TheDude

Rock bands: I love the "Local Natives" "As tall as Lions" is a great band too: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=KyWf6bMMBUk World: Lionel Loueke is amazing! Bill Frisell is my favorite musician: Lastly I think Kat Edmonson is a supreme vocalist who is reinventing jazz standards and classic pop tunes with a great deal of originality: Y'all have some great taste in music!!!

I am applying to 8. A few of those are at the top in the field while the others aren't too far behind. I limited my region because I like where I live now and am happiest here with social and familial network to fall back on. I'm worried that I don't have a plan B. However, many of the schools offer the conciliatory Master's offer with the potential for funding. I'd hope with my research experience I'll get in to a couple of those programs and not have to exercise the former. The only other thing that worries me is there are departments doing work I am interested in, but I'm really interested with working with one member and not several. I didn't find a way in my SoP to artfully imply if Professor X doesn't have cash I'd like to work with Professor Y.

Write music.

+2

I should say the only part of grad school I find completely arresting is the debt I've complied in undergrad (50K). I know I won't add to that much, hopefully not at all, via new loans for grad school. However, the thought of interest compiling over the course of 5 years and then hopefully getting a real job scares the hell out of me. It is the only part of the process that made me think I might not want to go.

Same as above. I'm not checking statuses until after the Holidays because it is pointless. Programs have sent emails that have told me they will EMAIL me if there is missing material. I am a gradcafe addict!

I will be honest. Do I think I could easily find happiness in another occupation? Yes. Do I feel like I need a Ph.D. in life to be successful? No, I'm fairly resourceful. However, do I want to obtain a Ph.D to become an applied researcher? Ya. I'd be happy doing this line of work and it would challenge me greatly. I also feel like I am pretty darn good at research. I have a few passions in life and I don't feel guilty that I can't rank them enough to say one is better than the other. I also don't think it will make me an ineffective grad student or researcher to have other interests. If anything I feel like being able to keep my feet in many domains makes me a more creative and useful person. Maybe what I am hinting at here is I don't adhere to the "Ph.D/Academia or die" mindset that can be prevalent here at times. I'm wondering if that will change when I am finally in a program? Sometimes here I can feel like an outsider as a result of the above, so I can feel you a bit here. However, I'm pretty excited about starting a program ASAP. I think it is a personal thing. I wouldn't freak out.

Quick thread hijack: You know I studied jazz performance and composition at a top music school for years, which in itself is kind of an oxymoron. Anyways, I could play Parker tunes, appreciate everything he did for jazz, but there is nothing I want to listen to less than Charlie Parker records. That tone! Anyways, my point is don't freak about AW scores. It's like MENSA here sometimes, back patting for back patting sakes. Write a fabulous SOP and people will care less about you AW scores. I am on the other side. Computers are starting to freak me out with what now can be done. I am glad to know human eyes do grace the AW write-ups. I'm still a bit of a stalwart with those romantic notions of perception.

"He forgot to use 2 hyphens in his SOP. What a jack ass." I still can't believe I didn't catch this after reading this damn thing hundreds of times. My advisor didn't either so maybe I don't need to worry!

I'm trying not to freak about this kind of stuff as much as a result of a convo I had with a major university where there was a "rigid" December 1st deadline. No one is looking at applications until after the Holidays or right about that time. Most programs seem to have a couple weeks where they let loose ends bet tied up.

And in the 60's Miles Davis, Coleman, Coltrane, etc made it up on the spot and it was all brilliant. I'm just messing with you! These threads are all the same. If we get a good writing score we want justifications that we are great writers and that adom committees will care. If scores suck we want justifications ad committees do not care.

I went with specific, even more so since you read my SOP, and have 2 specific ideas that cater to one person in all of the 8 departments I am applying to. I think it is a risk, but I also checked with most all professors to inquire about taking on new graduate students. There were 2 departments where I overlapped with 2-4 professors and I didn't check with them to see if they were taking students. I feel like I had to be specific because I didn't graduate from a prestigious undergrad university. In an interview I sat across from someone who told me they really liked me and that I was going to have to show I was more capable than the kids who went to prestigious schools. So, I figured showing a command of the literature and having really specific research ideas that have emerged out of my previous work was best for me. I guess what I am saying is stating, "Dr. X is working in the field of socioemotional development in pre-K children. I am also interested in..." wasn't going to cut the mustard for me. I was also told by a professor I work with that trimming my research ideas was a risk, this is in my second SOP which you haven't seen. I think it really just depends on the contextual factors that surround you as an applicant. I also only worked with one professor for 6 semesters. My other 2 LORs were from professors who were hip to my research and involvement, but knew me academically speaking. Consequently, I knew only one of my LORs was going to speak about me as a researcher throughout the whole thing. I feel like I need to prove my work in one lab, over a prolonged period of time, provided a solid foundation of research skills and catalyzed many ideas. But it would be helpful to hear from someone in the social sciences who went through this last year. That is the only thing that sucks about this forum at this time, we really just get opinions and no facts because we are all new to this.

Ya, I've back searched some forums here and at StudentDr. and it seems those who were getting in, biosciences aside, were getting the shaft with funding, so I'm going to say screw it and save my 70 bucks. Too bad I didn't come to this before I sent my GREs.

1) Get the APA grad school book 2) Find some programs 3) Visit the websites 4) Narrow the programs down 5) Let it marinate for a couple months 6) Narrow the list further 7) Come to this forum and back-search the forum for applicants who applied to those programs in previous years...don't forget the results section 8) Take the GRE 9) Get your letter writers hip to your plans by September 10) Email professors in the late summer to see if they are taking students 11) Try to nail some early interviews 12) Visit some schools 13) Apply 14) Be nervous

mood ring

If you aren't applying this round of applications why don't you just really focus on studying vocab for like 4 months? You have a high Quant score so I can assume that material won't leave your head like it has left mine.

I think that I'm taking out loans to help subsidize housing in addition to whatever package I might be fortunate enough to receive, if any. This is if I end up in the Boston area. I don't want roommates I don't know while starting grad school. If I need to get some later so be it. I just think the debt would be justified by a lack of stress and personal fulfillment.

Spend the anxious time looking at rents.

I was way more relaxed because I couldn't do worse when all my schools take the highest of the 2 scores. I also scored much higher (I can't remember how many points overall and 4.5 to 5.5 in the AW). The quant section was vastly different than the first time. The questions, at least for me, were getting more and more complex. I was thinking I must have been doing really good, but in the end I received a 650 in that section. I don't think you can plan on raising you verbal score all that much if you retake in a couple weeks. I hit the barron's big list, or whatever it is, and saw a few of those words, but it is kind of a wash. Anyways, I hope all works out this year because I burned my GRE prep books. I'm in the Northeast and we needed something to get the wood stove going. It seemed fitting.

I received a great score in the AW section (5.5) and received a 560 in the verbal section. I'm inclined to take the AW score as a valid measure of my intellectual abilities. However, I take it as I do with the rest of the GRE....complete horse shit, and just a formality in the application process.

So, I paid to have all my GRE scores sent this morning and I was looking at my list and asked myself, "Do you really want to apply to UCDavis?" The psychology department has overlapping research but I live on the east coast. The cost of moving across the entire country would be huge and I have no social network to draw on out there. Then I got to thinking about what the funding packages will be this year for applicants. The state is in crisis so is it unreasonable to think the packages will be non existent or far to low for me to move out there? I've applied to 8 other schools and the cost is getting ridiculous. Silly to be writing it off? How were the packages last year?

I am thinking of submitting all remaining applications by Sunday. The only thing I have left to do is to tweak the fit paragraphs in 4 more SOPs. I don't want to rush things but I feel like the longer I have these in my hand the more I will just tweak things haphazardly late at night (like I am now ). Good idea? At this point I'd welcome the waiting game. This would provide opportunities to read some books. Oh, I forget what that is I have been so busy with this application stuff. Maybe I could socialize without gilt or go out on some holiday dates? Ya, I'd take the waiting game!

Good. I think I grew up pretty oblivious to what was going on around me because when I started to open my eyes to how ubiquitous cheating is in college I was astonished. I've never cheated, nor have I felt the pressure to do so. Putting in the work, at least for me, has always paid beyond normal dividends. However, I've taken some solace with seeing that those who repeatedly cheat do eventually get exposed as morons somewhere down the road.

Sweet! Most my essays are done and I had my credit card in hand to pay application fees when it wouldn't allow me to because I'm still waiting on my last LOR!!!!! First ones are due Wednesday. I've subtly reminded this last professor Friday but I still haven't heard back. I also don't have as smooth a relationship with this final professor...but is a phone call warranted tomorrow or do i wait one more day if I don't hear back? I heard from this person as recently as 8 days ago pertaining to them being cool with submitting online.

What is your subfield? I wouldn't say, "not to worry." This theme has been battered around this forum over the last 3 months, with psychology majors specifically. You have great research experience. However, the trend has been if you aren't over 1200 you have some need for concern with some programs who might use a formula to toss apps before they look at them. This is why I ask the subfield. When you look in the APA grad school guide how many people typically apply to a program within the department? Is it 40 or 120? if the number is lower chances are you have a better shot at having your application looked at. If you are applying to clinical then those scores won't cut the mustard even with research experience, it will most likely be a different case with other programs. The pre-application interviews should help you too. In that case if a professor really likes you and has the cash you might get pulled from a pile, etc. This is what I've been told by professors where I graduated, in interviews and people here. I wouldn't sweat too much you have great stats aside from the GRE!