paraent

hm, signs from past years suggest that bostonu jumps right into in-person interview invites before any preliminary skype stuff

I'd say, pretty close to the route you're doing. SOP should definitely be a professional document most of the time. Would recommend in that transcript addendum that you emphasize your resilience and emotional/mental readiness for graduate school in case they get worried about trauma preventing you from completion. Just, yknow, cast your experiences as a strength rather than (or in addition to) a scar.

While I probably would've included my GPA if it was exceptional, I don't know if I would've included it even if it were just average. A selection of reasons why include: most professional CVs I've seen don't mention GPA, I'm about a year and a half out from undergrad, a big part of my case for myself is "this track record of research experience is a better demonstration of my research potential than my grades" so the decision to exclude seemed consistent, profs will already have access to the information during their decision process, profs can usually infer for themselves what the absence of a GPA from a CV means (and might even end up being pleasantly surprised that my GPA's not as low as it could be if their expectations are controlled enough!), CV is a place to articulate your qualifications for a position and not the opposite, etc. But yeah it was ultimately a self-serving decision.

Hello, friends. I'm applying to cognitive neuroscience labs in six places - Brown, UVirginia, Penn, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Boston. Stuff seems to straddle between psych and neuro, so I'm watching both threads for useful insight into how things are unfolding. Despite a weak ~3.1 GPA, it seems my decent (maybe strong?) research background is pulling a lot of weight, and I've been chatting a lot with different profs over the last couple weeks. Hope we can support each other through this harrowing process. Here's all the info I can offer you guys: So around the same time I sent my apps, I emailed a selection of profs expressing interest in their labs and attaching my CV. Some didn't respond (they're busy!), some just said they'd be excited to see my app, others were more enthusiastic. Since then... - Quick skype chat with a Columbia prof within a couple days, seemed to be an informal courtesy due to her ties w/ my lab and unlikely to lead to an acceptance based on my impression; again, doesn't seem like any official part of the decision process - Multiple rather warm skype interviews w/ a few profs at Vanderbilt; was invited around the 17th after one call for a 2/7-9 or so for an in-person shindig. They're such friendly people there. - My most official-feeling skype interview yet was with UVA late last week; was arranged very soon after the 12/15 deadline passed. Was described as a pre-screening. - Finally heard from Brown a few days ago, on Friday I think. For a Skype interview in a couple weeks! From their site, about 15% of applicants are invited for interviews, and then about 50% of those are offered admission. I'm not sure if this upcoming 30 minute skype call means I'm in that 15% or if it's actually those selected to come interview on campus who are in the 15%. Doesn't really matter for what I have to do next, though! - Haven't heard from Penn, Boston or Columbia yet aside from what I've mentioned above. Recent news in the neuro thread about Penn is discouraging but I'm hoping maybe they handle Psych apps in a later committee (the prof I emailed suggested as much indirectly), especially since there aren't any signs of Psychy stuff happening in the decisions database and a peek at past years' threads suggests a late decision cycle. There are similarly crickets chirping in the decisions database re:Columbia but again I'm pretty pessimistic. - Boston was the source of one of the especially enthusiastic initial emails I've gotten (guy even went as so far to say it was likely he'd invite me for an interview!), so I'm honestly still expecting something from them after break. That makes me feel more okay with the idea that other schools might contact me in January, too. Then again, though, my CV didn't mention my GPA, haha. I'll keep throwing intel here for as long as it feels like it could help. Need to read through this thread to see if maybe I should update my impressions of my prospects.

Hm, well idk. You guys seem to be talking more about the programs/labs I'm interested in, so maybe I'll stay? At least I'll straddle. For now, I'll just review whatever info I can share you guys with the caveat that w/ no exception I'm taking the psych route into neuro labs (ie applying to cog neuro track of psych programs). That probably makes most of what I'm about to review useless for most of you guys, since I'm sure psych applications are often if not always considered separately from neuro apps, even if similar lab memberships are being pursued. Based on my reading, I suspect that the bio-track neuro process might roll out faster simply because a lot of these programs pursue a lab rotation approach to students' first couple of years rather than situating them under one PI immediately. The result is that more people need to vet individual applicants and that takes more time! So around the same time I sent my apps, I emailed a selection of profs (almost always just 1 per school) expressing interest in their labs and attaching my CV. Some didn't respond (which I told them was ok and understandable from the get-go!), some just said they'd be excited to see my app, others were more enthusiastic. Since then... - Quick skype chat with a Columbia prof within a couple days, seemed to be an informal courtesy due to her ties w/ my lab and unlikely to lead to an acceptance based on my impression - Multiple rather warm skype interviews w/ a few profs at Vanderbilt; was invited around the 17th after one call for a 2/7-9 or so for an in-person shindig. They're such friendly people there. - My most official-feeling skype interview yet was with UVA late last week. Was described as a pre-screening. Something I noticed when reading the thread is that my UVA deadline came a lot later than you guys': it was 12/15! Maybe another sign that everything I'm sharing here is useless to bio-track people, sorry. - Finally heard from Brown a few days ago, on Friday I think. For a Skype interview in a couple weeks! This seems to match the timings reported by bio-track people, so that's notable. - Haven't heard from Penn, Boston or Columbia yet aside from what I've mentioned above. Recent news in this thread about Penn is discouraging but I'm hoping maybe they handle Psych apps in a later committee (the prof I emailed suggested as much indirectly), especially since there aren't any signs of Psychy stuff happening in the decisions database and a peek at past years' threads suggests a late decision cycle. There are similarly crickets chirping in the decisions database re:Columbia but again I'm pretty pessimistic. - Boston was the source of one of the especially enthusiastic initial emails I've gotten (guy even went as so far to say it was likely he'd invite me for an interview!), so I'm honestly still expecting something from them after break. That makes me feel more okay with the idea that other schools might contact me in January, too. Then again, though, my CV didn't mention my GPA, haha. I'll keep throwing intel here for as long as it feels like it could help. Might mean no more posts!

looks like i probably belong in the psych thread. good luck guys!

Hello, friends. I'm applying to cognitive neuroscience labs in six places - Brown, UVirginia, Penn, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Boston. Stuff seems to straddle between psych and neuro, so I'm watching both threads for useful insight into how things are unfolding. Despite a weak ~3.1 GPA, it seems my strong research background is pulling a lot of weight, and I've been chatting a lot with different profs over the last couple weeks. Hope we can support each other through this harrowing process. Gonna go read every post in this thread now...