huskypsych

I asked this question of several people when I was interviewing last year and here is my summary of the advice I was given plus the my experience as a 1st year student. It's something to consider. The biggest potential risk IMO is that they will not stay at the institution long-term. I've seen two friends (not in my program) deal with their advisor leaving the university. In an ideal situation, you'd be given the option to stay in the program with a new advisor or follow the original advisor to their new university. However, if the advisor is leaving academia completely and/or if there isn't a suitable replacement advisor in your program, you'd kind of be out-of-luck. Otherwise, you just want to explore the same questions/issues that you would with any advisor. Do they have funding? Do they expect you to get your own funding for your research projects? How open are they to you pursuing different topics of research or collaborating with other faculty? How productive do they expect you to be with publications? Do they expect you to work in the lab doing things like data collection or other admin-type stuff? Have they had graduate students before and if so, how are they doing? Are they going to be micromanagers or inaccessible? All of these things could be impacted by them not having tenure, but they're issues that should be considered with any potential advisor.

Nothing is impossible, but I applied twice (and interviewed with several programs in your signature) and never had this happen to me. The closest thing that happened was a PI emailing me in the morning and asking to speak with me that same evening, but I think that's still way better than a complete surprise!

https://psychology.unl.edu/psichi/Graduate_School_Application_Kisses_of_Death.pdf

I do not have any PDFs, but if a GRE Psychology specific prepbook is not available, a university-level intro to psychology textbook or an AP Psychology review book would cover most of the same material.

My understanding is that different institutions have different titles. People doing the same job in different places may be called an assistant, associate, coordinator, manager, etc. However, there may be a distinction or hierarchy within your institution. For example, I know many people who were "coordinators" post-bacc doing the same type of thing I was doing as an "assistant", but at my institution, research coordinators all held master's degrees.

My first time applying I was a senior in undergrad, having volunteered in the same lab for 3 years. Similar GRE, GPA, and pubs to you, couple of interviews, no offers. Like you, I accepted a full time RA position with the same lab I was in all throughout undergrad and reapplied immediately and this time it was successful. I attribute this partly to the fact that some professors just are not interested in taking someone directly from undergrad and partly to the fact that I had a clearer idea of what I wanted in a program the second time around and wrote much better personal statements. In all of my interviews, I don't think anyone (besides myself, when asked) brought up my one-lab-only experience as a weakness. With that said, I was in the really fortunate position that my undergrad lab and my personal research interests are very similar, so even though all of my experience came from that one place, it was directly relevant to what I want to do going forward. Perhaps if your current lab and your personal interests are less aligned, it might become more of an issue. If you feel prepared to put in the time and effort it takes to make a great application (LORs, personal statements, reaching out to POIs), then I would say go for it, based on my own similar experience. With that said, there is seriously no rush. If you need or, heaven forbid, want some time off to get more experience or just chill without being a student for a year or two, you will still be in a great position when you come back to reapply. Feel free to PM

~not an expert at all just a peer giving her experience and advice~ Neither your 3.5 gpa nor your relative lack of experience are dealbreakers, but taken together and considering the competitiveness of the schools you listed, chances are you will be up against other folks who would edge you out based on slightly higher stats or more experience. This isn't to say you aren't a good applicant or even that you aren't ready, it just becomes a numbers game when there are so many applicants to each program. I applied as a senior with similar research experience and a 3.8 and received a couple of interviews at R2 schools and no offers. One year later I applied with basically the same CV (except a couple more middle author posters and a degree that was finished rather than in-progress) and got 6 interviews and 3 offers. With that said, never say never! Even at some of the most competitive programs I visited, I ran into a couple of current undergrads who were interviewing. It sounds like you're a solid applicant, so it would not be shocking at all if you got interviews and offers. Plus, I think the experience of applying my senior year was a really great practice run for my second application. The downsides are the money involved and the amount of stress that it will cause you. In retrospect, it was probably not worth the time, money, and tears to apply my senior year, but also knowing myself, I probably would have regretted it if I didn't give it a shot. There's probably no one clear answer to the question "Should I apply?" I went to undergrad and currently work at one of your schools (my username should make it obvious lol) and was interviewed at two of the others, one of which I'll be attending in the Fall. Feel free to PM if you want to talk more about any of the programs or my experience!

If you want to conduct talk therapy as your main job, you can do that with either degree. PsyD programs are more expensive and take longer, and there are many predatory "diploma mills" that offer PsyDs. I generally give my friends the advice to go for the Master's level, but if you really have your heart set on a PsyD - you better do a TON of research on the programs you're looking at - their internship match rates, training models, reputation, etc.

I had fewer posters and similar GRE and lab experience and got into a several programs, although full disclosure my GPA was a bit higher. I would invest time and money into making your personal statement and applications awesome rather than getting one more poster, but I'm no expert!

^ this is still my biggest takeaway but I also want to say: -If you can, do everything in your power to find a strong mentor for this process, ideally someone who got the degree that you want to get. They know the process well and it's a nice balance between all of these anonymous opinions you can find online and the advice of friends and family, who probably hold you in unconditionally positive regard. Find an awesome professor (or even advanced grad student) who will offer frank advice when needed but who still has your best interest at heart. -While obviously applying to the maximum number of schools you can is a good strategy in terms of upping your chances of being admitted somewhere, I actually wouldn't necessarily give the advice to apply to a ton of schools to everyone. If you have a relatively niche research interest and/or you have certain other standards you want your program to have (i.e. having to do with funding, research rigor, teaching/clinical opportunities), the truth is there probably aren't 15-20 schools that fit the bill. Especially if you are like me and you are just getting started in your life post-undergrad, waiting another year (and another....and maybe another...) for the perfect program is probably a better choice long-term than attending a program that doesn't meet your standards. Those are like my most important pieces of unsolicited advice lol. I am always happy to exchange messages if someone wants to talk more

I am not OP, but this would probably also be my biggest takeaway from a successful Round 2 of apps. Let's say you are interested in research topic X. If you apply to only labs that have X as a primary focus, you're going to be competing against every other applicant in the world who is also just as passionate about X as you are, and unfortunately, no matter how great your application is, it starts to become a game of chance in that scenario. Someone is probably going to edge you out based on a slightly better application or interview. On the other hand, if you apply to other labs who primarily study Y but perhaps did one project that included X or have been working in an area related to X, you can make a much more unique and convincing pitch that YOU are the one applicant who can bring this passion and experience for X to this lab that typically studies Y.

University of Washington!!! Woohooo!!! Note: I saw that someone in the results section asked for my POI, message me for details if that's you

I am in the exact same position right now (unsure if I'm on the waitlist at top choice). I have just continued to say that I am just as eager as the POI is for me to be able to make a decision and that they will be the first to know when I know and that I appreciate their patience while I gather all the info I need to make a decision

The OSU specific buses run pretty frequently during business hours and are great for getting around campus. The Columbus bus system (COTA) is fairly expansive and free to OSU students. The city is not very public transport friendly considering its size (no bus lanes, rail transit, etc.). People can and do use the bus exclusively, but it's definitely a slower method than driving around and the schedules/frequency are not the best.

The area immediately surrounding campus is cheap and a good mix of graduate students definitely do live in the area. If you are looking to avoid an undergraduate alcohol-fueled shitshow every Saturday in the Fall, I would avoid the area bordered by High Street, Summit Street (or even 4th St), 11th Ave, and Lane Ave. West of High Street is much calmer, though there are still rowdy pockets on the streets immediately bordering campus. I lived on Southwest campus for all of my years in undergrad and it was a pretty balanced mix of (mostly) chill undergrads and graduate students.