t_ruth

You are in for a lot of disappointment with academia.

You are in for a lot of disappointment with academia.

I’m well aware and already very disappointed! ?

My theory is that they wait until the nsf GRFP grad cafe thread is at least 6 pages long before they will release the results. 

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).

I am a JD who went back to school for a PhD and am now a faculty member. Happy to discuss my experiences and offer some advice one-on-one if you want to PM.

I am a JD who went back to school for a PhD and am now a faculty member. Happy to discuss my experiences and offer some advice one-on-one if you want to PM.

I am a JD who went back to school for a PhD and am now a faculty member. Happy to discuss my experiences and offer some advice one-on-one if you want to PM.

Hi i hope this isn't too late, I'm also applying for learning sciences, but only for master programs~ I would be applying for northwester, columbia, uwashington, Boston College and NYU.

It is a very very very good field. In academia, available positions often exceed graduates, which is completely unheard of in other disciplines. Industry pays very well and I think you just need to pick up some SQL skills and you will be good. It will be absolutely worth it but I think it is important to realize that programs have a broad range from being applied to theoretical. To some extent, I think it is more adjacent to biostatistics/statistics than psychology.  I think it would be awesome if you have some coursework in math/stat especially matrix algebra, differential equations, probability. It would also help if you are interested in learning more about programming! IMO, this is the best subfield in psychology... but I may be biased haha.

As a PI, a writing sample might push an applicant over the top. I would especially want to see something like a GRFP application (two pages) or a conference submission or proceeding (5-10) pages. I would be looking for how the applicant writes (sentence construction, overall paper structure), how familiar are they with research writing conventions, how they situate their work in the literature (what do they cite, how do they weave citations in their writing), and whether they can write about their topic in a way that gets me excited (I agree with SocDevMum that you want to avoid jargon).
Also agree w/SocDevMum that most won't spend too much time on your writing sample. Ideally, your personal statement would demonstrate a lot of the things I mentioned above as well.

I am unaware of a comprehensive database but I am not in developmental psych.... I wonder if it would be a more efficient strategy to look at the research you have done/you are interested in. Find papers on the topics and look up where those authors are and perhaps you can apply to the programs that those authors are affiliated with and you can name those people as potential advisors.

I posted a reply to this same post in the Education forum, but in case others read it here too: There *are* PhDs in Educational Psychology, Learning Sciences, etc., and they are just as focused on research as PhDs in developmental, cognitive, or other psych fields. In fact, Ed Psych PhDs often have stronger research methods and quantitative methods training than many other psych programs (other than quantitative psychology itself).
EdDs are an entirely different thing and are more for those interested in administrative positions. They are more a practical/applied degree than a research degree.

There are plenty of PhD programs in Educational Psychology and related fields (e.g., Learning Sciences; Learning, Cognition, and Development).
EdD degrees are generally for those who want to go into some form of administration. If you want to do research, you will want a PhD.
Working as a lab manager for a year will definitely help you prepare for a PhD program in psychology, including educational psychology, but your prior experience will also be valued in education-focused PhD programs.

Was this material related to your thesis or anything? If not, then it looks like you're being given the opportunity for credit of authorship by editing, which is not uncommon for undergrads, masters students, or PhD students without a lot of their own research already out there.  That's a gift  However, if this is supposed to have been your thesis or dissertation material, I would be concerned.
As to what you can contribute - clearly he/she wants you to review and edit the formatting issues outlined, so make sure to be thorough at that. As for content, this is an opportunity for you to go over the fine details of methods and theory, make sure that all the necessary pieces are accounted for, and look for ways to potentially expand upon the already written portions of theory and discussion/limitations. I would definitely not send it back without a thorough review and at least a few additions or suggestions to improve it. This is a great way to show that you are thinking critically about the material, that you are paying attention to small details, and that you are not afraid to find and use your own voice. If they hate your suggestions they will just toss them out - but if you don't do any, it will look like you didn't even try. 

Since education is a practical field - not having experience in the field, but an education policy PhD is going to be hard on the job market.  My suggestion without knowing which PhD programs that you got into and which MA programs that you got it is to get the MA and get experience in the field and then go back for the PhD. Most successful candidates for top 10 PhD program in education policy typically have 2-5 years of experience and a relevant master's degree.
The people who I have seen in your potential situation (PhD + no to little experience) end up with entry level research or policy analyst jobs after they graduate. Usually, you can get an entry-level research or policy analyst job with either a masters or a bachelor's degree and some research experience in college so having a PhD for an entry-level job is a bit overkill IMO.
Although - I am not sure if I would suggest to do a one year education policy MA if you want a research position after you graduate.  I would be concerned that you won't get enough stats or research methods courses/experience to really be that marketable for entry level research or policy analyst positions.  I would really look at the courses that they want you to take (or can take) as most one-year education policy MAs are not research degrees.  You might be better off to do a two-year MA program that allows you to take a lot of courses in stats, qualitative methods, and research designs.  Some master's in education programs do that, but they are not usually one-year programs.  
I might consider doing the PhD if that program has a good placement rate for its graduates and they offer you full funding for at least 4-5 years. You also want to have a research assistantship as part of your package to help you gain research experience and to be able to work closely with one of your professors on their research.  I would suggest to do at least one internship at an education policy organization over the summer to get more experience.  It would be a risk though because the job market is going to be harder, but might be a better option depending on what the MA offers are.
 

If you are wondering how to get started, I wrote up my advice. I have also collected quite a few examples you can all check out. Please let me know if you have more examples to share! 

I wouldn't worry at all. You will take those courses during your PhD. The experience you have working on actual evals will be more valuable than courses.

You could browse through the lists on the psych grad wiki.
In addition to cog programs, I would look at developmental, ed psych, and learning sciences programs. There are researchers studying numeric processing in all of those programs.
I second the suggestion above to look for articles that interest you, but also second the caveat re: the delay for new work.
I have work adjacent to this area, so happy to answer specific questions and provide names over DM.

You've gotten some good answers so far. You might want to check out the Psych Grad Wiki to get an idea about specific research matches and funding: http://psychgradsearch.wikidot.com/phd-2022

You've gotten some good answers so far. You might want to check out the Psych Grad Wiki to get an idea about specific research matches and funding: http://psychgradsearch.wikidot.com/phd-2022

Well the short answer is yes. The long answer... it depends :) I'm assuming here that you just started your search. Most decent programs fund their students, with tuition remission and a (usually small) stipend. Programs should have this info available on their website or maybe you can find out more from the grad admin. I personally would not recommend even applying to programs that are not funded.
What you need to do is identify which programs are a good match to you, your goals and your research interests. Since there are so many programs out there, it would be difficult for us to recommend any, unless you have more specific interests/ areas you'd like to share. 
Just keep in mind that the application season stretches out from now until the spring of next year, so if you are serious about this, you have to get moving on that list :)

This might be helpful. (psych grad wiki)

I second SocDevMum's note about working a gap year as a lab manager/paid RA. Often this gets you better experience than a Masters (and doesn't cost anything).
Also, what are you interested in studying? You might want to check out Ed Psych/Learning Sciences programs, depending on your area of focus...

A great list! I'm faculty in a LS program and happy to offer individual advice. Feel free to DM me on here if you want some guidance. Good luck with your applications!