devpsych2020

Hi! None of my following points are definite facts or professional advice, just my two cents (more like 6 cents).
1. Congrats on your successful undergrad performance. I think that if you cogently illustrate your time-efficient journey, it can vouch for your certain strengths.
2. GPA/GRE scores will mostly only help you to pass the very first bar (e.g., GPA>3.0 / each GRE section>65th %) of the admissions process (i.e., your application won't be immediately dropped) and adcom/faculties won't look at those scores again once you pass that first bar. Also, GPAs are evaluated regarding the competitiveness of originating schools (e.g., 3.5 from Harvard =/= 3.5 from X Community College).
3. Relevant research experience and substantial byproducts (e.g, specific statistics/clinical/programming skills, presentations/publications, grant approval, leadership roles, etc) are definitely the core factors that will help you pass further bars during the admissions process. Some people accrue enough research experience during their undergraduate, however, most people find it practically hard to gain a competitive research profile (not just a few lines under your CV's "research experience" section but YOUR competitive research profile) while committing as a full-time college student. That is why most people do Master's and/or post-bacc research training in labs/hospitals/etc with matching research/career focus. I also want to add that many of those who do Master's and/or post-bacc before applying to PhD are also the ones who actively worked as student RAs during undergrad, wrote senior theses, and were well-exposed to presentation/publication efforts during their undergrad. And that they (we) do Master's and/or post-bacc years to further advance and well-compete for the narrow PhD opportunities, not because they (we) lack certain qualities or were lazy during undergraduate. It is just that competitive and limited.
4. Strong recommendation letters are other important factors that will help you move forward during the admissions process. I believe that the strong letter not only speak for your research/academic achievements, but also your overall attitude/passion/work ethics/growth/and more which are all important characteristics regarded by grad schools to determine if you are a good fit for rigorous graduate curriculum (e.g., competitions, stress, mentor-student attitude, independence, etc). And for someone to strongly voice for your such characteristics, you need to maintain more professional relationship with the letter writer than a regular undergrad-professor one (e.g., Master's advisor, lab supervisor, etc). Of course, PhD applicants bring at least one strong letter from their undergrad, however, you need to submit THREE strong letters and you don't want these three to all sound the same. This is easily another reason why people often continue their research training after bachelor's.
5. I sincerely don't mean to be rude to you in this 5th point. But it seems like you don't fully understand why the replies on this thread (and everywhere else on the internet) emphasizes "research experience" for Psychology PhD application. Just as one can't ask, "How many coffee dates qualify me to kiss my date without asking her or considering the overall chemistry, etc?", I think it just out of touch to ask how many pubs/presentations you should have to qualify for a psych PhD.
6. Talk to your faculties about this stuff! It sounds like you have a few professors from college who are happy to chat about your plan for advanced education in psychology (and write your letters, I am assuming?).
I didn't mean to write so much initially but oh well. Wish you the best in your academic/professional career!

Hi! None of my following points are definite facts or professional advice, just my two cents (more like 6 cents).
1. Congrats on your successful undergrad performance. I think that if you cogently illustrate your time-efficient journey, it can vouch for your certain strengths.
2. GPA/GRE scores will mostly only help you to pass the very first bar (e.g., GPA>3.0 / each GRE section>65th %) of the admissions process (i.e., your application won't be immediately dropped) and adcom/faculties won't look at those scores again once you pass that first bar. Also, GPAs are evaluated regarding the competitiveness of originating schools (e.g., 3.5 from Harvard =/= 3.5 from X Community College).
3. Relevant research experience and substantial byproducts (e.g, specific statistics/clinical/programming skills, presentations/publications, grant approval, leadership roles, etc) are definitely the core factors that will help you pass further bars during the admissions process. Some people accrue enough research experience during their undergraduate, however, most people find it practically hard to gain a competitive research profile (not just a few lines under your CV's "research experience" section but YOUR competitive research profile) while committing as a full-time college student. That is why most people do Master's and/or post-bacc research training in labs/hospitals/etc with matching research/career focus. I also want to add that many of those who do Master's and/or post-bacc before applying to PhD are also the ones who actively worked as student RAs during undergrad, wrote senior theses, and were well-exposed to presentation/publication efforts during their undergrad. And that they (we) do Master's and/or post-bacc years to further advance and well-compete for the narrow PhD opportunities, not because they (we) lack certain qualities or were lazy during undergraduate. It is just that competitive and limited.
4. Strong recommendation letters are other important factors that will help you move forward during the admissions process. I believe that the strong letter not only speak for your research/academic achievements, but also your overall attitude/passion/work ethics/growth/and more which are all important characteristics regarded by grad schools to determine if you are a good fit for rigorous graduate curriculum (e.g., competitions, stress, mentor-student attitude, independence, etc). And for someone to strongly voice for your such characteristics, you need to maintain more professional relationship with the letter writer than a regular undergrad-professor one (e.g., Master's advisor, lab supervisor, etc). Of course, PhD applicants bring at least one strong letter from their undergrad, however, you need to submit THREE strong letters and you don't want these three to all sound the same. This is easily another reason why people often continue their research training after bachelor's.
5. I sincerely don't mean to be rude to you in this 5th point. But it seems like you don't fully understand why the replies on this thread (and everywhere else on the internet) emphasizes "research experience" for Psychology PhD application. Just as one can't ask, "How many coffee dates qualify me to kiss my date without asking her or considering the overall chemistry, etc?", I think it just out of touch to ask how many pubs/presentations you should have to qualify for a psych PhD.
6. Talk to your faculties about this stuff! It sounds like you have a few professors from college who are happy to chat about your plan for advanced education in psychology (and write your letters, I am assuming?).
I didn't mean to write so much initially but oh well. Wish you the best in your academic/professional career!

Hi! None of my following points are definite facts or professional advice, just my two cents (more like 6 cents).
1. Congrats on your successful undergrad performance. I think that if you cogently illustrate your time-efficient journey, it can vouch for your certain strengths.
2. GPA/GRE scores will mostly only help you to pass the very first bar (e.g., GPA>3.0 / each GRE section>65th %) of the admissions process (i.e., your application won't be immediately dropped) and adcom/faculties won't look at those scores again once you pass that first bar. Also, GPAs are evaluated regarding the competitiveness of originating schools (e.g., 3.5 from Harvard =/= 3.5 from X Community College).
3. Relevant research experience and substantial byproducts (e.g, specific statistics/clinical/programming skills, presentations/publications, grant approval, leadership roles, etc) are definitely the core factors that will help you pass further bars during the admissions process. Some people accrue enough research experience during their undergraduate, however, most people find it practically hard to gain a competitive research profile (not just a few lines under your CV's "research experience" section but YOUR competitive research profile) while committing as a full-time college student. That is why most people do Master's and/or post-bacc research training in labs/hospitals/etc with matching research/career focus. I also want to add that many of those who do Master's and/or post-bacc before applying to PhD are also the ones who actively worked as student RAs during undergrad, wrote senior theses, and were well-exposed to presentation/publication efforts during their undergrad. And that they (we) do Master's and/or post-bacc years to further advance and well-compete for the narrow PhD opportunities, not because they (we) lack certain qualities or were lazy during undergraduate. It is just that competitive and limited.
4. Strong recommendation letters are other important factors that will help you move forward during the admissions process. I believe that the strong letter not only speak for your research/academic achievements, but also your overall attitude/passion/work ethics/growth/and more which are all important characteristics regarded by grad schools to determine if you are a good fit for rigorous graduate curriculum (e.g., competitions, stress, mentor-student attitude, independence, etc). And for someone to strongly voice for your such characteristics, you need to maintain more professional relationship with the letter writer than a regular undergrad-professor one (e.g., Master's advisor, lab supervisor, etc). Of course, PhD applicants bring at least one strong letter from their undergrad, however, you need to submit THREE strong letters and you don't want these three to all sound the same. This is easily another reason why people often continue their research training after bachelor's.
5. I sincerely don't mean to be rude to you in this 5th point. But it seems like you don't fully understand why the replies on this thread (and everywhere else on the internet) emphasizes "research experience" for Psychology PhD application. Just as one can't ask, "How many coffee dates qualify me to kiss my date without asking her or considering the overall chemistry, etc?", I think it just out of touch to ask how many pubs/presentations you should have to qualify for a psych PhD.
6. Talk to your faculties about this stuff! It sounds like you have a few professors from college who are happy to chat about your plan for advanced education in psychology (and write your letters, I am assuming?).
I didn't mean to write so much initially but oh well. Wish you the best in your academic/professional career!

Hi! None of my following points are definite facts or professional advice, just my two cents (more like 6 cents).
1. Congrats on your successful undergrad performance. I think that if you cogently illustrate your time-efficient journey, it can vouch for your certain strengths.
2. GPA/GRE scores will mostly only help you to pass the very first bar (e.g., GPA>3.0 / each GRE section>65th %) of the admissions process (i.e., your application won't be immediately dropped) and adcom/faculties won't look at those scores again once you pass that first bar. Also, GPAs are evaluated regarding the competitiveness of originating schools (e.g., 3.5 from Harvard =/= 3.5 from X Community College).
3. Relevant research experience and substantial byproducts (e.g, specific statistics/clinical/programming skills, presentations/publications, grant approval, leadership roles, etc) are definitely the core factors that will help you pass further bars during the admissions process. Some people accrue enough research experience during their undergraduate, however, most people find it practically hard to gain a competitive research profile (not just a few lines under your CV's "research experience" section but YOUR competitive research profile) while committing as a full-time college student. That is why most people do Master's and/or post-bacc research training in labs/hospitals/etc with matching research/career focus. I also want to add that many of those who do Master's and/or post-bacc before applying to PhD are also the ones who actively worked as student RAs during undergrad, wrote senior theses, and were well-exposed to presentation/publication efforts during their undergrad. And that they (we) do Master's and/or post-bacc years to further advance and well-compete for the narrow PhD opportunities, not because they (we) lack certain qualities or were lazy during undergraduate. It is just that competitive and limited.
4. Strong recommendation letters are other important factors that will help you move forward during the admissions process. I believe that the strong letter not only speak for your research/academic achievements, but also your overall attitude/passion/work ethics/growth/and more which are all important characteristics regarded by grad schools to determine if you are a good fit for rigorous graduate curriculum (e.g., competitions, stress, mentor-student attitude, independence, etc). And for someone to strongly voice for your such characteristics, you need to maintain more professional relationship with the letter writer than a regular undergrad-professor one (e.g., Master's advisor, lab supervisor, etc). Of course, PhD applicants bring at least one strong letter from their undergrad, however, you need to submit THREE strong letters and you don't want these three to all sound the same. This is easily another reason why people often continue their research training after bachelor's.
5. I sincerely don't mean to be rude to you in this 5th point. But it seems like you don't fully understand why the replies on this thread (and everywhere else on the internet) emphasizes "research experience" for Psychology PhD application. Just as one can't ask, "How many coffee dates qualify me to kiss my date without asking her or considering the overall chemistry, etc?", I think it just out of touch to ask how many pubs/presentations you should have to qualify for a psych PhD.
6. Talk to your faculties about this stuff! It sounds like you have a few professors from college who are happy to chat about your plan for advanced education in psychology (and write your letters, I am assuming?).
I didn't mean to write so much initially but oh well. Wish you the best in your academic/professional career!

Hi! None of my following points are definite facts or professional advice, just my two cents (more like 6 cents).
1. Congrats on your successful undergrad performance. I think that if you cogently illustrate your time-efficient journey, it can vouch for your certain strengths.
2. GPA/GRE scores will mostly only help you to pass the very first bar (e.g., GPA>3.0 / each GRE section>65th %) of the admissions process (i.e., your application won't be immediately dropped) and adcom/faculties won't look at those scores again once you pass that first bar. Also, GPAs are evaluated regarding the competitiveness of originating schools (e.g., 3.5 from Harvard =/= 3.5 from X Community College).
3. Relevant research experience and substantial byproducts (e.g, specific statistics/clinical/programming skills, presentations/publications, grant approval, leadership roles, etc) are definitely the core factors that will help you pass further bars during the admissions process. Some people accrue enough research experience during their undergraduate, however, most people find it practically hard to gain a competitive research profile (not just a few lines under your CV's "research experience" section but YOUR competitive research profile) while committing as a full-time college student. That is why most people do Master's and/or post-bacc research training in labs/hospitals/etc with matching research/career focus. I also want to add that many of those who do Master's and/or post-bacc before applying to PhD are also the ones who actively worked as student RAs during undergrad, wrote senior theses, and were well-exposed to presentation/publication efforts during their undergrad. And that they (we) do Master's and/or post-bacc years to further advance and well-compete for the narrow PhD opportunities, not because they (we) lack certain qualities or were lazy during undergraduate. It is just that competitive and limited.
4. Strong recommendation letters are other important factors that will help you move forward during the admissions process. I believe that the strong letter not only speak for your research/academic achievements, but also your overall attitude/passion/work ethics/growth/and more which are all important characteristics regarded by grad schools to determine if you are a good fit for rigorous graduate curriculum (e.g., competitions, stress, mentor-student attitude, independence, etc). And for someone to strongly voice for your such characteristics, you need to maintain more professional relationship with the letter writer than a regular undergrad-professor one (e.g., Master's advisor, lab supervisor, etc). Of course, PhD applicants bring at least one strong letter from their undergrad, however, you need to submit THREE strong letters and you don't want these three to all sound the same. This is easily another reason why people often continue their research training after bachelor's.
5. I sincerely don't mean to be rude to you in this 5th point. But it seems like you don't fully understand why the replies on this thread (and everywhere else on the internet) emphasizes "research experience" for Psychology PhD application. Just as one can't ask, "How many coffee dates qualify me to kiss my date without asking her or considering the overall chemistry, etc?", I think it just out of touch to ask how many pubs/presentations you should have to qualify for a psych PhD.
6. Talk to your faculties about this stuff! It sounds like you have a few professors from college who are happy to chat about your plan for advanced education in psychology (and write your letters, I am assuming?).
I didn't mean to write so much initially but oh well. Wish you the best in your academic/professional career!

Especially when you are paying an application fee, transcripts fee, and test score fee. The LEAST they can do is have some undergrad intern in the Psych Office send an automated email. 

Hi all! Just wanted to ask for your thoughts on planning interview trips.
Some schools are located at where you have to fly into the nearby city with decent airport, then take an hour or two shuttle rides to get to the campus. I figured that these shuttle services often offer "group discount" for 2/+ people and I honestly would feel more safe if I have a company on these long van ride in an unfamiliar region... So I did email schools about being connected to other interviewees traveling in for the same interview event and am still waiting for the response.
If I can't be connected to other interviewees through school, what do you all think about finding a travel mate on grad cafe? I believe that there are several risks due to the anonymity of this forum but still wanted to hear anyone with past experiences or suggestion?

Also, why are you applying to those schools? Is it just because they are "top" schools? Do you have a good research match there? 
 
School name doesn't mean a ton in psych, and schools that are perceived as "top" aren't always so in this field. 

I would definitely recommend a 2 year post bac to gain more research/work experience. I didn’t go to a “top tier” undergrad institution but I did my post-bac at a R1. I also don’t know how much a PhD admissions committee would care about a perfect SAT score because it’s from high school, as opposed to a perfect GRE score from college but that’s just my two cents about that. 

Are you a new graduate, age 19?
 
If so, it's gonna be reaaaallly tough to get in with no work experience and hard to convince them you're emotionally/academically mature enough for this. 

Hi all! Just wanted to ask for your thoughts on planning interview trips.
Some schools are located at where you have to fly into the nearby city with decent airport, then take an hour or two shuttle rides to get to the campus. I figured that these shuttle services often offer "group discount" for 2/+ people and I honestly would feel more safe if I have a company on these long van ride in an unfamiliar region... So I did email schools about being connected to other interviewees traveling in for the same interview event and am still waiting for the response.
If I can't be connected to other interviewees through school, what do you all think about finding a travel mate on grad cafe? I believe that there are several risks due to the anonymity of this forum but still wanted to hear anyone with past experiences or suggestion?

OMG me! At one point, I found myself googling living costs/apartments in the areas of my top choices and looking into some real-winter clothes during the holiday sales (I live in the westcoast and my top choices are up in North or East). I really had to give myself a harsh invisible slap to snap out of it.

OMG me! At one point, I found myself googling living costs/apartments in the areas of my top choices and looking into some real-winter clothes during the holiday sales (I live in the westcoast and my top choices are up in North or East). I really had to give myself a harsh invisible slap to snap out of it.

I agree with other responses to find a paid RA job. I am not sure of your current location within AZ but ASU and U of A have big psych departments. I believe that ASU even has a family studies/human development kind of department separately as well? (If you are looking into clinical, counseling, or developmental route)
1. Like the other posts suggested, directly looking up PIs and their lab webpages will certainly help. I also second emailing the lab manager or at least CCing the lab manager to your email to PI. Profs who are busy doing big research projects (aka have money to hire paid RAs to work on those projects) may often miss your email in the waves of other priority emails.
2. On top of #1, try asking your professors for potential RA opportunities to work for them or their colleagues. I noticed that you are doing online masters so you may not have enough connection with your profs. Still, if there were/are any classes that your did well in and received good feedback on your course work, I don’t see any harm for reaching out to them for any relevant advice, tips, consulting, etc.
3. Use job search portals. I found indeed & higheredjobs to have the best relevant listings of research positions. Also, each university/college has its own job listing page somewhere. Although it lists all sorts of job positions open in the university/college community, you should be able to sort via advanced search to look up research opportunities only.
Hope this helps and good luck!

I agree with other responses to find a paid RA job. I am not sure of your current location within AZ but ASU and U of A have big psych departments. I believe that ASU even has a family studies/human development kind of department separately as well? (If you are looking into clinical, counseling, or developmental route)
1. Like the other posts suggested, directly looking up PIs and their lab webpages will certainly help. I also second emailing the lab manager or at least CCing the lab manager to your email to PI. Profs who are busy doing big research projects (aka have money to hire paid RAs to work on those projects) may often miss your email in the waves of other priority emails.
2. On top of #1, try asking your professors for potential RA opportunities to work for them or their colleagues. I noticed that you are doing online masters so you may not have enough connection with your profs. Still, if there were/are any classes that your did well in and received good feedback on your course work, I don’t see any harm for reaching out to them for any relevant advice, tips, consulting, etc.
3. Use job search portals. I found indeed & higheredjobs to have the best relevant listings of research positions. Also, each university/college has its own job listing page somewhere. Although it lists all sorts of job positions open in the university/college community, you should be able to sort via advanced search to look up research opportunities only.
Hope this helps and good luck!

If the University of Rochester sends me one more email about why I should choose their program for grad school before rejecting me or inviting me to interview, I am going to go crazy ?

For anyone who applied to U-Michigan, the developmental psych faculty will be sending out formal interview invites within the next week or so! 

Happy New Year everyone, I hope that you all are doing well! 

I just got an email from my top choice POI of all the programs I applied to about having an informal phone interview and I swear I almost passed out when I saw her name pop up in my inbox! I know it's only an informal interview, but I'm shocked I even got this far lol. 

I feel you both! I also absolutely despise uncertainty and this unpredictable process really makes us question our strengths and qualities...
In case anyone find helpful, I would like to share my two mottos that I religiously live by, in terms of academic/career life: 1) This is fundamentally me overcoming myself and 2) I didn't come this far, only to come this far. 
Happy New Years, everyone. Hope you treat yourself with good food and great quality sleeps at the least!

I feel you both! I also absolutely despise uncertainty and this unpredictable process really makes us question our strengths and qualities...
In case anyone find helpful, I would like to share my two mottos that I religiously live by, in terms of academic/career life: 1) This is fundamentally me overcoming myself and 2) I didn't come this far, only to come this far. 
Happy New Years, everyone. Hope you treat yourself with good food and great quality sleeps at the least!

I feel you both! I also absolutely despise uncertainty and this unpredictable process really makes us question our strengths and qualities...
In case anyone find helpful, I would like to share my two mottos that I religiously live by, in terms of academic/career life: 1) This is fundamentally me overcoming myself and 2) I didn't come this far, only to come this far. 
Happy New Years, everyone. Hope you treat yourself with good food and great quality sleeps at the least!

I got my first formal invite and from one of my top choices, Penn State! I totally screamed

I got the invite as well! Congratulations!

I love that!
One of my favorites is "Nothing to it but to do it". Reminds me to just keep chugging along, don't get too caught up in my own head, and any movement is better than no movement.
I hope 2020 has some amazing things in store for us all!