BenjaminPQ

Out of curiosity, what did the students at the top of their class have that you didn't? Did they cure cancer? I didn't mean to self-aggrandize either. I know I'm not a strong candidate. I'd already have my degree, if I were. I'm just trying to figure out how much my most recent publication increased my chances. Many researchers never get an accolade like "article of the year" in a top journal (or any journal). I figure having that on my application must be worth something. It at least makes me unique, of course, if they never look at my CV, they won't know about it.

I told my kids I wouldn't move them again but that might be worth it. My wife would go in heartbeat. She's always wanted to move out of the states.

I find that sooo depressing. It would seem applying to as many programs as possible, every year, would eventually yield results for a decent candidate as long as one remains involved in research. For all I've achieved, or hope to achieve, I know the time with my wife and children, especially being able to stay home with my children, will be, by far, my most rewarding work. I chose to stay home, grad school is about the only thing I would have left my kids for. In fact, looking back, I wonder if I chose them over school. Grad school is my second biggest goal, first is seeing these kids grow up. As I type, my wife is reading me When Breath Becomes Air, a novel about a neurosurgeon who got terminal lung cancer only months away from completing his fellowship, 36 years old. When I read stories like that, I'm glad I haven't just worked my 20's and early 30's away. I have lived well and you're right, I can keep living well without a Ph.D. Also, I enjoyed my full time RA job in psychiatry. Clinical research gives one the chance to participate in treating or even curing diseases. Very rewarding work.

I had lot of typical undergrad "research experience". That was nothing like writing an award winning publication. I hope not all research experience is seen as equal because I will have wasted a lot of time, energy, and sacrifice! I think you're right, I need to get back into a lab and, of course, retake the GRE. Thanks for the positive vibes and not calling me old!

So, would you say my application is average? I know my GRE scores are but I'm not sure you could find many applicants with my research experience. I get the hard truths: there are many, many applicants in a world that only needs a (relatively) few scientists in each subject. In fact, getting in and graduating is just the beginning. I understand there is a glut of Ph.D.s and it's only going to get worse so finding a jobs after graduation is another struggle all together. When you love science though...

I received my two BAs (psych & phil) in 2007 from a "big state school". My wife and I got pregnant. Oops. So, I went to work while she finished grad school. I was a full time RA (data, not clinical) in pediatric psychiatry from 2007 to 2010. One publication, 7th author. My wife finished her doctorate and decided to start working. We moved out of state for her job. I reluctantly became a stay-at-home parent with an agreement that would pursue grad school. Applied to six cognitive psych programs in 2010, rejected by all, not even a call back. Undergrad GPA 3.4, 80th percentile verbal, 50th quantitative on the GRE. I didn't give up. Decided to volunteer in a lab to gain more research experience and narrow my interests. Found my way into a great lab in 2011 working part time, one-on-one with a young prof on an fMRI publication. The data was already collected, it just needed analyzed and the paper written. We published in 2014. I was the first of four authors because I wrote it and wrote it well. I even came up with a novel analysis that was noted by the reviewers. It won article of the year in a top journal. I went to CA to accept the award. I was proud, fulfilled, happy, and hopeful. Unfortunately, I was told by this prof that my scores weren't high enough to get in at her institution (in case you're wondering, we worked great together). Basically, a non-starter, don't bother situation. That killed me inside. To know I could do the work and do it well but a standardized test was holding me back, even after I VOLUNTEERED in the department for THREE YEARS working right along side grad students, was crushing. I gave up. I convinced my wife to move us back to our home town so I could at least see my family regularly. Did I overreact? Probably. That was three years ago. I'm 37 now. Kids are in school full-time and I've got the itch again. This just won't go away. I remember how it felt to be engaged in exciting research, to finally be challenged. I want that back. The question is, was this professor correct? Is my research experience really not enough to overcome my average GRE scores (assuming I get similar scores when I take the GRE again)? I still find it unfathomable that a committee would select an unknown student fresh out of undergrad over someone with my research experience. I'm also considering a masters now but I've been told that won't necessarily increase my chances either! Thanks for listening.

Yes, Python seems like a good place to start. I thought this Python tutorial was pretty good: http://learn-to-program.net/index.html

I do not have cog neuro research experience. I have cog psych experience from my undergrad thesis (task management research using behavioral methods). I also worked for 3 years as an RA (data management and analysis) in pediatric psychiatry. That was more of a paying-the-bills kind of gig but there are some connections to my research interests, such as executive functioning. I agree completely that my best bet is to work/volunteer in a neuroimaging lab but these positions seem rare. I just moved to Durham, NC. I do have a solid connection at one of the local universities but his advice was to apply to a post-bacc they offer. That makes me think they have all the help they need and they use this post-bacc to select only the best. I've searched high and low for positions but I've only found one and it was too late to apply. Are these positions usually advertised? Should I just start emailing profs? My wife thinks I should just invite them out to lunch

Perhaps, someone more experienced programming could suggest a language to start with given my needs (stated above)? I hear C++ is very difficult and I fear it might be more than I need. Visual Basic looks to be getting a little out dated or maybe just falling out of popularity? What about C# or just C? As you can tell, I know zilch about programming at this point I will be trying to answer these questions myself but if anyone with some experience would like to throw a couple pointers my way I would really appreciate it!

Congrats on your acceptance! It's reassuring to know previous experience in Matlab is not a deal breaker. Matlab for students looks to be about $100 and doesn't come with the toolboxes that would be relevant. So, I guess I will just stick with learning some basic programming, which by itself sounds like would give my application a slight boost.

Thanks! Anyone know if reaction time tests are doable in C? Specifically, I want to measure RT of two tasks that overlap at varying degrees. The tasks themselves are quite simple. They will consist of either an auditory discrimination task or a visual discrimination task (word or non-word or shapes). I just want to be sure this is possible in C. I know it's possible in Visual Basic because I had such a program available for my undergrad thesis. Thanks again!

Hello everyone, Long time lurker here - thanks for all the advice thus far! I have applied to several Ph.D. programs and it's looking pretty grim which is not a huge surprise as I rushed though my applications and I should have narrow my interests further. To distract myself from self-loathing I've decided to start preparing for the next application cycle. Several POIs wanted to know if I had any programming experience. One POI specified Matlab which I plan on becoming more familiar with. Should I also familiarize myself with C++ or Java for behavioral experiments? Further, will this pay off? Does it mean anything to POIs if I have read books on, or practiced using, Matlab or a more basic programing language? Thanks!