okletstry

Hello hello! Hoping for a last minute review of a personal history statement that is due TODAY for a UC. To be blunt, I am a white female who grew up affluent. In my statement, I tried to 1) acknowledge my privilege, 2) acknowledge where my commitments to diversity and marginalized groups have fallen short in the past, and 3) how I now view my responsibilities as a person with privilege. I'm not sure my statement follows through with those three goals, however. I would sincerely appreciate anyone who can offer a quick read through and feedback as to where my points are getting lost or I might sound tone-deaf or something. Reply and I'll send you a link to a google doc! Happy to help review an SOP or personal history statement in return, if you'd like

Wondering the same thing myself! The ones I've come across are all optional and I'm reluctant to spend time on it right now as deadlines are quickly approaching. Any insight is helpful

Thank you all for the help! @dougie what you said was basically my hesitation -- that it might look like I'm going behind the backs of POIs my expressing interest in multiple people or that I don't actually have a specific research interest that aligns with theirs if I'm changing my story slightly from person to person. So far I've only reached out to one person per school but may reach out to a second when my initial response was lukewarm at best.

Hello! I'm wondering if it is normal and/or recommended to reach out to more than one professor within a department? I have reached out to the person I would be most interested in working with at the schools I'm applying to, but should I be reaching out to a second or even third? Should I reach out only if I'm not feeling confident about my first choice? Any advice would be appreciated!

Hello! I am applying to Ph.D. programs in psychology (mostly developmental) and hoping to have my Statement of Purpose reviewed. I have a few people from my undergrad university giving me feedback, but I'm hoping to get a few more opinions. It's currently 3 pages single spaced, so any advice on where to cut back would be useful. Reply if you're willing to help me out! I'll swap if you have an SOP you want to be reviewed.

Thank you for the help! I've asked my undergrad PI and senior thesis professor (#1 & #2), but I'm still struggling with the third letter. I asked both of my recommenders for advice as to who my third should be, but would love if anyone else on here has input!

Sorry in advance for the long post. Also posted on reddit. I am applying to psychology PhD programs (non-clinical) for fall 2019 admission and hoping to ask some former professors and others for LORs in the next week or so. In part to help myself think through my options, I wanted to open my thought process up to you guys. Below is a list of people I'm consider asking to some extent and how I know them/have worked with them, in order of who I feel carries the most weight: PI of undergrad research lab: I worked in his lab for 4 semesters, wrote a senior honors thesis using some of his old data, he won an APA lifetime achievement award, endowed professor in the department at a top 20 university, co-authored a theory, 60 pg long CV, you get the picture. Didn't work too often with him 1:1 but he definitely really likes me, would love to accept me into the program at my alma mater (but probs not applying), advised me somewhat closely on my thesis, has said he'd write a rec, etc. Senior Honors Thesis professor: I took a year-long course to help guide me through the process of writing my senior thesis and he was the professor for the course. Lesser known in the field but very well-regarded as a professor and mentor at the university. Did many thorough readings of and provided thorough feedback on my thesis, advised on grad school admissions process, etc. Doesn't know my academic interests super well (they've changed since I wrote my thesis), but knows my writing and motivation Undergrad advisor: Director of Undergraduate Studies for Neuroscience (my undergrad major), knows me well personally, taught a lab class and another course in which we wrote weekly "popular press" science articles based on primary literature so knows my writing and academic aptitude well, we've talked frequently about my goal to pursue a PhD and the types of questions and research that motivate me to pursue a PhD. Doesn't know my research experience very well Summer research experience PI: worked two summers (2015, 2016) for him, MD not a PhD and studies Alzheimers through basic biology research (western blots, IHC, etc.), really likes me and said at the time he could help with recommendations, but haven't talked much since. I think he'd still be willing to write if I got back in touch but I wonder if those experiences seem too outdated/tangentially related now PI of lab I now volunteer for: well-regarded professor in human development/developmental psych, hasn't worked with me since I initially met with her but could maybe ask lab managers about my skills, most recent academic I've worked with. I haven't done any writing or data analysis for this lab yet, so she would just have to go off of my general data collection skills, motivation, interests, etc. Volunteering 6 hrs/wk Current boss at work: I work as a direct care staff at a residential psychiatric facility for teens, my boss would be able to speak to my work ethic mostly bc there is no academic or research aspect to my job. I took the job hoping to see whether I wanted to go into clinical and the answer is no lol but it is a neat experience. Doesn't seem like a good fit for LOR to me but she's who I work most closely with at this point so thought she'd be worth mentioning. Any help/advice in how to sort through these is much appreciated. I'm applying to programs that accept anywhere between 2-6 letters, so I would love to hear what people think as a "cut-off" if I were to submit only some of these (like do I only have 2 solid LORs and if I'm able to only do 2, I should stick to only 2? Or do I have 3-4 solid ones that I should include if I'm able?) Final question: Is it appropriate to ask a PI to collaborate with a lab manager on the letter? I worked more closely with a lab manager/project coordinator in most labs, so I think they'd best be able to speak to my abilities but wouldn't carry the weight of a PI. tl;dr: help me sort through my LORs and order them from strongest --> weakest with a cutoff of how many I should use if I could choose anywhere between 2-6. THANK YOU!