liszt85

I disagree with the viewpoint that an advisor might know better. You alone know why you had the grades you had in certain courses. If those are not even relevant to your new field of study and if you aced related courses and have had the pertinent research experience, you would know if you had the capacity to do well in grad school. I did not do well in core engg courses like fluid mechanics (because I hated the exams. They only required you to have enormous patience with calculators and I had other things to do at that time, things that ultimately helped me get a few offers, things that helped me become a better musician, etc). Fluid mechanics is not even remotely related to cognitive psychology. So, a self evaluating capacity is also important, esp if you are a prospective grad student. I agree with the above post. If you know you can do it, never let anybody discourage you.

Would it make sense to buy a house/condo if you are an international student living with your spouse (who does not work for the time being due to restrictions on the F2 visa) and if you don't intend to settle down in your college town? What do you do after you graduate? Rent it out? What would your responsibilities be as a landlord after that? Would your presence or occasional visits be required? Also what was the down payment that you guys made on your house/condo? Say I have upto $20,000. Can I get a decent 1BR/2BR house with that amount in Columbus?

A third option would be TU Wien. I spent 3 amazing months in Vienna. You'll love the place, its an amazing city. Lots to do whatever your interests are. TU Wien is a very decent university too. You could also look at places in Finland like HUT. I do not know about ETH but I'm sure it will be great living there. If I were you, I'd try to visit ETH sometime before I made a final decision and talk with professors there.

The OP had a super rude adviser just like I did for my undergraduate research work (done for no credits..just out of my own interest). He said something very similar looking at my application and he didn't even know about the field to which I was applying (different from Physics, in which I have my ug degree). Almost every single university I applied to had professors interested in my application due to my research experience. IN a lot of places, it reduced to funding decisions where I was a bit unlucky in some places. My GPA didn't hurt me a lot in the end. It did for the top ranked programs though.. but I am attending a very decent program indeed. Concentrate on your SOP and GRE. Do not get a LOR from this person if you think he/she might write negatively about you.

Are there different laws that govern buying property in the US by a foreign national? Where can I get info about this?

If its a PhD that you want to do finally, I think its prudent to start looking for research interest fit. Apply to maybe a few MA programs if you think your research experience is weak as that is a very important factor in PhD admissions but if you've done research that has used, say, analysis techniques that might help you do well in research of a certain kind, then a professor involved in that kind of research would be interested in your application. To be more specific, I can tell you about my case. I did not actually work on anything related to psychology in my ug days. What I did was to use certain techniques (nonlinear dynamics, fractals, etc) to analyse music (randomized frequencies, durations, etc) to see how these visual patterns (a log-log plot that showed 1/f behavior) changed as randomization parameters were varied. Now the research that I'm expected to carry out for my PhD is on memory. I have no knowledge about it (other than that I have a very poor memory!). I've been assigned some preliminary reading which I'm doing now. However, the focus of my work will be on using those nonlinear dynamics techniques that I'm familiar with to probe certain aspects of memory (which already has been started by this professor's group). He expects me to explain certain plots physically and make sensible interpretations for my MA thesis. It is not an easy problem but this kind of thing can be done only by somebody who has had a strong background in physics and math. So if your research interests somehow find such a fit in some research group, I'm sure getting a PhD acceptance is realistic! BTW, my GPA was poor (7.0/10 at the time of applying and 7.2/10 when graduating. However my grade sheet showed steady and marked improvement..they love rising trends. So even if your grades sucked in your first few semesters and you did badly in courses that aren't relevant to your intended field of study at grad school, it won't really matter in a lot of places). The reason why I got a call from Northwestern was this research experience + a writing sample I'd sent them (from my cognitive linguistics course that I'd taken as an elective.. I did well in that course). So they were convinced about my research abilities + interest in cognitive linguistics. That is all you need to be a competitive applicant to a graduate program (in addition of course to good SOP, LOR's etc).

I got a week for preparation for the GRE due to some hectic workload during the semester. What I did was I looked at the high frequency word list + lists of words starting with the vowels and some high frequency consonants (s,t, etc). I also looked at a blog which claimed to list words that appeared in the test that month as the words allegedly were repeated during the month but varied from month to month. One word actually appeared on my test from that monthly list. Since I had a very strong quant training right from school days, I didn't need preparation for that part. I did 2 quant practice tests. So plan your preparation according to your strengths/weaknesses.

I've been offered a GTA too but I have no idea what I'm supposed to teach. My ug degree is in physics and I have no background in Psychology (not enough to be teaching even an introductory course but I guess I can manage if required). However, I think they plan to have me assist a professor by grading/handing out assignments, etc and not actual teaching. This was what they'd implied in some initial correspondences with them. Thanks for reminding me though.. I'll contact them and ask for more details!

Hey John, I'm going into Psychology too (Cognitive). My ug degree is in Physics. The Professors at the grad school have assured me that the coursework there will cover all the stats and basics that I need to know. So that is almost never a problem in some subfields of Psychology (eg: cognitive). Clinical might be a whole different story. I was recruited by this particular professor because his work involves some analysis techniques incorporated from Physics, namely, nonlinear dynamics which I had gained some expertise in through some independent projects I'd undertaken in my ug days. So the only thing you need to look for is research that you can contribute to and research that you want to contribute to. These research areas are getting more mathematical by the day and they always welcome people with strong backgrounds in physics and math and with a demonstrated interest in the field (as told to me by professors of the Dept of Linguistics in Northwestern where I received an offer from). Good luck with your search!

I applied to McGill too but got rejected (by both Caroline Palmer and Daniel Levitin). Prof Laurel Trainor at McMaster recommended me for admission but their funding situation this year was esp bad and they couldn't accommodate me. Same with UCSD. I'm with you about the job prospects. A noted researcher in the field told me that there arises maybe ONE tenure track position all around the world in this field every year. That is scary. Based on everybody's advice, I have now decided to do my PhD in a more traditional subfield of Psychology, namely, human memory, attention, learning. I then intend to carry out research in music cognition through one or two post docs in Europe. As you rightly pointed out, a lot of work is coming up in Europe. I should be good to go by the end of my PhD and they will be ready by then with some funding hopefully Also, I might get to work with Prof David Huron on a few projects in music cognition alongside my main line of work as my advisor has told me that he's fine with that. So I hope I'll be ready for music cognition work at the end of five years, but at the same time, an employable candidate for any tenure track position that might arise in a Dept of Psychology. I hope this is a realistic goal.

California had been hit hard. I missed out on my dream research group at UCSD only because of this funding issue (according to the professor's email). My entire career has been directed in a very different direction at the moment. I was supposed to be doing music cognition (my first choice) but am going to work on human memory instead. Will bide my time to see how it goes.

I agree with the above poster. I have given this information to all the universities that asked for it. They all wrote back to me wishing me luck for studies at the university I'd chosen to attend.

Hi Nilani, I have a similar interest in music research. However I'm open to various research methods. So among the many places (and professors) I applied to, Petr Janata's lab was one. Daniel Levitin at McGill is another. Caroline Palmer at McGill does work on music too. I'm just giving you names of people who work on music and not necessarily in neurocognition. There is this excellent researcher Diana Deustch at UCSD (I did not get a place there due to funding issues, international students find it very difficult to find funding there these days). http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/t.d.griffiths/tdg.html Prof Griffiths does some work on music. I was offered a position in his group in London (within UCL) but it was only a research assistant position and a well defined PhD program was not in place. However he advises PhD students at the NEwcastle University. You may contact him. There are people in UK and Europe who do similar work.. I'm unable recall their names at this moment. Prof Andrew Oxenham at the Univ of Minnesota (Dept of Psychology) works on music. Julian Thayer at the Ohio State University does some work on music that is physiology related.. not sure if the approach is that of a neurological one.

My view might not help you the least bit but I'll say it anyway. I wanted to do a MS in Music Technology but one major reason I chose to go for a PhD in Psychology (not entirely unrelated to the kind of research I wanted to do after the MS) instead is because my (to be) wife is 24 now, an MS would take 2 years and my intention is to then go for a PhD, and ideally we would like to have kids by the time she turns 30 or so. So I can squeeze in just enough time to get a PhD and to get a better paying post doc position by the time a kid arrives in the family. So yes, I do think this is an important factor and you should most definitely consider what each type of degree entails. Good luck with your decision. Btw, I do not think its necessary to wait until you have a tenure position. You should, as you rightly said, complete your dissertation before having a kid but even if its tough, I'd think it would be possible to have kids even while you're in a postdoc position (maybe take a year off in between). With determination, you can make it work. It would be a nice idea to ask your professors who've done it for advice.

I think you should be more concerned about your quant score than the verbal one. It is accepted that the GRE contains words that really test just your memory and not language skills. So a 500 on the verbal is good enough but you should strive for at least a 600-650 on the quant. It will boost your chances so much, trust me. It is not too hard to do it. I'm sure you'll be able to achieve that with 1-2 hours of work everyday. You have one month and I suggest you spend some time on the quant section. It will help you immensely, esp if you have a higher quant than the other applicants. The quant section tests your logical reasoning skills more than math itself. So I guess they always appreciate a higher quant score. Opinions may differ but this is mine.

Hey Afeef, I'll be attending the PhD program in Psychology. I'm from India. I'll be accompanied by my wife. Since my stipend is low too, we'll be staying in a studio at least for the first 9 months to see how we learn to manage our budget. We will most probably move in to a studio that is currently occupied by a friend of a friend who has agreed to assist us in getting that lease. The leasing company does not have a website and I really do not have their contact details. However, he tells me that studios for $350-400 should be available. Have you checked on craigslist http://columbus.craigslist.org/apa/? However, if you do find something, you should ask somebody there to check it out for you before you rent it. Do you have any contacts at OSU who might be willing to do that for you? We are moving only 2 weeks prior to commencement of classes, or else I could have looked around for you. Another option is to rent a room in a house shared by grad students. You can try to email your dept and ask if you can get in touch with the incoming students to see if you can rent a house together. There is an Indian Student Association website http://isa.org.ohio-state.edu/. I don't know if there is one for Pakistan but even if there isn't, you can advertise on the indian forums for roommates (food, culture, etc being same, being roommates shouldn't be a problem).That will work out very cheap too. If you pm me your email id, I can also send you a few docs that the Indian Student Association sent me, some tips about shopping, vaccinations, life in America, etc. Also check out the off campus listings here: http://offcampus.osu.edu/housing.asp

A rank 50 and a rank 70, is that much of a difference? In any case, is it possible to do a terminal MS at school A? You can always transfer after that, though it would be unethical to do that since you already know that you'd want to do that and have taken up funding that is meant for a full PhD student.. If you really do not want to do a PhD at school A, and think you'd come to regret it, go for the school B MS option.

I am paid $14000 for 9 months (summer separate $1400-1500 per month after taxes). I have to pay $280 per quarter for health insurance and possibly $1500 during the summer for the health insurance. I am bringing along my wife too. We are moving into a studio ($450 utilities included). Since you are alone, you don't have to spend $600 on rent and utilities. There are cheaper options. Studios are cheap, or you can even think of renting a room in a house shared by grad students. That will cost you ~$300-350. You can live like that for the duration of your first lease until you figure out your finances. Even if you spend $600 on rent and utilities, you should do fine on $500 per month for food and other expenses. Depending on which country you are from, there may or may not be a tax treaty with the US. So your taxes will be figured out only after you get there, somebody will help you with that. Which dept are you in and are you in for a PhD?

I got a 5.0, so not much higher than you. I guess fuzzylogician is the person who can answer this for us. She scored a 6.0! Edit: I have no idea how that got into my head, my apologies fuzzylogician! I mixed the 120/120 toefl score with the AWA score :| Looks like there is no correspondence between TOEFL scores and the AWA scores. I scored 118/120 (lost 2 points on the speaking section, as expected. Indians have a weird accent and I am no exception). As preparation for that section, I read a few tips given in the barrons book. Didn't know what else to do So the question remains an open one.

The vocab was problematic for me too and I don't think it has anything to do with being an international student. Its just that these words are never used in daily life and very rarely even in literature! I decided to apply to grad school pretty late and hadn't planned anything at all. So I ended up getting more than a week's time (~10 days) for preparation. I'm good at math, so didn't do anything for that part, just solved two sample papers. For the vocab, due to the time constraint, what I did was I looked at the high frequency word list. I then looked at words starting with the vowels (high occurrence) and some consonants like s t p l. So I ended up doing around 20 wordlists out of the 50 given in Barrons. I also looked at a blog that uploads high frequency words for the month. One word from that actually appeared on the test! I ended up with a 610V/780Q/5.0AWA. I lost 20 points on the quant due to the state of mind I was in.. I unexpectedly got too many questions based on graphs and histograms which were easy but time consuming, esp due to lack of practice. So I ended up having to do around 5-6 questions in the last 2 minutes or so. I managed to actually solve only 3 of them and had to guess the answers to the last 2-3 questions which I guess was also responsible for the lost points. So its important to pace yourself well during the test and that can be achieved by doing a lot of practice tests and getting familiar with the type of questions asked. There is nothing really more to that.

India. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to be specific. Dept of Physics (that makes it worse ).

I doubt if this really holds for a MA. If you have a 4.0 and 800V/800Q/6AQ GRE and publications (not necessarily in the subfields of interest to the faculty), if you just demonstrate interest in what they do through your SOP (not necessarily through prior work but just by saying "I'm interested in what you do and would like to do that"), I'm sure you'll get in. Now the question is not if they will accept you, the question is if you think you are interested in the kind of research those departments do. If you are then your SOP will always talk about that and augmented by your good GPA and decent GRE scores, I think you might have a good shot.

Great to hear that but the fact is a 7 here is considered average or maybe just above average. It is difficult to get A's and B's (you get a C on average most of the time which is a 6, in one class, we were even given D's on average (!) which is a 4) here and requires some work and funnily enough one of the professors who wrote me a LOR asked me my GPA and he was very unhappy when I told him and said that he would not write a stellar LOR because of it (I'd done 4 courses with him, got 2 A's, 2 B's and also submitted a paper for publication in a top journal, so I thought what he said was unfair to me). So some of the professors here are very stringent about the "standards" they set for the students they'd write good LOR's for.