PsychApplicantFall2019

Carline Robertson at Dartmouth studies motion and scene perception in autism.

Feeling quite overwhelmed. My lab is currently demanding a ton of time. I feel like I need the NSF GRFP submitted before I can think about the school SOPs. Further, one PI I talked to recommended applying for the Hertz Fellowship which is ridiculously competitive and likely a waste of my time, but I feel obligated. On the actual applications, I have a final school list, registered the accounts, sent out the recommendation requests, the GRE reports and transcripts are squared away. All of that is mostly because I already had everything together for the grants. I am probably not going to make serious progress on the SOPs for about a month. First app due is Stanford in mid-November.

Here is my suggestion and others may disagree. I think that you might be looking for people who are too specifically aligned with your interests. The way I think about the purpose of a PhD is to develop the scientific skills necessary to conduct research not necessarily to have a particular research program defined when you enter. (This may not hold for senior, highly renowned PIs who would expect you to have a research program, but I am speaking generally). As such, the PI does not need to have a research program that is working on your particular question in order for there to be a good research fit. And, you need to be able to mold your research interests to a PI's particular flavor of research. I am just spit-balling because I don't have a strong relevant background, but perhaps, someone working on gambling addiction or obsessive behaviors would provide you with the training that you need to pursue your particular interests later in your postdoc or as a faculty. In summary: Broaden your search. Identify where your interests match the PIs. Mold the way you present your interests to match their interests.

My work uses a lot of computational methods as well, and I think that your experience will be a great fit for many groups. I do think many PIs have the expectation that you have some experience with MATLAB/Python/R/Unix, and it sounds like you would fit that very well. There is a chance that particular groups may typically take students with a very strong CS or applied math background, but you should be able to find that out by looking at the lab website or talking to the PI.

Thanks for this great advice because you have been there! I have PIs who didn't respond, and I was still planning to apply anyway. Glad to hear that it doesn't always turn out poorly.

This is only of the PIs that I have talked to, so take my experience with a grain of salt. I had a couple of PIs ask who else I was applying to, and one of them explicitly told me that he was asking because he wanted to ensure that I was knowledgable enough of the field that my PI list made sense. He suggested someone that was highly relevant but was not on my list, and I explained why I wasn't applying there. I had one other PI ask because she was genuinely encouraging me to apply to other people because there was not a high likelihood that she would accept me (although overall our research interests were aligned she was looking for someone with a particular background that isn't common in our field). Your response sounds more like the later, and I think you could courteously say that you have reached out to those PIs as well. It seems to me that she is suggesting that you have a great application, but there might not be a terrific fit. Best of luck!

I'm a bit late to the game, but I wanted to throw in a piece of advice. Your application is stellar in so many other ways that if you were to increase your GRE score, then I really think that you would have a decent shot at getting into a top program. If that is something that you would like to do, I would recommend giving the GRE another go.

I really appreciate your feedback, and it makes me feel more confident. I talk to a lot of people applying to med school sending out 30 applications. It makes me nervous that I have not diversified enough.

I am sure that you will be very successful in your applications! I am not saying positive response means that you will for sure be admitted, but there can be lack luster responses, or they can say that their group is full, so a positive response doesn't mean nothing. I would like to add that I have contacted PIs who told me their labs were full, and there are a couple that I am planning on applying to who have not responded.

It has been a mix of Skype and in-person. I sent out the feeler emails before a conference and arranged a time to meet there, and I have had a few Skype conversations. Maybe it is a bit bold, but in the emails I say something along the lines of "If you think that our interests are a good match, I would like to know about your research directions by Skype, or I will be attending xxx conference."

Hi all, I have been following this thread for a while, but I am finally posting. I graduated from a state school in 2017, and I have been doing research full time since then. Programs of Interest: Cognitive neuroscience (depends on the school whether this is actually in a psychology department) Research Interests: high-level vision School List: Johns Hopkins; Carnegie Mellon; University of Nevada, Reno; University of California, San Diego; University of California, Berkeley; Stanford; Harvard; MIT; Emory Background: BA in neuroscience from a state university Things I'm Not Worried About: Good enough GPA and GRE Strong letters of Recommendation Strong research experience Conference presentations (posters and oral) Things I'm Worried About: I have a middle author publication in a low- to mid-tier journal. I have a completed draft of my undergrad thesis work for publication that has been sitting on my former advisor's desk for a WHOLE YEAR. I am currently finishing a manuscript to submit soon. It will be submitted before applications are due, and we are going to try for a reach-journal at first. Good thing about that is if they hate it, it will be rejected super quickly, so I could even resubmit before applications are due. The publications is kind of minor concern. I think overall, I am not going to get denied because I don't have a first-author publication unless someone else has a first-author publication in Nature. I guess my concern is my school list because given the schools that I am applying to the other applicants may very well be published in Nature. I cannot decide whether I should add in some less competitive schools. I have had Skype or in-person meetings with all but two of the PIs on my list. They seemed very interested in me and there was a terrific fit with many of the programs. I am afraid that in the end, I just might not cut it. If anyone wanted to weigh in, I would love your feedback.