halo2masterq

1. It would be much easier than clinical. One of my programs only had 15 applicants to it ( atleast that is what they told me). 2. Yes they are all funded, none of the programs i have been accepted to did not have funding available, although sometimes these programs are the school of education so the funding may be a bit lower. 3. Yes. It is not common to have alot of experience with these topics as they don't present themselves often. I would say, if you are familiar with SEM, Item response theory, factor analysis, differential item functioning, mixed models, etc. IF you are interested in testing I would make sure you are familiar with some of those topics as well such as scale linking, and some IRT software such as IRTpro. You will be a very very competitive applicant. Many applicants just have a stats background and know R and not much past that. I have a background in the topics i listed and have basically been accepted to every program I applied to (2 years working exp with a masters in same field).

Good to see some updates here. I interviewed at Boston college the other day and mine was also quite short (30 mins) outside of a few questions. Seemed like more of a "we want you but just wanna make sure you aren't crazy". Who knows, maybe I am a bit crazy As far as size goes, it is difficult to tell how many people are applying. Boston college did give me some info though, they are taking 5/15 applicants. Not sure how that translates elsewhere. I have an interview with university of Maryland in a few weeks and I have been accepted to university of Minnesota without an interview which was kind of weird. Still waiting to hear back from UCLA, UW, and UTA.

It is kind of like the question of if you would want to know the date you die. Not really a right answer on this one...

Potentially going to BC and had a few questions. Is it easy to bring a car there and deal with parking? It looks like BC is in the suburbs mostly. And how easy is it to get to Harvard square area or even downtown from campus area? For like meetups, dates, etc.

Good luck to you in your potential interviews. Not sure how competitive programs are this year but I talked with an old professor today and he stated in interviews many PIs want to see that you have background so that you can start research sooner rather than later. Many times in psychometric programs, someone is admitted with only a generic stats background and will have to take 1-2 years of classes in order to be able to conduct any research which is not attractive.

Getting experience as an undergrad is quite difficult and i think most admission committees realize that. I spoke with a potential PI a few months ago and he said it was quite rare for an applicant to have a good amount of experience when applying. You can also tell committees are aware of this because there are a decent chunk of programs that require a masters degree before applying, most likely in hopes to attract those with some background.

Hope the best for you. I applied to UCLA, University of washington, UMD, UMN, UTA, an BC. For UCLA, it seems like there is quite a large variation in potential research areas. I am not expecting to get in there since the PI i listed seems to have only done a little work in my area and my statement of purpose heavily implies that is my main focus ( computer adaptive testing). Which PI did you indicate to work with? The initials of mine were SR. I am hoping to just get interviews. I know if i can get in front of someone and talk about certain psychometric topics in more detail than they hopefully expected, then ill be golden. Seems like you have great experience, especially for an undergraduate.

Good luck to you. This is an interesting field for sure in terms of applications. I will assume most will not expect someone to have knowledge of IRT before applying due to the low amount of programs and work experiences available. I also made sure to stress the background I have with IRT, CTT, testing company experience, etc. because I am hoping it comes off as extremely valuable (although not sure if that will be the case). I have a masters in measurement already and a year of work experience using IRT among other things as well such as test equating, scaling, linking, differential item functioning, etc. I haven't heard back from any places except for Iowa where i got denied from. I am a bit skeptical as to why, but I am guessing (or hoping) that my research focus on computer adaptive testing is not very compatible there and therefore I should not worry about other schools that match my research focus more. Where did you apply?

I am still waiting to hear back. I have applied for more of a psychometric testing focus. I am hoping my background increases my chances at getting into some of these programs. I have a masters in measurement and statistics and have done a decent amount of work for testing companies as well. From what I have gathered, for some of these programs, having background experience is HUGE. I talked with a potential PI a few months ago and he said it was quite rare for someone to have a decent amount of relevant experience when applying. I applied to UCLA, university of washington, ut austin, maryland college park, boston college, Minnesota, and Iowa. Hoping to hear back soon...