t_ruth

Question: why are you in a school psych program if that is your goal? Given that you are only in your first year, it might be best to try to change programs now...

I have a JD and worked for a few years before starting my PhD in Educational Psychology. I felt it was a real advantage for interpreting literature, writing, and understanding the logic of experiments. PM me if you want--I'm happy to talk more.

There are always conferences with deadlines coming up Get together with a few similarly-minded peers and put together a Google Sheet with conferences of interest and deadlines, locations, etc.

That sounds like a signal that you should probably end up asking someone else (sorry). Letters are usually all positive and we have to read between the lines to figure out the negative. If it was put out there like that it would not be a good sign.

You can find downloadable scripts depending on the software available for your experiments (eprime, Matlab, etc.). I would suggest looking into the software available to you at your current institution and/or googling: https://www.google.com/search?q=downloadable+version+of+the+stroop+task&oq=downloadable+version+of+the+stroop+task

For my program, anything about 155 quant would be fine. Others might want above 160. Really, it's a threshold thing. Better is better, of course, but I'm more concerned with the research match and statement.

I'm not sure you are understanding what I'm saying. The work you are describing as a school psychologist is clinical work. I can guarantee you that. Performing assessments is clinical work. This does not mean you attend a program in "Clinical Psychology," It just means you graduate and become a sort of clinician (although you can also go into academia/research). Part of the School Psych PhD program is a clinical internship. What some states call a "Licensed Educational Psychologist" is actually a School Psychologist. In my field, Ed Psych, most do not engage in clinical work--although it looks like in some states you can transition from an ed psych program to earn your LEP (like California: http://www.bbs.ca.gov/app-reg/lep.shtml), but none of the Ed Psych programs I know will train you for this--School Psych programs do. In Ed Psych programs, such as the one in which I am a faculty member (R1, within a College of Ed), our graduates go on to academia or to work in think tanks or school systems/other organizations in data analysis or program development/evaluation (non-"clinical" work).

This sounds like School Psych more than Ed Psych. What you describe *is* clinical work. I went back for my PhD at 31 and work as tenure-line faculty in an R1 now...there are plenty of people older than me who also do, so I don't think age is a factor for everyone I hadn't taken any math/stats courses for over ten years before I took the GRE and was able to score very well after about four months of prep, so it certainly can be done. I would look at profiles of people in the type of programs you want. If you are location-bound, it's probably a good idea to make connections to faculty in your area now before applying. Having a faculty member on the lookout for your application is huge.

First, your choice between ed and school psych should probably be driven by your desire for a clinical or academic career path. School psych PhDs can and do go into academia (in school psych programs mostly), but they also have the option of practicing as school psychologists, which involves clinical training and exams. Ed psych PhDs go into academia or industry and are generally not clinically trained. Re: the GRE, most programs have cut-offs for scores and may only be able to take a limited number of students below the cut-off. If you are looking instead for "competitive" score thresholds, this varies wildly and is almost always compared to other applicants. For example, top GRE scorers may be granted competitive university-wide fellowships. Another place top scores may matter is for particular PIs. I do fairly quant work, and I value the kind of logical reasoning that may be demonstrated by high quant GRE scores, so it matters a bit for me, but others in my program don't care at all...

It is the rare first-year undergrad who can contribute effectively to a research lab; however, I wouldn't turn away an interested and motivated student because of their relative lack of experience. I've had an undergrad who started working with me as a first year and before her junior year she presented a paper at a national conference on her own research (that she started spring of her first year)!

Where do you see the number of awards change? The current solicitation still lists 2k from what I can see... Thanks!

Your methods should be driven by your questions...unless you specifically want to study methods, and that's an entirely different thing. Most entering grad students know very little about the method they will eventually use and what is best for their questions (not to mention, their questions evolve rapidly over the first few years). If the faculty member's work interests you and you can see yourself asking related questions/conducing related research, go for it.

Looks like your verbal is 88th percentile and your quant 87th (depending on exact administration). Don't waste your time retaking--that's good enough. Instead, focus on finding your research match, working on research experience, and writing your statement. As noted in my comment above, "top school" is really not relevant (within reason) for a PhD...it is more about the strength of your mentor in his/her field.

APA is a great place for meetings in my field as it is a smaller group than our main conference (AERA). Emailing prior is a good idea, but some profs don't answer email during the summer. Find the division you are interested in and go to all their open events. Get to know the main players in your field. Attend talks or posters sessions by your POIs. Show interest in their posters and ask good questions. Mention then that you are interested in working with them (if you don't connect over email before). Try to connect with their grad students! They will likely have more time and interest in hanging out. You will get a lot of good insights and they really have our ear when it comes to who to admit.

Like that revised list If you can, maybe try submitting one of the projects you've worked on to a conference between now and when you submit your application. These sorts of things go a long way toward showing you are serious about research.

I don't think it is too soon to contact now as long as you have a well thought-out email. Make sure you've read an article or two from each POI and can ask an intelligent question about their work or note how your research interests may align. Faculty are not technically paid to work during the summer on student mentoring, and although many still do, some make a point of not replying to email over the summer. Given this, if you write now and don't hear from someone, mark your calendar for a week after their school year starts and politely follow up.

Even if they aren't published as minimums, we often have internal minimum scores. At my institution, if a student is below that minimum, we have to have a compelling reason to accept them and we are only allowed to accept a certain percentage below the minimum. Also, you didn't ask, but I would suggest basing your list on your potential advisor(s) not on the school itself. Based on the list, my hunch is you are picking schools first, but I could be wrong...

School psych degrees tend to have either a pure clinical/practical focus or a mixed clinical/practical and research focus. Ed psych on the other hand are more likely to have a pure research focus. The after-graduation job prospects are quite different. There are a lot of similarities in the types of research questions that can be asked and answered across the two fields though. No, you do not need an education degree first. I'm happy to answer any more questions.

1.) Read in your area of interest. Be able to speak about specific research questions that you'd like to tackle. 2.) No big deal. 3.) Yes, it seems it might be relevant, especially if it relates to your motivation for your area of research. However, like someone mentioned above, this can be touched on by your letter writers.

I give my students an opportunity to start the summer before they begin on a funded or unfunded project or with a reading list. One student went through a syllabus of a course that wasn't going to be offered anytime soon and as she read and sent me thoughts, we would email back and forth. There is something to be said for just relaxing, but, if you are eager, no need to wait.

If you can secure some kind of IRB approval to conduct an action research project that would be fabulous. I'm not sure what area you are interested in, but start generating research questions now, especially when your interaction with students and schools will most-likely aid in their generation. You don't *need* a PhD to conduct research--the training helps, but if you have the drive and the aptitude, no reason to wait! You just need to make sure you are careful with regards to human subjects.

I wouldn't worry too much about your undergrad GPA. Contact some authors of work that you like who are faculty in programs that you would consider and see if they are accepting graduate students. Strike up a conversation. Show enthusiasm about their work. It doesn't have to be a perfect match with what they are currently working on--just has to be within the realm. I can suggest a good school/advisor for that area if you PM me...

What kind of classes are you looking for? Does your program not offer any? You can PM me and I can give you info about ones at my institution...

Roundtables are sometimes strange--I've done three or four of them and only once did it really work well--everyone who attended was knowledgeable on the specific topic and there was lots of audience participation. They do tend to be pretty low-key, so I wouldn't stress about it. To make the most of your AERA experience figure out in which divisions and SIGs you feel at home. Attend their business meetings and socials, participate in any mentoring opportunities, join their Facebook pages--both general and grad-student-specific. Meet grad students from other universities and form a conference crew that you can connect with in future years. Ask your advisor to introduce you to people. It might also be helpful to have your advisor model how to chat with poster presenters and ask them questions about your work. I'm assuming you are a current student somewhere but perhaps this is not the case? PM me for more specific advise if you are on your own...

Depends on the program, but Ed PhD students tend to be a little older than those in other fields. I've known plenty who started in their 30s or 40s. Late 20s seems most common.