PsychWannabee

I would suggest you wait. When I applied, I had one recommender submit most of their letters on the due date. Stressful? Yes, but the recommendations got in. I think a reminder email a couple days before should suffice. Good luck with the admission cycle!

First, double and triple check for a word or page count limit. If there really is none, 2 double-spaced pages is pretty standard.

What kind of programs are you looking into? PhD? PsyD? If PhD, I wouldn't worry about "clinical experience" or role in honor societies. Your GPA should meet cut-offs and, assuming you score in your estimated range, so should your GRE. The only concern would be your research experience, which PhD programs place high value in. You only have a year of psych research experience and one conference presentation, and you will be competing against people who have several years of research experience. Many applicants will also have multiple conference presentations and some will have publications. While it is certainly possible to be accepted into a program with that psych research experience, it would probably be helpful for you to tie-in your criminology experiences to your interests in psychology in your statement of purpose. However, this is only if these experiences actually fit together or relate.

What kind of program are you looking to attend? Master's? PhD?

I took both tests in September last year, with a two week gap, and felt like that was an adequate amount of time in between tests. It may be different for you, though.

Don't do it on your own. Like, PLEASE, don't go through this process on your own. I made this mistake. I did it because I didn't feel much support from the professor I was working with, BUT if I could do it again, I would find someone who did believe in me and wanted me to get into grad school. Find a professor who will read your statement, CV, etc. This will tremendously help your applications and your stress. Reach out to POIs before you apply. I didn't do this, and definitely missed out on saving some time and money. I advise this because you never know if a POI's research is heading towards or away from your area of interest. I was super lucky in that I applied to someone who's research wasn't too close to mine, but after interviewing I found out they're starting new work with my population of interest. I REALLY wish I would have known that before I applied. Other POIs I interviewed with had their research heading down a completely different path– that could've been a good several hundred dollars saved. What you think is your top choice might not be your top choice after visiting (and go on all the visits you can). Copying @GradPerson verbatim because THIS. IS. SO. TRUE. When I first applied, the school I have now committed to I wasn't extremely excited about (for personal reasons). I fell in love with the program on my interview, and I honestly could not be more excited about attending in the Fall. I can't imagine going anywhere else. BREATHE. Seriously.

If you are graduating next Spring with no research experience, your chances of getting into a PhD are very, very low. However, this doesn't mean you have to go and get a master's. The best route to take can often be to get a job as a research assistant/coordinator/etc in a psychology lab after graduation. That is IF you really want to shoot for the PhD. From the post, you don't seem entirely convinced that a PhD is what you want to do. I think the bigger question here is what are your career goals? Answering that question will help clarify a bit more what path you should take to prepare yourself for what comes after undergrad.

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Absolutely love this thread. I immigrated with my parents to the U.S. from a Latin American country when I was very young. Higher education has been interesting to navigate as neither of my parents have a degree, and they don't understand the U.S. education system in the slightest. I don't blame them. I don't understand a good 80% of the time. My parents, however, have been very supportive, and my mom is elated I'm going to be a doctoral student. I've been able to get this far because of their endless love and support as well as the support of other people that believe in me.

Haven't even started grad school (start this Fall), and I already feel incredibly supported by my (future) advisor.

modern times

Hi, welcome to the forum! I understand that this rejection stings. Rejection always hurts. However, you said the reviewers gave you high marks. That doesn't sound like they "deemed (your) project inadequate". They just felt other applicants suited the fellowship best. Similar to the way how grad schools make decisions. That said, I don't think the reviewers were "random academics", and I seriously doubt they "don't know what they're doing". Also, I'm not sure what position you're in to decide those who did get the fellowship don't deserve it. You said the person in your cohort had work that is as good as yours. Yes, the rejection feels terrible, but these are things you can't really blame others for. I'm sure your application was amazing. It just wasn't everything they were looking for.

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Congrats! The people are awesome there

There's another one of these?! I knew there was one a few years ago, but not recently!

Happy for ya! You're going to kill it in grad school!!

Power surge

I second what @ClinPsych591 said. Paid RA positions are great for experience and being a competitive applicant! I have seen people only suggest someone go the master's route as maybe opposed to an RA position in the following occasions: 1) they don't need a PhD for the career they want, 2) undergrad GPA is bad, or 3) they don't have a background in psychology in undergrad. Also, don't get discouraged! Plenty of people have to apply more than once to get into a clinical psych PhD. Best of luck with your next application round!!

My official acceptance letter came in!! Super excited to be headed to grad school this fall! ?

Bike trail

You should probably check out this thread

Tried to upvote this but GradCafe won't let me add anymore reactions ?‍♀️ Happy to see you posting again ?

I could absolutely NOT attend a program where the students seemed unhappy or fake. I do not care how prestigious it is. I could also not attend a place where my would-be advisor/mentor, and I did not seem to "click".

I think this new thread is more for people to share where they have decided to attend rather than just where they have been accepted

I got in as the middle interview!!