Quantitative_Psychology
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Everything posted by Quantitative_Psychology
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@schenar You have no idea how awesome it is to hear from someone else who is applying to Quant Psych programs for the Fall. I'm happy to give you my thoughts on your questions. However, I would put a bit more stock in @spunky's thoughts because he has made it to the other side of the application process unlike me who is also in the process of applying. As far as research experience goes, I don't think it is inherently a problem that it is scattered. I've always been a firm believer that you just need to spin it the right way. For example, all my research has been substantive in nature, not so much quantitative. However, I can talk about how in each project I've been in the data analyst role (e.g., I did the SEM, factor analysis, etc), and I used different statistical programs (e.g., R, SAS, SPSS) to accomplish it. So for that reason, I would think scattered research experience doesn't really need to be a problem depending on what you did in those projects (Finance thesis sounds promising). On a side note, I've never actually heard of shadowing a lab. What does that entail? As far as your previous math background, this may be enlightening. It is unclear to me how much your math background matters. It could be lab dependent, but I've seen plenty of people get accepted with just a psych degree and no math degree. So perhaps it isn't a problem at all. Just like with any application for a PhD program your research topic doesn't really need to be all that specific. Most of the time you end up changing what you want to do research in any way. Your research interests should align with the advisor your applying to though. So you will have to know enough about the quant topics to know what you're interested in. This also helps you figure out who and where you're applying to. As far as your position as an applicant, I honestly have no idea. It is worth noting that there are hardly any applicants in this field. That could certainly benefit you. Hope this helps! If not, I hope @spunky can offer some insight. -
I was seeking advice from my advisor on my CV, and she suggested adding my GPA to my CV if my GPA was good. I have mixed feelings about this because my Undergraduate GPA was a 3.31, but my Master's GPA was a 4.00. Do you think the Undergraduate GPA is low enough I shouldn't put it on my CV? It is nice to highlight the Master's GPA, but I feel like I have to either put both on or leave both off.
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Also, note that in psychology a graduate student's CV functions differently than a faculty's. Specifically, a graduate student can put things like research experience on their CV with descriptions of his or her role in the lab. This is particularly important when you consider the fact not everyone has publications initially when applying to grad school. In addition, grad students can also change up the order in a way that makes them look most impressive. For example, my CV goes education, publications, oral presentation, posters, statistical skills, research experience, and finally honors and awards. However, if I didn't have any publications I would lead with research experience. As far as style for CV, I would definitely ask an advisor or professor that you're close with for example CV's they have from successful previous students. They are typically happy to share that with you, and it can make the design so much easier.
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For counseling, you'd need to do a counseling master's program. General psychology master's can help you get research positions and some data analysis positions if you do a lot of stats work.
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That's a tough one. I've never heard of someone saying that when asked for a letter of recommendation. Typically they just tell you that they are not a good fit. With that being said it isn't always easy to find letter writers early on and one year is a long time to work for someone. I would I'm think it may be hard to find a replacement letter. Maybe try and talk to him and seek clarification. Most people will be upfront if they think they can't write you a good letter.
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question about dropping class/grad school
Quantitative_Psychology replied to Oilersfan11's topic in Psychology Forum
I can't speak to all MA programs (especially ones in Canada), but I had two W's on my transcript when applying to experimental psych MA programs in that states (one for my first time taking calculus as a freshman and another for some history course I hated as a junior). No one has ever asked me about them or indicated they even noticed. I got into all three I applied to. I would say unless the course you're dropping is important to the programs you're applying to, I doubt they'll care at all. This is especially true if you have a good GPA. -
Quitting a TA position for a Research postion
Quantitative_Psychology replied to Quantitative_Psychology's topic in Teaching
Thank you both for your thoughtful advice. I really appreciated your fresh perspective. No one else is spoken to presented suggestions quite so well. If anyone is curious about how it turned out, I am pleased to share. I did ask my advisor about the situation, and she too voiced a concern that the coordinating professor for the teaching position might be offended if I asked to quit in the Spring for a research position. My advisor especially noted that as a coauthor I needed to be extra careful in handling this. However, she instructed me to speak with the coordinating professor immediately and be upfront in assuring said professor that if it inconvenienced or upset her that I would absolutely turn down the research position with no questions asked. I was extremely nervous walking into that conversation, but turned out my worries were not warranted. The coordinating professor did find the request odd and told me that typically this is a year commitment and she would hold me to it. However, the circumstances just so happen to be that the 5 positions teaching positions that we currently have for the fall are not all needed for the Spring. In fact, the department only need 4. Despite only needing 4, the department was trying to make 5 positions for the Spring just to ensure no one loses funding. Therefore, the coordinating professor was happy to release from the teaching position into the research position. It actually worked better for everyone involved. I am aware that I lucked out in this case this situation could have gone badly. However, I also wish I'd been more secure and less worried about having the conversation with her. The coordinating professor and I are very close, and I honestly don't think she would have held it over my head for simply asking had it not been possible.- 4 replies
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Currently, I'm a graduate teaching assistant which for my school means I teach the lab for the statistics course. There are currently 5 graduate teaching assistants, and we teach two labs sections each. I applied for this position at the end of last semester, and I was selected out of a pool of 10 or so graduate students. Things seem to be running smoothly, although I don't particularly like to teach. However, today I was speaking with a brand new professor for the department, and he said he wanted to take me on a research assistant for the Spring semester. If I took this position, he would have several papers he's working on and would be happy to make me first author for. He just needs some one to do the data analyses and writing. The catch is I would have to quit my teaching position and focus on working in his lab. This seems like a good idea because publications are really important. The thing is the professor in charge of the graduate teaching assistants and the one who selected might be offended if I just quit at the end of the Fall. I get along with her really well, and I've submitted a paper with her (plus I'm working on another). I can't afford to have her not like me or think less of me. Should I quit the teaching position? Do you think she would be offended? Is there a way I can handle this in which she doesn't feel offended? I need advice on the best way to manage this situation.
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@April12345 I would like to put you more at ease! I really don't think anyone would hold it against you that your research wasn't directly related to psychology. This is especially true if you make the bridge to your current research interests in a clever way (this would happen in the Statement of Purpose). For example, I'm currently doing a lot of research for medical journals on knee replacement surgeries, but I'm bridging it by saying I became interested in the psychological components that make surgeries go more poorly for some and not others. I hope this helps! On a side note, I noticed that you are applying to a lot of California schools. You might want to check out UC Merced. They don't have a social area, but they do have health, developmental, and quantitative. Who knows, maybe they will have a professor who magically works awesome with your research interests (stranger things have happened).
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Human Development and Family Studies Program at UT Austin. Lisa Neff and Tim Loving both look at romantic, interpersonal relationships. I worked in Dr. Neff's lab for a summer, and she was fantastic. My advisor in my undergrad is a psychology professor that graduate from that program (so don't think you'll be stuck in HDFS if you apply to one of those). Although they don't directly work in the realm of ASD, I bet your interest would align well enough that you could work on a dissertation in the area under one of them.
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I am currently in the process of selecting Quantitative Psychology programs to apply to in the Fall. In doing this research, I came across a program that has one professor accepting graduate students. His research interests and mine work well together, and I thought this would be a good program to apply to. However, I realized in searching the website that there are no current quantitative psychology graduate students listed. This seems very unusual to me, but their admission statistics suggest this is a distinct possibility. Would you apply somewhere that doesn't have other graduate students in your area? Is this a red flag? I'm not certain how to interpret this.
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When should I begin studying for the GRE's?
Quantitative_Psychology replied to MBAer's topic in Psychology Forum
I studied hard for 2 months and found it to be enough. Of course, during those 2 months, I treated studying like it was a 9-5 Monday-Friday job. The length of studying somewhat depends on your score goals and where you're at. I'd definitely suggest taking a practice test to get a feel for how far off you are from your ideal score. -
@cowgirlsdontcry You're on point about grading too hard on APA style. As much as I personally dislike it, at least half of the points for assignments are APA formatting. My rubric states I need to take off 1 point per mistake. Students, of course, find it very unfair, but I can't change the rubric a professor gives me. I think it has to do with the class being Research Methods. So the point is for students to understand the writing style standard in the psychology field.
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Hey everyone! I'm super glad I found this forum early. This is my second time applying to Ph.D. programs (although the first time I applied I was going Clinical Psychology and now I am going Quantitative Psychology). That was almost two years ago. I am currently a second-year Psychological Research Masters student. I'm hoping I'll have better luck this go around. Program of interest: Quantitative Psychology Research interest: Structural Equation Modeling and Network Analysis limitations and applications Schools: A wide variety including UNC Chapel Hill, Ohio State University, UCLA, UVA, Arizona State, UC Merced, etc. Number one worry about applying: I feel like I'm still haunted by a less than stellar undergrad GPA. I graduated with a 3.3. During my sophomore year, I took a bunch of Bio and Chemistry classes in addition to Calculus and it wrecked my GPA. It was quite a climb to get to the 3.3. The reality is that was 4 years ago. I'm a different person now. I hope they don't hold it over my head. Not worried about: Master's GPA (4.0), GRE (V157, Q161), Research Experience (2.5 years in 4 labs), Publications (1 submitted, 2 in prep [potentially submitted before application deadline, fingers crossed]), and LoR (3 pretty stellar ones from the labs I've worked in for the past year) On a side note (speaking to anyone who has potentially been rejected and is super down), getting rejected 2 years was a good thing. It was a complete ego blow, and I was devastated. However, I decided to go to a Masters program to try, and improve my chances and from that experience, I realized that Clinical was not a good fit for me. I'd never even heard of Quantitative Psychology in my undergraduate. Plus even if I still wanted to go clinical, I gained 1.5 years of research experience and posters/publications that would greatly improve my chances. Just want to throw it out there that rejection can be helpful, and 1 year can make a dramatic difference in your application!
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Thanks for the advice! It was actually pretty awkward when the students went to the department head because the department head went and talked to the professor. It was an odd situation because the students had never spoken to the professor or myself about the issues that they were having. I'm pretty sure the professor was embarrassed by the whole thing. The professor created a very clear rubric for each assignment in this class, and I great exactly to the rubric. However, in both instances of my grading, he has changed the rubric retroactively to give students more points because he feels he did not properly explain something to them during class. I know he is able to do this as the professor, but I do think it may be what makes students take my grading less seriously. Both @fuzzylogician and @TakeruK are probably on the money that I need to meet with him to voice my concerns about students. Originally, I felt like he wanted me to handle all grading issues, but he might not have had this kind of situation in mind when he said that. Surely this is outside the realm of normal TA grade resolutions. Thanks again for the advice!
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TA Research Methods Problem Student and Professor
Quantitative_Psychology posted a topic in Teaching
To start with, I've been a Research Methods TA for 2 years and never had a problem until this one summer class. However, for this summer course, I'm under a new professor who, unlike my past professors, is an extremely poor communicator (this may adding to my problems). Basically, for this class, my responsibilities include grading assignments (mostly papers for APA formatting). Yesterday, I graded my first assignment. The students didn't do particularly well because they messed up on APA formatting quite a bit. This is pretty standard for the first assignment in the course. However, three students went to the head of the department to complain about me and try to say that I needed to attend the course. They said they had no access to me (despite my email being on the syllabus with a note saying I would meet per email request). Then, I got several angry emails from students about the assignment demanding that I add points back to their grade. The thing is my previous students have never been so hostile towards me about grading. Sure they've asked about grades, but I've never had any of them command I change their grades. In addition, I found out that one of the girls who complained about me to the head of the department was a girl who failed the Research Methods course I was a TA for last year. Evidently, she got all her friends to jump on the bandwagon. My thoughts are that 1) the girl who went to the head of the department (without ever once talking to the professor or me) is angry because she failed last semester with me grading and this is some kind of revenge 2) the professor is somehow coming across as not having my back; thus, the students are trying to stomp all over me as the grader. Am I being paranoid? What should I do to improve the situation? Any advice would be appreciated (even if the advice is I'm overreacting). -
Hmm, I've never heard of the distinction of "together but independently" vs "together". I wouldn't think it would impact how you would solve it because they are still getting the same total "work" done. However, I too sometimes get hung up on the Work problems. I know for a fact that Magoosh never bothered to make that distinction in their videos on work problems. That would indicate to me it isn't an important distinction if there is a difference. Wish I could be more helpful!
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From what I've seen many people apply to both Education Psychology Measurement programs and Quantitative Psychology programs. Personally, my interests lean a little more Quantitative, but I bet I could be happy in an Education program as well. I'll probably apply to a couple as well. Out of curiosity, is your Master's program under psychology or education/school psychology? Currently, I'm in a Psychological Research Master's program and having to go outside the department for the more advanced/interesting measurement and statistics courses.
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Some people swear by Magoosh. I find it to be particularly helpful if you need review on some of the math concepts (been years since I took geometry). If you have the $150 to spare for a 6 month membership, it could be very helpful.
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Bump?
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Yeah I'm a full time student that started my master's on August 25, 2016. So Fall last year.
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Low GRE Score - Do I have a Chance?
Quantitative_Psychology replied to Inez_Only's topic in GRE/GMAT/etc
I would definitely consider trying to retake it. Right now it is just a bit too low to be quickly overlooked. It would suck if they didn't pay attention to the rest of your stellar application because of the GRE. Did your score improve between the first time and the second time? -
Honestly, I would consider this a situation where you can reach out to the schools admissions staff and ask. You wouldn't want to not include it and have them consider it lying if they found it later, but they might not care/want the information. I wouldn't think it would hurt you as a candidate though if it was included because there would obviously be growth.
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@Levon3 Thank you for the helpful websites. I was having a lot of trouble finding the proposals that had won previously. Much appreciated!
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Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately, no one in my institution has ever won it. Do you think professors who have previously won grants worth talking to?
