socneuro

Hello! I feel like it depends on a few things: length of the commitment, salary, who you'll be working with. I assume the goal is to apply to graduate school. If there's a lab position open in a lab where the PI works closely or is the PI that you're interested in applying to for grad school, I'd say work there since the letter of rec will be a lot stronger by someone they know and work with and will be a great networking opportunity. Some programs have a year long commitment, others are 2 yrs +, I've even seen some lab project coordinators with only a 6 month commitment. The question there really depends on when you want to go to grad school. Are you delaying to save up money or trying to get in as soon as possible and just beefing up your CV? Either program / lab manager position you choose, it'll look good on your CV. I will say some lab manager positions are different than others. Some only want you to do office work and answer phones, while others will actually mentor you and help you get on papers. If the position you're looking at is more of the office type than I'd say definitely turn that down as you ideally want to get as much experience as possible and not just at office tasks. You can always ask the PI what your tasks will be and if they're open to starting new projects with you and have opportunities to get on papers.

Thank you!

Hey all! Just thought I'd share my good news. I applied to 6 schools this cycle, received official rejections from 2 schools, and expecting the other 4 to all be rejections as well since I've had no interview requests. I started applying to lab manager/lab coordinator positions and I've already gotten 2 interviews so far! I haven't officially gotten the jobs but I feel so much better after not getting any interview invites prior. I really thought my application wasn't good enough and honestly debated giving up on ever going to grad school, but just getting these interviews have really made me more excited and I'm definitely gonna work on my apps and try again next year!

I would like to know as well!

Feeling kind of unsure with what to do next as far as career goes. Haven't been invited to an interview yet by any of the schools I applied to. I'm debating if the academic route is even worth it at this point. I mean if it's this hard to get into grad school, it'll be even harder to get into a career. I want to go into social neuroscience but my mom is suggesting I do something else with my bachelor's like go into marketing. I feel like I'd hate business life but I really don't want to keep applying year after year and be rejected year after year. I don't see myself doing anything but academia, but I'm afraid I'm just not good enough for the field at this point.

Nothing yet! I was honestly expecting to hear back from them before the others since their application deadline was so early, but I guess not. Same except no interview invites. I made it to the short list at one school, but ended up not getting an interview. I'm starting to look into other options like lab manager positions at this point and lowkey debating if this is even worth it. I really don't want to have to apply again since it was so expensive this time around. Also, I know that if it's this hard to get into grad programs it'll be even harder to find a career when I get to that stage. It just sucks since academia is really the only career I can really see myself doing. Ugh I wish this process wasn't so long! I'd rather just know already if I got rejected by all the schools.

I wouldn't worry just yet if its only been a day or two. Professors do get busy or the email may have gotten buried in other emails. I'd probably wait a week and if there's no response then email again. After that I'd probably stop emailing so as to not be harassing at that point. If she responded the first time though it sounds like she's interested! I wouldn't think saying your busy one day would hold you back much as most people understand that people get busy every now and again. I think it's probably more likely that she just got busy herself.

I don't think it's necessary. I also don't think it'll hurt or help you either way since it's assumed that you'll be applying to people that have similar interests. Almost all the schools/POIs I've applied to have worked together/collaborated at some point. I'd say It's expected that most of the people you're applying to will know each other. I'd probably lean more towards not saying anything though as to not give the impression that you favor this other PI you're applying to (even if you don't have a preference).

I did! And I didn't even apply there! ...?

I’ve been brushing up on SAS, and tried learning python but wow is python confusing. I’ve also started learning MATLAB and the language reminds me of SAS a bit so I feel like it’ll be an easier transition. The only thing is, I feel like there’s a big difference between learning syntax and actually learning it (through working on projects and such) and since no one in my current lab uses MATLAB I don’t think I’ll really be able to learn it :/

I'm also presenting on Friday!! I would like to know as well! --- Also, I was just curious since I'm not really feeling as hopeful with this application cycle, has anyone given any thoughts to backup plans? I was thinking a paid postbac research assistant/lab manager position, but not sure how I would be able to afford living off its salary - I also know they're competitive and a lot of them have requirements to know programming languages that I don't know (Python, Matlab). I really only know SAS, STATA and a little bit of R, so not sure I would qualify for a lot of the positions. There's also a lot of unpaid labs I could join including the ones I'm in now, but I'm not sure how I'd afford living off unpaid labs and maybe a minimum wage side job to have some money coming in.

At the top of the page in the blue tab, click on "results." It shows people's acceptances, rejections, and interview invites for the past 25 entries. You can click on the blue links that say "past one day, two days, seven days or month" to see more entries. If you scroll down, there's two posts from UCLA (only one in social psych dept) and in the notes section it says 13. I'm thinking they might be in one of the labs there to have the info.

I guess that means UCLA is done then :(. The results page says they sent out 13 interview invites today for the social area.

I can so relate to this! Only 7 more days for any grad program to give me the best Christmas present ever - starting to give up on that one though. I know it’s still early to lose all hope since social depts just started reviewing apps but I’m second guessing everything in my app like what if X wasn’t good enough?? I hate this waiting game!!

Hey guys does anyone know how many people they usually invite to interviews? I know it would be different for every school but I'm just curious if anyone has an estimation

I applied to Stanford! I sent in unofficial and official. It says "received" for unofficial, but it doesn't look like they received my official ones either. I didn't upload official to the application since if it's in your possession it's no longer considered official, so it wouldn't be possible. I sent it from my university and I got a notification from my university saying that Stanford had received it, so I'm not too worried about it. They may just not update. I also haven't heard from anyone yet on Stanford reviewing applicants yet. I might give them a call on Monday just to make sure though.

Just had my last final yesterday so i’d been keeping busy with that. Now finals are over so time to binge watch every show ever and hope it’s a good enough distraction!

I heard about that! I’m a little worried that culture is still lingering even with them gone. I mean 3 of them?? There’s just no way 3 of them get away with it for so long without a whole culture and system there supporting it. I figured I’d still apply and then at interviews see if anything seems off I guess.

Hello! So, I'm a part of the lgbt community and I've lived in a big and fairly liberal city all my life and now that I'm moving, I'm really nervous as to what it'll be like. I'm applying to UCLA, Dartmouth, University of Pittsburgh, UNC at Chapel Hill, Stanford, and Columbia and was just wondering if anyone knew if the programs/cities were fairly accepting? I'm not really worried about NY or LA since they're big cities and liberal, but I know Hanover is a fairly small town and not sure how liberal/conservative they are. I also have no idea about Chapel Hill or Pittsburgh either. If y'all live near there, visited, or have heard anything, please let me know! Feel free to ask about other cities/programs as well and hello to any other lgbt people on this site!

lol don't worry guys I'll be a lot more neurotic come January/February! Only calm at this point because applications haven't even gone under review yet ? Can't be rejected if they haven't looked yet!

Nope! Not even a notification that its under review.

Hello! I applied to UCLA and Stanford's social neuro program! Also, I have almost the same gpa and gre scores so I think you're good with that! About the publications, from what I heard from most faculty members it's not a requirement or even expectation for admission. However, if you do have publications it looks really good and helps you stand out. I think faculty members will care WAY more about fit than how many publications you have, but I guess it really depends on the PI. Also from my understanding, PI interviews usually occur during the school interviews as part of the whole process. Some PI's do pre-interviews to help narrow down their selection of people for school interviews. Also, it depends on school funding - some schools may not be able to fly everyone out to the school so some schools may do only skype/phone interviews. It really depends on the school. I wouldn't worry if you don't hear directly from the PI before you get a notification from the school. Also, it's way too early in general to start worrying - I'd probably start worrying late January/early February. Hope that helps!

I was surprised by that too! esp during finals! It's a little early to worry at this point but damn I wish I could know already!! Also none of mine are under review either yet or at least I haven't gotten an email about it - I should probably check the application portals just to make sure though.

sure! UCLA: Dr. Eisenberger, Dr. Parkinson, & Dr. Lieberman Dartmouth: Dr. Wheatley, Dr. Meyer, & Dr. Wager University of Pittsburgh: Dr. Inagaki UNC: Dr. Muscatell & Dr. Algoe Stanford: Dr. Zaki Columbia: Dr. Oschner Honestly, I feel like Stanford and Columbia are my last resort schools since my interests are not as closely aligned for those, but I'd be happy to get into any of them! I assume we have a lot of the same, but who did you choose for POIs?

Hello! I'm interested in the neural basis of social connection and social pain. Applied to 6 programs: UCLA, Dartmouth, University of Pittsburgh, UNC, Stanford, and Columbia I'll be there! Can't wait!!