psycinfo

You are not alone @ghong. I took it for the second time today and still feel that my scores are not where they need to be. On the bright side, I approved my score 9 points from the first try (8 in Quant, 1 in verbal) using Magoosh. I know that it is hard to stay focused but I really credit my improvement to diligence and persistence. I watched every single quant video and did every single problem. There was 6 weeks between my first and second test, so it is possible to do with limited time. I will be trying again for a third time in three weeks.. Hoping to bump my score 3-5 points. Truthfully, there is nothing that you can do other than keep at it (or find programs that don't require it). I know that everyone is different, but knowing that I have no other option was really motivating for me and I seriously dedicated all of my free time to studying. Keep at it and know you are not alone in the struggle. I cannot tell you how many times I have cursed this damn test.

This is encouraging! Would you mind sharing where you're at now and what your scores were?

This is great advice, thank you!!

Hi All, I have just taken the GRE for the second time but still feel that my scores aren't strong enough to get me through the first pass at the programs that I am applying to. I am applying to a mix of schools, 4 SP, 1 IO, and 11 Organizational Behavior. I would like your thoughts/experiences on the strength of my profile (mainly concerned about GRE scores) for psych programs.. GRE Scores: 156V (72nd), 158Q (68th) AWA (waiting) GRE: 3.87 from a large state school Research Experience: I have 2 years of undergraduate RA experience in 3 different labs, I was a McNair Scholar where I conducted an undergraduate research project and thesis, I have two conference presentations, am going into my second year of being a Lab Manager, and will have a paper under review as first author at Psych Bull by the time I apply. LOR: 2/3 are coming from people very well known in the field who have worked with many of the faculty I am applying to work with Psych Schools Applying To: Berkeley, Princeton, Rice, UVA, UIC Any thoughts or success stories of getting into any of these programs with my scores Thank you!

I can speak primarily to social psychology, but I assume the timeline is consistent across areas. Coordinator/Manager positions begin popping up mid/late winter, early spring. The big SP conference is in February and I remember last year (when I was looking for a position) that some labs/faculty were holding interviews at the conference. I have seen others post various forums for job listings for RA/Manager positions in psychology broadly, I cannot remember any of them off of the top of my head. My greatest resource was the job list serv on SPSP: https://my.spsp.org/Careers/Job-Search (refine position type to Research). Most of these will be social focused, but as there is a lot of overlap in social and cog, I'm sure some things that are more in line with your specific interests will show up on there. To share my experience, I probably applied to 20+ manager/coordinator positions, and sent out another 20+ cold emails to PIs whose work I was interested in, asking if they were looking for a lab manager. I got a lot of responses from the cold emails, but they were all no's. I know of others who have gotten positions this way, so I don't discourage against it by any means. Most of the positions that I found through the SPSP listserv. I had 4 interviews at 3 different institutions (none of which were my home institution and were half way or on the other side of the country). I received one offer which I took, but it is actually at a business school, not in a psych department (though all of the research I am involved in is based in social psychology). I'm really happy that I ended up where I did because it has immensely shaped my research interests and the path that I'll be taking in applications this year. I encourage you to stay diligent and not be overly concerned about finding a position with someone who does exactly what you want to do. Also 100% be open to moving, and moving far, if it is feasible for you. I would also recommend taking a 2 year positions over a 1 year position if possible (ESPECIALLY if you have to move out of state). I intended to only stay in my position for a year but the timeline/stress would have been ridiculous and thus I pushed my applications back a year. When you think about moving and starting a new job sometime in July-September (typically) and adjusting to this then immediately also having to begin the application process... It's too much. Also, this only gives you like 3-5 months of experience in said job to list on your applications. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions. I know how stressful this can be and I'm happy to share any insight that I can.

I'm not sure what area you are interested in, but if it is social, I recommend the SPSP Job Board: https://my.spsp.org/Careers/Job-Search I don't think you have to be a member of SPSP to look at it, but if you are a member you can sign up for the list serv and they email you all of the new positions posted every other Friday. I found my current job (lab manager) through this along with many others that I applied for and had interviews with. I will note that most of these are Lab Manager/Coordinator positions, but if you can secure one of these over an RA position it will only benefit you in the long run. Most of these types of positions are filled now and the best time to begin looking is late winter/early spring. Most are looking to bring on new staff by August. Good luck!