PsyDuck90

Also, there are literally thousands of articles that fit this description. Go on PsychInfo and type in something of interest. You will probably find something in about 15 seconds.

I personally wouldn't call a program that accepts 50% of applicants as very selective either. To start, I would maybe look at the cost of similar programs at other universities (state schools of varying sizes for instance). Is this program giving you $10k in funding but costing $30k more than a similar program at a reputable school without the ivy league name? Also, you mentioned LinkedIn. Can you search the other way? Look for people with a similar job you wish to hold and see where they got their degrees? Are a lot of them saying Columbia? Are other schools popping up more frequently? Lastly, to me, if admin is being purposefully cagey about requests for alumni data, that would be a big red flag to me. If the program is truly sending out people to successful paths, they should be willing to share specifics about their alumni network in terms of type of jobs or PhD programs. Obviously, they shouldn't give names, but they should be able to say "oh about 20% end up here, and we've had x number of graduates attend doctoral programs in y."

I'm not familiar with any programs where you only take classes your first year, so I don't know how to answer this question.

You want to pick the top 3 people who could write you the strongest letter. Since you are intending to go to a non-clinical psych PhD, I would say it would be those who can speak to your research abilities and future in academia. So, this can be looked at a few ways: who have you done research for the longest amount of time, or who have you done more complicated work for? For instance, if the choice is between a PI who you've done 4 years if data entry for or a PI who you only worked for for a year but helped develop a study and did complex statistical analysis, I would personally rank the 2nd as more valuable. I think it should be fine to have a PI and lab manager write 1 letter. When I was applying, my research advisor actually suggested she co-write the letter with the doctoral student who ran the research lab since I worked more closely with that person day to day. You may want to feel this out before you ask, as you never know what can ruffle someone's feathers!

I thought I would have a hard time getting my vaccination records, but my old high school actually had them, and I graduated from there 10 years ago. Have you tried reaching out to your old schools? You may be pleasantly surprised. I also believe there is a blood test you can actually get done that tests for the antibodies your body produces due to the vaccinations, so you may have not needed to actually get the vaccine re-done. If anything, I know I didn't provide the vaccination forms to my doctoral program until after I already started. I don't believe schools withhold acceptances because of vaccines. Typically, they just put a hold on your registration. At least, this has been my experience.

You may have better luck posting this in the Social Work thread. The people who frequent that forum may have more insight into the MSW programs you listed.

As a 1st year clinical psych PsyD student and someone who is friends with several other people who have been in PhD programs, I want to say "no." Some people I know have supplemented their income by waitressing or something on the side on weekends, but the amount of work between classes, homework, and research responsibilities is a lot more time consuming than you may think. You know yourself best, but a doctoral program requires full time job hours in and of itself, so working enough to pay the bills may be difficult depending on your situation. You also sometimes have very little choice (if any) of what classes you take and at what time. This may also complicate your ability to work depending on the flexibility of your job.

MA degrees are not as competitive (for the most part) as PhDs. Study for the general GREs, get some research experience if you can, and you should be in pretty good shape, pending that you have a decent undergrad GPA. If you want a clinical or counseling psych doctorate as your end game, make sure to focus on research. If you just want to practice, also consider mental health counseling and MSW degrees, which grant you a masters level license.

If you have a masters degree in your chosen field, that should counter balance the (somewhat) unrelated bachelors.

You've clearly thought a lot about what you are interested in, but what's the actual job you envision yourself having? Personally, I feel it's best to think about the end point and see what path I need to get there. What you're explaining as a career interest is more philosophical rather than tangible. The degree, regardless of what it is (doctorate or masters, field of study, etc.), is a means to an end. So what's the ideal end game? Also, you can always apply to both PhD and MA programs. If you get into a PhD right off the bat, cool. If not, you have the MA as a potential option.

I'm in a different field, but when I was applying, the application itself had a section where you input your letter writers' email addresses, and the application system sends them an email with a link to upload the letter. This was the case for all 10 of the schools I applied to. That part didn't cost anything. Getting official transcripts to the few schools that wanted them cost me money to send, along with the application fee itself. I've never heard of needing to pay for LOR submission.

I would maybe focus more on why I am interested in getting and PhD and what I want to do with it. I know you said you want to get a PhD because of your research experience, but what do you want to do with this degree? Why neuroscience? You can do research in physics, chemistry, anthropology, etc., so why neuroscience? What got you into the field? Why did you choose to go to college rather than becoming a plumber? What hurdles have you jumped through to get to where you are today? Everyone has struggles. Even a billionaire legacy to Harvard University will have faced some challenge in his or her life at some point. How did this adversity shape you into who you are today? It sounds like they want to see how well you can reflect on yourself and your goals.

Are these both research based MAs that are not license eligible, or are they mental health counseling degrees? If experimental, I would look at the faculty research interests and go with the program that best matches my research interests, as that is going to be one of the most important factors, especially if you are planning to go for PhDs afterwards. Also, oof those are some steep tuition costs. Have you also looked at any of the CUNY schools? Several of them have great Psych programs for a fraction of the cost.

Honestly, for an online MSW, I don't know how much you're really benefitting from the "pedigree of Columbia." Social work isn't exactly a field that focuses on ivy league distinction, and given then you'll be online, you won't really benefit that much from the relationship-building that happens at an ivy league university which is typically what opens the door to certain opportunities. You can do a search of GradCafe of people weighing the pros and cons of spending the extra money on Columbia, and most people state it isn't worth it. You will most likely get a much better education from attending a PA program in person and having the intellectual discussions with your professors and classmates than the education you'll get in an online program. Ivy league at the MA level really only matters for law school (I know technically not an MA, but it is 3 years) and business school. Where you live is no one's business but your own. As long as you feel you can accomplish what you need and your family gives you the space to conduct your work and have a social life as you see fit, there isn't really anything that precludes you from living with your parents.

Did you just join the lab? If so, I would give it time. Most PIs ease new students in. Get to know the study and the data better, and then you can approach the PI about a poster. In one of my old labs, the PI had a minimum amount of months someone needed to work in the lab before they could start using the lab data for their own stuff.

The book chapters should also have a central idea. They may have 2 or 3 depending on the length. Think about the reason your professor picked those book chapters. What's the course's focus? What's the title of the book/ chapter? Every piece of writing should have some sort of central purpose. Think of these questions as you read to get a better idea of what that could be and highlight/annotate the same as you do articles.

To piggy back, sometimes ad comms will also have the specific faculty of interest review your application. Some schools give specific faculty the 1st go around to see if they like certain students more. Also, your SOP should include a section of why you want to go to that particular program, so the specific faculty should be woven into that idea.

I just started my program this week, and my cohort is super nice, and my advisor is impressed with my statistics and research skills and wants me to explore an existing data set for a possible publication! I'm very excited about the next few years.

The personal statement/statement of purpose is different from the writing sample. A writing sample is an example of your academic writing. People usually use their thesis, but a paper you wrote for a class can also work, if you have any in English. You can reach out to the program to see what they typically have international students do.

Just try to remember that the peer review process is double blind. They have no idea who you are, and you don't know them. Also, getting rejected or accepted pending major revisions is not uncommon, especially for people new to the field. My MA thesis was rejected upon 1st submission, and I felt awful about it, but I revised based on their suggestions and resubmitted and was successful afterward. Even the most ground breaking research is worthless if it is never seen by the scientific community.

Most schools don't want your official transcript from prior schools until they admit you (but read carefully. When I was applying last cycle, there were like 2 or 3 that did). For the others, what I did was request an official transcript from my prior university and scanned the document as a PDF to upload to all my applications. GREs, however, it seems you need to send official scores to everyone through the ETS website. This is based on my experience anyway.

I would make sure your writing sample is as perfect as it can be, and address your scientific writing experience in the SOP. For verbal, I think that matter more than specific courses.

If you don't have time to retake it, then there isn't really much of a conversation to have. The score is what it is. The rest of your application is strong, so all there really is to do is make sure every other part of your application is as good as it can be and cross your fingers. I had a pretty terrible Quant score, but the rest of my application was solid and I got into a program I wanted to for Clinical. Some schools weigh the GRE less than others, but they don't really advertise it. You could address the low score in your SOP. That's what I did. I had a poor Quant score, but I highlighted the advanced stats courses I did well on in my MA, and the 1st author publication I have in which I did all the data analysis. Your SOP can sometimes be a place where you can address any shortcomings in your application head-on. Also, let's be real, the scores reported by universities are means, which means there is a SD in either direction. Your score is about 3 points below average. It isn't like you scored a 127 or something like that. Even R1s look at programs more holistically nowadays.

I would also try to get solid numbers if possible. A program can be honest in saying alumni work at the UN if they've had 2 in the last 20 years land a job there. Try to see if they have specific data so you can see just how many actually end up in specific fields.

It's a tough call. You can look at the admissions data on the program websites. The rest of your application is really strong, so some schools may overlook it. Others may still use your GRE as an informal cutoff.