kaister

I'm applying to work with someone who just recently became a prof at their university. While I think it's true there are pros and cons, it ultimately should depend on your fit with their research. I personally find newer profs easier to talk and relate to. They're usually a lot more helpful too (mostly because they're eager to settle into their new position and not jaded by the years of work). That's not to say tenured professors aren't helpful or easy to relate to, there are plenty of those too (which I can say from experience). Anyways, from my experience, new profs are pretty great. Especially since you know this person from previous connections, it sounds promising, just contact her and ask! Many new profs take on students early on, though most cases not the first year. Again, ask!

I don't think this is personal. The POI probably just wanted to let you know that they don't have a say in who gets accepted, as every school has a different approach to admissions. They also probably get a lot of emails trying to cozy up to them in order to gain favor in admissions so they are just making it clear to all prospective students. It's a typical response, don't worry. It sounds good that the POI is open to talk about their research with you, so you might want to take advantage of that!

Hey all I'm interested in exchanging psych sops. Message me your sop and we can exchange!

154 analytical, do you mean quant or verbal? Is there any way to complain to ETS for what happened? It surely doesn't seem fair and I'm sorry you went through that. The GRE is already a ridiculous endurance test and the fact you had to endure it any longer seems ridiculous. I would think ETS should give you some sort of leeway on rescheduling it or allowing for a retake for free or something. But I'm not sure on their policies, you should check up on that. I'm usually not one for bringing up excuses on the SoP because I feel like that just sets a bad tone for the rest of you accomplishments. Maybe you could ask one of your letter writers to mention this?

I'm not familiar with anthro programs but in general is it standard to including supporting literature on your sop? Or is that just in specific fields that require that. It's the first I'm hearing of providing literature. I understand that we are to show that we are knowledgable and capable of doing research in our respective fields, but I assumed that just meant articulating your research ideas concretely.

Thanks for the replies. Good to know volunteer doesn't really matter as much versus paid. The lab I'm volunteering at is really great and I have formed a good relationship with the PI (who I am going to apply to work with as a grad student) so I'm not too worried about that. I guess I'm just looking for an excuse to find another job other than my current part time work, as I'm not interested in clinical work, that type of applied work is really not my thing lol. But it does involve collecting data and tracking behaviors, so I guess it could be of some benefit if I spin it that way...

The most common and desired job to boost our CV is a paid RAship or lab manager. Are there any other jobs that would potentially help out your resume? I already am volunteering as an RA (there aren't any paid raships or lab manager positions avail as of now) and working part time as a skills trainer. My focus is on social psych research. I'm just curious as to what other possible jobs would look nice on a resume. Or are all things irrelevant besides core research type jobs such as RA, etc. This is all in the context of the gap year, but could be relevant to anyone.

"As an undergraduate, I found it challenging to find academicians who would mentor me" "However, the experience of a few lectures was not intellectually satisfying enough" I feel like these statements could be worded in a better way. Instead of making it seem like a holier than thou (which I know you're probably not trying to come across as, but it's possible) word it in a way like "Excited to take part in more rigorous courses" etc. I also feel like the last two paragraphs should be more focused on your future and fit with the school rather than going back to your previous experiences.

I think it definitely could be an advantage. Though, I'd recommend taking the psych gre subject test to prove your knowledge in psych and perhaps if you have a few solid courses in psychology or think about taking some to have on your transcripts to show your interests in psych aren't unfounded. It says you have research experience in labs, is that in psych? If so, even better. I don't see anything strange about you wanting to get into psych, as long as you can spin it to match your interests in your SoP, I think you'll be fine. As long as you've shown you have "some" experience in psych and can back up (or creatively spin) your experiences towards a specific interest area, I think you're good!

Well that depends. Are you going for a program heavy in research? If that's the case, I'd choose the one who's most familiar with your work in research, and from here it seems like #2. But again, you have to gauge if you'd think they will write a strong letter for you and what elements you want to highlight. #1 doesn't seem like a bad option either...they don't have to be "well-known", or at least that's my opinion. I think what's more important is that they have great things to say about you rather than their own fame. But I don't know your field or the common stance on that.

If you're kind of lazy, like I am, and want things explained to you simply without having to read through technical jargon, magoosh is really good for that. They just spell everything out very clearly in video lessons, so you just basically have to sit back and watch. Even their test questions have video explanations, which is nice, because sometimes when it's just written out it doesn't always make as much sense. It was a nice supplement to reading other study guides.

Oh no...I meant that since this one prof gets a lot of applicants they're only going to accept the cream of the crop, therefore inflating the averages. Sorry if that was unclear.

I'm curious to this as well as one of my letter writers is overseas. I'm at a loss how to provide him a pre-paid envelope since it can't just be one stamp...or can I just include 2-3 stamps and that should be good enough? Can I ask them if they'd like to scan/upload their letters (which is an option) instead of snail mail?

Unfortunately for my situation it is a conflict of interest, my advisor and I already mulled over it and concluded it's probably best I find another writer. But I mean, I can't complain, you can't find a better place to apply than with someone who is already vouching for your success in grad school.

I was talking with my advisor the other day and she was explaining that sometimes their GRE averages for admissions were sometimes inflated because there is one superstar in the faculty that attracts a lot of applicants because that prof is pretty famous for the work in their field. So for the prof, they sometimes use cutoffs to sort through the applications. It's kind of reassuring for me, since I'm applying to that program (to work with my advisor) so it's nice to know the averages may not really be that limiting. I thought you all would like to know that, it might help you guys interpret other programs' averages. I personally never knew that there was this "all-star" in the faculty, so it might be interesting to look and see for the programs you all are applying to if there are any factors, as such, that may be influencing the amount of applicants and their averages.

Sorry guys, I know there are tons of these questions, but I'm in need of advice. I have all my writers in set for all but one school because I'm also applying to work with one of my LOR writers, I have to find one extra LOR writer (as she obviously can't write a LOR for herself). I'm wondering if it is better to ask: 1) a professor who knows me and my interests very well, in the same University as the one I'm applying to, but in a different field not related at all OR 2) professor of a class I took where I got an A and talked with a lot about the field I was interested in, but never did any research with, the prof is also in a similar field as the one I'm applying for, is not reliable and hard to get in contact with (meaning, she hasn't responded to two of my previous emails which were not related to LORs). Any advice much appreciated!!

I don't think this is presumptuous at all...that's my opinion. I mean I've done the exact things, because I wanted to be prepared by the time I asked them anyway. I've never gotten a bad response by being so prepared. Often after I asked for a letter they started to explain what they wanted, like a list, and CV, etc. and if I had the things they were asking for I gave it to them and just said "I brought these for you on the chance you agreed." Maybe I'm naive, but I think if anything it shows you know what is entailed with preparing materials for a letter writer. Plus they're generally just non-specific things like CVs and lists of schools, so they're not addressed to that person, so that goes along with my reasoning that you have just prepared these things in anticipation for your letter writers. How is that presumptuous? Maybe I'm totally off base and now I've come off as a presumptuous shmuck.

My personal opinion is to cut down the first few personal paragraphs and increase the last paragraph about fit with the school.

Don't take it personally. It's great that they were honest with you. This is why it can be so important to contact your POIs ahead of time, to know what's going on, on their end. I had a POI tell me that her lab was just too full and of course from there I didn't pursue it. As for your situation, if you want to keep talking with them, I'm sure you could, but the POI was honest about openings and such, you should assume as of now, they don't have a slot for you. That doesn't mean you shouldn't consider applying, it's a risk, but if you could find another POI in the same school, it would be a lot more worthwhile to apply.

It wouldn't hurt to chat with him. That way you can properly discuss your research interests and just be honest about them. From there he will probably tell you that you don't fit well or maybe he'll turn out to be a really interested in what you have to say and is flexible with his research (which could work out to be a great thing for you). I just don't think shutting this door is wise when you haven't even really felt it out yet.

Typically they list that on faculty websites, or sometimes there will be "list of faculty advisors" on department websites. If it's completely unclear and they're just listed as "assistant, associate professor or professor of..." then I would assume they advise students. You can always ask to make sure they accept students, but that's my general guideline, that and usually they have a place listing their research interests or a research page, and those tend to be those who advise.

I'm wrestling with this type of issue myself. I'm applying to do research on multiracial populations and I found myself writing my SOP and explaining how being multiracial has lead me to this line of research. I'm wondering if it's too personal and the ad comms will find that my personal experiences are irrelevant and that I should list more empirical facts like research skills. While I think I mention my academic strengths as an applicant, I can't help but find myself back to why I want to study this and why I'm a good fit, there seems no right way to say it without making it somewhat personal.

I'd save this kind of playful banter for post-interview chitchat. It's easier to convey humor in person. I consider it too risky for the SoP.

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Honestly, it's a good way to weed out the schools I'm not as interested. It just feels so much nicer when they reply and say, yes I'm taking students, I'll look for your application! Haha.

I have to agree with PsychGirl. You can't really do much otherwise than present yourself as a devoted applicant. They aren't supposed to discriminate, but you ultimately can't control the outcomes. I would still try and apply, you have nothing to lose. When it comes time to interviews, you can make your situation more clear to them and really show them your devotion to completing the program and that your other responsibilities won't hinder that. Everyone has a personal life and their own personal obligations so they can't beat you down for that, but of course, each ad comm will probably be subjective, so there's no saying how they will perceive it. I say go for it, don't let them scare you, just be confident in yourself, at least that way you don't regret not applying. You can always try again next year if things don't work out this time around.