Hi everyone, looking for some guidance as application season is approaching and the pressure is starting to set in for real
About me:
Research Interest: PTSD, Resiliency, Post-traumatic growth
Undergrad: 3.6GPA Tier 1 school, 4.0 Community college [Graduated in June]
Haven't taken the GRE yet but hoping to land in the high 150's/160 [fingers crossed]
Research Experience: 2 year undergrad, 1 lab that I'm still in now post-grad. Very close to my own research interests, worked under world reknown P.I., project coordinator, presented a poster
Clinical: currently working full time as a ABA behavior therapist at an elementary school for students with autism and other disabilities. Implemented interventions that are part of their individualized education plan and collected clinical data for progress tracking; part of a peer counseling network at undergrad university where we implemented iCBT online training to help students with depression
Schools I'm interested in:
Duke,U Memphis,Auburn, USC, WashU, BU, Harvard, U Miami, Georgetown, George Washington, U Mich, Rutgers, U Georgia, UIC, UMASS Boston, Notre Dame, Upenn, Vanderbilt, U Oregon
Also thinking about applying to some master's programs like U Chicago's MAPSS
I will most likely have glowing letters of recs and all the programs I chose have faculty that have very closely related research interests
I just really need some brutally honest advice about whether or not I'm competitive for these programs and if there's anything else I can do? I spent all of Feb-May in the spring applying to research assistant positions but nothing clicked and so I decided to stay with my current behavior therapist job and continue doing volunteer coordinating for my undergrad lab. I know reading these forums is the absolute worst thing I can do, but I feel very unprepared to some of the other applicants, even though I feel that my passion for research is strong and if I were to somehow get to the interview round I could really sell them on it