LanternTrinity

I don't think a bachelor's degree in Psychology is a prerequisite to get into a Psychology PhD program in the U.S. Especially since you have taken a lot of psychology courses, you will be fine. They will probably look at your grade in those (psych) classes. My advice would be to search for your potential advisors, read their research and reach out to them asap. If you can demonstrate that you can have intelligent conversations about their research and even propose ideas for future research, you should be fine.

I would say it's a very personal decision. You need to reflect on what's important to you. What kind of work environment made you the happiest in the past? My experience taught me that to me, the place doesn't matter as much as the people. If I am surrounded by people who are wonderful, they make any place feel like home. I also found out that though I can work with hands off advisors, a lot more time gets wasted in figuring out every minute aspect of research, which a hands on advisor would help me figure out. So, I gave a lot of importance to hands on advisors. Research fit was very important but prestige of university wasn't that important (again, I learnt it from experience that top ranking universities don't necessarily do better research and that it's more important to find schools where my research fit best with the advisor's).

For the next 5 or 6 years, you'll have plennnty of time to do research, sharpen up or learn research related skills. What you won't get is this golden opportunity to really relax and have fun without feeling guilty about all the pending, piling workload. So, paleesssee, guys, take time out to celebrate and (shamelessly) pursue your fun-goals. You have definitely earned it.

I am seeing many lab manager positions popping up in http://psychgradsearch.wikidot.com/ I am sure there will be more availability as many current research assistants/lab managers go get into a grad school. Definitely keep an eye out on relevant job search sites. Also, I've realized that one of the main factors that help with getting accepted is if POIs are familiar with your research ideas. If you have letter of recommendations from people who know your POI well (or have worked with them), then that's a big plus. But you SHOULD reach out to ppl whose work you really like and have new insights about..ask if you want any clarifications...maybe discuss new directions their research can take...reach out to many and don't wait till August. Blow them away with your depth of knowledge and research ideas. And you will get in.

If his attitude is making students leave the program (which has to be a very very difficult decision), then that definitely seems like a big red flag. :-(.

there's research on how your advisor is THE most important determinant of your success in grad school. If the school is very collaborative and you have interests in common with multiple faculty, then even with a bad POI, you can maybe work with other professors and make up for the bad POI. But if he's the only one whose research aligns with yours and he is really as terrible as the students tell him to be, DON'T (especially if you have other offers where your POI and others are more friendly and collegial). Also, by terrible, what do they mean? If they simply mean he's hands off and if you are confident in pursuing your research ideas independently without your POI's guidance, then that's fine. But if by terrible, they mean he demoralizes, demeans, or sabotages his students' careers, heck no! Another thing to look into would be how his ex-students are fairing. Are there students who have successful jobs (Academic or otherwise)? If yes, reach out and see if they have a different perspective on this POI. I say this because people sometimes love to blame everyone/everything (except themselves) for their failure but the experience could be very different for someone who's more self-driven and motivated.

What is one supposed to carry in it? I just found out we should have a few copies of CVs. Do we need to have anything else?

I had the same dilemma when I was asked if I wanted to meet any other faculty besides my POI. I didn't know if it looked like I wasn't that interested in my POI if I mentioned others and if it looked I was unprepared if I didn't mention anyone else. Fortunately, there were other faculty whose work interested me. Can you find few whose work you atleast find interesting? Then you can write something like, 'If possible, besides <your POI>, I would love to meet with other faculty whose work on <topics you find interesting> intrigue me: Prof. X, Prof. Y....'

ASU Social: Feb 5th-8th