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1|]010ls10o

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Posts posted by 1|]010ls10o

  1. I took the GRE today and received unofficial scores. 167 for verbal and 163 for quant. I am filling these into my apps but do not have a percentile that corresponds to it.

    I called ETS for 1 hour, two different departments, and they 'cannot' say what those scores correspond to. However, they said it's always based on recent test scores (one representative said it was based on the last 3 years, another said it was based on 'recent' tests.) I took the GRE 3 weeks ago and got worse scores/percentiles (eg my writing score was 4.0 = 59th percentile, which is below clinical psych students' average of 4.8-5.0 / 90th percentile). Those percentiles match the percentiles from the 'score interpretation' pdf on ETS which displays scale/% for the past 3 years. So it is obvious that percentiles are out, but ETS won't offer that information.  

    If you took the GRE recently (eg last month?), could you please tell me what percentile my scores are? I am hoping some of you also received 167v and 163q within the last month or so, and can help me determine what percentile that is, so I can fill in my apps which are due soon (Dec 1, as many of you know). My official scores will obviously not arrive in time, so I'm hoping just the unofficials would suffice. Please help me out! I would deeply appreciate it.

  2. I just took the GRE today and received unofficial scores. 167 for verbal and 163 for quant. I am filling these into my apps but do not have a percentile that corresponds to it.

    I called ETS, two different departments, and they 'cannot' say what those scores correspond to. However, they said it's always based on recent test scores (sometimes based on the last 3 years, and also 'recent' administrations.) I took the GRE 3 weeks ago and got 164 verbal and 160 quant, and got percentiles for it. Those percentiles match the percentiles from the 'score interpretation' pdf on ETS which displays scale/% for the past 3 years. So it is obvious that percentiles are out, but they won't offer that information.  

    I am hoping some of you also happen to get 167v and 163q within the last month or so, and can help me determine what percentile that is, so I can fill in my apps which are due soon. Please help me out! I would deeply appreciate it.

  3. On 10/10/2018 at 9:26 AM, ResilientDreams said:

    Yeah. I feel like if you have two really high scores and one score that's low but still above cutoff it's fine. 

    A 4.0 is about the 59th percentile, I believe. Most clinical psychology programs don't state the average writing scores for admitted students, but under Student Data and Outcomes, it's normally high 4s, and low 5s. That is, near the 90th percentile.

    Are cutoffs for the writing section listed anywhere for clinical psych programs? I'm in the same position as OP.

  4. On 2/25/2018 at 9:44 PM, b_l91 said:

    I'm not sure if you guys tend to think as far ahead as me or would be interested in this information, but as we do know, pre-doctoral internships are very competitive. In the last few years the gap has been closing between the number of internship applicants and the number of internship positions available. This year, finally, there were more internship positions available than applicants! I for one hope this trend continues as it's pretty relevant to those of us applying to clinical programs. 

     

    Hope everyone is hanging in there as we wind down interview season and are waiting for good news!

    May I ask where you got this information from?

  5. 2 hours ago, Timemachines said:

    Ive experienced contract renewal in a research fellowship. I didnt have any conversations about a raise with my mentor because they were more than generous as I was given a mid-year raise in addition to an annual raise totaling a 15% increase over the year. When it came time for research productivity, I realized that I was not active enough to be competitive for graduate school, so I left for a 10K pay cut at another lab. If you feel static, I would definitely go elsewhere. As a quantitative example of the outcome, I got 1 interview last time...and 9 this time. Id aim towards making an educated decision about whether or not it's worth jumping ship, opportunity to publish being the most important factor. 

    Oh, wow, nice. 15% is a lot. Yeah, I haven't been given a raise despite being the only person without a PhD on the project who handles data. The other paid RAs on the project only collect/enter data and assist with intervention delivery/maintenance, which I do as well. 

    Perhaps I should've mentioned, I asked for an increase in pay from the original offer before even signing on. I thought I would be more productive, but it's been nearly a year and I'm primarily doing what I think an undergrad/intern can do. In fact, I train and supervise interns/volunteers to do what I do 90% of the time. 

    Basically, I'm getting little to nothing done in terms of output. But perhaps it's my own fault? I'm used to having structure and deadlines when working on papers, whereas now, I can technically use old data but that's strictly on my own time with little to no supervision. What was (or is) your supervision like for the lab you joined? Did you have to work on pubs on your own time, or could you use "paid" time to make progress?

    57 minutes ago, Eigen said:

    The vast majority of grant funded RAs can't just change lab (much less institution), and tend to be in institutions where there's no pay discretion, so negotiating a "raise" is pointless. 

    I also honestly can't imagine you have any leverage to negotiate a raise, even if it is allowed. 

    Are we perhaps using RA differently? You mention going to another institution, but I've never seen a graduate RAship that would let you work at a different institution than the one you're currently attending. Or if you do, it's a job, not an RAship. 

    Interesting. I suppose in this case it's only because my contract is about to expire? 

    I'm not familiar with how grant money allocation works -- personnel don't generally receive raises? Even to keep up with inflation? Was @Timemachines an exception, then?

    I think we might be using the term RA differently. I have an M.A., I'm not in a PhD program yet (waiting for decisions ATM). But my nametag says research assistant, even though on the IRB I'm listed as a study coordinator. So, I'm not in a research assistantship. Is the initialism RA not used outside of being a doctoral student? 

    So, if it is a job, does that change your previous two sentences? 

     

  6. On 2/13/2018 at 2:53 PM, Timemachines said:

    I would try to stick with the R01 you're on as to not skip around, especially if the experience you'll be getting will be almost identical. I think you can openly have this discussion if you've made empirical contributions to the lab on behalf of the grant (pubs, presentations, posters etc). Its a little trickier otherwise. 

    What if no one's produced anything tangible for the project? We're just finishing up data collection; nothing's been officially analyzed for a pub/prez/poster. 

    On 2/13/2018 at 2:34 PM, jk616 said:

    I've worked an RA job for the past few years and I've found that my payment is pretty set and based on the amount allotted for employees in the grant. I do get a yearly raise ( maybe ~ 50 cents an hour, probably less) based on standards set by the university I work at. I have personally never asked for a raise but I have inquired about potential reimbursement for traveling to conferences. This could also be a time to talk with your PI about the kind of things you'd like to work on or get more experience in during the next year. I've heard it looks really good if you stick with a project for a while. It's also easier to get posters/papers that way if that's something you're interested in! 

    I'd be on posters/papers, I think, if I were to leave as well. (I think) I already put in the time and effort to deserve it.

     

    Slightly shocked that not that many people on TGC have experienced a contract renewal before.

  7. Was hired on an R01 for a 1-year contract as an RA. I train/supervise interns and other RAs. My contract is about to expire, and I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this period where the supervisors/PIs want to renew your contract.

    Do I ask for a raise? Are raises even given out for grant-funded contracts, generally? I'd like to continue working on the project. But I was also offered a similar position with similar tasks at a different institution on a different grant.

    Does anyone have experience with this?

  8. 3 hours ago, Hk328 said:

    Hey, does anyone know if you're supposed to bring copies of your CV to an interview? I read somewhere that they'll ask for it sometimes, but I only saw it mentioned that 1 time. 

    I handed out 4 copies of my CV, only one faculty member glanced at it. The others just went straight to the questions.

  9. I had multiple 30 minute interviews and each interview probably only had 3-5 questions from them, and 3-5 from me. Most were organic conversations stemming from those.

    One thing I'd add to the previous posts is to be prepared for "What would your (future/potential) master's thesis be like?" Then after you reply, be prepared to answer how to design it, and how to overcome some of the obstacles there are when carrying out independent research.

  10. What were the qualities that drew you to the program to begin with? Why are you attending?

    You've basically only shown one side (the negative) of the program so anyone who reads will most likely reinforce the idea of applying to new programs or leaving. I've heard dropping out is a red flag and taints your chances of applying to other schools, so be prepared to have a great answer for why you made your choice.

  11. I know the sample might be biased, but I was wondering how common it was for people who reapply to the same program/PI to be admitted after a year (or more) of preparation. If you did, what did you change the second time around? Did you contact your PI?

    My dream schools rejected me, but I'd like to try again next year. Not sure how viable of a plan that is. My grades and scores are good, so I'm assuming they rejected me after seeing my CV/statement/LORs.

    The other poll asked how many cycles before someone entered a clinical psychology PhD program. This is a refinement. What do y'all think?

  12. 22 minutes ago, schizometric said:

    3 cycles for a funded Ph.D. program. Took the GRE 3 times (didn't change at all, really), took the Psych GRE twice (score went up a lot).

    Ack, I wish I included that in the original question. Yes, I'm primarily interested in funded PhD programs.

    What did you do differently for the second time you took the psych GRE? I retook it and only increased 20 points (from 82nd percentile to 88th%).

  13. 24 minutes ago, lewin said:

    Out of curiosity, what would you write? Just reiterate what's already in the application? Emphasize that you're really really interested? Most of the things that one could say at this point are contrived or cliche.

    So, I don't think it's a good idea except for very rare circumstances where you can add significant new information (like a major national fellowship, as mentioned above).

    That's a good point. I'd have to think about that some more.

    What about if your manuscript advanced? So, in-prep to submitted. In-revision to accepted. Accepted to published.

    Or if your abstract was accepted for a presentation/poster at a big conference?

    2 hours ago, Clinapp2017 said:

    I don't think volunteering with the PI you want to work for is ever a good idea. Typically PIs take outside people with fresh ideas, not their own RAs, to be their new students.

     

    Just food for thought - at least from a clinical psych perspective. 

    That's interesting. It makes sense if a PI doesn't want a carbon copy (growth, different branches, etc), but wouldn't a PI also benefit on having a grad student that has the exact same interests so they can be a workhorse to boost the PI's reputation within the field?

    Also, Clinapp, where are you getting your perspective from? You say typically, so did you survey other candidates about their less than perfect fit? Info from your DCT mentor? Current mentors? I believe you - I'm just wondering how that perspective formed. I'm personally wondering/speculating with little guidance, so I have little sense of what's appropriate for the process. 

  14. 3 hours ago, t_ruth said:

    Have you asked for more opportunities? Maybe presented an idea or showed willingness to go above and beyond the normal "grunt" work? It is a lot of work to be the PI and manage a lab--I love to give talented and motivated undergrads opportunity to do more grad-student-like tasks, but it's too risky to offer this to everyone.

    Yeah, I've brought it up before with two of my mentors. One of them responded and placed me on a project where I could learn a new methodology and something out of my comfort zone. But she's generally like that -- working with her is exciting because it's never the same.  She trusts me with more complex tasks, and I often handle and analyze her data. I'm also writing results, so her mentorship is precious to me.

    The other, we started by exclusively working on a paper, then she hired me through a grant contract for a few months. I was thrilled because I was willing to work for her and gain authorship on a volunteer basis. And she is fantastic to work with. After that contract expired, she hired me for a full-time paid position on a different project. I figure it would be good to not only earn some money but develop more of a rapport with her. But it was completely different, and the earlier project where I was exclusively writing (instead of data collection, entry) was basically suspended.

    Since the start of this job I've asked for opportunities for growth (or to go back and work on the other project) thrice over the course of a year but the paid project is her priority. She's receptive to me working on my own on the earlier project, but after a full week of work I rarely have time to have a life, work on the tasks that my other mentor offers me, and also independently make progress on the suspended project. Maybe I just need to suck it up.

  15. 45 minutes ago, Sherrinford said:

    I got in my first cycle very close to the deadline, much to my immense confusion and surprise.

    However, my professor, many of the tenured professors in the department, as well as some of my colleagues had to apply twice before getting in. I don't have any statistics, but if I had to take a guess anecdotally it'd be 2.  

    I think the idea of reaches and safeties muddles my question. When you say getting in, are you saying being accepted to 1+ program? Or being accepted to a program you really wanted to go to (dream school, reach, etc)? 

    Let's say hypothetically I were accepted into a less strong program, but wanted to enter a stronger one (better stipend, more renowned PI). In this case I would personally re-apply and mark 2 cycles. Maybe that's a secondary/alternate question.

  16. 3 hours ago, Timemachines said:

    My thought on the matter these days is that you don't want to try to convince your way into a space where you were not necessarily wanted. It is not to say that you are not qualified! however, trying to find your way into an interview is rarely achieved gracefully and sets you up for a very uncomfortable foundation with a PI. Think of it as forming a close relationship with them for 5-6 years - this should be a mutual exchange based on fit and chemistry (communication)...this is hard to achieve with someone that would potentially choose you as a plan B, or didn't choose you at all.

    What I do think is good practice is to email your PI of interest requesting some feedback on your application and how it can be improved. 

    Would you say the same about people on waitlists? I briefly thought about this and would lean toward not attending if I were waitlisted unless I loved everything other than the PI.

    When would you email your PI of interest requesting feedback? Would you try to volunteer to work with them (obviously going for paid positions first) if you get rejected? Or would that be desperate too?

    Thanks for your comments, y'all. 

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