jmbrown88

Check of this:  It might be helpful, depending on your subfield.

Exercising and working on my thesis: one stress reliever and one stress inducer, so I like to think it balances out.

So damn true. Hang in there, Rubybright!  Surely today will bring some news...?

Congratulations, sooshaloosh and 33andathirdRPM!  I just got accepted to UNC for History and will almost definitely be accepting.  Maybe I'll see you guys around town sometime this fall!
 
I'm moving from the Houston area, and - from what I've been reading - am hoping to find a more walking/biking/outdoor friendly town.  It sounds like there are lots of great places for graduate students to live in Carrboro, but that is more on the UNC side of things.  Not sure about NCSU...but it also sounds like public transportation in that area is quite good (of course, compared to Houston, any city will seem like a transportation haven to me now!).

I'm jealous, as I vowed not to drink till I got an acceptance. That beer is going to be so rewarding if that time comes. 

I'm so stressed. Just cracked open a bottle of Pink Moscato. I'm pouring you and myself a glass right now.

I'm drinking too. Every day I think >_< and yes I wake up every morning to check this

I just submitted a paper to the journal of young investigators. The only rule is that you had to do the research while you're still in undergrad. Hope that helps.

I am procrastinating on finishing up my revisions for my masters thesis. So, I'm writing this up as a sort of "warm up" to help me get started on that . Just warning you, this is going to be long-winded...

So, I want a PhD in neurocognitive or cognitive psychology because:

1) I was made to be a psychologist.

I may not be as articulate as I want to be here... but here it goes--

As a preteen, for all my science fair projects leaned in the direction of psychology (one year I remember trying to test my classmates' mood at different times during the year to examine the mood- weather relationship). The first time I seriously became interested in neuroscience/psychology I was in middle school or so-- my cousin had just committed suicide at the time and I was looking for answers (especially because I had been having suicidal thoughts for a couple of years before her death...which is scary because I wasn't even 13 yet). It was easier for me to accept the fact that she was ill if I had physical "proof" that her brain (and mine) was different. I also grew up with a schizophrenic grandmother. She used to tell me that there were angels who were talking to her and that her thoughts were being recorded... I always wanted to know what she saw. This was about the age when I started feeling guilty for how I had treated her when I was younger (at this point I may have been a bit older ... like 14/15). I also have a bipolar uncle who, at the time, kept trying to kill himself every few months (actually when I was seven-ish, he once told my mom he wanted to speak with me, and then told me that he was going to kill himself... yeah, it's f*cked up). All this combined with my own manic and depressive episodes I frequently questioned reality when I was my normal self. The fact that physical changes in the brain could create these differences in the intangible...I believed that I could have all the answers to my questions about my reality, and my illness if I could understand the brain

This lead me to...

2) As a result of experiences during my preteen/teen years I gradually became an atheist, but my first research methods/experimental psychology class was a religious experience. That sounds over the top, but research is the only means by which I can answer the questions I have about my mental life: psychology is my religion. Training to become a better researcher helps me make sense of my meaningless world. So, I want a PhD to become a better researcher.

3) I enjoy debating and creating experimental designs to answer the many, many questions I have about different aspects of human cognition...and I tend to find questions everywhere. I have been known to spend weeks on literature reviews based on something I disagreed with in a random NYT article and then create hypothetical designs based on what I've found. I already do it for free-- I think it's high time I get paid for it. A PhD program will pay me for it. I also want the ability to turn my hypothetical designs into actual research... I can't do that without the independence a TT job will get me or the training I will receive as a doctoral student and a post-doc fellow.

That's why I want a PhD in psychology. I have a passion for research in psychology and would have little credibility without a PhD. I will not be able to secure the grant money I may want for what ever I want to do in the future and I don't want to be dependent on other faculty members forever. A PhD and a TT job will give me the freedom to do what I want in terms of research... I guess that's my real answer.

Now, if only I were allowed to be this truthful in a personal statement...

Also, being called "Dr." is kind of cool... but it's not like people in our field call each other doctor... so "meh." And, to my family, I'll never be a "real" doctor because I will not have an MD (but f*ck them).

Got it. If I could start a charity that would help others avoid the GRE, I would. It took such a toll on my well-being.

I would avoid. I noticed typos in the fine print (e.g., "American Psychology Association"). I think you're probably fine with a relatively recent introductory text book and, if you want more, a guide from Princeton or Kaplan. They're the two standard prep companies.