t_ruth

You might want to consult an international university ranking then.

Depends what you want to do after graduation and who you would be working with in the program.

These things are so field specific, so general advice is tough, but: Usually, mentors are required to have postdoc mentoring plans. Do you have one? Can you draw on that to work with your mentor and publish some things together? Generally postdocs aren't all-on-your-own positions. Reach out to your postdoc advisors or other faculty in your department. Perhaps they would like to collaborate on something? Are there particular data you need to publish on or a particular topic? This can guide who you reach out to. You can also reach out to grad students to see if they need some help on their projects. Lit reviews are hard to do, and if you have skill in this, I'm sure it can be put to use. Finally, use this opportunity to get training on the method skills it sounds like you need. Can you audit a method class? If so, use the opportunity to make a publication-worthy class project. Good luck to you! I can't underscore enough that you should be working closely with your postdoc advisor on all of these things. That is 100% the point of a postdoc!

You've received some good suggestions. Master's programs are generally costly and few offer funding, so that should figure in as well. Also, I note you said you would study more for the GRE when done with undergrad, because you will have more time. Working and/or grad school both take up a lot of time...

That's likely fine for a writing sample. Polishing it would be a good idea.

Usually 11:59pm Dec. 1st. This year that's likely a very safe bet given that Dec. 1st is a Sunday

Sounds like you are asking the right questions and doing some good things to enhance your application. Have you talked to your current lab PI about your interest in doing more research things and the opportunity to get published or to present? Regarding your lit review, your professor should have some suggestions on where you can publish. You could also ask if they could come on as a co-author to help you polish the manuscript and prepare it for publication.

I came to my field (Ed Psych) after a career in an unrelated field and found it was a real benefit. I agree with all that PsyDGrad90 said. Also, you will have a better idea of your path once you have specific research questions you are interested in. A Masters can help give you time and exposure to come up with these questions, but it is expensive. For me, personally, I would love a student with a CS background (but I do work in ed tech). There may be other PIs who feel similarly in developmental and clinical (even outside of computational neuroscience).

Cut-offs are usually based on percentile scores. Many programs list this right on their websites or a program coordinator might be able to answer the question for you. Do you have other things in your application that demonstrate strong verbal skills?

As faculty, this seems like reasonable advice. Also, having research experience (actual pubs or presentations) will overcome almost anything.

Your data analyst work should bolster your application, depending on what you've been working on and how you speak about it. Your undergrad GPA shouldn't matter. Your GRE scores are good. I would do some reading in the meantime to see what you specifically want to study. This will dictate both where you apply and what you write about in your statements (and in large part, how competitive you are). Feel free to PM me if you want more specific advice. I'm Ed Psych faculty at an R1.

From a research standpoint (not clinical though), mentioning specific instruments would signal that you actually know what you are talking about and would add more credibility to your statement. Even better if you can situate it in the broader field or landscape of instruments.

The best thing to do is to convey enthusiasm. When I have these conversations (think of them that way instead of as interviews), I am looking to see that the student is curious, has good ideas, and that we get along and can just riff off each other in the conversation. Graduate students help faculty explore new ideas and co-create something that neither could create on their own. This kind of conversation gives both people a preview of how well that will work.

I'll put in another plug for considering Ed Psych, Human Dev, Learning Sciences programs--lots of work in this area studying development and media!

Not sure if I agree with this. Recent papers are good yes, but I certainly have lines of research from > 5 years ago that I haven't recently published on, but are still part of my world. If a smart and interesting student came around who wanted to work on that line of work, it would be exciting to me. If you email them noting you want to work on something they are no longer pursuing, that's good information for you to know too.

I don't have specific wording advice, but can advise you to appeal to ego: read studies of the PI you are interested in working with and ask them about the study. You can say something like: I really enjoyed your paper on X. I was wondering how [some topic you are interested in studying] would relate to your finding that [whatever their finding was]. Then, you could say you would love to talk to them about those ideas.

Just wanted to post this here (it is also posted in the Psychology forum), because it is relevant to those of you interested in Ed Psych and Learning Sciences. Good luck with applications! http://psychgradsearch.wikidot.com/

Totally depends on the rest of your profile. As faculty, I put little weight on the writing score. It's graded by computer (and people trained to agree with the computer), and penalizes those who have complex writing (to score well you need to keep very strictly to a five-sentence paragraph format). However, there may be a minimum 4.5 writing score for certain funding opportunities, so that would be an argument for retaking. With a little digging, you can find out if it will matter much to the places you are applying...

I don't think that's unique to Millennials. I don't know of many programs that offer funding for practitioner-focused EdDs. In the NYU program, for instance, it only notes that full-time PhDs can receive funding.

Are you looking for a full time EdD because you want funding? If funding isn't an issue, then you could approach almost any EdD at a quicker pace than the part-time pace recommended to students who are working while attending. There are many many reputable programs in this category, including plenty on the East Coast.

It was a bit unclear from your post: Do you want the Masters to go into teaching or to ultimately go into a PhD and research?

As you had included it with clinical, wanted to make sure you weren't thinking it was clinical. Ed Psych is research-based; school psych is the more clinical arm.

I doubt they are putting themselves on there to reduce emails--they are on there to get their names before even more people, so totally fine to email them.

I'm curious why you took out Ed Psych.

I put this note on the Psych board, but if anyone is interested in Ed Psych and wants a consult on where you are applying, PM me. When I applied for my PhD, I was many years out of undergrad and had no connection to the field. Someone I met on here took my list of potential PIs to their advisor and the advisor gave me advice on where I should go. I'm here to return the favor as I am now Ed Psych/Learning Sciences faculty