ResilientDreams

I was under the impression that most psych programs don't want that test.

I would just put it under research experience. My school (I'm an undergrad) doesn't pay any of the undergrad research assistants and that's where I've listed mine.

Research fit is generally more important than scores in psych (as long as your scores are reasonable).

No. It's not under the cutoff. The median quant score for a lot of psych programs is in the 150s.

I second the advice about outlining. Usually I read my sources and take notes and make an annotated bibliography. Then I made a rough outline of what I want to say and copy and paste the quotes I want to use and put them in the outline. Then I start to write, and check off each section of the outline as I finish.

Hm. I guess it might be different because I'm in psychology, but I emailed a lot of the professors I was interested in working with and got really positive responses.

I would change your email. They'll notice, and you should really mention professors' specific research in your emails anyway.

Hello! I'm the person who was offered a Skype interview. I was offered it after my initial email to the professor because he thought we had a lot in common.

Hmmmm. I'm applying for developmental psychology too and I actually would advise taking it again in this case. 3 is...low.

I really don't know how it is for econ, but for psych, which is what I'm applying for, it's important to look for a program that's a good fit for what you want to research. Quality over quantity. 30 programs seems extremely excessive.

Are there any updates on this? I'm curious to know what happened.

I do research with preschoolers and I've found recruiting participants to be HARD. My college doesn't have a database of kids so we spend a lot of time calling preschools and asking if they'd be willing to participate. I'm sure it's easier when you're working with professional organizations and not kids, but sometimes to find your sample you have to do a lot of cold calling.

Yeah...she's really not going to have time to jet off to see you on a long weekend. I'm currently in undergrad two and a half hours (driving) from where I live and I thought I would be home every other weekend, but I'm lucky if I make it back once a month. And when I do come home I usually have to spend part of the weekend working on something. I can't even imagine what that would be like with a PhD workload.

Yes, I think that definitely has significance and you should include it under presentations.

A professor I emailed about working with said I was a good candidate and that he hoped I applied. He offered to Skype with me to talk more. He asked me some questions about a study I'm working on, so I know I'll talk about tha (and also his work), but is there anything else you all suggest I ask about/talk about?

I second the advice about contacting all potential PIs at the same school at once. I only emailed one person at each school and of course some aren't taking graduate students, so sending the email to the second person feels weird. So far I've gotten one really positive response (PI specifically excited about me), two more generally positive responses, one really positive response from a PI not taking grad students this year (which is a shame), one neutral response from a PI not taking students, two no responses, and one really bad response from a PI I thought would be interested in me (decided not to apply there). I think emailing is helpful because it makes yourself known and you also find out more about your potential PI. Interest goes both ways.

Hello lovely GradCafe people! I have another question. Do psych PhD programs generally want your official transcripts from study abroad? I was abroad last fall taking classes unrelated to psych. They're listed on my home institution transcript as transfer credit, but they don't factor into my GPA. Does anyone have experience with this? If I need the official, hard copy transcript I'm going to have to ask for it early (like now) to make sure it gets here on time.

What's your goal? Are you trying to take some psych classes before you apply to grad school? Or are you an undergrad switching majors? Do you have plans for grad school?

Nope, just trying to set myself up for success. Also been pretty busy the last couple of days so I'm just now finishing looking through Professor B's work. Thanks for the advice though.

@ExponentialDecay Can I do that? It won't seem like I'm weirdly hiding something like @Hk328 said?

I have three more emails to send...need motivation to get working on them again.

@Adelaide9216 I think it's actually a perfectly reasonable thing to be upset about (even though sometimes I judge myself for feeling that way too). It's...a big thing. You're searching for a deep connection. And that connection can be hard to find when you're so deep yourself. I also think that was awfully rude of that guy to not only turn you down but ask you to introduce him to someone else. I'm really sorry that you've given up hope regarding this...but I sincerely hope all the effort you've poured into this pays off. Sending you good internet vibes. ❤️

I know this is a really old thread, but I wanted to say that I relate to this so much. I am not a minority, but I have had people (including a male "friend" that I no longer speak to) tell me that because I'm so smart and so driven, I'm "scary". My response is always that it's their loss. It does get really lonely sometimes though, and I wish I had someone to share all my passions with and who will stand by my side through life's changes. I know friends can do that too, but it's not the same as someone who has made a commitment to be a lasting part of your life. I know I don't need a partner. I've gotten this far without one, and I will have a smoother transition to grad school and a new city than someone in a relationship. But...I want one. I want someone to give myself fully to and to share all those moments with and build a life with. And it's just super frustrating that it's not working out, and that people are suggesting it's because of a core part of who I am (my academic ambitions). I will NEVER change who I am...but I don't want to be alone either. I'm only 22, so I know it probably seems super ridiculous that I'm talking about this in such a dramatic way, but it's difficult especially when you see friends succeeding in their romantic life. It's hard not to compare and think that there is something fundamentally better about your friend, and something fundamentally deficient about you. I try to tell myself it's just a product of circumstance. I even downloaded a dating app because I thought all I needed was a little help actually meeting guys...got myself into an emotionally abusive four month relationship that way. My first relationship ever. So that didn't help my morale and it did teach me that I'm better off on my own than with the wrong person, but...I'm still hoping that right person will come along.

Whoa, I didn't realize that I was in the running for an Amazon gift card...better keep posting.

I wanted to bump the positivity thread again to tell everyone that I'm wishing you all the very best and that I know you'll all do great things. ❤️