sociologicalpizza

if we get the email tomorrow there’s definitely going to be a small part of me wondering if it’s a prank

Anybody looking into school psychology PhD programs? Asking for a friend (literally)

I was once told that strong GRE, LoR, GPA, and Research Experience are the biggest factors (yes, of course writing sample and SoP are important, but I'm quoting here) and that you should have 3/4. So if one is weak, the other three need to be strong. As far as MA vs undergrad GPA, I don't think they care about your undergrad GPA once you have a Master's, and from what I've heard to get into a PhD program your MA GPA should be close to a 4.0. I don't know a lot about that though, just what I've heard bumping around here. I'm going straight from undergrad to PhD. I will say, though, you're going to see a lot of people on this website saying "i dont know if i can get in I only have a 3.8 GPA' and be like wtf am i doing here- don't. I JUST graduated with a 3.6- like I barely made it there- and I got into essentially my top choice program (I had a couple of top choices). I'd agree with @rising_star, very poor grades may keep you out but great grades will never get you in. There's so much more that they're looking for. I'm in the US btw.

I thought I'd bump this and also share the advice I've been given, which is different than what people have been saying so far. My mentor told me that I should start reading as much as possible and reading fiction. Basically that over the next 5-10 years we will have no time to read for fun, but we will have to read several books a week. So her advice was to get into the habit of reading that much every week, but read whatever I want basically. And read different things and challenging things because it will make me a better writer as well, which is also an important part of grad school. Good luck everybody!

Finally! Acceptances: University of Kentucky, University at Albany (SUNY), Indiana University Bloomington, freestanding MA at Columbia Research Area: Inequalities in Education, Gender, Secondary Education Final Choice: IUB Reason: overall fit, location, it was my top choice I finally got off the waitlist yesterday... I'm so excited!

I'm like an 8 but lying to myself and everybody else pretending I'm a 6

has anybody on the indiana bloomington waitlist heard anything from the department?

I'm still waiting to hear back from a waitlist- can't wait until I can post my final decision!

Did you guys prepare for your visit days at all? I'm nervous af

do we know when Indiana's visit day is? I didn't choose the waitlist life, the waitlist life chose me.

Anybody going to the Albany visit day?

@WorldPeaceMaker2010 @Schwein yeah Albany sent an email to those of us with funding who have yet to accept our offers yesterday that was like "no big deal take your time but also pls let us know if you're rejecting it" it's so hard, Albany is top of my list at the moment as far as acceptances but everything is so up in the air still. I have a feeling I'll be holding on to it into April just because of the possibility of getting off another waitlist. But also, there's a huge chance I'll end up accepting the offer, so I guess in that case it wouldn't matter how long I held onto it.

I did see on their website that somebody went on to a PhD program at Berkeley. Thanks for the info!

I cannot answer that question but I've been looking into it and it seems like it would be a cool program to be in. It's one year, emphasis on qualitative research slash mixed methods, working toward a MA thesis, emphasis on urban research. According to the website it would be approximately $77,315 for everything including housing and life. And they said 1/3 of the students who get their soc MA at Columbia move on to PhD programs within two years and I would like to know what percentage want to get their PhD after the MA because if its most of them then 1/3 is a terrible stat for that. I also might contact the master's program advisor because she said she'd be down to chat. I also can't really afford it regardless so I'm mostly just fantasizing.

Yeah, I didn't check that box that said I wanted to be considered for master's if I wasn't accepted for PhD. I guess you're right, there is no harm in having them consider me. The email they sent us said something like 'partial merit-based support for a few incoming MA students' which doesn't exactly sound promising. That is, however, to be expected.