Jump to content

enchanted24

Members
  • Posts

    9
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Not Telling
  • Application Season
    Not Applicable
  • Program
    I/O Psychology

enchanted24's Achievements

Decaf

Decaf (2/10)

0

Reputation

  1. Hello, I graduated in December 2012 and I completed an honors thesis with one professor and did two research projects with another professor while in school. I want to take two to three years away from school to work. While in undergrad I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to study in grad school but now I’m not so sure. I’m not sure what I want to study in the future. My concern is that I don’t know when I should ask my professors for a letter of recommendation. I’ve been told by a friend to ask for them now so that I have them for the future in case I need them; to basically have them stored on my hard drive for when the time comes. My friend’s logic is to ask now while I’m still “fresh” in the professors’ heads. That sort of seems pointless, considering I don’t know what I want to study or where I want to study. How can I realistically ask for a letter if I don’t have those obvious and necessary pieces of information? I just don’t want too many years to pass and for my professors forget about me, or for them to retire, or for something unforeseen to happen to them (get sick and pass away). Should I send them courtesy emails requesting that they write for me in the future? So that way I’ll know they will be there for me when I need them? When should you ask for a LOR if you know you’re going to be out of school for several years? Thank you for your advice.
  2. I think if you were after a PhD a 3.36 would be a challenge - although perhaps not impossible. I think if you're going for a master's you should be okay providing that your GRE scores are good. One of my co-workers graduated with a 3.2 and was accepted into her master's program no problem (and got a scholarship too)! I also think your internships will help you more than you realize. Usually master's programs are more application/job oriented so having the good work experience that you have gained from your internships will help you. Also, I would like to add - another one of my co-workers graduated with a 2.38 (ouch). He worked for four years after graduating, and believe it or not he was accepted into some pretty decent master's programs. He worked as a paralegal at our law firm and highlighted all the great work experiences he had and I think that's what did it for him. The attorneys wrote him good letters of recommendation too. It goes to show that someone like him with a not so good GPA can still have a chance! Good luck!
  3. Hello, I graduated in December 2012 with a bachelor’s in psychology. I graduated with honors, completed an honors thesis, and I co-authored and directed two research studies. This past semester (spring 2013) I enrolled as a second bachelor’s degree seeking student with the intention to do a second bachelor’s in computer science. I no longer want to pursue CS and don’t want to finish the second bachelor’s. I know in the future though that I will want to pursue a master’s degree (probably in a field related to psychology). My question is do I have to finish the second bachelor’s before I am allowed to get into grad school? Will grad schools think poorly of me for not finishing the second degree, even though I did really well and graduated with honors for my first degree? Thank you for your help.
  4. I think it would depend on how much research experience you currently have. If you don't have any research experience at all and you are sure that you want to do the PhD, then I think you will definitely need a lot of research experience. Certainly a lot more than one semester - or even one year. Research experience varies considerably. I did a lot of research in my undergrad with three different professors. One supervised my honors thesis, the other I co-authored a study with. Those were great research experiences. The experience I had with the third professor was not great. We did very little work over the course of that semester and it was not an illuminating experience to say the least. So it all depends - talk to the professors you're going to be working with and see what you are going to be doing. I will say that I did all of the research work for free - I was never paid for any of it. I believe this is how it is for the majority of students; it's something you're just expected to "do" any way you can. If you really want the PhD then you should try to secure research experience even if you're not paid. Although, internships are a good thing. You may decided later (like how a lot of students do) that the PhD isn't as great of an idea as they thought it would be and they decide they don't want to do do it anymore. In which case, pursuing a master's or entering the work force are the alternatives. If you ultimately decide not to do the PhD, the internship will be valuable work experience which you will definitely need later on. Many students have jobs, go to school full time and do research on the side too; I was one of them and so were my peers. It's expected of students to be doing all of these things at once nowadays regardless of how tremendously difficult it can be at times. The PhD is apparently a tremendously difficult endeavor though so it's expected of you to be able to handle many responsibilities simultaneously. I would try to see if you can get both the internship and the research experience. I think you need both! You mentioned delaying the internship, so maybe you can negotiate the internship to start during summer when you're not in class. Try to do both though. You need both! Best of luck to you!
  5. Hello, I graduated with a liberal arts bachelors in December of 2012 with a GPA of 3.53. When I was in the last semester of completing my first degree I thought I wanted to do a second bachelors degree in computer science. So in the spring of 2013 (this current semester) I took CS courses. Well, after five years of college, an honors thesis, a lot of research experience and a job outside of school, I realized I was extremely burned out. I only took three CS courses (because of my school's prerequisites). The first one I dropped early in the semester, and I anticipated failing grades in the other two so I withdrew from both of them in late April. I learned later that there may be two grades of "F" for the courses that I withdrew from instead of the standard "W" grade for withdrawing. Now I am planning to take a couple of years away from school and work full time because I feel that is what I truly need to do because of burn out. I was planning to apply to grad school in a couple of years. I'm very scared though...I graduated with honors and a 3.53 but I'm afraid of what schools are going to think when they see that semester after graduation when I did terribly. Technically my transcript will say that I "withdrew" before the semester ended but I'm very scared. I will appreciate any input. Thank you!
  6. I'm a little unclear about the difference between the training for these two degrees. Overall, which degree do you suppose is a better choice in terms of career options and salary? Thank You
  7. I don't want to do a doctorate, the master's degree would not be a "stepping stone" for me. I don't want to spend 6+ years doing a PhD. I want to get a job that pays decentely and will entail stimulating work. Is there anyone out there who has a master's in I/O and is working? What kind of tasks do you preform? How is the salary? Input from anyone is welcome. Thank you!
  8. Is it possible to get into a PhD program in I/O without any publications? Or without any presentations for that matter?
  9. Hello, I'm sure you're sick of these sorts of posts but I really would like some opinions on my chances of actually getting into a PhD program in I/O psychology, or if I should apply to a masters program instead. I have the summer and one more semester left and I want to apply in the fall. I am currently finishing a full, IRB approved honors thesis. I did everything, the whole process of designing a study start to finish, data collection and analysis. I am working with a Social Psychology professor on two different research projects. One is a survey based study, the other is a rigorous experimental study. He says that we should have data collected by the end of the summer and he says we will present it somewhere and that it will most likely be published. (I hope it is published in time, because I want to apply next semester). I've also done work with another professor on a a bibliography of psychology. This wasn't anything experimental though, it was mainly book work. I'm also involved in the Psi Chi research group at my school and we are about to start a project. I don't think it will be finished by the time I graduate though. Here is the not so good things are that I made a C in stats the first time I took it (really bad semester) and I foolishly took it immediately after that, in the summer which was nightmare cram session because the course was only a month in summer school and only made a B. I also made a B in my experimental research methods course. Ugh. I also took a course in computerized statistics later and made an A. I've been told by professors that this could help. Ovearall GPA: 3.58 Psychology GPA: 3.67 (I'm most likely going to get a 4.0 this semester so they should go up slightly.) I don't take the GRE until July so I don't have scores yet. Any advice, input, or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use