Fall 2019 Psychology PhD Applicants!

[ResilientDreams]

27 minutes ago, loffire said:

Noice. How'd your skype interview go? was it last fri?

It went well! The professor liked me/seemed really interested. I'm actually not sure if his lab is the best fit for me though. 

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

Hi all, 

I have been following this thread for a while, but I am finally posting. 

I graduated from a state school in 2017, and I have been doing research full time since then. 

Programs of Interest: Cognitive neuroscience (depends on the school whether this is actually in a psychology department)

Research Interests: high-level vision

School List: Johns Hopkins; Carnegie Mellon; University of Nevada, Reno; University of California, San Diego; University of California, Berkeley; Stanford; Harvard; MIT; Emory

Background: BA in neuroscience from a state university

Things I'm Not Worried About: 

Good enough GPA and GRE

Strong letters of Recommendation

Strong research experience 

Conference presentations (posters and oral) 

Things I'm Worried About: 

I have a middle author publication in a low- to mid-tier journal. I have a completed draft of my undergrad thesis work for publication that has been sitting on my former advisor's desk for a WHOLE YEAR. I am currently finishing a manuscript to submit soon. It will be submitted before applications are due, and we are going to try for a reach-journal at first. Good thing about that is if they hate it, it will be rejected super quickly, so I could even resubmit before applications are due. 

The publications is kind of minor concern. I think overall, I am not going to get denied because I don't have a first-author publication unless someone else has a first-author publication in Nature. I guess my concern is my school list because given the schools that I am applying to the other applicants may very well be published in Nature. I cannot decide whether I should add in some less competitive schools. I have had Skype or in-person meetings with all but two of the PIs on my list. They seemed very interested in me and there was a terrific fit with many of the programs. I am afraid that in the end, I just might not cut it. 

If anyone wanted to weigh in, I would love your feedback. 

[ResilientDreams]

30 minutes ago, sendmeadvise said:

Hi all, 

I have been following this thread for a while, but I am finally posting. 

I graduated from a state school in 2017, and I have been doing research full time since then. 

Programs of Interest: Cognitive neuroscience (depends on the school whether this is actually in a psychology department)

Research Interests: high-level vision

School List: Johns Hopkins; Carnegie Mellon; University of Nevada, Reno; University of California, San Diego; University of California, Berkeley; Stanford; Harvard; MIT; Emory

Background: BA in neuroscience from a state university

Things I'm Not Worried About: 

Good enough GPA and GRE

Strong letters of Recommendation

Strong research experience 

Conference presentations (posters and oral) 

Things I'm Worried About: 

I have a middle author publication in a low- to mid-tier journal. I have a completed draft of my undergrad thesis work for publication that has been sitting on my former advisor's desk for a WHOLE YEAR. I am currently finishing a manuscript to submit soon. It will be submitted before applications are due, and we are going to try for a reach-journal at first. Good thing about that is if they hate it, it will be rejected super quickly, so I could even resubmit before applications are due. 

The publications is kind of minor concern. I think overall, I am not going to get denied because I don't have a first-author publication unless someone else has a first-author publication in Nature. I guess my concern is my school list because given the schools that I am applying to the other applicants may very well be published in Nature. I cannot decide whether I should add in some less competitive schools. I have had Skype or in-person meetings with all but two of the PIs on my list. They seemed very interested in me and there was a terrific fit with many of the programs. I am afraid that in the end, I just might not cut it. 

 If anyone wanted to weigh in, I would love your feedback. 

Wow, did they all offer to Skype you or did you ask some of them to set up a meeting? I was happy about being offered one Skype interview lol.

[ResilientDreams]

35 minutes ago, sendmeadvise said:

Hi all, 

I have been following this thread for a while, but I am finally posting. 

I graduated from a state school in 2017, and I have been doing research full time since then. 

Programs of Interest: Cognitive neuroscience (depends on the school whether this is actually in a psychology department)

Research Interests: high-level vision

School List: Johns Hopkins; Carnegie Mellon; University of Nevada, Reno; University of California, San Diego; University of California, Berkeley; Stanford; Harvard; MIT; Emory

Background: BA in neuroscience from a state university

Things I'm Not Worried About: 

Good enough GPA and GRE

Strong letters of Recommendation

Strong research experience 

Conference presentations (posters and oral) 

Things I'm Worried About: 

I have a middle author publication in a low- to mid-tier journal. I have a completed draft of my undergrad thesis work for publication that has been sitting on my former advisor's desk for a WHOLE YEAR. I am currently finishing a manuscript to submit soon. It will be submitted before applications are due, and we are going to try for a reach-journal at first. Good thing about that is if they hate it, it will be rejected super quickly, so I could even resubmit before applications are due. 

The publications is kind of minor concern. I think overall, I am not going to get denied because I don't have a first-author publication unless someone else has a first-author publication in Nature. I guess my concern is my school list because given the schools that I am applying to the other applicants may very well be published in Nature. I cannot decide whether I should add in some less competitive schools. I have had Skype or in-person meetings with all but two of the PIs on my list. They seemed very interested in me and there was a terrific fit with many of the programs. I am afraid that in the end, I just might not cut it. 

If anyone wanted to weigh in, I would love your feedback. 

Also, the piece of advice I would give to you regarding your school list is this. There really is no such thing as a safety PhD program. It all comes down to research fit and a good dose of luck. That being said, you have to separate in your mind these institutions' reputation for undergrad admission vs. their reputation for graduate admission. Applying to graduate school is completely different, and if a PI really likes you and sees promise in you, that may very well get you through the door. It's still a crap shoot, but unlike undergrad, at least it's a crap shoot that makes sense.

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

9 minutes ago, ResilientDreams said:

Wow, did they all offer to Skype you or did you ask some of them to set up a meeting? I was happy about being offered one Skype interview lol.

It has been a mix of Skype and in-person. I sent out the feeler emails before a conference and arranged a time to meet there, and I have had a few Skype conversations. Maybe it is a bit bold, but in the emails I say something along the lines of "If you think that our interests are a good match, I would like to know about your research directions by Skype, or I will be attending xxx conference." 

Edited September 21, 2018 by sendmeadvise

[ResilientDreams]

Just now, sendmeadvise said:

It has been a mix of Skype and in-person. I sent out the feeler emails before a conference and arranged a time to meet there, and I have had a few Skype conversations. Maybe it is a bit bold, but in the emails I say something along the lines of "If you think that our interests are a good match, I would like to know about your research directions by Skype, or I will be attending xxx conference." 

That was such a good idea. Too late for me lol. At least they seemed interested in their email responses.

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

3 minutes ago, ResilientDreams said:

That was such a good idea. Too late for me lol. At least they seemed interested in their email responses.

I am sure that you will be very successful in your applications! I am not saying positive response means that you will for sure be admitted, but there can be lack luster responses, or they can say that their group is full, so a positive response doesn't mean nothing. 

I would like to add that I have contacted PIs who told me their labs were full, and there are a couple that I am planning on applying to who have not responded. 

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

17 minutes ago, ResilientDreams said:

Also, the piece of advice I would give to you regarding your school list is this. There really is no such thing as a safety PhD program. It all comes down to research fit and a good dose of luck. That being said, you have to separate in your mind these institutions' reputation for undergrad admission vs. their reputation for graduate admission. Applying to graduate school is completely different, and if a PI really likes you and sees promise in you, that may very well get you through the door. It's still a crap shoot, but unlike undergrad, at least it's a crap shoot that makes sense.

I really appreciate your feedback, and it makes me feel more confident. I talk to a lot of people applying to med school sending out 30 applications. It makes me nervous that I have not diversified enough. 

Edited September 21, 2018 by sendmeadvise

[ResilientDreams]

2 hours ago, sendmeadvise said:

I really appreciate your feedback, and it makes me feel more confident. I talk to a lot of people applying to med school sending out 30 applications. It makes me nervous that I have not diversified enough. 

Grad school is half application/half job interview while med school is 100% application. It might make sense for people applying to med school to send out a lot of applications (though I think 30 is too many), but for grad school it makes more sense to send out fewer applications to schools with which you have a greater fit.

[PokePsych]

17 hours ago, sendmeadvise said:

I really appreciate your feedback, and it makes me feel more confident. I talk to a lot of people applying to med school sending out 30 applications. It makes me nervous that I have not diversified enough. 

I only sent applications to places I really wanted to go. Don't see myself working on a topic or with someone I don't feel a fit with. I applied to 6 places - 2 ended up having issues with my transcript (meh). Did do one safety school abroad that accepted me. Ended up being accepted to my nr 1 choice because of my fit with the PI (who is apparently very picky with accepting students so I've heard now I've been here). Was nerve-wracking, but worth it. Love my advisor!

[sassyyetclassy]

Just curious since I have to do this for some of my schools and wanted to know if others had to do it for their programs as well:

Do y'all have to write a statement of purpose/letter of intent in addition to a personal statement/diversity statement?

I think I am fine in terms of the statement of purpose and what direction I want to take it, but I am unclear what direction I should go in terms of my personal statement/diversity statement without sounding repetitive.

I read in other blog posts that the personal statement is supposed to be more about the life experiences that inform your field of study, so should I focus exclusively on that if I am already writing about my research experience and professional experience in my statement of purpose/letter of intent?

[PNWqueen]

On 9/21/2018 at 4:26 PM, sendmeadvise said:

Hi all, 

I have been following this thread for a while, but I am finally posting. 

I graduated from a state school in 2017, and I have been doing research full time since then. 

Programs of Interest: Cognitive neuroscience (depends on the school whether this is actually in a psychology department)

Research Interests: high-level vision

School List: Johns Hopkins; Carnegie Mellon; University of Nevada, Reno; University of California, San Diego; University of California, Berkeley; Stanford; Harvard; MIT; Emory

Background: BA in neuroscience from a state university

Things I'm Not Worried About: 

Good enough GPA and GRE

Strong letters of Recommendation

Strong research experience 

Conference presentations (posters and oral) 

Things I'm Worried About: 

I have a middle author publication in a low- to mid-tier journal. I have a completed draft of my undergrad thesis work for publication that has been sitting on my former advisor's desk for a WHOLE YEAR. I am currently finishing a manuscript to submit soon. It will be submitted before applications are due, and we are going to try for a reach-journal at first. Good thing about that is if they hate it, it will be rejected super quickly, so I could even resubmit before applications are due. 

The publications is kind of minor concern. I think overall, I am not going to get denied because I don't have a first-author publication unless someone else has a first-author publication in Nature. I guess my concern is my school list because given the schools that I am applying to the other applicants may very well be published in Nature. I cannot decide whether I should add in some less competitive schools. I have had Skype or in-person meetings with all but two of the PIs on my list. They seemed very interested in me and there was a terrific fit with many of the programs. I am afraid that in the end, I just might not cut it. 

If anyone wanted to weigh in, I would love your feedback. 

4

I think you're in a really good place to get into a top school. In my experience, if you've already had skype interviews you've got a really good chance of getting an in-person official interview. If you get one of those you've got like a 75% chance of getting in. Also, keep in mind that Skype interviews are offered all the way out to January depending on the professor, so you might still hear from the other two proffs. I will also say that I had 0 publication when I applied and I got into two Ph.D. programs and got offers to masters programs from 2 others.  I also didn't have nearly as much research experience as you and was coming straight from undergrad. You'll be ok.

[ResilientDreams]

23 hours ago, PNWqueen said:

I think you're in a really good place to get into a top school. In my experience, if you've already had skype interviews you've got a really good chance of getting an in-person official interview. If you get one of those you've got like a 75% chance of getting in. Also, keep in mind that Skype interviews are offered all the way out to January depending on the professor, so you might still hear from the other two proffs. I will also say that I had 0 publication when I applied and I got into two Ph.D. programs and got offers to masters programs from 2 others.  I also didn't have nearly as much research experience as you and was coming straight from undergrad. You'll be ok.

I'm applying to Developmental Psychology PhD programs right out of undergrad as well.

[ResilientDreams]

Time to start actually uploading my transcript places.

[Romedy]

This will be my 3rd (and final) round of applications. I applied out of undergrad in 2015 and received 0 interviews. I got a master's degree with a clinical emphasis and reapplied last year (2018). This time I received several interviews (7!) but did not receive an offer. I'm a non-traditional student (BS in math 2005, BA in psych 2015, MA in psych 2018) and will be 36 this November. Hence why this is likely to be my final application year. My long-term goals are to work in academia, so I am pursuing a clinical Ph.D.

I think the major problem with my application is I have broad research interests but lack a clearly-defined research program. This is actually false, as I would like to better understand the incidence rate of psychopathology in the gaming community, particularly in professional gamers, and work to develop/validate interventions aimed at the adolescent/young adult populations likely to engage in gaming culture. As best I can tell, there are 2 researchers (1 in ANZ, 1 in the UK) who conduct this type of research. To the best of my knowledge, no one in the U.S. currently works on these topics. I have had some success reaching out to individuals like Steve Il,ardi at Kansas, but these sites are highly competitive and I am dubious that I can gain admission to a top-25 program.

I would greatly value any advice/help/feedback you can offer. I'm not quite ready to give up on this lifelong dream, but financial, family, and age restrictions have placed a timer on me. Thank you in advance!

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

5 hours ago, Romedy said:

This will be my 3rd (and final) round of applications. I applied out of undergrad in 2015 and received 0 interviews. I got a master's degree with a clinical emphasis and reapplied last year (2018). This time I received several interviews (7!) but did not receive an offer. I'm a non-traditional student (BS in math 2005, BA in psych 2015, MA in psych 2018) and will be 36 this November. Hence why this is likely to be my final application year. My long-term goals are to work in academia, so I am pursuing a clinical Ph.D.

I think the major problem with my application is I have broad research interests but lack a clearly-defined research program. This is actually false, as I would like to better understand the incidence rate of psychopathology in the gaming community, particularly in professional gamers, and work to develop/validate interventions aimed at the adolescent/young adult populations likely to engage in gaming culture. As best I can tell, there are 2 researchers (1 in ANZ, 1 in the UK) who conduct this type of research. To the best of my knowledge, no one in the U.S. currently works on these topics. I have had some success reaching out to individuals like Steve Il,ardi at Kansas, but these sites are highly competitive and I am dubious that I can gain admission to a top-25 program.

I would greatly value any advice/help/feedback you can offer. I'm not quite ready to give up on this lifelong dream, but financial, family, and age restrictions have placed a timer on me. Thank you in advance!

Here is my suggestion and others may disagree. I think that you might be looking for people who are too specifically aligned with your interests. The way I think about the purpose of a PhD is to develop the scientific skills necessary to conduct research not necessarily to have a particular research program defined when you enter. (This may not hold for senior, highly renowned PIs who would expect you to have a research program, but I am speaking generally).

As such, the PI does not need to have a research program that is working on your particular question in order for there to be a good research fit. And, you need to be able to mold your research interests to a PI's particular flavor of research. I am just spit-balling because I don't have a strong relevant background, but perhaps, someone working on gambling addiction or obsessive behaviors would provide you with the training that you need to pursue your particular interests later in your postdoc or as a faculty.

In summary: Broaden your search. Identify where your interests match the PIs. Mold the way you present your interests to match their interests. 

Edited September 25, 2018 by sendmeadvice
Submitted accidentally

[ResilientDreams]

Exactly. If PIs only took people with the exact same research interests as them, there would never be any new types of research being done. 

[loffire]

If you don't mind me saying, clinical programs are super competitive. You might have a better shot examining these topics from a cognitive/social/community psych perspective. There are some schools that I vaguely remember seeing working on topics that overlaps with your interests. It might not be a perfect fit, but there'll be enough overlap to help you achieve your goals. Also I am in my 30s applying for the third time. So good luck to both of us! hahah

[PokePsych]

I went through this last year - how is everyone doing? 

[ResilientDreams]

Hanging in there. I predict that I'll be submitting my first application in the next week and a half and the others should follow shortly after because I'll have most of the stuff for them organized by doing the first one. 

[PokePsych]

12 hours ago, ResilientDreams said:

Hanging in there. I predict that I'll be submitting my first application in the next week and a half and the others should follow shortly after because I'll have most of the stuff for them organized by doing the first one. 

You have a lot more done than I had at the time!

[PsyDuck90]

What I did that really helped me was to start all the applications in one day. Not the important stuff but registering the accounts and typing in my name, address, etc. That way I could also see which ones needed me to submit everything before letter writers could upload their LORs or if links could be sent right away. I also wanted to make sure I gave my recommenders as much time as possible to upload so that they didn't feel rushed at the 11th hour. This also gave me much needed troubleshooting time as 1 letter was not going through for a specific school. My recommender was just not getting the link for some reason. Luckily, we were able to solve the issue before the deadline. 

Good luck to everyone! And I know the process of stressful, but try to leave some wiggle room for emergencies!

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

22 hours ago, Psygeek said:

I went through this last year - how is everyone doing? 

Feeling quite overwhelmed. My lab is currently demanding a ton of time. I feel like I need the NSF GRFP submitted before I can think about the school SOPs. Further, one PI I talked to recommended applying for the Hertz Fellowship which is ridiculously competitive and likely a waste of my time, but I feel obligated. On the actual applications, I have a  final school list, registered the accounts, sent out the recommendation requests, the GRE reports and transcripts are squared away. All of that is mostly because I already had everything together for the grants. I am probably not going to make serious progress on the SOPs for about a month. First app due is Stanford in mid-November. 

[Fi19]

Hi All!!

So great to have found this post! How many programs are on your final lists? I have 13 (clinical and counseling phds) on my list. I'm worried if I should have more? The fact that there's no such thing as "safety schools" make me panic?

Schools on my list:

• Clinical: University of Southern California; Southern Methodist University; Miami University; Purdue University; University of Hawaii at Manoa; University of California, Los Angelas
• Counseling: University of Maryland, College Park; New York University; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; University at Albany/State University of New York; Iowa State University; Purdue University; University of Utah

Good luck everyone!!!

Edited September 30, 2018 by Fi19

[Jung&Psyched]

1 hour ago, Fi19 said:

Hi All!!

So great to have found this post! How many programs are on your final lists? I have 13 (clinical and counseling phds) on my list. I'm worried if I should have more? The fact that there's no such thing as "safety schools" make me panic?

Schools on my list:

• Clinical: University of Southern California; Southern Methodist University; Miami University; Purdue University; University of Hawaii at Manoa; University of California, Los Angelas
• Counseling: University of Maryland, College Park; New York University; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; University at Albany/State University of New York; Iowa State University; Purdue University; University of Utah

Good luck everyone!!!

I have fewer than that and its stressing me out lol! I am applying to 6 counseling psych phds and 4 masters programs. I know, realistically, with my undergrad gpa and limited research experience, I am most likely going to have to do a masters first --- but wanted to try my shot at doctorates as well! It seems like most people are applying to 10-15 schools, so I think your 13 is pretty standard!