t_ruth

I wouldn't focus so much on your own amazing theory (we all have them) because PIs usually don't care at this stage. I second other posters in maybe fitting in one of your ideas into a professors existing line of research, you're there to learn from them and develop your own ideas as you progress.

You're better off searching Google Scholar for articles that relate to your area of interest and then looking at who the authors are. Then you can visit their faculty profiles, instead of just searching through entire departments. 

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.

Hi! I’m also edpsych. I’m applying for a couple different schools, but my #1 choice is University of Minnesota’s Psych Foundations of Education. Fingers crossed everyone!

I am in a very similar position. I am on my second year as a lab manager in a developmental psyc lab with three graduate students and 18 undergrads. 
I empathize with you in terms of feeling like research is impossible with your lab manager duties. That said I have gotten on a paper, have had a first-author poster at APS, first-author poster at ISDP, and second-author posters at ISDP, FLUX, and CDS. I've also mentored two undergraduate posters. I say this not to brag but show that it can be done.
I'm going to give you some tough love, so bear with me. This is a lesson I learned early in my position, and it sucked BUT, you're paid to run a lab not fill your resume. So doing your job duties has to come first and sometimes that might mean that research comes on your time off. It's not fun but I've sat at home until two in the morning making my posters after a full day of work. At the end of the day, if publications and posters are what you want then make it a professional AND personal priority! 
Also, I've found it extremely helpful to be upfront with your PI. Honesty is the best policy. Sit down with your PI and let him/her know that while you love running a lab, you would also love to be able to use these two years to learn and grow as a researcher while boosting your resume. Ask if you can use lab data, if there are any upcoming papers or projects you can help with, if he/she has any suggestions of conferences that might be good for you to attend.
Look into serving as a mentor as well. Undergrads are usually incredibly eager for opportunities and would love to present at an undergrad research day or regional conference. However, they usually need help. If you serve as a mentor and help and undergraduate or two, you can put your name on their poster. 
My last tip is to get close with your grad students. Grad students are constantly working on research and they are familiar with the application process. They can be a valuable resource. Start getting along with them, asking them questions, talking through their research with them, working with them and see what opportunities come up. 

This is a valid concern, but no need to panic yet. You have two years. I would expect the first six months will be largely admin/managerial. You need to get the ground under you, learn all the systems, and then start to put your own systems in place which will allow you to be less hands-on day-to-day. As this happens, you will have more time for research and for getting involved in presentations/publications.
Does your lab have research meetings? Read the relevant papers, participate in discussions, offer your ideas.
Are you running participants yourself or talking with the RAs about running the participants? What do you notice? What can be improved about the procedure? Do you have any ideas for spin-off studies based on your experiences?
These are things that contribute to authorship--offering intellectual contributions. You will likely have opportunity to contribute in this way just by virtue of being there and being involved.

Lastly, I would sit down with your PI and write out a mentoring plan. Put together a reasonable timeline (with their help) for accomplishment in different categories (administrative, supervisory, knowledge of the field, research skills, outcomes--like presentations and publications). Come up with near and long term goals toward these areas. Articulate what kind of supports you will need to accomplish these things. Have the PI articulate what support they need from you in those categories to accomplish their goals.
After two years you will probably be in great shape. Don't lose faith and be an active participant in your own development. Good luck!

I don't think Ivy's really have that different standards from other R1 universities tbh. In general you want to have a minimum score of 310 to be considered; ideally with both scores at least above the 80th percentile. However, I got into an R1 with a 88th and 72nd percentile score for V & Q respectively. I think your AW wouldn't be the problem much. 
It really depends on the rest of your qualifications though. You're above 310 (usually the lower bound is 300 though, but above 310 is better), so in general you should make the first cut. Keep in mind that most admission committees no longer rely on GRE scores as any reasonable indicator of potential (research experience is way more important), but it's often used by the school itself as a cutoff score for funding (that's what I've heard from a couple of institutes now). If your profile is strong otherwise you probably don't have to worry. 

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

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 have been told by potential advisors that posters and articles that have been submitted (even if they haven't been accepted or published yet) are still valuable and demonstrate important experience milestones. So I guess it depends on what you mean by "competitive programs". If you're applying to work with professors who are a great fit for the work you're interested in doing and you have the grades, test scores, LOR's, solid research statement, and pubs/posters in the pipeline, I don't see why you wouldn't have a shot. On the other hand if you're just going after 'top' programs, regardless of goodness of fit, then I don't think it's a matter of how many publications you have. 

Hi all.
I see at least some of you are interested in social cognition and/or emotion. If you have any applied interest at all, you may want to look beyond social psych programs into Ed Psych or Learning Sciences programs. Lots of work in social cognition in that field.
Best of luck on your applications!

This is a valid concern, but no need to panic yet. You have two years. I would expect the first six months will be largely admin/managerial. You need to get the ground under you, learn all the systems, and then start to put your own systems in place which will allow you to be less hands-on day-to-day. As this happens, you will have more time for research and for getting involved in presentations/publications.
Does your lab have research meetings? Read the relevant papers, participate in discussions, offer your ideas.
Are you running participants yourself or talking with the RAs about running the participants? What do you notice? What can be improved about the procedure? Do you have any ideas for spin-off studies based on your experiences?
These are things that contribute to authorship--offering intellectual contributions. You will likely have opportunity to contribute in this way just by virtue of being there and being involved.

Lastly, I would sit down with your PI and write out a mentoring plan. Put together a reasonable timeline (with their help) for accomplishment in different categories (administrative, supervisory, knowledge of the field, research skills, outcomes--like presentations and publications). Come up with near and long term goals toward these areas. Articulate what kind of supports you will need to accomplish these things. Have the PI articulate what support they need from you in those categories to accomplish their goals.
After two years you will probably be in great shape. Don't lose faith and be an active participant in your own development. Good luck!

I see a few of you have interest in things that overlap with Educational Psychology or Learning Sciences. You may want to also consider those programs as you identify PIs. If you think you may be at the border of these fields and Dev Psych, I'm happy to help you identify good Ed Psych or LS faculty in your area of interest--go ahead and PM me
Good luck on your apps!

Feel free to PM me for specific advice re: Ed Psych programs

Hi all.
I see at least some of you are interested in social cognition and/or emotion. If you have any applied interest at all, you may want to look beyond social psych programs into Ed Psych or Learning Sciences programs. Lots of work in social cognition in that field.
Best of luck on your applications!

Hi all.
I see at least some of you are interested in social cognition and/or emotion. If you have any applied interest at all, you may want to look beyond social psych programs into Ed Psych or Learning Sciences programs. Lots of work in social cognition in that field.
Best of luck on your applications!

New faculty can be some of the best mentors, because they will have more time to spend with you. Also, you will be one of the first graduate students with them, that makes it a little special. 
However, I noticed last cycle that some of the new faculty were the most critical/anxious when at interview weekend. You also have to be prepared to not have many of your questions a, answered, since there won't be any current graduate students to ask and most students won't know the professor.
 
 

I did this basically; the key thing is also finding (when you get there, or before) some more senior people who can be co-mentors. It goes a long way when applying for training grants, papers, etc. 

You can go on "reserve" and use the money in your PhD. Also, I doubt your master's stipend pays as well as the GRFP--GRFP funding is very good. Further, you can use it to negotiate for summer funding--GRFP stipend is 12 months, but you are allowed to "work" during the summer for extra money.
As to prestige, yes, it's certainly a "shiny spot." It also will likely influence future funding with NSF. They like to fund GRFP winners when they become faculty.

Yes and no. I had five different careers before choosing academia. If something isn't right, you can change your mind (no matter how far down the path you've gone).*
*recognizing that life circumstances might make this difficult, but there is no rule that says "now is when your career is set in stone."

One option is to get the MSW, but to find a way to engage in psychology research while you are in your Masters (and also take as many psych courses as you can). That way, when you finish, you can choose to either go for the Psych PhD or continue on the social work path.

I recommend finding a listserv for your subfield! E.g. I was interested in cognitive development, so I joined the Cogdevsoc listserv senior year and had lab manager job announcements emailed to me at least weekly starting in December. Not sure if there's something similar for clinical, social, etc., but it's worth asking a professor or adviser about.
I also second the "two year position if you can" advice...I took a job in a new state with only 1 year guaranteed (2 if grant funding comes through), and was overly optimistic about that second year happening until my PI made it clear that I should apply to grad school as a backup (I did, and we still don't know about the grant). I love the lab I'm in and would still probably take this job if I could go back, but the stress was intense. From September - December I constantly felt like I was failing either at research ideas, management, or the application process because it's ridiculous to jump right into all 3 at the same time. Thankfully my PI and labmates have been incredibly supportive and I did manage to refine my interests a bit in my 6 months here, so I might actually have a shot this cycle. But again, if you have a 2-year option that matches your interests well, definitely take that into consideration!

You'll want letters that can speak to your aptitude for work as an academic. I would suggest at least one comes from someone with a PhD. What kinds of programs are you looking at?

The only benefit to applying before the deadline is that excited jr. faculty may view your application early and get excited/attached