peffy1962

Hello! I am in the beginning processes of considering graduate study in psychology. (The very beginning stages, so please forgive any naivete... ). For background, I attended a top-20 university and graduated three years ago. My degree was a B.A. in Film and Television, though I took a number of psychology courses (I came in with AP credit for introductory psych, took a statistics course (it was business stats, but the psych department said they'd accept it), abnormal psych, developmental psych, cross-cultural psych, and a 1-credit "careers in psychology"-type class). I graduated summa cum laude (3.95 GPA, all As in the psych classes) and scored well on the GRE (710 verbal, 750 math). Last year, I was accepted, fully-funded, to a top Ph.D. program in film/tv studies. However, when I went to visit the program in depth, I realized that it was ultimately not a fit, and I turned down the offer. Since then, I've spent a lot of time reflecting on what I'd truly like to do, and I feel like psychology may offer me a good fit. So my ultimate question, I suppose, is what can I do to make myself appealing to graduate programs in psychology, not having majored in it and realizing how competitive the field is? Because I feel like I'm in the initial stages of considering a career in psych and feel under-prepared, I find myself gravitating towards M.A./M.S. programs that seem to offer a good foundation of knowledge in the field, which could then be utilized to continue on in a Ph.D. or Psy.D. program. Are these Master's level programs beneficial in that manner? I'm particularly interested in programs in Chicago, and so have found myself drawn to DePaul's program. Financial aid would certainly be a consideration, and from my experience with applying to graduate programs in media, it seems like terminal Master's level funding is an issue. I realize I'd likely need to take the psychology subject GRE (any tips for preparing?), and perhaps take a course in research methods, as this seems to be a common requirement for admission that I'm lacking. But are there other actions I can take? Other programs or routes I should consider? It's all very inchoate at the moment, but I believe I am most drawn to a career in clincal/counseling psychology at the moment. This also makes me wonder if perhaps an MSW would be a better fit. I do see a Master's as a way to narrow my focus to a particular field of interest. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I empathize completely. :/

Hi everyone, I'm in the midst of a unique situation and could use some advice. This year marked my second go-round at the application process, and it was much more successful than my first attempt last year. I got in everywhere I applied, including my top choice with full funding + a fellowship. However, when I went to visit this school and sat in on a few classes, I realized that I don't really think the Ph.D. thing is for me. I love my subject, and I loved everyone I met in the program, but sitting in on these high-level classes reawakened a lot of the feelings I had as an undergraduate -- that studying the media in such depth ruins the fun of it for me. I don't think I'd be happy approaching it academically for 7+ years, let alone the rest of my life. I was also discouraged my the lack of a practical application for the material, and I've always been disturbed by the notion of having to follow the job wherever it may be in the humanities. So, I think I'm ready to bid it adieu. When I got back to town, I visited my alma mater's law school and sat in on a class, and really felt engaged with the material in a way that surprised me in light of my lack of engagement with the Ph.D. class. I am presently exploring the prospect of attending law school, and find myself much more excited about that path (with the large exception of the expense!). At this point, I'm confident in saying that I'll be applying for the Fall 2011 entering class. So, long story short, how do I go about declining the Ph.D. program's offer? Do I give them a reason, or do I just say "no"? It feels kind of crazy to turn down such a great offer. And, of perhaps greater concern, how do I inform my recommenders of my decision? All three of the undergraduate professors who wrote for me again this year were very involved in the application process, and I spent a great deal of time convincing them of how much I wanted to begin a Ph.D. program. Surely they're sensible people, but I fear that I'm going to offend them in my decision, and that they will certainly not write again for me for law school. I also happen to work at the university I attended as an undergraduate, and so I run into them frequently. Awkward. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Hello! So I have my first phone interview tomorrow for a Ph.D. program -- my top choice, actually, and I'm kind of freaking out. I've read everything I could find on the forum about phone interview tips and tricks and the like, but I have a couple of specific questions remaining. 1) When people say to "ask intelligent questions," should such questions be geared more towards the program itself, or the professor doing the interviewing? I.e., should I ask theoretical questions about his/her work, or stick to asking questions about departmental requirements and pedagogy, faculty interests and the like (beyond what is included on the program website, of course). 2) How do these interviews generally wind down? What sorts of parting words should I use? "I look forward to hearing from you... thank you for your consideration?" I'm probably over-thinking everything, as I tend to do, but I'm really stressed about how the call should wind down, and what sort of final impression I should make. Thanks in advance for any input. I'm excited the next step in the application process has arrived, at least!

I have a GRE question. I am re-applying to a few schools that I'd applied to last year and have received conflicting information about whether or not I need to send my scores to them again. One school has said every school keeps them on file for five years, they are no exception, and that I don't need to send them again, while other schools have said that each year is a completely new application that will require me to send my test scores again. I'm planning on just going with the individual school's policies, but has it been anyone's experience that they haven't had to send their scores again? I'm really trying to keep application costs down, so I'd be curious to hear anyone's experience with this. Thanks!

I have a quick question about CVs. For schools that require a hard copy, should the CV be printed on fancy resume paper, or is plain printer paper okay? I'm not sure what the norm is on that. Thanks!

Having epically failed in my applications to media studies programs last year, I can speak from experience and offer some advice on what not to do! Last year, I applied to four schools (Northwestern, Wisconsin-Madison, IU, and NYU's Tisch School) with a 3.95 GPA and a 1460 GRE. I only got into Tisch, and it was completely unfunded. Needless to say, I'm trying again, but last year really opened up my eyes to just how selective these programs are. Most of the schools you've identified here are *extremely* competitive. From what I understand, U of Chicago only admitted two Ph.D. students last year, and Brown was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3. UC Berkeley (and all of the UCs for that matter) seemed especially selective last year as well, presumably owing to funding problems stemming from California's economy. Additionally, I'd be careful with the NYU programs, as while they are larger programs (and hence a bit less competitive), if admitted to them you could easily end up with $100,000 in student loans, as neither of these programs fund their M.A. students. (The M.A. programs themselves raise the funding to support the Ph.D. candidates, from what I understand). Your GPA and Verbal/Quantitative GRE scores are pretty strong, but your analytical writing score might be a cause for concern. I too tested at a 4.0 on my first attempt, and several of the grad schools to which I was applying told me that that score was too low for a native speaker. I took the GRE again (it's too bad you can't just retake the writing!) and managed to raise it to a 5.0 which, while not my goal, did seem to mollify the programs. I think soft factors are also of crucial importance, so you might indeed have a leg up with your LOR writers' connections. I'd also put a great deal of effort into your personal statement, being sure to convey a match between yourself in the program. A couple of my programs from last year told me it was my statement that lost me admittance, so I've definitely been putting a ton of time and consideration into it this year. Contacting professors at the programs your interested in also seems to be a great thing to do -- I've had a good deal of success with this approach this time around and, in addition to hoping it will pay off come February, the professors have provided me with a great deal of knowledge about the programs that I might not otherwise have received. Ultimately, I would recommend adding in some back-up or safety schools. (Not doing so was a big mistake I made last year!) Depending on your medium of focus and critical approach (film, TV, digital media/history, theory, cultural studies, etc.), you might want to consider applying to Syracuse University's Newhouse School (they have fairly large programs)or DePaul University's Cinema and Media Studies program (which I understand has good funding). Good luck!!

Back with another question - shock! Ha. I apparently need some serious hand-holding this time around. Anyway, when should you let an e-mail correspondence with a professor end? For instance, I wrote a professor, he wrote back, I asked for a reading list, he provided one. Do I leave it at that, or do I respond with a thank you? I don't want to flood his e-mail, obviously, but I feel weird just letting it break off. So I guess what I'm asking is, should I have the last word in the correspondence, or should the professor? Any insight would be great. Things are coming along!

Great idea! I'm definitely going to ask for a reading list. Thanks so much -- I was completely spacing!

I got a response too and don't know what to do! Haha. (I'm currently 1 for 4, but that's unimportant at the moment. ) Anyway, the professor basically outlined his upcoming research agenda for me and it all sounds really great and like he has a lot of interests that mirror mine beyond what I included in my introductory e-mail. I feel like I have to respond back with something like "I'm interested in all that too! Yay!" but I want to keep it professional. His response is seriously inclusive of everything I want to study in graduate school. I'm like, really ecstatic about this and have identified him as my top choice advisor. So what would be an appropriate response? "Your work sounds so interesting, please please please let me help?" Hahaha. No. But really, any insight into this would be great. I'm drawing a complete blank.

Hi everyone, I know this probably overlaps with the thread on e-mailing professors, but I wanted to get some advice. I was planning on reaching out to various professors via e-mail with a note that basically covers stuff like, "this is me, these are my research interests, I enjoyed your work on X topic and am applying to your school for next fall, is your research continuing along these lines and are you currently accepting new students?" After I'd crafted a draft of these e-mails, I met with one of my undergraduate professors who suggested that instead of posing questions at the end of the e-mail, I should request to speak with them on the phone. I feel like I'm a better writer than speaker, so I'm a bit hesitant to do this, though I know that I will likely leave more of an impression on the professors if I speak with them on the phone. That being said, I think I am going to go ahead and request phone appointments (unless anyone thinks I can get away with the strictly e-mail approach! ). Before I do that, however, I want to make sure that I have a general idea of how these types of calls typically go. I assume I should have some questions prepared to ask about their research and the program itself, but how many should I have ready? How long do these calls generally last? Is it better to have more questions about their research, or about the program itself? Do I talk about my background at all, or should I really aim to make it more about them? And is there any room for casual conversation, or should I jump right into the formal stuff? I think that about covers my questions -- any insight or advice would be great!

Does anyone have an idea of how long these statements typically should be? I have a similar prompt for Northwestern (Diversity presents itself in many different forms such as: socio-economic status, race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or place of origin, disability, unique work or life experience, etc. We invite you to use this space to tell us how you may contribute to the diversification of, The Graduate School, your program and Northwestern University), and I'm not sure what kind of detail they're looking for. There's no character limit -- just a link to upload a document. I'm going the "unique life experience" route, so I'm not sure if that makes any sort of a difference. Any insight would be great! Thanks so much.

Oh, man. This is exactly what happened to me the first time I took the GRE! I also got a 4.0, despite winning awards for writing and the like, and at that point a 4.0 was at the 33rd percentile. Not great. I contacted several of the programs to which I was planning on applying to see how detrimental this would be to my chances at admission, and nearly all of them came back and that said while it wouldn't be a reason to deny admission outright, the score was extremely low for a native speaker and that I should retake the GRE, even though I had 700+ scores in both verbal and math. So, that sucked. I did end up retaking it and managed to raise the writing to a 5.0 which, while not my goal, did seem to satisfy the programs. So, long story short, I'd reach out to the departments to which you're planning on applying to see what they recommend. And as for the accuracy of the writing section, I think it's total bull!

Right now, I'm thinking 7 with the possibility of 2-3 more being added. I'm really trying to save my money on this, but last year I don't feel like I applied to enough schools. This year, I'm trying to incorporate safety schools, which was a dumb omission on my part last year. We shall see!

Ah, my answer probably won't help either -- I waited about a year to take it again. But it worked for me, as my score went up by 160 points. My major strategy in between tests was to memorize as much vocabulary as possible.. just a crazy amount. I also got a couple of different review books in between, to give myself as many practice exams as possible. Good luck!