goldenxpenguins

Hi everyone, I hope that you are doing well! I am applying to Developmental Psychology PhD programs and a few post-bacc programs this Fall. I also wanted to apply for some fellowships, mainly the NSF GRFP, but I had a quick question. Is it better to write the research statement about a project that I have already done (that I would expand on) or one that I would like to do in grad school? I have a few project ideas that I could write about such as my honors thesis, REU project (currently in the revision stage to be resubmitted for publication), one of my independent research projects, or a new project that I think I would want to do in grad school. For anyone who has applied for the NSF GRFP, what would you suggest? I also thought about applying for the Ford Predoctoral Fellowship, but I got the impression that it was mainly for those who plan on going into academia. Is it worth it to apply even though I already know that I want to work outside of academia in the future?

For a process as unpredictable as this one, back-up options are needed lol.

Hi everyone! I hope that you are all doing well! I have been lurking on GradCafe for about a year now and finally decided to make a profile a few weeks ago. I am applying to mostly Developmental Psychology PhD programs and maybe one Communications PhD program. This is my first time applying as I took a gap year (technically 2?) after I graduated in September 2018 to get more research experience. I am not really sure if I am a competitive applicant, but I just thought why not try my luck and see what happens! My research interests are mainly: gender and identity development across the lifespan (i.e., childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood); changes to self-esteem and emotion regulation throughout adolescence; how mass media influences children and young people (e.g., how it affects their self-esteem, body image, what it teaches them about gender norms, etc.). I am also interested in developmental pathways of mood, anxiety, eating, and substance use disorders, but I'm not sure if I want to do that type of work for my whole PhD, if I was to get accepted somewhere. The schools that I currently have on my list are: University of Pittsburgh University of Michigan (either for Developmental Psych or Communication Studies, still deciding) Cornell University Tufts University UC-Davis UC-Riverside UC-Santa Cruz UCLA University of Pennsylvania Northwestern University Penn State University Georgetown University This list will most likely change depending on which professors are taking students and whether I decide to add/remove any. I am also applying to four post-bacc programs as a back-up plan in case this cycle doesn't work out. Additionally, I am looking for fellowships to apply for and so far, only the NSF GRFP is on my list. I am taking the summer to study for the GRE, read POIs recent journal articles/email them to find out who is taking students for next year, and draft my application materials. I already know that my anxiety is going to be through the roof during this whole process, so it's nice to have this community where we can all freak out together ?.