St0chastic

Just to be clear, I am not the OP, although I too had some Skype interviews and found the advice on this thread very helpful. Most of my phone/Skype "interviews" so far haven't really been traditional interrogative interviews per se as they have been mutual conversations. Mostly, my POIs gave me an overview of their program and lab and invited me to ask questions. While it's difficult to gauge, my gut feeling is that they went fairly well--or at least well enough that I was invited to come for the in-person interview visits. Over the coming weeks I will continue to research the labs I have applied to work in, rehearse my "elevator pitch," and draw up a list of questions to ask.

Congrats, that's great news!

I PM'd you.

Thanks for the helpful comments everyone! I will try to keep all of these points in mind as I prepare.

Congrats to everyone! The past few days have been rather eventful. Much to my surprise, I've received interview invites from Northwestern, Urbana Champaign, WUSTL, and UCLA. I applied to cognitive/cognitive neuroscience programs. I have a lot of background reading and research to do over the next month!

I have used and recommend 1) Khan Academy, 2) Magoosh, 3) Manhattan GRE. If I had to only pick one of these, I would probably choose Magoosh, although keep in mind that Khan Academy is completely free to use. You might also want to check out ETS' Math Review PDF.

Yeah, 2 months is just to be on the safe side. 1 month is probably sufficient. Also, IMO, 3 months is enough time to study for the GRE unless you have never encountered the math topics on the test before. Here's a 3-month study guide from Magoosh: http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/2-3-month-gre-study-guide/

As Lucan mentioned, it's a good idea to schedule your exam a few months before the deadline so that you have time to retake it if necessary. Hopefully by studying so much you will only have to take it one time! I don't think most schools will care when you took your exam or how many times you took it, but you might want to check in with the programs you are applying to to confirm this.

Hi Winner, 1. I personally used the following: --Magoosh --Official practice books and practice tests written by ETS --Khan Academy --Manhattan 5 lb Book 2. Scoring a 160 is totally doable. I am not someone who is naturally gifted at math, but I was able to score a 168 with about 5 weeks of review despite making a few careless mistakes on the test. To do well on the exam, it's critical that you practice answering as many questions as possible under timed conditions. When I started practicing, it usually took me 3-4 minutes to solve the most difficult problems. After doing a few hundred practice problems, I was able to solve almost all of them in under 90 seconds. Learning how to do speedy mental math will pay dividends. Don't get frustrated when you make mistakes. Analyze what in your reasoning led you astray and identify the most efficient way to solve the problem for future reference. With 6 months of time to study, you should be able to practice answering several thousand questions. After doing this, you'll find that you are able to answer 90% of questions on the test almost effortlessly, which is good enough to get a 160.

Hi, I used Khan Academy to review for the GRE and feel that it helped me quite a bit. Sal goes into more depth than strictly necessary for some topics, but this can help solidify your mathematical understanding. The key is to make sure that you do as many practice problems as possible - - this is how you learn math. I scored a 168 despite missing two data interpretation questions due to carelessly misreading a graph and generally scored between 168 and 170 on the official practice tests (the majority of the questions I missed were due to careless errors). I'm not particularly good at math IMO, so you should certainly be able to do well if you spend a few months practicing. Make sure that you do all of the official practice problems and practice tests written by ETS in addition to the problems offered by Khan Academy. If you are looking for additional resources, I highly recommend Magoosh. The Manhattan 5 lb Book of practice problems is also worth getting if you are going to be studying for 6 months.

Thanks for posting this! I've been looking closely at the Master's programs offered by Villanova, William and Mary, and Wake Forest. They all seem like great programs that are perfect for preparing someone for a research career. I wish I had known about them as an undergrad so I could have applied as a senior.

Hi, I'm not really qualified to answer this as I'm not in grad school, but I think you have a few options: 1) Complete a Master's degree before applying to PhD programs. This will demonstrate that you can handle graduate coursework, and completing a Master's thesis will help you stand out. 2) Work as a research assistant/lab manager for a year or two to bolster your research experience. 3) Consider alternative career paths that allow you to remain involved in research. I know that most of the more well-regarded programs have cutoffs around 3.0. I am not aware of any collective database that contains these cutoff values. One thing to consider is whether it's worth pursuing a degree from a lower-ranked program that accepts applicants with sub-3.0 GPAs. For professional degrees, school prestige is less important, but in the research world this unfortunately matters a great deal: (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/02/university_hiring_if_you_didn_t_get_your_ph_d_at_an_elite_university_good.html). If you have extenuating circumstances that can account for your GPA and if you are able to get an outstanding GRE score coupled with stellar letters of recommendation and a lot of research experience, you might be able to be admitted somewhere. Just realize that it's going to be an uphill battle that is going to require huge amounts of dedication. Psychology PhD programs are notoriously competitive, and even those with high GPAs are routinely rejected. Personally, I'm concerned about my GPA as well (a little better than 3.7). The only reason I applied this year is because I scored a 338/340 on the GRE and have a few years of research experience, but statistically, the odds aren't great that I'll be admitted. I say all this not to dissuade you but just so you realize how cutthroat admissions are. Even if you are committed to a research career, you might want to consider alternative tracks that are slightly less competitive (e.g., counseling, speech-language pathology, Psy.D programs, teaching, etc.). I definitely am! If you know that you want to be a research psychologist, work hard and follow your dream! Just don't overlook making a plan B. Who knows, your plan B might even become your plan A! EDIT: This site is very helpful and might steer you in the right direction: http://mitch.web.unc.edu/professional-development/ Also this: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2012/05/02/dont-let-grades-test-scores-keep-you-from-graduate-school

Congrats! I received an invite from Vanderbilt (Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience) for their interview weekend in February. I have a lot of reading to do between now and then!

Does anyone have any tips on how to prepare for a Skype interview? Is there anything I should do aside from reading some of the publications of the POI?

Hi Huma, First, I should preface that I was a psychology major. However, I took the subject test over two years after receiving my undergraduate degree, and a lot of the material that is covered on the test I learned way back in high school in an AP Psychology class (in many ways the subject test is just a more comprehensive version of the AP exam). I spent approximately 5 weeks studying for the exam. I began by reading an introductory psychology textbook (Myers and Dewall) cover to cover to refresh my memory of the basics. It shouldn't matter too much which intro textbook you use as they all cover more or less the same topics--just be sure it's a version updated with the DSM-5 classifications. I also used Wikipedia and other online resources to learn more about topics I hadn't covered in depth as an undergraduate (e.g., developmental psychology, history of psychology, industrial-organizational psychology). Finally, I spent two days reviewing from Barron's GRE Psychology review book. I ended up running out of time and so only made it about halfway through the book. However, I was still able to score an 830 on the exam (>99%). I'm sure I could have done even better with another week or two of review as there were several topics I did not have time to go over. Make sure you take the official practice test offered by ETS, and if you get the Barron's book do those practice tests as well. This will give you a sense of where you stand and which areas you need to focus on the most. If you miss a question, make sure you look up/review the content that was tested so that you don't miss similar questions on the real exam. Test yourself constantly. By this I mean quiz yourself on material you have just covered. This is proven to be a highly effective study method: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testing_effect If you do nothing but review an intro psych text and master all of the material it contains, you should be able to score >90%. If you want a really top score, then spend some time with Barron's/Princeton review books and use online resources as a supplement. You may also want to get an AP Psychology review book as they are easy to read but fairly comprehensive: http://www.amazon.com/Barrons-Psychology-Allyson-Weseley-Ed-D/dp/143800270X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450015562&sr=8-1&keywords=ap+psychology Here are some more resources you may wish to consider. I did not use these myself, but they are recommended by Barron's. Discovering Psychology: The science of mind: http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Psychology-Science-John-Cacioppo/dp/1305088379/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1450014757&sr=8-3&keywords=discovering+psychology Sensation and Perception: http://www.amazon.com/Sensation-Perception-CourseMate-Printed-Access/dp/1133958494/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450014807&sr=8-1&keywords=sensation+and+perception http://www.g2conline.org/ http://www.socialpsychology.org/social.htm http://socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php http://resources.iupsys.net/iupsys/index.php/timeline-all Best of luck!

I am also interested in this. I know that at my university most positions are posted on its HR website. You might also want to check this site: http://clinicalpsychgradschool.org/pbacc.php

Thanks for your reply! I actually just finished applying to several Cognitive Psychology Ph.D. programs, but given how cutthroat that field is (~5% acceptance rates), I'm exploring other career options. Over the past year I've been involved with a research project working with fragile X syndrome and autistic participants. From this I discovered that I really enjoy working one-on-one with people. My mom is an ESL teacher who frequently collaborates with SLPs, and based on my discussions with her as well as research I've done on the profession, SLP seems like a field that I would enjoy and could potentially excel at. While I love research, I feel that a more "applied" M.S. degree has several advantages over a Ph.D, namely much faster time to completion (2-3 years vs. 5-7 years), easier time securing a job, comparable or even better starting salary. Plus, it's still possible to stay involved in research even with a Master's.

Thank you! I've submitted most of my applications for this year already. Worst-case scenario, I can spend another year working as a lab manager/study coordinator/RA and try and get a publication. It's just very intimidating reading about admissions statistics (e.g., at Michigan they accept less than 7% of applicants), so the admissions process is very nerve-racking.

Hi, Not a troll. It's just that many/most of the programs out there post 3.8-3.9 average GPAs, so I know I'm below average in that respect. Is it fair to say that the GRE is mostly just used as a way to winnow down the number of applicants and that scoring highly on it doesn't give you much of an advantage? Based on what I've read, I think you are correct in that research quality and fit are the most important factors along with letters of recommendation. Here's how Michigan weigh the different factors: http://lsa.umich.edu/psych/prospective-students/graduate/program-statistics.html

Hello all, I have a few questions which I hope some of you can help answer. 1. What programs accept out-of-field applicants? I know that the University of Iowa, Vanderbilt, and Purdue do--which others should I look into? 2. What was your process for selecting programs to apply for? What were your main considerations (location, admissions data, program specialties, cost, etc.)? 3. Is there any reason not to apply to more highly ranked programs aside from the difficulty of being admitted? My basic profile: GRE: 170V/168Q/5.0AW GPA: 3.71 Biology/Psychology major (this is the Achilles' heel in my application) 3+ years of research experience in cognitive psychology/cognitive neuroscience labs Any advice about programs that might be a good fit for me is welcome!

Hello all, I've finished submitting most of my applications to Cognitive Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience Ph.D. programs. Of course, I know that no one outside of the admissions committees can answer "what are my chances" questions, but I am curious about how much strong GRE scores can compensate for a weak GPA. My general GRE scores were 170 V/168Q/5.0 AW, and I scored an 830 on the psychology subject test (>99%). Unfortunately, I have a very mediocre GPA (3.71), although it does have a positive trajectory with all A's senior year. Does anyone have any sense of how most programs weigh GPA vs GRE scores?

Hello all. I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with degrees in biology and psychology. Aside from having taken an introductory linguistics course and psycholinguistics, I do not have a background in SLP areas. Given this, I am looking at applying to programs that do not require an undergraduate background in SLP. Right now I'm considering Vanderbilt and Iowa. What other schools should I look into? Here are my stats: GPA: 3.71 (That's what I get for being a bio major, but at least my GPA has a positive trajectory with high grades junior/senior years). GRE: 170 Verbal/168 Quantitative/5.0 AW

Thanks for the responses everyone! @OshawottI am definitely looking at labs with more of a cross-disciplinary focus for that very reason. A few follow-up questions: when naming POIs I would like to work with in my statement of purpose, is it considered bad form to list people with different focuses? For instance, if there's a working memory laboratory and a decision making and judgment group in the same school, would I come across as being unfocused if I say that I would be happy to participate in either research group? I'm afraid that if I limit myself too narrowly then there may only be one or two POIs at each school that I could work with, but if I go too broad then the admissions committee will write me off as being indecisive. Also, should I only consider labs that use methods I have experience with (EEG and ERP), or can I also apply to labs that use other methods which I would like to learn (fMRI, TMS, computational modeling, etc.)?

Hello all, I am working on finishing up my applications to cognitive programs. My understanding is that since the majority of applicants that are seriously considered all possess sterling credentials, the key factors that determine who ultimately is accepted are research experience and the nebulously defined program "fit." My research interests are rather diffuse and span multiple areas of high-level cognition including attention, memory, reasoning and problem solving, and decision making. I have worked in labs that investigated (1) visual attention, (2) the relationship between sleep and different facets of cognition (visual perception, memory, language), and (3) decisional capacity among an intellectually disabled subpopulation. The one unifying strand across these different labs has been the use of EEG/ERPs as a primary physiological measure. I am struggling to present my research interests as being well defined in my statement of purpose. The reality is that I am interested in all of these domains of cognition, and so I feel that I'm being disingenuous if I say that I exclusively want to investigate "insert super specific topic here." How circumscribed do the research interests I write about in my SOP need to be? Would being frank about my multifarious interests preclude my admission? Any feedback on how you approached this in your own statement of purpose would be appreciated! EDIT: This website (https://sites.google.com/site/gradappadvice/downloads) has given me a sense of how to structure the SOP. However, the sample SOP is pretty specific in stating what the author would like to study. I'll quote her third paragraph: " While I enjoyed each of these projects in different areas of cognitive psychology, I discovered I am most interested in questions concerning the limits of human information processing. In particular, I am interested in blah, stuff, and other stuff. In graduate school, I would also like to explore response selection and cognitive control. By studying the limits of human information processing and taking note of when and how failures occur, we can learn how certain cognitive mechanisms function on a regular basis. I believe behavioral methods still provide us with the best way of examining cognitive processes, but I am also eager to use converging methods in my research, and I would like to further explore fMRI or learn TMS while in graduate school." Is it necessary to be this specific?

Not going to lie, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 hours...but I probably could have studied 1/4 as much and still done decently. If you want to do things more efficiently, I would recommend 1) watching all of the Magoosh math lesson videos at 1.5X speed 2) doing at least half of the Magoosh practice problems 3) doing all of the official math problems written by ETS. This can be done pretty easily in 2-3 weeks if you're dedicated. If you just want to score better than 160, you can skip combinations/permuations problems. Using Khan Academy is probably overkill if you're using Magoosh, but learning things from multiple sources is a great way to reinforce your learning. I did all of the problems in the Manhattan 5 lb. book over the course of a week which helped me get more rote practice. Spending this amount of time studying for just one test is probably totally unnecessary for most applicants, but if you're determined to get a high score and you aren't a natural math whiz, in my opinion distributed practice spaced over the span of a few weeks or months is the only surefire way to do so. The math on the GRE can be mastered as with any other procedural skill e.g. learning an instrument or learning to sketch, but it's probably going to take more than a weekend of intense studying if you don't already possess a keen number sense.