Are these competitive I/O PhD program stats?

[i/o hopeful]

Hi,

I'm hoping to apply for I/O PhD programs this winter, but I'm concerned I don't have enough relevant research experience to be a good applicant. Rather, I have done research things in the past, but they're not exactly focused on I/O subject material. From a numbers perspective though, I think I'm pretty strong, and I did work for a consulting firm my first year out of college (I've been out 2 years now)which I hope can count for something. Is proving my current interests are actually I/O focused something I can just make sure I bring out in my personal statement, or do you think I need to spend some time gaining relevant research experience?

Basic Stats:

Stats and Psych double major

GPA: 3.6 (Psych GPA 3.95)

GRE: 780V, 780Q

2 summers in undergrad working in psych labs (running subjects; no independent research)

Senior Honors Psych Thesis (developed and ran my own experiment-- topic of validating personality measure and its predictive power in an economic game situation)

1 year business analyst at consulting firm

Currently working for biological/chemical engineering lab as a lab tech (misguided thought that I wanted to do med school)

Thoughts? If it seems like it'd be a tossup for me getting in somewhere or not as things stands now, then I'd probably want to try putting off applying for a year and try making myself a stronger applicant. Does anyone know of particular programs who give good GREs/grades a lot of weight compared to other places?

Thanks!

[fuddy]

Hi there! Obviously no one can tell you for certain because we arent on addcoms, but I can tell you that in my experience specific I/O research experience doesn't matter. Faculty realize that not all schools have any I/O faculty (mine didn't) and therefore look for a commitment to the research process as opposed to I/O research itself. I think you should absolutely apply this year - your scores are great and you have more than enough experience to get you into a really great program. Just my thoughts.