PokePsych

I certainly think 2 weeks is possible. Cognition is a broad topic and there must be plenty of questions unasked and unaswered. Other than that - every research question should be brand new and novel - otherwise your'e doing a replication. I'd find a certain direction (i.e., narrow it down - which part of cognition literature are you most into or is focused on in the lab), look up some recent papers on that theme to find out what's going on there and see if you can push it in a new direction. Also cognition is a very broad field - even subfields such as social cognition go a lot of different directions and have a lot of different topics. Nevertheless, if you are very unfamiliar with the topic, you may need some more time.

well, depends on whether you have already a sort of theme or topic. I had classes/times I came up with an amazing idea the day of the deadline (and got rid of my previous one) and pulled it off, and tehre were times I needed more time - also to read into the literature. Do you have a topic you are interested in and that would fit to this professor? Are you familiar with the literature on this topic to identify some gap (or are familiar of a new method that would allow you to research something novel too)? Do you have any specific method you want to familiarize yourself with that may push you in the direction of a question? (e.g., if you want to learn about hormonal research or something) Also it may be nice to ask what that prof is interested in and what they are currently looking into. Talking with him/her may also push you in a certain direction. Wouldn't be the first time that a prof is hinting in a certain direction or openly saying I wonder how ...

I just wrote a professor who's research I like an e-mail whether he could use some help as I love to learn more about the research process and that topic and would like to pursue a PhD. Sometimes I mentioned a specific skill (like one person worked with hormones, I wanted to learn more about that and those projects are labor intensive anyway) Did this with multiple people through the years, never had a bad respond, sometimes just that they were too busy and one went on maternity leave so fair enough. Approached 2 with my own idea - one didn't have time, the other project now has 2 manuscript in prep for publication. Most profs will be very helpful though. In the end you're also helping them.

*up So how bad is the situation here really atm? I'm bringing my Asian partner and he's freaking out from what's going on and is saying I shouldn't apply to UVa.

Welcome to the forum! I'm also new First of all, unless you want to work in a specific country in Europe - I'd advise against it. Accreditation standards vary widely and I know that even between European countries you can't easily transfer your license (i.e., a Dutch license to practice counselling/clinical sessions is not necessarily valid in the UK and vice versa - this goes for multiple countries including Canada and US). So you won't get an APA license in Europe in General. For example, I'm from the Netherlands and we do a Master and then postgrad training (expensive!!) to become practitioner. But you need certain points as part of your coursework (often gained during undergrad) for this etc. I think you should really consider what your future goals are - practice or more research and how can you get there. If you're not sure - take your time to figure out by for example doing an internship or volunteering somewhere. I did this between my undergrad and grad and it really convinced me that research was right for me and also which field and which topic. With regard to programs - I found it very valuable to actually ask programs and grad students at these uni's directly. I crossed of some schools based on what students told me (also partly financial aid related). I've answered questions from students as well about my program and never felt this was a problem - happy to help someone make the right decision. And competitiveness - I wouldn't know because i'm not into the clinical field. But I think it is regarded as the most competitive within psych? I've found it valuable to look up CVs of grad students and kinda see where they were when they entered. It can either help you understand which areas may be your weakness or strengths (something to write about in your statement) and whether you're competitive as an applicant. It certainly helped me to set goals for the last year (and partly the reason why I am also taking a gap year atm - I joined more research projects, expanded my skills set by for example meta-analyses and fMRI, probably get 1 or 2 publications, got TA experience, did an invited talk on research practices and may publish my thesis - all things that will help me I think, plus more time to do the GRE).

As all the other fields are also starting their own sub-threats Program of interest: I'm very into how the direct environment we live in influences behavior, but that are outside or direct awareness (e.g., culture, socio-ecology, minority/majority ratios) and how people respond to them. Any leads to people working in this direction are very welcome at this point! I'm also looking at business schools atm Schools you have looked at: I've narrowed it down to Virginia, UBC, NYU, Stanford, and Singapore Management Uni (love their work on multiculturality). The latter one is my 'safe' school. But I'm still exploring possible schools.. Number one worry about applying: GRE, deadlines! And whether I'm overestimating myself in terms of how competitive I am as an applicant!

This one was forwarded to me the other day - https://www.academictransfer.com/employer/K-U-Leuven/vacancy/41675/lang/en/ No GRE required

relationships in general or relationships in that specific population?

You may want to check this list to identify some programs: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ff78/ebcb5d4da24758a0f9ef205e3612840cf50e.pdf Don't know if ALL are considered competitive - would argue not.

Agree with what said above. I think it partly depends on your topic, but having done a MPhil - outlooks don't seem to bad at all. I recently got offered a job in consultancy, I have classmates who end up in market research and the advertisement world, and others are now working at the government (policies, behavioral change, etc.). Some work as researchers at private and public research companies. One person now gives training and does public speaking on the topic he did his thesis on. It's all a matter of selling yourself in the end though. Especially if you get some quantitative skills in, there's quite some work out there.

Hi all! New here I also need to share my 'journey' to calm my brain. I just started studying for the GRE.. it's scary! Program of interest: Social Psych/Organizational Psych Research interest: Macro psych (culture, socio-ecology) and/or topics related to social hierarchy/power/status/inequality/immoral behavior Schools looked at: I am obsessed with UVa' department in terms of research fit. Also University of British Columbia, U Waterloo, U Illinois at Urbana/C, Berkeley, Stanford, Maryland, and now looking into business schools. Not sure which will make the shortlist yet, but will also ask some of the profs I work with for help. Number one worry about applying: Am currently mainly worried about my GRE scores - am a non-native speaker (and got some flashcards) and have never bothered with maths in high school. Ugh. I plan on taking it late October. I just find the whole thing extremely intimidating Not worried about: I am about to finish my MPhil/Research Master in Social Psych with only A's and A+'s at a Dutch program that seems to have a good reputation and am graduating on a topic that fits to both macro psych & organizational psych. Took quite a lot of methods/stats class in undergrad, and my grades steadily went up (higher grades for more advanced classes). Only took one Stats class during my current degree (which I finished with A+), but got 48 out of 120 credits in research projects (also both A+). Also feel fine about my resume. I was lab manager for the last 2 years, but also engaged in extra projects and did some research during undergrad as well (including thesis). Also tried to expand my experience by doing some teaching and was an editor for a (student) journal. I will probably have 2-3 manuscripts in preparation for which I'm co-author at the time of application, maybe some submitted. Think my recommendation letters are totally fine. I got quite close with a lot of staff as the lab manager, and especially the head of the department is really favorable to me, as is my current supervisor who is trying to convince me to apply for a grant together (but I want to work with somebody else for some time haha). A third person shouldn't be a problem at all. JUST THE GRE IS SO INTIMIDATING. I've never been amazing with maths - just decent. And the verbal is just scaring me in terms of vocabulary. The writing Im not too worried about. I've started studying for it this week - using the Manhattan flash cards and am now going over the math review for now. It's a start. Any tips are always welcome Questions: What is the thing with that departments already fill their spots before the deadline? Is this common practice? Also, any tips for approaching potential supervisors? I don't want to come off looking stupid hehe. In Europe the whole system is just so different....