EvanB

My statistics is pretty good; I am experienced in the use of SPSS. I am definitely going to go ahead and start trying to register to present at conferences, after talking to my professor he thinks that we have enough data to make several undergraduate level presentations. How do submitted entries rank next to presented entries? I was thinking that if I don't have an impressive enough CV by the December cutoff for applications that I might be able to wait another year and use the time padding my stats. Would there be a downside to my applying this year and then reapplying again next year if I don't get in this round? How do schools feel about multiple applications from the same person?

So I should basically keep doing what I am doing? Right now I am still working in the psych lab at UGA (even though I am no longer a student, I graduated this past December) and continuing to work within my specific area of interest (emotional decision making- lib/con). I have worked with the same professor for several years and he and I are going to send a paper out by the end of the month on mindfulness and disgust (still don't know that it will make it through the process in time). He is going to allow me to continue working on these topics so that I can remain involved with research in the time before grad school. I don't know if there is time to start looking for a way to present a poster, but I done quite a bit of research over the last couple of years on several topics so I think I have more than enough material to make a poster or two. Any advice would be appreciated, as would any reccomendations for other things I can be doing to distinguish myself.

Yes it is the new scoring system which is 130-170. My Verbal is 165 my Quantitative is 155 both out of 170. Is getting myself on their radar the best thing I can do? Would any type of specific volunteer work help?

Luckily taking an additional year or more off will allow me to put a fair amount of time into preparing to take the GRE a second time. If I study a little every day over the next few months I think I can improve my scores. I can definitely improve my Quantitative since I was caught off guard by some of the geometry and I can easily remedy that situation. Also, I know everyone says the writing is not important but I worry that a score as low as mine will raise eyebrows, and it can be fixed easily as well since it is due primarily to a misclick. Is there anything else I should be focusing on to improve my chances? Like I said I am staying involved in research during my time off and continuing to learn more about SPSS. What else can I do to make my application more competitive?

I thought that I would need to retake the GRE, skating by on my verbal score doesn't really seem possible. Could you give me an idea of the minimums that I should aim for to avoid being eliminated early in the process? I have been working in the same lab for several years and have developed great relationships with the professor I work under and the grad students in the lab. I can definitely get good letters from the guys in the lab and from some other professors that I am still good friends with from some of my undergrad classes. Which brings me to another question: Would I be better off getting letters from PhD students in the lab who know me very well and share some of my interests or from professors who I am friendly with from classes? I definitely have a great one lined up from the professor that I have worked directly with but I don't know the other professors as well and they have not really seen me in a lab setting.

Alright, to start with I graduated in December of 2011 with a degree in psychology from the University of Georgia. I have two and a half years of experience as an undergraduate research assistant and I spent most of that time researching the same topic that I would like to continue to research during the course of my PhD. Basic Stats: GPA: 3.41 GRE Verbal: 165 (96th) GRE Quantitative: 155 (69th) (I didn't study appropriately for the gemoetry involved). GRE Writing: 3.5 (I misclicked and ended one of the writing questions half way through). I have continued my research through the lab at UGA since my graduation and am working on some publications involving disgust sensitivity and it's relationship in the decision making of liberals and conservatives. I have also worked on how mindfullness changes conservatism and how sensitivity to other emotions is different for liberals/conservatives. I plan to continue my research for, at minimum, the next couple of semesters before applying to grad school and hopefully secure 1-3 publications during that time. I am looking to work with someone who works on issues closely releated to the ones I have described above. I know that these topics are being researched at Cornell, NYU, and the University of Auckland (New Zealand) to name a few. Can anyone help me figure out my chances of getting in to one of these programs? Should I retake the GRE? Thanks.