PokePsych

Some people are just impossible to cooperate with UGH

Happy Birthday! In my timezone you're probably already 25.

I love my part-time job. This is a first. Always feel happy to go there <3

Be aware that accreditation varies a LOT between countries. For example, an APA license does not necessarily qualify you to practice in Europe (at least Netherlands/Germany that I know of) and vice versa. Accreditation is usually needed for insurance reasons. The way you can get accredited also varies a lot between countries, even within the EU (in NL you have to do a post-master and on job training, PhD's don't lead you to be accredited and are only research-oriented in nature. To practice clinical psych here you need to do a master's - then post master's (expensive!) and then a couple of years of training). If you're serious about this - which you should be as it can be a cool opportunity - DO look into this. It's likely your first step. If you want to go to Germany you'd probably need to speak German (for obvious reasons - clients will predominantly speak German and not English).

on my period.

I did it after they submitted - but I have fairly informal and good bonds with all of my refs. I send them some pretty bookmarkers as I am abroad and it's sort of a nice craft they have here (just google Korean bookmark; I also picked one with a design related to scholars haha). Plus they're small and light so easy to ship Got very positive responses back.

my first response is: Do you want to do cognitive or social psych? What you describe seems to be more like social psych (group dynamics, decision making, social cognition) rather than cognitive psych (perception, memory, attention). Social psych is also highly related to behavioral economics, and some people argue that the two can actually not be distinguished. You'll also find a LOT of social psychologists at business schools and in consultancy (although MBA's generally earn more in consultancy for what I know). So first - make sure you know which of the two you actually like. Other than those, you may also want to look into organizational psychology (not the same as occupational). Maybe read an intro in psych book to find out what field you actually like most, then continue to read in that area (e.g., intro in social psych book or cog psy) to learn more about the field. Although it is possible to enter a PhD with a different background, you should have narrowed down your interests already by that point and preferably show you at least have some knowledge (whether it being from an economic perspective or not) on that topic. Do you have any idea which topic you would like to pursue a PhD on - and rather than which school - which professor would you like to work with (probably more important than schools in itself - I didn't apply to many 'top schools' because there was no 'fit' in my interests). You may want to consider checking out both business and psych departments in your case. As for your background - it would be hard to tell - again it will also depend on your topic to some extent and how close it will be to your economics coursework. Sure quant matters (and I'm not sure if people in psych would know microeconomics is serious quant tbh), but what is your research experience? This is a very important determinant of actual admission and you do not describe any. Second question; what would be your goals AFTER the PhD. If you want to do consultancy - a research master or general (2-years) master is likely to be totally fine and the actual research in the PhD would not do much extra really unless the topic is very very very directly relevant to consulting (I have worked in consultancy and talked with HR about this). If you want to do for example market or consumer research a research master's is generally sufficient too - it will give you enough quant and methodology to work with. Note that in this case you will still be 'practicing psychology' - although you won't be counseling or be a clinical psychologist. I did a Research Master's in (Social) Psych in the Netherlands - we also had some people who majored in economics or a different discipline in class. It's not uncommon at all.

There is no harm in asking professors if they can write you a GOOD/positive letter of recommendation (if not sure). I've had a short fall-out with one of my LoRs in the past but we talked it out and we're totally OK (plus I saved two of his projects so he's very favorable now as he almost lost his grant if I hadn't pulled through and revived the projects). I asked him about it very directly and he was totally OK with everything and said that even though we had that it should have been a good learning experience for me (and we worked it out professionally) and he certainly believes that I should be in a PhD program based on our work together could certainly mention a bunch of things that would make a strong, positive letter.

I'm not freaking out yet luckily. I mean.. at this point I think no news is good news as reviews have just started Plus things can take long. We'll see, we'll wait. In the mean time I'll just listen to Xmas music and finish my last two apps

Flu. I feel so horrible. It's popular in that the half city seems to have it.

The more I read about the application process - the more I am convinced there are too many qualified applicants and decisions are made pretty randomly from time to time (with a few exceptions there)

Grammarly's suggestions are also not always correct, so be careful with it. It does a good job, but it's not 100%

1. Don't compare yourself. Sometimes people with a less amazing resume get the position. Maybe that lab had already too many women and they were looking for a guy. Maybe someone had training in something they were looking for. 2. On a similar note: Never take rejections personally or think you're not qualified. 3. Realize that the admissions can be super random. I spoke to one of the prof's at my department and he decided between two applicants by flipping a coin (I KID YOU NOT). Try to distract yourself and do different things. I'm trying to learn a new language, work on some research projects I still have going, take the day off to use my camera, meet friends, trying to get better at yoga, etc.

Yes to shopping (always haha)

Sometimes I'm happy that my native language has a formal and informal way of speaking and it is considered impolite to speak to anyone you don't know well/higher in the hierarchy/older or same age in an informal way unless they tell you so. I even talk to my grandma in a formal way and still feel uncomfy addressing my profs by their first name even though they tell me too lol. I've noticed this in class so many times though... and it still bothers me. But I have a feminazi in my group so the few guys who used to do this generally got verbally attacked (that and her raging war on evolutionary psychology or any sorta thing that proposes gender differences)

I'd also recommend retaking. I've had a long chat about TOEFL & admissions with one of my professors. Apparently the speaking portion is also considered important for potential TA positions, some schools will have a cutoff score for those positions around 23 - 25 although unofficial. But it'd be obvious why they'd prefer someone with a higher score.

Someone else here with a 3 year BSc (Dutch) - my experience is that MOST schools at least in Social Psych do not consider it sufficient to start a Master's or PhD. I've contacted a lot of schools at the end of my Bachelor's and 99% was like 'nop we want 4 years'. Best to contact the individual schools, especially the specific programs.

1. Do take care of yourself - although I did not lose my dad during grad school (it was 2 weeks before the start of high school), I do know you do need to deal with this. And not like 'oh' I'll deal with this one the side. I did not take care of it properly, and it came full-blown back when I moved out to start uni. It's obviously in the way of things, so you need to 'clean up the mess' before you can continue things again. 2. I would start with maybe taking the semester off, at least in terms of any responsibilities. It really varies per person how 'long' you need to deal with this. For me it has also helped to continue to do things I enjoy - which includes school work, but with no pressure. So if you have any projects you are involved with that you really like, see whether you can do them without any deadlines or other responsibilities (so no extra stress). It will also keep you in touch with people and may make you feel less hesitant to go on a 'leave'. If you need longer, then go for it. 3. Do you need to move across the country for a leave? Can you stay where you are (given you have some sort of social support network or things you enjoy doing there)? Can you use the uni's counseling service there? Are there any 'stress-free' activities you can join where you live, such as sports, hobbies, etc? And is this better than at home? For me, moving out of a very unhealthy environment at home was the reason why I suddenly went through a lot. Find and think about what would be the best place and environment for you to deal with those things. If that's back at home - go there. But do note that other's will also be dealing with their grief, so it may not be what you expect. If you need to chat, or someone to listen - just send me a message!

awesome! will check it out

2 more apps to go! So happy that its almost over... this is wayyy too stressful Edit: Oh god there's going to be results too..... stress is back

I have a friend who went to their organizational psych or HR master's(not sure which one of the two) with a GPA below 3.6, but related work experience. He also wrote a decent letter how his experience made him better at HR and he learned things that he would never be able to learn in school.

If you're an EU citizen yes - otherwise not sure which European countries you're talking about :') At least not Western Europe, and Eastern Europe seems to be even less favorable towards foreigners these days (with some exceptions)

It's hard to tell in general. Acceptance depends on a bunch of things, including GPA, GRE, research experience, Statements, References, CV, and so on. If you want to do cognitive psych, I wouldn't go for a clinical internship, but head for the research - it's more relevant. Do a thesis if possible. Your GPA seems fine (although ideally you want to have it 3.5>). Join some labs - even as a volunteer - to get experience but also to get to know potential letter writers and them to get to know you. Research experience will also allow you to figure out what exact direction you want to take with your PhD (i.e., narrow down your interest), which will help you to write a SoP. Even with all your bases covered, you may still be rejected. There are too many qualified applicants and they may just feel a better 'fit' with someone, or someone may have a background/training that fits better to a certain lab, etc. Don't take this personally and also apply to multiple schools.

If you get your friends to copy-edit, make sure to find some reliable people. I asked my 'friend' to proofread my SoPs and she totally bailed on me - too busy being drunk if I have to believe instagram. No longer friends

I would be very careful with this - better to go for something more professional than a coffee. Even in grad school I refrain from taking away people's time for a 'coffee' - with the exception of my supervisor but that's more because I know for a fact he's totally up for this and we usually discuss science over coffee so it's more like a freeflow brainstorming session on what's going on in the field, new ideas for projects, how manuscripts are coming along, etc.