan Academy, Magoosh, the official ETS GRE books, and the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of practice problems. I solved an ungodly amount of math problems to prepare (many, many thousands), and that helped me immensely. That said, I've always done well on standardized tests, so you may need to find another strategy that works for you. You might also want to brush up on vocab and/or general test-taking strategies. A 78% verbal isn't bad, but typical scores at top programs are generally >90%.

You sound ultra qualified to me. Maybe you could bump up your GRE verbal score a bit, but otherwise I don't see much room for improvement. RE: the Psychology GRE. Given your experience and GPA I'm sure you'll find it a piece of cake, but if you're aiming for a top score I would recommend reading an intro psych textbook or two cover to cover and knowing them inside out. Supplement that with reviews using either Barron's or Kaplan's latest Psych GRE prep books. Know the DSM V. Review in particular any areas you're weaker on or don't know much about (e.g., industrial-organizational psychology).

Hi there, It sounds like you have a pretty good shot to me. Your GPA is excellent and the fact that you are a neuroscience major is actually a plus in my opinion--it'll set you apart from a lot of the other psych applicants. Research experience is very good for someone applying straight from undergrad, and the fact that you have posters and publications is a huge plus. It's true that you are at somewhat of a disadvantage having done neurobio research rather than cog neuro, but honestly I think what most committees are looking for is people who have high quality research experience in general. I also went to a "public Ivy" (not a fan of the term) and did research in undergrad very different from what I'll be doing in grad school. I had a cog psych background but hadn't done any work with fMRI, just EEG. I was nevertheless successful with my applications and am now starting in an fMRI lab. I think all the schools you are applying to are potentially good fits depending on the PIs you want to work with. Do you know specifically what you want to research? I might be able to recommend PIs. In my cohort quite a lot of people are coming straight from undergrad, so I don't think it's necessary to take time off (although I did and I think it can help). I would apply now and if you don't get in this year you'll have a big leg up for next year. I would be very surprised if you don't get in anywhere, though. I would consider retaking the GRE if possible. Your scores are pretty good, but you can probably do a fair bit better if you study intensively for it. Since you don't have a psychology background it may also be a good idea to take the psychology GRE subject test. I think the importance of the GRE varies a lot from school to school, but it can never hurt to have super high scores! I suspect the GRE helped me a lot.

If your choice is between sloppily putting together a lot of applications for PIs you aren't a good fit for vs. carefully tailoring your application to a handful of programs then I agree completely. I just know a couple of super qualified people who only applied to a few places and ended getting in nowhere. Since I applied to cog neuro programs which aren't as competitive as clinical I only sent out eight applications. But if I had decided to go clinical I think I would have cast my net more widely.

I know that some programs have GPA cutoffs, so check with the director of graduate studies at each school to see if they have one and how strictly they enforce it. Hopefully, a high Master's GPA can offset a mediocre undergrad GPA. *An aside: Does anyone else think it's crazy that we now consider a 3.4 to be mediocre? IMO that should be a good GPA, and anything above a 3.6 should be spectacular. Grading criteria should be standardized across professors, classes, departments, and even schools, otherwise it's a pseudo-meaningless number. There's no easy way to do this unfortunately.* I think you are doing all the right things. Focus on your research projects and good things should come your way. Letters of recommendation are super important and can help convince admissions committees that you have the academic and intellectual aptitude to succeed as a researcher. I would definitely recommend retaking the GRE. Your scores aren't bad, but because your GPA is lower than other applicants' you need to really shine here. I would spend a solid 1-2 months preparing for it using resources like Magoosh, Khan Academy, the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of GRE practice problems, and all of the official material that ETS publishes. To be competitive for clinical you should ideally be scoring >90% verbal and >80% quant. It may also be worth taking the psychology GRE subject test. After doing your Master's it should be relatively easy to score >90% on that, especially if you review with an intro psych textbook and a guide from either Barron's or Kaplan. My final piece of advice is the same that I tell to all clinical applicants--apply to a lot of schools (at least 15)!

Yeah, I agree with Plasticity. While clinical is insanely competitive, I think you have a good shot if you tailor your personal statement to your POIs and apply to a lot of schools. Research fit is really key, and it sounds like you are basing your schools on mentors so I think you are on the right track. It says your location is Rhode Island. I'm curious, are you at Brown? Also, I would recommend only applying to schools where there are at least 2 PIs you might want to work with. That way if your primary PI leaves or you don't get along with them for whatever reason, you won't be left completely in the lurch and can switch advisers. Plus, it's helpful to have several faculty members who are researching things in your area. This can enable collaborations and also makes it easier to find members for your dissertation committee. You'll also up your admissions chances since if one faculty member can't take you that year maybe the other can.

Honestly, I think with clinical there are so many applicants that it's a little bit luck of the draw. The weird thing is if you look at stats of admitted students they aren't even *that* amazing. GPA is usually somewhere ~3.7-3.8 and GRE scores hover around 80% quant and 90% verbal (e.g., https://www.psych.ucla.edu/graduate/areas-of-study/clinical-psychology/student-admissions-outcomes-and-other-data). Yet, they only accept somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-5% of applicants. The numbers just don't add up, so I assume that GPA/GRE is not that important and research experience/letters of rec trumps all. I knew a very qualified friend who was rejected from all five schools she applied to. I don't know what her stats were, but I assume they were very good. I wish I could say something constructive, but other than applying to a ton of programs I don't know what else you can do. If this is your fourth time applying I would definitely be considering plan B's just in case. There are so many career options these days, so it's not like you have a shortage of possibilities. Don't give up just yet, though. I have another friend who was admitted to his top choice med school after his third application cycle. #anecdata

Maybe have some friends and/or professors look over your application materials and provide helpful feedback? They might be able to spot improvements you can make to your SOP and CV. The SOP forum here on Gradcafe might be helpful, too. If you haven't already, try reaching out to the PIs you want to work with. Send them a brief email telling them a bit about yourself (2-3 sentences max) and why you're interested in working with them. If they reply back, ask if they would be willing to look at your CV. They can tell you whether you would be competitive and if they would consider taking you as a student. I suspect the programs you're applying to are very competitive, so another tactic is just to apply to a huge number of schools--at least 15. While this can get pricey, if it helps you get admitted somewhere it's worth it! Also, it doesn't hurt to have a plan B. Apply to Master's programs if necessary and/or lab manager positions.

I applied to cognitive/cog neuro programs and not clinical so I might not be the best person to weigh in on this, but I think you should be competitive at many places. GPA should be good enough for most programs barring the ultra-competitive schools, especially if your junior/senior GPA is higher than freshman/sophomore and/or you took lots of hard classes. The quant score is middle-of-the-road, but most psychology applicants don't have exceptional quant scores so you should be okay there, too. Verbal score is good and AWA is excellent. What will really help you is the extensive research experience you have + lots of posters + letters of recommendation. This is what will probably get you admitted. I would shoot for the moon and apply to a wide range of schools. Maybe 2-3 top 10s, 8-10 ranked 10-30, and a couple ranked lower than that. If you want to spend a lot of time perfecting/obsessing over your application, you might want to check out my post in this thread:

Hi there, I also ended up cramming somewhat for the psych GRE. I would recommend buying one of the review books on Amazon (Kaplan or Barron's, latest editions) and going through those if you have time. AP Psychology review booklets might also be helpful and can be covered in a day or two of intense study if you already have previous familiarity with the material. Keep in mind that the test is curved pretty heavily, so it's not like you need a perfect score. There were a handful of questions regarding material I was unfamiliar with that I just skipped. I probably got somewhere around a 95% raw score (i.e., percentage of questions answered correctly), but because of the score distribution I was >99%.

This one covers the basics: https://www.amazon.com/Barrons-GRE-Psychology-Laura-Freberg/dp/1438005733/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1471456194&sr=8-3&keywords=psychology+gre This book is not super in-depth and is best accompanied by other sources (intro psych textbooks, the internet), but it covers the majority of what you need to know for the test. Good luck!

GRE scores are valid for five years from test date (https://www.ets.org/gre/subject/scores/), so if you are applying this year you should be able to submit your scores. That said, it might be worth retaking for a higher score if you have the time and means (but prioritize the general GRE if you haven't taken that yet). 72% isn't too shabby, but you can do significantly better if you study for it seriously. I wrote a brief guide on how to prepare for it in this thread: Edit: Just wanted to add that I agree with Anxiousapplicant01. If your score is close to the listed average for your program, it may not be necessary to retake. Taking a GRE subject test is expensive and time consuming, so you'll want to check with the directors of the programs you'll be applying to to see how much they care about it (if at all). Also, definitely prioritize the general GRE as most programs weigh that much more heavily. Good luck!

I would second this advice. Your research experience seems good but cumulative GPA is a little low depending on the programs you are applying to. Scoring highly on the GRE is one way to show that you have the intellectual and academic chops to be a successful researcher. See my post in this thread for advice on how to prepare for the GRE:

Hi chillbee, You might want to check out my post in this thread for general advice on applying to psychology PhD programs. To answer your questions specifically: What should I aim to have on my CV? In short, research experience. It doesn't necessarily have to be in the area of cognitive psychology, but research experience is a de facto requirement for research oriented PhD programs. You are getting this so you should be okay. If you can volunteer at a psychology lab that will also be helpful and demonstrate that you are serious to application committees. Should I contact professors? Yes. Here is a guide on how to do so. I would also recommend checking out the rest of that website: http://www.howigotintostanford.com/index.php#top While a little out of date, much of the advice is still applicable today. When contacting professors, be sure to ask whether they will be accepting students for next year and try to get a conversation going about their research and how it relates to your interests. Be sure to respect their time by keeping your messages succinct and to the point. The initial contact email you send them should only be 1-2 paragraphs in my opinion. Conferences are also a great place to meet potential advisers if you can go to one. Should I visit schools? Yes, and in fact you will almost certainly have to when you interview with the schools. You don't have to do this until you are interviewing, however. Any particular classes I should take? Stats and research methods classes. Psychology classes in general as well of course, but especially classes related to your field (e.g., cognitive psychology, sensation/perception, etc.). The fact that you have a background different from most psych applicants will help set you apart. The Wikipedia page on music psychology has a great list of labs that you can target (scroll down to the section 'Centers of Research and Teaching'). Northwestern even offers a Music Theory and Cognition PhD: http://www.music.northwestern.edu/academics/areas-of-study/music-theory-and-cognition/index.html P.S. I know very little about this field, but two books I can recommend that you may like if you haven't already read them are This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin and Musicophilia by the late Oliver Sacks.

I would go for it, too! I think you are a *very* competitive applicant. All you have to lose is money from the application fees, and based on your credentials, applying is a risk well worth taking IMO. Make sure you apply to as many schools as you would seriously consider attending to up your chances. Even if you aren't admitted for whatever reason, you will gain familiarity with the application process for the following year. The things you can do at this point to improve your admission chances are: 1) Ask your professors to go ahead and write you rec letters in the next few months. Keep reminding them about this until they complete it. It sounds like they know you well, so these should be very strong! 2) Narrow down the list of schools and PIs you will apply to. I would recommend applying to at least 5 programs but not more than 15. 3) Start working on your statement of purpose. Highlight the extensive research experience you have. Honestly, I think this is more important than having your name on some publications. Here are some useful guides on how to write a compelling SoP as well as some good (albeit not perfect) examples: https://clinicalpsychphd.wordpress.com/the-sop/ http://lauraemariani.blogspot.com/2008/12/applying-to-graduate-school-statement.html https://sites.google.com/site/gradappadvice/application-essays https://www.dropbox.com/s/hgchezw2lkcc33g/Mariani SOP Emory.doc 4) Polish up your CV and make sure it is up-to-date. Have a professor review it and offer suggestions on how to improve it. 5) If you have a writing sample to submit (e.g., Honors thesis), polish that and have some professors critique it. 6) Keep up that stellar GPA! If you do have to apply again, having a >3.9 GPA is going to help you immensely. That said, don't be afraid to continue taking challenging courses if they are relevant to your studies. 7) If you have time over the summer, spend a couple of weeks really drilling down and studying intensively for the GRE. Your practice test scores should be good enough for almost all programs out there, but it never hurts to overstudy if you have the time! To up your verbal further, keep taking practice tests and brush up on vocab. For quant, practice as many math problems as you can get your hands on under timed conditions (45 seconds per easy problem, 60-75 seconds per medium problem, 90-120 seconds per hard problem). Here are the GRE resources I used to prepare: Official GRE Books (Do ALL of the problems in these books, and make sure you understand why you missed any questions) Manhattan 5 lb. Book of Practice Problems (Don't waste your time with the sub-par verbal section, but do ALL of the math problems under timed conditions) For even more preparation, I would highly recommend Magoosh. A little pricey but well worth it if you are aiming for a top score. If you don't want to spend so much on GRE prep, check out the Magoosh blog. If you are aiming for a 170 on verbal, I would use some combination of the Magoosh Vocab app (free I believe), a book like Word Power, and spending lots of time reviewing the countless free GRE vocab lists available online. Apps like Vocabulary.com and Quizlet are extremely useful for learning vocab. There are also many free vocab podcasts which you can listen to while commuting, doing chores, etc. While low frequency words aren't as common in the new GRE, you can still boost your score by 4-5 points just by taking the time and effort to learn them. You might even discover the inner logophile in you and end up having fun! TL;DR: Apply! Here are three additional websites I found very useful: Mitch Prinstein's Page on Grad School Advice Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process Katherine Sledge Moore's Graduate School Application Advice Good luck and have faith in yourself!