cerebellumsdayoff

I got one last night too. I loved the title of the email: "ASU deny letter." It made my night!

Got into DePaul University – I made an informal visit last week and was offered a spot that day; received an email from my POI telling me that the admissions committee is about to make final decisions but to consider myself admitted to the program. That was my top choice, and I accepted the offer when I first received it. The nightmare is officially over! Best of success to everyone who is waiting!

I got my KU waitlist letter today too. Let's see what happens next.

The most important thing to do at a MA institution is to obtain any experience that you can that will set you apart from the other applicants for PhD programs. 1. Research. This is obvious, given that psychology PhD programs are all about research. If you can demonstrate that you have excellent skill in independently conducting empirical research, then your credentials will significantly strengthen. Research also can open doors for other great opportunities, including conference presentations and even publications. I'm personally finishing an MA right now and through the whole experience did a bunch of conference presentations, got a first authorship publication, and have several others in progress among other things. 2. Service. This is a largely under-looked aspect of application. Professors partake three general activities: research, teaching, and service. By service, I mean things like reviewing journals and the like. Ask your advisors to see if you can review journal articles that they are asked to review with them. This is a great way to gain experience into the publication process; it also allows you to get a first hand look at the newest research being conducted. My advisor has been great with this, so I have reviewed multiple articles for top journals such as JPSP and SPPS. Also, many student organizations, like SPSP and APS, always look for students to review various things. I've reviewed posters for a poster competition for SPSP's conference last year and recently reviewed a grant for a student grant competition hosted by APS. These are definitely important. 3. Classes. You can get a lot of experience taking good classes that will come in handy later on when you transfer to a PhD. If you are in social psychology, for example, obviously take a social psychology class, but also expand your horizons and take things like cognitive science or other related courses. The more ideas you embody, the better. Take those statistics classes too. A solid quantitative background is very attractive. 4. Teaching. As a master's student, seek opportunities to give lectures for your professors once in a while, or even take undergraduates to work with you; mentoring relationships like that could also look impressive later on. 5. Use your head. If you are trying to get into Ivy schools just because they are Ivy schools, then you are set for disaster; you seem to know that though. Don't apply to Harvard because it is Harvard. If you are going to apply there, make sure you have a good fit with the faculty there. Remember that Ivy schools are super competitive, with people from all over the world competing with you for a few spots. One of the best pieces of advice I have received when I was an undergrad was "It is not about the name of the school, it is about what you do there." I believe that maxim is true. You could go to a top school but not really do anything impressive there, which will in turn hinder your chances of finding a good job. On the other hand, you could go to a school that may be less recognized, but do a lot of great work, which will lead to publications, and in turn, a good chance at securing a position as a faculty member at a top school. 6. Pay attention to the research people are doing. Glance at abstracts being published by top journals in your field to see what people are doing. This will also give you an idea of what is going on where, which may even help you learn more about programs that are out there that you may have not considered the first time around. 7. Go to conferences. Even if you don't have anything to present, go to a conference just to take it all in: the talks, the posters, the vibe. You will meet many people – both grad students and faculty – which will help you build connections. Don't "suck up," no one wants a brown-noser. Rather, just casually talk with people, and show genuine interest in what they do. You can make a lot of friendships this way. It is a great experience. An MA degree is a great way to discover your own interests concretely, and gain valuable experience for the PhD. Use your head and you will be fine.

Just found out that KU made initial application decisions. I made the waitlist; not the news I was hoping for but still better than a rejection.

Salary depends on what you do. What you do depends on where to look. An MA degree sets you apart from many other applicants for jobs out there. The thing is, you have to know where to look for jobs and how to market yourself well. If you have a degree in psychology, for example, you can highlight empirical research and quantitative skills, which is desirable by a lot of jobs. There is no single definitive answer.

I'm guessing that psychology receives much more applications than other fields, especially in social science. Even at face value, there are a lot more psych majors than there are chemistry majors, biology majors, economics majors, etc. Given that psychology is one of those fields where a BA will do you as much (as would a BA in say physics, econ, or even chemistry), there are more people who decide to go to graduate school. That's just a guess though. There are also plenty of psychology majors who do not go to graduate school too. Others go to graduate school for other fields (e.g., social work, family studies, etc). Either that, or departments just love to torture incoming students as a ritual of initiation

There are funded Master's programs; albeit they are fairly rare, they do exist. I'm getting my MA from Illinois State University (in central IL) this May, and that is a fully funded two-year program. I know there are others, including University of Northern Iowa and Ball State University (in Muncie, IN). Missouri State University also has a funded MA. As you can see, I'm much more familiar with my home area around the midwest. Many of the Cal State Schools have terminal master's in psychology, although I don't know if they are funded. I'm also not sure whether there are some in Texas, but I would imagine there would have to be one somewhere; probably not in one of the bigger schools, but maybe a midsize school. And as some said, unless you want to get a Master's in a psychology sub-field that suffices with a Master's (e.g., I/O or even Quant), the Master's is good for getting into PhDs. Even as a social psych student, I know that an MA in social psychology is good for more upper-level research related fields. If you don't like research, you are probably in the wrong field anyways.

I really can't contribute much, but from what I know, KU is finished with interviews and is making decisions at the end of this week/early next week.

Sure did! I applied to ten programs this application season; just had an interview with KU (the first school to contact me), so I may know by the end of this week if I'm in. I definitely hate the waiting! To add to this topic: Compared to an applicant with a BA, an applicant with an MA will often have stronger credentials, given that he or she, by the virtue of having an MA, can survive grad school. Especially in this day and age, where more people are competing for fewer Doc spots, an MA is an increasingly attractive option. When you finish, you have an MA, so if you have to do the dreaded job hunt, you are also ahead of many people out there, so it is a win-win situation. My program has several master's degree tracks; I did Social psych and also Quant psych, to become a better researcher, and to have a solid backup plan in case the worst happens. People with quantitative abilities are always in demand.

I'm about to finish an MA from a funded program, and it was definitely a great experience. However, if you do so decide to go to an MA/MS program, definitely make sure it is funded, as many schools (such as NYU) have MA programs just so that they could increase their input of money. A professor during my undergrad once told me some good advice: "It's not about where you go for school, it's about what you do there." If you are chasing Ivy League schools just because they are Ivy League schools, then you will be miserable over there if you get in and realize that they are not doing anything that suits your interests. There is a lot of exciting research going on at universities outside of that Ivy Sphere, and if you look at many faculty bios through some departments, at even some reputable schools, you can see that many of them did not go to Ivy League schools, but state schools that do groovy work. To sum: yes, I'd say that funded MAs are great because they allow you to "tread the water" of PhD programs and narrow down your interest while chipping away at some of the eventual PhD requirements (e.g., classes, thesis, research experience). An application with an MA will show the PhD schools that you are actually able to survive the rigors of graduate education: the proof is in the vita. When taking on a new student who just has a BA, there is always the risk the student won't be able to handle the stress of grad school, regardless of the student's grades/gpa/etc; that MA says "hey Doc programs, I'm pretty darn good." An MA is a solid plan. Let's look at it another way: you get into an MA program and get your Master's; you apply to PhD later and worst case scenario, you don't get in. As much as it sucks, you still have a graduate degree, so you are ahead of the pack in finding a decent job already. It's a win-win.

That makes me feel pretty good! I went to SPSP and on the way there, I found that I'm shortlisted for KU and have a phone interview with them sometime this week. I'm pretty excited. I was also able to talk to my POI at SPSP, as well as the majority of the other faculty there and the grad students. So far so good.

This is also my second time applying to PhD programs. I got my BA from NIU in 2009 and sent out a bunch of applications to both MA and PhD programs. In hindsight, I'm not surprised that I got denied by all of the PhD programs but accepted by all three MA programs I applied to. My research interests were all over the place, as in I had no idea what I wanted to do exactly. I ended up going to a fully funded MA program and it turned out to be the best decision I have made in my life. I am about to get my MA this May, with a dual concentration in Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology. I also was able to hone in my research concentration (which was the type of research that got me into social psychology in the first place), and conduct such research under the direction of one of the top names in the field. During my time here, I got a publication (as a first author), currently working on more publications and a book chapter and encyclopedia entry. I also did several conference presentation, obtained teaching experience, and got some reviewing experience (for top social psyc journals such as JPSP and SPPS, as well as becoming an ad-hoc reviewer for three journals; I also reviewed student poster and grant competitions). It is safe to say that I did my best to put these two years to good use to make myself a worthy candidate. I, however, decided not to take the GREs (which may or may not have been a stupid move) so I applied with all that experience and the 1160 I got. We'll see what happens now. The waiting sucks.

I'm about to finish an MA in Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, so if the PhD applications don't work out, I'll have to get that thing that all of my friends have: a job (whatever that is). I'm thinking of using my quantitative background to work at someplace like Gallup poll, SPSS, or another research-oriented position.

It seems that the more time passes between when applications are sent and now, the more the anxiety about this stuff. Any response would be nice at this point, even a no! Anyone have any information on where ASU, KU, and TAMU are at this point regarding interviews and admissions?