benders_antenna

Hey everyone, I wanted to add a few points on this, even though it's a bit late. FIrst, best of luck with the Ev Psych program at UNM. I've met with Dr. Gangestad before and I could see him as a fantastic graduate advisor. I think funding is definitely a factor at a lot of schools especially with the current economic climate. But I also know that UNM recently got a new faculty member in the Ev Psych area. New faculty members sometimes have an upper hand with selecting grad school students since they are under more pressure to publish for tenure purposes. So if you didn't have any luck, it could just be a bad time. The Ev Psych program is a bit smaller than others, so even if you tried again with another faculty member, you would still have to opportunity to learn from the man. I've heard that Clinical Psych is one of the most competitive graduate programs at UNM. Successful applicants almost have to be on par with Med School admissions standards to get in. As you know, it's a great place to get solid training pertaining to alcohol and addiction. If any of you all ever make into UNM, let me know. I moved to Albuquerque less than two years ago and would love to meet more folks with similar interests. Cheers, Carlos

One of the posters above said that there are a lot of idiosyncracies in the graduate admissions process. You may have great scores and GPA, but still not get into the program you want. One thing to consider is how well you connect with the folks you want to get graduate training from. Sometimes students with lower GPAs and GREs get into grad school because they were able to develop rapport with their graduate advisor. Sometimes lower GPAs and GREs get in because they make a better match for the researcher's lab. If I study personality and you are interested in learning & memory, it wouldn't make a lot of sense for me to go bat for you to the admissions committee even if you had a 4.0 and 1600 GRE. That would be like a carpenter taking on an apprentice who wants to become a plumber. Some graduate programs will have interviews, so it could boil down to who has good grades, GREs, and that extra something. Sometimes the faculty who are new to the department will get priority or have more weight to get graduate students and that could affect your chances. So GPA and GRE are great, but will not decide everything.

IMO, I would take the AP class for the following: 1. If you score well on the exam, you can earn college credit which could save you a good chunk of loot and probably knock out a math requirement. 2. The AP course can be good prep for the Psych department stats and research methods (fancy title for more stats) courses. 3. Psych graduate programs are going to ask for MORE stats so a solid foundation in this area can be helpful. 4. Since all research is based off of stats, taking the AP course can help you decide if it's something you want to deal with for the rest of your life. 5. Calculus typically is not a requirement for undergraduate psych degrees nor psych graduate programs.