ResilientDreams

I actually made some headway on my honors thesis.

Yeah, my friend who's a math major only scored 157 on quant, so don't worry about it.

Those are good scores!

I would say 2-3 pages single spaced would be good.

Hi everyone! So one of the programs I'm looking at has cutoff GRE scores for each section, which I am above. However, I was wondering how schools that have cutoffs generally view the GRE. Is it that as long as applicants are above that number they don't care about the score anymore? Or is higher better? I'm 10 points above the cutoff in verbal and a full point above in writing, but only like 3-4 points above in quant...is that going to look bad? I'm applying for developmental psych so not as much of a quantitative focus as some of the other disciplines and the rest of my application is strong (4.0 major GPA from public Ivy, lots of relevant research experience, etc.) I got As in my stats courses and have data analysis experience. Sigh. I promised myself I wasn't going to make a post like this but...I made a post like this.

Hi! I'm interested in first language acquisition, so most of my programs are in the psych department, but I'm also applying to the University of Maryland for linguistics. I'm also applying to UPenn, but for psych.

Yessss. Read my blog please!

Well. I'm in a different field, but my honors thesis advisor is a lecturer and I'm getting a letter from her and it's going to be my strongest one probably. If they can speak to your strengths it shouldn't matter what their rank is.

I have no motivation right now to work on my other personal statements.

I really need to start working on my other personal statements but for some reason I'm mentally exhausted.

Haha yeah, the schools with the fancy equipment tend to be the most competitive ones. I think you have excellent qualifications. Your quant score on the GRE is particularly impressive and I envy it haha. Your math and computer science background is also an asset. I certainly don't have that. I don't think you have to worry about your writing score. You can always provide a supplementary writing sample to showcase your writing ability. And I also don't think not having publications will be a problem. Most applicants actually don't. As for being an undergrad...I am too! Same boat! The professors I contacted didn't seem to mind that I was an undergrad and none of them mentioned wanting someone with a master's or post-bac experience. Is that something you were told directly or something they implied? Overall, I think international status is the only thing that you might actually have to take into consideration.

Would they even let you apply without GRE scores?

In other news, I submitted my first application today!

It's called Straight Outta Undergrad (yes...I named it that... I'm sorry :p) and it's here on GradCafe! You can find it by clicking on the blogs section at the top of the page.

Guys I have a blog now. If there's anything you want me to write about let me know.

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

Yep, I agree with all the above advice! I was not quizzed during my Skype call. It's just a good chance to get to know the POI.

This is why I sent all my emails really early, over the summer.

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong forum! I totally understand if it has to get moved because it belongs somewhere else. I'm a senior in undergrad and I'm applying to PhD programs in Developmental Psychology and I was just wondering...how much different is grad school than undergrad truly? I'm already used to working through my weekends and I'm writing an honors thesis while balancing a class load and actually acting as a TA for a lower level class at the same time...while not at the same level as grad school obviously, is it at least similar? I've never pulled all nighters in college, I always start my work really early, and I feel like I have a pretty decent work/life balance regardless of how busy I am (and the working on the weekends part). Is this a good sign for me in grad school or is the fact that I already work and study a lot mean that in grad school I'm going to have to work and study even more to achieve the same results I've had in undergrad? Thanks for the advice!

Nice to meet you @purpleatheart1994

I just thought I'd bump this to see if anyone knows of any programs! I'm starting to submit applications so this is kind of the last chance.

Yep, I definitely wrote mine like that! I talked about how my research experiences helped me make interdisciplinary connections and eventually inspired my current honors thesis.

I received responses from all mine within a few days and only had one that never responded.

However, I would second what @Psygeek said about not just summarizing everything in your CV. I also mentioned all my projects, but I tied them together under an overarching theme that corresponded to my research interest rather than just putting them in chronological order. I think that would be a more effective way to do it.