PokePsych

How I studied; 1. Went over the math review of GRE - summarized it, did their practice questions, etc. Was a great way to understand what they want. My initial quant score was 143 before my review (forgot all formula's, rules, etc.) Most concepts that were covered in this review were things I covered during high school, so it was more a refresher (although I failed maths in high school as I never went to class lol) 2. Did the quant practice questions - plus checked what they were looking for in answers (both quant book + official guide) 3. Used Manhattan 5lb book for quant - was also extremely useful in seeing the strategies they use. Definitely helped me on at least 8 questions over the whole GRE (considering the total is 40, it definitely helped me improve). Probably helped me most. 4. Did not bother much with verbal - did little bit of flash cards for vocab but didn't help much. Plus I'm a non-native speaker with a 120/120 TOEFL so I was just aiming for the 150s which I consistently got on my practice tests. 5. Went over the explanations for AW in both GRE official guide, GRE verbal practice book and Manhattan My final scores were 161 (88th percentile - lol), 159 (73rd percentile - good enough for me considering where I started 3 weeks before with my 143), 4.5 (82 - also good enough) For maths, first try to really UNDERSTAND what is going on. Then do practice.

I was able to use TOEFL for all my applications - UBC waived me (but accepts toefl), U Waterloo accepts TOEFL and so does Simon Fraser U. Usually both are OK.

Although I'm by no means an expert - sure!

article B; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7535005 ---> if you go to pubmed and search for the jalife dude; this shows up under 235. Seems he was just taken of the author list - but was maybe promised. Maybe he was supposed to help with the manuscript but turned out to be too busy in grad school in the end. Who knows. Maybe he's bene using the same old resume over an dover and forgot to take it off (Unintentionally) Am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for A. Probably a grad student mistake. There is an actual document sorta there.

interesting its now password protected. Just got my popcorn.

My 2 cents; Only tell a story when there is an actual story to tell. I'm writing SOPs towards to different topics/research interests. Some may have a story, some don't. I never really used a 'hook' - I believe my credentials and the like should be the hook. Advice that I have had is don't try to be cute, funny, or creative (unless you are - but don't try). Just stick to the facts. One has a story and tell how most things I have done the last 5 years are directly related to my interest in topic X. And it's nothing but the truth. It was really when I read paper X that I wanted to pursue this for research, the reason why I moved abroad (relevant to my topic and what there inspired me to do research), and returned to get a grad degree + how the things I did in grad school are related to this topic and how these experiences will help me excel in a PhD. I use the same sort of outline for all SOPs on this topic but change some sentences to make it fit better to that specific school. My last paragraph is about how the school fits to me in mention some specific projects by usually 2-3 faculty members and what I can learn there (e.g., specific methods or they have a quant minor I can take, certain combination of topics, how recent direction person X fits my interest). And then mentions somethings why I would benefit their program too. My other ones are more dry. It's about how I want to do research on topic Y and how I got into this topic my first year in grad school by working with prof Y. And that I have been also doing my thesis on topic Y as well, so I have spent a good 2.5 years now pursuing that topic. It then goes on about what I have learned in my 5 years in uni and how it relates to this topic and things I learned during different research projects that I have been a part of. It then proposes some remaining questions or things that are unanswered in the literature (PI that I emailed was intrigued by them so feel its good to repeat them in statement). Then it goes back to how this all relates to uni Z and how it all will help me to be a very succesfull PhD candidate. It's shorter than my other ones, simply because I do not have a specific motivation or big story to tell about it. I just like it and find it superinteresting and it fits to my background in numerous ways + I have the skills to do it. Yeah it's a lot more dry and less engaging but I'm not gonna come up with a hook or forced story on why I want to study Y - I just got exposed to it and happened to really like it. So story short; Fit your structure to your essay; not the other way around. Try to 'captivate' or 'hook' them by showing you are qualified and that you have some cool ideas and then go into why them. Don't use empty statements such as 'top school' - they know. Don't go we overlap in interest; say in what ways. Tell something about a specific framework they use (One school developed this theoretical framework 3 years ago that I used as the basis for my thesis, and another prof there heavily influenced my work in another way, also they have a quant minor, I can develop certain methodological skills with someone else, plus location has great assess to my ideal sample) and how you would fit in (i.e., I am familiar with their dominant frameworks and work done there. I think I can extend their work in ways X, Y, Z which would benefit the overal lbody in literature. Plus I'm experienced and can do stuff such as meta-analyses, know my stats + methods, and my background leads because of A & B). OK for some schools I have a little bit less on why they're a good fit and why I am a good fit; but I make sure to mention some specific things.

It's natural haha. Plus the way facebook works most people won't even see it, it kinda only shows stuff of profiles you interacted with recently. I never post on facebook for the same reason (except travel pics lol)

I'm 25 now so not much older than you really. We don't plan on marriage really (except for visa reasons) nor desire to have kids (we live a bit of a nomadic life and really enjoy that - we love travelling and different cultures. I mean - I want to be a cultural psychologist for a reason. I find exploring the world - whether it is in terms of human psycology or travelling the most satisfying thing there is). But if you would have asked me 2 years ago - before I started grad school - I would say I would sacrifice everything. But there is so much about academics I don't like that I have discovered and there are so many parts of myself that have not received the attention they should have because I was always working/studying/competingwithothers. I miss some of my more time consuming hobbies - especially hobbies and interests I share with my boyfriend. There are so many things I want to learn outside of academics that I don't have time for. So it's not that I would sacrifice my career for my relationship. I wouldn't do that. But I would do it for myself. There's a lot more in life than work - and I love academics - but I love myself more. Work/career is only one part of my life and certainly not the most important. This opinion has also been shaped by working in industry/business as a researcher recently in consultancy. And although I find it less satisfying than really pursuing my own line of work in academics, there are a lot of pros there in terms of work-life balance, no concerns about grants, no pressure to publish, etc. I wouldn't be against it considering there's a lot of gains in terms of my personal life. Seeing my research (I did some research on mental health & corporate world) translated in interventions and a growing network of companies that use this line of work to tackle this problem - it is also super rewarding to see that I made the world a bit better in this way. That said - I'm still pursuing a PhD because I also think it will help me find these type of jobs (especially if I improve my stats). I'm currently pursuing a line of research with my supervisor about group dynamics & pay in corporate world so I've always had been interested in applied research as well. So Yes - I want a career but it doesn't have to be in academics and after all - I just want to do research on topics I like. Sure I still want to stay in academics. However, I am not willing to make the same sacrifices I had to make the last two years to succeed and compete. I nearly had a burnout, I was not able to do some of the things I love, it affected my health (luckily my boyfriend is super supportive and always cooked, cleaned - but it was no fun for him to see me so stressed and tired), and it affected my overall happiness. I have had talks about this with my amazing supervisor and he also acknowledges a career in academics - at least until tenure (and in Social Psych) does require certain sacrifices in terms of time spent on work vs. self vs. others. And I don't want to do this again. I hope I will just be able to work on a very fruitful line of work during my PhD and go to a good school - but I'm not gonna force it. If it's not gonna happen, its not gonna happen and that's totally OK with me.

Annyeonghasseyo! Sorry - I'm in Seoul haha. Your GPA is not low - it is for sure above the cut off scores. Sure GPA matter - but its not the only thing. Good qualifications on other things can offset 'weaker' scores - although a 3.7 GPA is not weak. I think your volunteer experiences are good for sure. Do you have any specific area of clinical you want to head in? Maybe you can use your international background as an advantage (there's a lot of things going on about diversifying clinical psych as theres a growing awareness about that therapist and the like should be more mindful about cultural or minority differences in terms of expression and so on. Also complaints can be vastly different across cultures). Also who's this friend? A successful grad student? A prof? Or just another regular student who found something online? But do note clinical is generally hard - and the GPA is not going to be a reason why to reject you. Rather it's just the sheer number of qualified applicants like yourself that are the problem. Do make some SWOT analysis (google if you don't know what it is) about your profile, and start focusing on your strengths and build on them and see if you can cover a bit of your weaknesses. However, do focus on what sets you apart - this is what I've been told is the biggest selling point.

I have found having a relationship very tough next to grad school. I have finished my master's now and it has taken its toll on things between me and my bf. I have been fortunate that he's super supportive of my ambitions and has no problem with them. He is himself a bit less ambitious. He's even looking forward to move abroad with me for my PhD as he's always wanted to live in North America again. That said - the balancing act of things I wanted to do for my career vs. him has not always bene in his favor. But I'm determined to do it better this time. I'm less hung up on sticking it out in academics tbh and becoming a succesful academics. Almost losing him.. there's more to life than careers and education really.

Making assumptions here on my own experience, but it almost sounds like they're intimidated. I had this actually during my two year MA. There was a group of people who started ignoring and shit-talking about the high-achievers in the program in the second year. They would openly ignore them and whenever there was a presentation just shoot on everything (even criticism that did make no sense). Yeah I had this stabbing (most dumb comment 'I don't believe in cultural differences in psychology' - like OK just go home plz), I had the literal ignoring when I was with certain people in a group and some of the 'nice' people were ntot there (like entering a classroom early), I had the envy when I was asked by profs to join their projects, and even the comments that prof. X and Y just liked me and gave my high grades because I was pretty (or something). Whatever. I'm succeeding far more in my career than they are atm, some have unpaid PhD positions, some have are doing PhDs on topics they dont even like. But don't think of them as being two years behind - schools vary strongly and so do learning curves in two years - everyone has their own speed and abilities. A MA doesn't necessarily put you ahead of others. Maybe they had things in undergrad you weren't exposed to or their undergrad degrees were more rigor (at least this is what I noticed when I started my MSc that my degree had prepared me a lot more thorough than others). I've had great conversations with some of the initial low achievers in my program (language barrier played a big role for this guy for his grades), got exposed to some cool theoretical work from someone else, and so on. I personally didn't have to put that much effort to get my M.Sc. so I personally also don't think that highly of it. Nor do I feel like I learned an awful lot during the last two years - that said I absorbed a lot during my bachelor and had a very research focused profile already. Sure my writing improved, but theoretically/stats-wise I didn't gain much except for what I read myself - but I could have done that during undergrad too. This was certainly different for some of my classmates who struggled a lot at the start. The title itself doesn't earn you respect, it's the comments you make and the things that you say and it's up to anyone whether they want to listen to it. This sort of thing has to be earned - and maybe you didn't show 'enough' yet to earn this respect. Deliver quality work that shows that you're ahead. Say things that make your profs and more advanced grad students turn heads. This is when others will listen. I also am not sure if my M.Sc. will help me in my PhD. I will face the same situation as you likely. However, I do think the theoretical frameworks used there may not always translate to the PhDs I want to get, and anyone could have read a book on those topics and know the same. Sure, I got more hands on experiences with research, but if someone helped out an awful lot in undergrad - I'm not sure how far ahead I'll be also since I'm mainly trained in group dynamics (meso-level) and am relatively inexperienced in macro-level psych or micro-level psych. So I'd happy to listen to anyone who can help me improve on this. And yeah, I at least I hope I don't need to go through the same horrible departmental politics as before although I can teach everyone a thing or two about how NOT to navigate through them. But I'm pretty sure my program would be different as at my current uni it's pretty uncommon to have undergrad assistants and so on. There's going to be a whole different dynamic and I'm not sure how much I can use from here at my new school. So Im not going to give advice I think - or that's my plan - maybe offer suggestions eveyr now and then, but especially be very receptive at first to others. But the fact that they ignore all MA's may indicate that there's some insecurity/intimidation (although that could be reinforced by giving advice) I know it's annoying and frustrating. But just let them be. They'll learn the hard way that advice is valuable from anyone any time - regardless of the stage in their career. I've learned as much from people less advanced in my career than those further ahead. Even my supervisor said he learned some things from me (he's not that stats savy). Focus on you, invest in relationships with staff and the people who are supportive, be open to learn from anyone, and just be the best version of yourself in grad school.

*virtual hug* That's the right attitude! Just go for it! GRE's are only one part of the application I'm happy Im done with the GREs

Try opening .docx on windows XP pre-installed office (YES MY UNI USED THAT UNTIL THIS SEMESTER - updating everything, including some programming software, stats software, etc. to latest version can be expensive and a painstaking process - we only updated because of security reasons). It DOES mess up .docx when opened in windows 7 (not office 365). Spaces disappear, some formatting gets distorted. It does depend on the font, however I wouldn't risk it. PDF would be the save option in all instances anyway.

I'd go for PDF. Simply because if the school uses an old word processor the formatting may be messed up (spaces dissapearing, etc.). Whereas this is not the case with PDF. Unless of course the school states otherwise

off topic but there are so many people with pokemon nicknames and/or pictures here. Love you all!

Oct 9th 2017 Powerprep 1 - V = 153 Q = 143 Then started studying - I mainly focused on quant and did flash cards here and there - although doubt if it increased my vocab beyond 20 words and none of them were on the actual test lol Oct 25 2017 Powerprep 2 October V = 157 Q = 151 Studied more on Quant. Didn't want to bother too much with verbal as English is my second language and already got my LoRs covering my English abilities Nov 2 2017 Actually test (unofficial scores) V = 161 Q = 159 I studied first using the GRE maths overview and their quant book - which was what caused the big increase from powerprep 1 to 2 (I forgot all formula's before I studied). ETS materials are certainly the best for what you need to know, although they won't help with learning strategies for the more advanced or trick questions. For the last 10 days I studied the Manhattan 5lb questions book quant section like crazy - I did some of the questions, for others I just went through and looked at the answers. I was able to recognize quite some of the questions and was able to use the strategies from this book. I don't know where my increase in verbal comes from, I basically ignored it since it was pretty OK from the start. English is also my second language so I'm feeling actually quite proud. I had my LoRs covering my ass for my English (native speakers) but not needed now. I do have a sort of feeling for some words I guess and I'm pretty good with the text questions. And my stats classes are all A's, so I'm feeling more confident in my application than 3.5 weeks ago with my 143 quant. Did not get my AW results yet, my first essay wasn't great (the statement was so weirdddd), but I think my second one is strong. Considering I studied approximately 3.5 weeks 6 days a week, I'm feeling pretty good with the scores I got. I don't plan on retaking it. This should do. Also ugh Experimental Verbal Section was so boring and annoying and I didn't really understand one of the texts so I was so afraid my score would get fucked. Until I got to the last Verbal section and was like hmm this seems more like it.

If there are already any lines - they are very blurry. Most programs will have substantial overlap. The MA program and PHD program at my school has a neuropsych program - but they certainly get physiology classes as well. There focus tends to be a bit more toward clinical neuroscience or the behavior that is associated with certain brain regions. So I'd say it is not uncommon for these programs to have a strong clinical aspect (diagnosis, treatment, etc.) - although not necessarily and it may even be offered as electives. Our neuroscience program focuses a bit more on genetics or computational methods and they have an experimental track (i.e., research methods such as fMRI). That said - most classes still overlap. Often they're all part of the electives pool. The main differences is the strong focus on the growth of tissue, genetics, etc. However, one could easily argue that this is also neurophysiology in which my school has no program. It is very dependent on the program - I wouldn't say there is a 'real' distinction. It rather seems to depend on the individual school.

Join the club.

Meh, I'm applying to just 6 so don't worry. Maybe another 7th and 8th one in the bunch depending if I have time for them (probably not - ASU is super annoying with applications and the location doesn't appeal to me at all). Most of them are very competitive. I'm also applying to Stanford - but different lab (Hazel Markus <3 Jeanne Tsai <3 I love all things cultural psych haha) I'm also going to give it another shot next year otherwise - and will probably try to get some more experience in the mean time. But its nice you know the faculty! That never harms (unless they dislike you or are not very impressed by you - this happened to a friend of mine who spent half a year at Harvard's neuro department and then they were like mehh). And your experiences look great I also didnt have at much time as I wanted for the GRE. I worked full time May + June + working on my thesis so there was absolutely no way to spend any hours on it. Then July I worked part time and was still busy with thesis, needed to gain my energy back after being exhausted, but tried to study here and then. August still working part time and helping my bf move to a different country (visa issues), tried to study but constantly things kept showing up that needed to be taken care of. September was horrible as I needed to work more at my part time job, spend some time abroad, and well... tried to spend time but again not enough. I'm just lucky with publications - right people right time! One I was asked to help out. The other one is just having the best supervisor in the world atm (although I don't think I can learn a lot from him anymore - we've been working closely for two years. And our interests only partly overlap). Am also happy supervisor gives me the lead on the paper - although honestly it has been my idea + work really. I'm still stressed out about the whole application process. Still need to work on my statements! Ugh.. I'm constantly lost and second guessing myself. I'm mainly mentioning my time abroad as part of my narrative about my interest in cultural psych (i.e. I liked it so much I wanted to experience it and thats why I moved to Asia for a year and am living there again now. I just want to learn about different cultures and take it very seriously). I used it to mention how it shaped my academic interests (i.e., either about how I"m from a very horizontal culture and was amazed by the instant hierarchies in Asian societies, or mention about the emotional expressiveness that is fairly absent here - and how that lead to questions and the topic of my PhD).

ssure! I'm doing social psych. send me a PM

We could do social psych - org psych exchange! send me a PM I'd like to get a fourth opinion too haha

After all, GRE is only one out of many parts of the application you know. Sure it may help to improve some less than amazing scores, but never underestimate the rest At least their average scores sorta make me hopeful that even with a less than amazing GRE schools accept people Which schools are you applying other than Berkeley?

Logan B. You do realize that last year the average GRE score for social psych at berkeley was 155 for each section (http://psychology.berkeley.edu/students/graduate-program/faq-gpa-gre-toefl). I'm probably fucking the GRE next thursday. Did not have enough time to prepare and I can feel a flu coming up. Decided to just focus on the rest of my application which I believe is very strong. Not gonna be able to improve my maths a lot in a few days now anyway. Plus am asking my references to emphasize my amazing English skills. As a non-native speaker I heard this helps haha. I'm just emphasizing my GPA (3.9/10), soon-to-be-published manuscripts, stats knowledge (meta-analysis, factor analysis, some cool regression techniques, qualitative data), and how my thesis and majority of research I've done the last 2 years fits to my topics I want to work on. As well as some other life experiences if they're related (e.g., those programs with a cultural psych background, how I lived in Asia for some time etc.).

I'm feeling you! I nearly had a burnout a few months back - have been sturggling with anxiety for a bit now. Am now trying to transit from a non-US Master to a North-American PhD.. Had a couple of full blown panic attacks in the last month, starting to lose hair, and don't sleep well.... Things that has worked for me: 1) Learn how to say NO. I don't need to take every project, learn everything at once, and so on. Even if I have joined a project - I just say this month I'll try my best to take care of it - but no promises. I need my time for other times. Prioritize and prioritize yoursel fmost of all. 2) Surround myself by positive people. It rubs off. I have many friends who are not in academics. Social support is just so important. I'm actively trying to meet new people. 3) Find friends who go through the same thing - I feel less alone and realize I'm not crazy. Imposter syndrom is real. 4) Combine 2 + 3 in a support network. I have a bunch of friends in and outside of academics who are willing to listen and cheer me up. I have a good friendship with my former supervisor who is always rooting for me and probably beliefs more in me than I do myself and I love running into him. I have friends who know nothing about academics and I am happy to chat with them about other things. My partner is amazing in getting me grounded and telling me to shut off my laptop, stop working, and watch a movie with him. He will let me know when its too much or when I'm being too work-a-holic. 5) Do not pressure yourself to do everything and all at once. You do NOT need to learn everything NOW and join all projects. Quality over Quantity and the same goes for quality of life. 6) Do not compare yourself to others. This was probably my biggest step. Yeah some may have certain skills I don't have. Yet I have my own cool skills and traits too. Do not overstretch yourself trying to catch up or compete. Focus on your strengths, play them out well, try to identify some things you want to learn. I tend to make a couple of long-term goals, and a few short-term. And then I ahve a list of things I want to do - but I will not do them now - I do not have the time. Besides, the job market is just so.. well.. you can have most skills and most publications and maybe they still like someone else better for whatever reason. One of the profs in my department disclosed to me that he was almost not hired as he had a gap in his publications (somewhere mid grad school) and apparently the head of the department was against him for that reason. Now he's a fucking rockstar here and doing far better than that same guy. Then I know this other prof who barely published anything nor did any teaching but then his interests PERFECTLY aligned with the department he wanted to work for and he is a lot of fun - he got the job at a top 10 school. And prof 3 I know just got hired as she started dating one of our staff members during her PhD and he's a big shot here so they hired her because he threatened to elave otherwise. Don't make urself any illusions that you can influence the job market too much and just try to be the best version of you you can be - and recognize the limits of this. 7) Develop some non-academic hobbies. Potentially join some clubs in this so you need to take a brake from academics. I'm doing photography, cooking, pilates and yoga, learning a new language, learning about movies. Clubs also have helped me to make friends. 8) A regular 'rhythm' in life. I try to sleep more or less the same time eveyr day. I try to balance my diet in that it is healthy (worked beautifully - bye chocolate). 9) Never take criticism personally an drealize it can be supersubjective. I've had the same paper being teared apart by person 1 and praised by person 2. Plus people can be assholes. 10) professional counselling - Just go for it when you feel the need. Mental health still has stigma's and prejudices. But it exists for a reason.