ResilientDreams

I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask what you're applying for? Some programs weight the GRE more than others, and there are some programs that don't require it at all.

Oh yay! I might end up meeting you then haha.

I will be applying to PhD programs for Fall 2019 and have a list of professors that I would be interested in working with. When should I contact them? Should I do it over the summer or wait for the fall semester to start?

@pettyaspraxis Thank you so much, that was super helpful! My honors advisor and my friend who is currently in grad school for psych have advised me not to take the GRE again. My friend was in a similar position and she retook it just for the math section and ended up with the same score. My friend's advice to me was to remember that we're taking the same test as people going to grad school for math and engineering and that the quantitative section (or let's be honest--any of the sections) isn't super relevant to our field and therefore it wouldn't make sense for an admissions committee to reject (right off the bat at least) an applicant who is strong in all other areas over a couple of math GRE points. I agree with you about fit. There is one researcher at the University of Virginia who matches my research interests more or less perfectly (pretend play and all--I keep coming across her when I'm reading stuff for my thesis), so I will definitely be applying there. I've found some other professors at other institutions who hit some of my main areas of interest, so I think my next step will be to focus on how I'm going to spin myself in all those personal statements. I'm also applying to the master's program at my undergrad institution where I have good relationships with professors.

My friend has an undergrad humanities degree and was working in an unrelated field for about ten years. She volunteered in our lab and took classes for two years and got interviews from half her programs and offers at two, despite having no publications and a mediocre math GRE score. So I think as long as you volunteer in a lab and show interest, you should be fine!

Is anyone here interested in applying to PhD programs in developmental psychology/can give me suggestions about good programs? I'm specifically interested in children's theory of mind/cognitive development more generally. I've tried searching on my own but it can be a bit overwhelming. Thanks!

Okay, honestly I'm also a rising senior so I don't know how qualified I am to answer this, but I would say go for it! My advisor has told me that research fit is super important, and if this researcher has expressed enough interest to offer to Skype you, that's definitely worth an application. And even if you end up not getting in, you can take a gap year as planned.

Hi everybody!! I will also be applying to psychology graduate programs for Fall 2019. I'm actually still an undergrad and don't graduate until May 2019, so the amount of experience everyone in this thread has is a bit daunting, but I'm kind of excited to see how everything turns out. And you all sound like very impressive and accomplished people and I wish you all the best of luck!! A bit about me: Program of Interest: PhD Developmental Psychology/Master's in Experimental Psychology and then on to a PhD in Developmental Psychology Schools of Interest: Definitely applying to: University of Virginia, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, William & Mary for master's (my undergrad institution), Wake Forest for master's; Interested in exploring further: Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland--College Park, Boston College (My list is still in formation so if it seems wacky that's why. Suggestions welcome.) Research Interests: early social cognition, theory of mind, pretend play and its impact on children's cognitive development, first language acquisition, interdisciplinary connections across domains of development (particularly language development/social development), impact of language use on child/infant visual perception Educational Background: Psychology B.S. (with a linguistics minor) '19 Things I'm Not Worried About: --4.0 Psychology GPA, 3.88 overall GPA (I do have one more year of school left though) --Have been heavily involved in two research labs related to my interest areas--one since freshman year and the other since sophomore year --Am currently working on my honors thesis about pretend play & theory of mind (so directly related to my interests) --Have not been published before, but was a coauthor with my professor on a paper that was rejected (I feel that I can't really help that it was rejected, but at least I have the experience conducting the data analysis and writing it up.) --Am planning on submitting an abstract about my honors thesis to a conference sometime in the fall --Have very close relationships with my professors and so should have positive recommendations --I absolutely love what I study. Things I'm Worried About: --GRE--my verbal scores are either right on the mark or a point or two higher than the median for most of the programs I'm interested in, and writing is right on the mark, but quant is 2-3 points lower...I honestly ~don't~ want to take it again because I already studied quite a lot with multiple different prep books. I simply am not that great at timed math. Never have been. For context, my SAT going into undergrad was pretty similar and I got a tutor to focus just on math and when I retook it my score was actually lower. --Experience--I threw myself into research as much as I could and I took every opportunity I had, but very unfortunately a publication did not come of it. And since I'm going to be compared to people who already have a master's, perhaps that will be an issue. Anyway, I'm a newbie so any advice is appreciated, including what to do if this application cycle doesn't work out. (I see some of you have worked as research assistants. What has that been like?)

I know this is way too late, but I'm an undergrad psych major at W&M, so I hope you picked my school.