EileanDonan

I’m definitely no expert here, but last cycle I used an anecdote from one of my clinically-oriented positions as an introduction, from which I pivoted into my graduate goals. I had one POI comment positively on this, as well as on the generally well-written prose. Can’t understate the importance of the last point!

For what it's worth, I'm holding off until after the semester starts. Many POI's don't know until the fall (although I have seen a couple of mine indicate their status already).

Welcome back! Technically my third year, too, I hope something finally sticks for us! ?

A bunch of us applicants from last cycle started a discord to discuss various aspect of the process; I'll drop a link here if anyone is interested. https://discord.gg/89KAgeTS

Hi folks, Now that we're finally coming down from the last cycle, I thought it might be helpful if we processed the things we learned and experienced. For those who were rejected, what do you wish you had done differently? What particularly caught you off guard? What do you plan to do this year to boost you for the next cycle? Etc. For those who were accepted, was there anything about your approach to applying/interviewing that you felt really boosted your candidacy? Anything you think future applicants should focus on? Etc. I'll start; for reference, I was not accepted. One element of my interview prep I should have bettered considered was developing specific ideas for what I would do for my thesis/dissertation. I realize this degree of specificity may or may not actually come up in conversation with a POI, but you really don't want to be unprepared here should it be brought up. Do you have to necessarily narrow it down precisely? Probably not, but having a general hypothesis, population, and basic methodology is preferable. You should also be able to defend why you would pursue this idea, and how it builds upon the lab's work. Similar to the above, be prepared to defend why your particular research focus/foci is important to the field; if you're aiming for clinical, be prepared to explain why studying X is useful for better understanding and treating patients (whether you actually plan on going into practice or not.) I think there is something to be said for having clinically-oriented work/volunteer experience, especially if it's relevant to your research focus. While this obviously comes second to doing research, having stories to share that were more "human interest" was useful and relatable. These are specific things that came up for me; otherwise, the usual advice about reaching out to POI's before submission, prepping a bunch of your own questions, familiarizing yourself with the literature, and practicing interviewing with someone are also things I would echo. My own application prep suggestion: looking at the backgrounds/CVs of your POI's current grad students is the best, most realistic sense you're going to get of what you should be doing to develop your candidacy in a given POI's eyes. Not saying that you need to be worried about making yourself a carbon copy of the advisees (unless they actually do seem weirdly cookie-cutter?...), but if, for example, everyone had experience with XYZ software before applying, then it would be worth determining how you could get that experience yourself if you haven't already. Or if they all have experience with ABC population, and you don't, see about spending some volunteer time with that pop in the coming months (e.g. want to go into forensic psych? Volunteer as a prison tutor or as a tech in a juvenile detention center.) Have they all done an undergrad thesis? If you haven't, push harder to get your own name on pubs/posters in your current lab. This coming cycle, I'll be pushing to vary my technical skills, continuing to work through the literature for study ideas, and I'll also be putting more effort into reaching out to POI's ahead of time in the fall. Feel free to share any good thoughts!

My impression is that most positions are at least partially in-person, certainly with the expectation that they will be increasingly so as the months pass. Are you only able to work in your immediate area? I'm afraid that alone will be your biggest problem moving forward; I can spend a week scraping positions from across the country and still only find a handful that are relevant enough to me. Otherwise, just try adding in "remote" as a keyword to your search; every once in a blue moon I'll see one (but again, may very well not be an indefinite expectation). Have you tried looking for clinically-relevant positions in your area (psych tech, psychometrist, addiction treatment, forensic-relevant work, etc)? Granted it's not as preferable as research, but at least it's still psych, and you could still consider emailing labs in your area and inquire as to whether they would let you do some volunteering in your spare time (if you're open to that). Make sure to express a direct interest in their area of research and how that relates to your own interests and skills. That would be my back up-option if I were doing this solo.

I’ve been doing basically this but with RA jobs for the last two years. I’m not sure how much longer I can manage it either. At least we’re in good company.

I spiritually relate to this. And your username.

Hopelessness is a natural reaction to the absurdity and disorder of this process. While I haven't quite given up yet, I'm terrified of not getting in this next cycle too. We all know the typical advice for making yourself competitive, but if you follow it to the letter and it still isn't sufficient to garner the attention of programs, how else is one supposed to react? What else is one supposed to do? At what point are you forced to acknowledge that the gates will never open for you, no matter how many moats you might have crossed just to arrive there? Of course this will vary between people, their resilience to the rejection. At this point, I feel like just getting accepted to a program will be the greater accomplishment, not completing one. If only the "powers that be" were seriously attuned to that sentiment (much less bothered to find ways of alleviating it). In the meantime, I'm looking for a new lab job currently. I'm also now dedicating a good portion of my free time to developing a project that is entirely irrelevant to my career goals, but actually has a chance of achieving a small piece of fulfillment. If any of you take something away from this - don't let psych and grad school become your identity. It's too fickle.

If I might pitch in my $0.02 - this feels like an ever higher raising of an already obstructively high bar. Many hopeful applicants are exceedingly fortunate to even be able to work full-time in related research, get three amazing letters, and amass various pubs and posters, especially with COVID now. Plenty are stuck trying to work full time in an unrelated job while balancing a few extra RA volunteer hours, much less able to do an Extra Special CV Thing on top of the above. In my local area at least, human services type experiences have been reduced due to the pandemic. This cycle especially has highlighted for many how ridiculously excruciating this process is for even highly qualified candidates, and if this kind of faculty expectation becomes de rigueur, then we're just going to continue moseying down the path of gatekeeping. Don't get me wrong, volunteering is fantastic for many reasons, but it seems that some faculty expect applicants to be superhuman in the face of narrowing opportunities.

I like checking Harvard's and Duke's aggregate pages: https://undergrad.psychology. fas.harvard.edu/post-graduate- research-jobs https://psychandneuro.duke. edu/undergraduate/research- opportunities-jobs Linkedin couldn't hurt either.

Better late than never! ?

Does anyone have any experience reaching out to POI's for rejection feedback? I've read some conflicting advice as to how helpful that can be. Is it better to try contacting admissions first? Should you only reach out to those PI's you officially interviewed with, or is prelim contact enough? Better/worse idea if you plan on reapplying to the same POI next cycle? Also, is there an ideal time to wait before reaching out?

Well, this has been existentially crushing. Has anyone else been officially roundly rejected? I guess I'm not really surprised that I'm going to be third-rounder, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating, especially since admissions may be just as bad next year. What's stopping me from having to do even a fourth round at this rate? There really is no end in sight for this circus, and I wish we could stop vying so much for the ringmasters' approval.

I can't imagine what's up with this - it has to be a 5 second fix?