Fall 2020 Developmental Psychology PhD

[justacigar]

Hi all!

I saw the clinical folks had a thread started already so I figured developmental could use some love, too! I'm planning on applying to a mix of both developmental and clinical programs to vary my options, as the competitiveness of clinical programs is a bit daunting. I applied to a small handful of schools this previous round but did so with little extra preparation. Before the 2020 application cycle I'll be working as a research assistant for the VA and will retake the GRE to get a better score.

My area of interest is attachment/trauma/maternal trauma and developmental deficits that occur when there are disruptions in the caregiver-child relationship, particularly in emotional/physical regulation and social skills. Here are the schools and potential POIs I'm interested in right now. Obviously dependent on who is accepting students. Would like to find a few more and then choose.

• University of Michigan, SGB, SO, LH
• University of Iowa, IP, MN, MO
• University of Oregon, JA, JM, MZ
• University of Denver, SW, AN
• University of Minnesota, CK, GR
• UC Irvine, JB, WG (though they don't follow a normative PI application process)
• UC Riverside, RW, KM, LD
• West Virginia University, EK, CM, AG
• University of Utah, EC, PK

Anyways, where is everyone at? What are you interested in? 

Cheers!

[ResilientDreams]

Hello!

I'm a successful applicant from the 2019 cycle, so if anyone has any questions feel free to message me! I'll be at Cornell in the fall.

[emotional]

I am also throwing my hat into the ring! Long-time lurker here, finally decided to participate in the GradCafe community!

This is my second time applying for PhD programs, and I feel excited to give this another shot. For my first attempt, I felt pressured from my cohort mates and advisor in my developmental psychology master's program to apply to PhD programs. Ultimately, I didn't get any interviews or acceptances for my first round of applications. I was completely relieved that it panned out that way because I was not ready, and  I knew I wanted to pursue a research project coordinator position before my doctoral studies. Now that I am wrapping up my second year as a project coordinator in an applied developmental psychology research lab, I am itching to go back to school, and I am taking this as a sign of positive juju flowing!

My research interests are broadly around the interplay between cognitive and socio-emotional development in young children across different cultures. Specifically, I am interested in how young children experience and understand their own and others' emotions.

The potential schools that seem like a good fit for my research interests are:

• New York University
• Penn State University
• University of Denver
• Cornell University
• UC Berkeley
• University of Virginia
• University of Minnesota
• Georgetown University

As of right now, I am planning to get an early start on my application to make sure I give myself ample time to revise and get feedback. I am also planning to retake the GRE in the coming months.

Now that I put this out in the universe, this is my first step to manifesting this dream into reality! Looking forward to support one another to get where we want to be!

Cheers!

[s1985]

Hey, thanks for starting the thread! This is also my second time applying for PhD programs. I applied to a couple of schools last year but wasn't as prepared as I needed to be. I graduated from my undergraduate degree (UK) in December and I am currently working as a research assistant on a few different projects to gain some additional experience before applying again for 2020 entry. 

My area of interest is language and cognitive development in early childhood, especially the development of word-learning heuristics and bilingualism. I am still deciding on my full list of universities to apply to, but here are the schools that I am currently interested in: 

• Stanford University
• Cornell University
• UC Berkeley 
• Yale University
• Boston University
• University of Oxford 
• University of Edinburgh 

I feel like a lot of these are definitely long-shots so I need to add some more realistic options as well! 

[ResilientDreams]

4 hours ago, s1147 said:

Hey, thanks for starting the thread! This is also my second time applying for PhD programs. I applied to a couple of schools last year but wasn't as prepared as I needed to be. I graduated from my undergraduate degree (UK) in December and I am currently working as a research assistant on a few different projects to gain some additional experience before applying again for 2020 entry. 

My area of interest is language and cognitive development in early childhood, especially the development of word-learning heuristics and bilingualism. I am still deciding on my full list of universities to apply to, but here are the schools that I am currently interested in: 

• Stanford University
• Cornell University
• UC Berkeley 
• Yale University
• Boston University
• University of Oxford 
• University of Edinburgh 

I feel like a lot of these are definitely long-shots so I need to add some more realistic options as well! 

If you have questions about Cornell let me know!

[goldenxpenguins]

Hi everyone!

 

I hope that you are all doing well! I have been lurking on GradCafe for about a year now and finally decided to make a profile a few weeks ago. I am applying to mostly Developmental Psychology PhD programs and maybe one Communications PhD program. This is my first time applying as I took a gap year (technically 2?) after I graduated in September 2018 to get more research experience. I am not really sure if I am a competitive applicant, but I just thought why not try my luck and see what happens! 

 

My research interests are mainly: gender and identity development across the lifespan (i.e., childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood); changes to self-esteem and emotion regulation throughout adolescence; how mass media influences children and young people (e.g., how it affects their self-esteem, body image, what it teaches them about gender norms, etc.). I am also interested in developmental pathways of mood, anxiety, eating, and substance use disorders, but I'm not sure if I want to do that type of work for my whole PhD, if I was to get accepted somewhere.

 

The schools that I currently have on my list are:

• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Michigan (either for Developmental Psych or Communication Studies, still deciding)
• Cornell University
• Tufts University
• UC-Davis
• UC-Riverside
• UC-Santa Cruz
• UCLA
• University of Pennsylvania
• Northwestern University
• Penn State University
• Georgetown University

 

This list will most likely change depending on which professors are taking students and whether I decide to add/remove any. I am also applying to four post-bacc programs as a back-up plan in case this cycle doesn't work out. Additionally, I am looking for fellowships to apply for and so far, only the NSF GRFP is on my list. I am taking the summer to study for the GRE, read POIs recent journal articles/email them to find out who is taking students for next year, and draft my application materials. I already know that my anxiety is going to be through the roof during this whole process, so it's nice to have this community where we can all freak out together ?.

[justacigar]

On 6/8/2019 at 3:27 PM, s1147 said:

Hey, thanks for starting the thread! This is also my second time applying for PhD programs. I applied to a couple of schools last year but wasn't as prepared as I needed to be. I graduated from my undergraduate degree (UK) in December and I am currently working as a research assistant on a few different projects to gain some additional experience before applying again for 2020 entry. 

My area of interest is language and cognitive development in early childhood, especially the development of word-learning heuristics and bilingualism. I am still deciding on my full list of universities to apply to, but here are the schools that I am currently interested in: 

• Stanford University
• Cornell University
• UC Berkeley 
• Yale University
• Boston University
• University of Oxford 
• University of Edinburgh 

I feel like a lot of these are definitely long-shots so I need to add some more realistic options as well! 

That is an impressive list! Never hurts to be ambitious, especially if the programs are a good fit for you research-wise. Best of luck to you! 

[justacigar]

On 6/9/2019 at 4:39 PM, goldenxpenguins said:

Hi everyone!

 

I hope that you are all doing well! I have been lurking on GradCafe for about a year now and finally decided to make a profile a few weeks ago. I am applying to mostly Developmental Psychology PhD programs and maybe one Communications PhD program. This is my first time applying as I took a gap year (technically 2?) after I graduated in September 2018 to get more research experience. I am not really sure if I am a competitive applicant, but I just thought why not try my luck and see what happens! 

 

My research interests are mainly: gender and identity development across the lifespan (i.e., childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood); changes to self-esteem and emotion regulation throughout adolescence; how mass media influences children and young people (e.g., how it affects their self-esteem, body image, what it teaches them about gender norms, etc.). I am also interested in developmental pathways of mood, anxiety, eating, and substance use disorders, but I'm not sure if I want to do that type of work for my whole PhD, if I was to get accepted somewhere.

 

The schools that I currently have on my list are:

• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Michigan (either for Developmental Psych or Communication Studies, still deciding)
• Cornell University
• Tufts University
• UC-Davis
• UC-Riverside
• UC-Santa Cruz
• UCLA
• University of Pennsylvania
• Northwestern University
• Penn State University
• Georgetown University

 

This list will most likely change depending on which professors are taking students and whether I decide to add/remove any. I am also applying to four post-bacc programs as a back-up plan in case this cycle doesn't work out. Additionally, I am looking for fellowships to apply for and so far, only the NSF GRFP is on my list. I am taking the summer to study for the GRE, read POIs recent journal articles/email them to find out who is taking students for next year, and draft my application materials. I already know that my anxiety is going to be through the roof during this whole process, so it's nice to have this community where we can all freak out together ?.

Nice, it seems like you have back-up options which is my favorite way to plan, lol. We have some similar school interests! I love GC because it helps me realize I'm not the only one who is freaking out!

[gillis_55]

On 6/8/2019 at 6:27 PM, s1147 said:

My area of interest is language and cognitive development in early childhood, especially the development of word-learning heuristics and bilingualism. I am still deciding on my full list of universities to apply to, but here are the schools that I am currently interested in: 

Would you be interested in living in Canada? English-speaking Quebec universities like McGill and Concordia both have many professors investigating English/French bilingualism. Both are great schools! I will say, you should also add a few less competitive schools to your list as a backup - hopefully you do get accepted into your dream program, but it never hurts to have a plan b. 

Edited June 20, 2019 by gillis_55

[goldenxpenguins]

On ‎6‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 12:30 AM, justacigar said:

Nice, it seems like you have back-up options which is my favorite way to plan, lol. We have some similar school interests! I love GC because it helps me realize I'm not the only one who is freaking out!

For a process as unpredictable as this one, back-up options are needed lol. 

[PsycUndergrad]

On 6/20/2019 at 2:57 PM, gillis_55 said:

Would you be interested in living in Canada? English-speaking Quebec universities like McGill and Concordia both have many professors investigating English/French bilingualism. Both are great schools! I will say, you should also add a few less competitive schools to your list as a backup - hopefully you do get accepted into your dream program, but it never hurts to have a plan b. 

Just wanted to second this! Montreal is probably one of the best places in the world to study bilingualism because it’s so integrated into everyday life and most children grow up bilingual (or multilingual, in many cases). 

[brighteyes]

I had a major wrench thrown into my grad school experience, so it is looking like I'm going to have to apply to a few schools for Fall 2020. This year, I was accepted into a program, but I just found out that my advisor got a job at another school, so I am headed into my first year advisor-less. There's no longer a good fit for me at the school, so I'm going to tough it out for this first year, but apply to a few others as a backup plan. My would-have-been advisor has offered to write me a letter explaining the situation so that it doesn't just look like I'm dropping out of a PhD program, so that should help.

What are everyone's thoughts on applying to the same schools a second time? I got rejected from my #1 last year, but I was hopeful to apply again now that I finished my BA and raised my undergrad GPA by .10, plus I'll have another year of research experience and an advanced stats class, and several poster presentations under my belt. I hope that would be enough to help me get in this year.

I just hate the idea of having to go through the application process again. ?

Edited June 30, 2019 by brighteyes

[justacigar]

On 6/29/2019 at 5:46 PM, brighteyes said:

I had a major wrench thrown into my grad school experience, so it is looking like I'm going to have to apply to a few schools for Fall 2020. This year, I was accepted into a program, but I just found out that my advisor got a job at another school, so I am headed into my first year advisor-less. There's no longer a good fit for me at the school, so I'm going to tough it out for this first year, but apply to a few others as a backup plan. My would-have-been advisor has offered to write me a letter explaining the situation so that it doesn't just look like I'm dropping out of a PhD program, so that should help.

What are everyone's thoughts on applying to the same schools a second time? I got rejected from my #1 last year, but I was hopeful to apply again now that I finished my BA and raised my undergrad GPA by .10, plus I'll have another year of research experience and an advanced stats class, and several poster presentations under my belt. I hope that would be enough to help me get in this year.

I just hate the idea of having to go through the application process again. ?

Yikes, that sounds terrible! I'm sorry that happened to you. I understand the need for the profs to go where they need to/want to be, but I can't believe they would accept you as a student and then leave. Is there any chance you could go to the school the advisor works at now (next year)?

As far applying to the same schools, I am planning on applying to a few of the same schools as last year, hopefully with a better applicant "package" this time around. I think it shows persistence! Especially if you have improved in multiple areas. To me, that signals we've spent the year bettering ourselves professionally!

[livebythewater]

Hi everyone,

After lurking for the past year, I decided to join Grad Cafe. I am looking to apply to developmental psychology PhD programs for the Fall 2020 cycle if I am a competitive candidate. I went to a state college and received two associates degrees before transferring to a public Florida university in Fall 2018 where I have majored in psychology for my bachelors. Due to transferring, it feels as if my time in the psychology program has been accelerated. Thankfully, I was invited to join a developmental psychology lab this past year as a research assistant, and I have been gaining experience in that regard. Some of my major interests are emerging adulthood and moral development. I have a 3.9 GPA and I am going to take the GREs in a few weeks after a summer full of studying. 

I am also open to applying to masters programs in developmental, but those programs seem few and far between. Most psychology masters seem to be in general psychology.

Some programs I am looking at are:

University of Oregon (both PhD, Developmental, and Masters, Developmental)
Portland State University (Masters, Applied Developmental Pyschology)
University of Pittsburgh (Developmental, PhD)
Oregon State University (Masters in Human Development and Family Studies)
North Carolina State University (Lifespan Development PhD) (This one has the most labs so far that pique my interest)
Florida International University (Developmental (Lifespan) PhD)

If anyone has any suggestions of programs, wake up calls about competitiveness, or just want to say hi, I am all ears. 

Thank you and I wish you the best during the application season!

[t_ruth]

I see a few of you have interest in things that overlap with Educational Psychology or Learning Sciences. You may want to also consider those programs as you identify PIs. If you think you may be at the border of these fields and Dev Psych, I'm happy to help you identify good Ed Psych or LS faculty in your area of interest--go ahead and PM me

Good luck on your apps!

[Dr. S]

I am the Director of the PhD program in Lifespan Developmental Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Please consider our program! Some information about it is provided below, but you can also email me at dstavrin@uab.edu if you have specific questions. 

 

 

We are seeking highly motivated doctoral students who will contribute to our mission of discovery, knowledge dissemination, education, creativity, and application of groundbreaking solutions in Lifespan Developmental Psychology. Our department has 28 full-time faculty who train students to discover basic principles of psychological development and to apply them in interdisciplinary, applied contexts. Some of our research foci include developmental disabilities, child and adolescent health, successful aging, applied cognition, and injury prevention. 

 

Key aspects of the program:

 

·      We are student-centered, research-focused, and collaborative. Our graduate students work directly with faculty on cutting-edge research and have many opportunities for training in a variety of research, teaching, and applied assistantships.

·      We offer competitive funding packages.  All students receive 5-year funded research or teaching assistantships ($26,000 stipend), plus full tuition support and health insurance.

·      We prepare students for careers in developmental psychology. Our weekly Lifespan Developmental seminars promote professional development and strategic career planning.

·      For those interested in teaching at a college level, a certificate is available through the UAB NSF-funded Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL).

·      For those interested in research careers, there are multiple training programs at UAB to gain specialized expertise.

·      Students can apply for departmental travel awards to present research at national and international conferences.

 

For the 2nd consecutive year, UAB has ranked as the #1 young U.S. University in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.  UAB houses the third largest academic medical center in the country leading to a multitude of research opportunities and collaborations spanning schools, colleges and interdisciplinary research centers. UAB ranks 20th in the nation for obtaining NIH funding (>$300 million), and 31st in total federal research funding (15th among public institutions).  

 

Our Psychology department has a long history of being nationally ranked by the National Science Foundation in federally funded Research & Development expenditures, and is home to several of UAB’s research centers, established research programs, laboratories, and teaching and training sites.

 

For more information about a PhD in Lifespan Developmental Psychology please visit: https://www.uab.edu/cas/psychology/graduate/lifespan-developmental

 

The deadline for applications is November 30. Applications are available at http://www.uab.edu/graduate.  Applicants are strongly encouraged to identify one or more faculty members with whom they share research interests.

 

 

About Birmingham, Alabama:

Birmingham is a fun place to live, offering a wide range of entertainment options, natural beauty, and an open-minded community that welcomes all.

 

·         People in the tech world are comparing the future of Birmingham to Silicon Valley and Austin Texas.

 

·         Birmingham continues to climb the list as one of the best cities for foodies, ranking 24th in the country most recently by Zagat.

 

·         Birmingham was named one of the top 10 mid-sized American cities of the future by international investors.

 

·         Birmingham has more green space per capita than any other mid-sized city in the nation.

[goldenxpenguins]

How is everyone here doing? 

[justacigar]

On 9/2/2019 at 7:56 AM, goldenxpenguins said:

How is everyone here doing? 

I was just thinking this thread needed to be revived! 

I am still going back and forth between clinical and developmental programs and am having a tough time choosing. I'm drawn mostly to developmental psychopathology programs and schools that have both a clinical and developmental program for collaboration between disciplines. I'm leaning towards applying to mostly clinical with developmental psychopathology focus, and maybe a few developmental programs. Its so hard to narrow it down!

How are you doing? How is the process going? 

[goldenxpenguins]

21 minutes ago, justacigar said:

I was just thinking this thread needed to be revived! 

I am still going back and forth between clinical and developmental programs and am having a tough time choosing. I'm drawn mostly to developmental psychopathology programs and schools that have both a clinical and developmental program for collaboration between disciplines. I'm leaning towards applying to mostly clinical with developmental psychopathology focus, and maybe a few developmental programs. Its so hard to narrow it down!

How are you doing? How is the process going? 

I think you should definitely apply to both clinical and developmental programs that align with your interests and see what happens! As for me, I'm tired lol. I knew that the application process would be overwhelming, but there is just so much to do! I took two schools off my list (U-Penn and Tufts), asked for letters of recommendation, took the GRE (need to retake it), and I have almost all of my application materials drafted. I am also in the process of emailing professors to find out who is taking students and I am on draft number 500 (at this point) of my NSF GRFP essays, so there's that! 

[cupidcello]

O, hai.

I just wanted to say that I'm applying to dev. psych programs as well.  Nervous, but here I am.  I wanted to apply last year, but I realized I wasn't ready yet.  Now, I am!

Schools I'm applying to: Purdue, FIU, Cornell

I'm interested in language development.

My GRE scores are really quite awful, but my research experiences are up there.  Sadly, all three programs want my GRE scores; they aren't optional.

Maybe I'll get in somewhere.  I guess we'll see.

Hopefully, everyone's doing alright with their applications thus far?

-CC

[PsychPhdBound]

On 6/9/2019 at 4:39 PM, goldenxpenguins said:

Hi everyone!

 

I hope that you are all doing well! I have been lurking on GradCafe for about a year now and finally decided to make a profile a few weeks ago. I am applying to mostly Developmental Psychology PhD programs and maybe one Communications PhD program. This is my first time applying as I took a gap year (technically 2?) after I graduated in September 2018 to get more research experience. I am not really sure if I am a competitive applicant, but I just thought why not try my luck and see what happens! 

 

My research interests are mainly: gender and identity development across the lifespan (i.e., childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood); changes to self-esteem and emotion regulation throughout adolescence; how mass media influences children and young people (e.g., how it affects their self-esteem, body image, what it teaches them about gender norms, etc.). I am also interested in developmental pathways of mood, anxiety, eating, and substance use disorders, but I'm not sure if I want to do that type of work for my whole PhD, if I was to get accepted somewhere.

 

The schools that I currently have on my list are:

• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Michigan (either for Developmental Psych or Communication Studies, still deciding)
• Cornell University
• Tufts University
• UC-Davis
• UC-Riverside
• UC-Santa Cruz
• UCLA
• University of Pennsylvania
• Northwestern University
• Penn State University
• Georgetown University

 

This list will most likely change depending on which professors are taking students and whether I decide to add/remove any. I am also applying to four post-bacc programs as a back-up plan in case this cycle doesn't work out. Additionally, I am looking for fellowships to apply for and so far, only the NSF GRFP is on my list. I am taking the summer to study for the GRE, read POIs recent journal articles/email them to find out who is taking students for next year, and draft my application materials. I already know that my anxiety is going to be through the roof during this whole process, so it's nice to have this community where we can all freak out together ?.

I'm also interested in gender and identity development and the influence of sociocultural factors (e.g., media, peers, family), specifically using an intersectional framework. UC Santa Cruz and Michigan are also on my list, but none of the others. I have also been considering some Communication programs, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to give up having my "home" in Psych. Are you at all concerned about that? Are any of the other programs Comm?

[goldenxpenguins]

39 minutes ago, PsychPhdBound said:

I'm also interested in gender and identity development and the influence of sociocultural factors (e.g., media, peers, family), specifically using an intersectional framework. UC Santa Cruz and Michigan are also on my list, but none of the others. I have also been considering some Communication programs, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to give up having my "home" in Psych. Are you at all concerned about that? Are any of the other programs Comm?

Hi! All of the programs on my list (excluding UPenn and Tufts because I took them off) are either Developmental Psych or Human Development, except one. The only Comm program is at UMich, since I am planning on applying to both that program and their Developmental Psych program (depending on who is taking students). I also want to apply to both because I've been thinking about pursuing a joint-PhD in both fields. I totally understand what you mean about not wanting to give up your "home" in Psych, that's why I looked for professors who are affiliated with the Psychology department, but also do media research.  

[t_ruth]

3 hours ago, PsychPhdBound said:

I'm also interested in gender and identity development and the influence of sociocultural factors (e.g., media, peers, family), specifically using an intersectional framework. UC Santa Cruz and Michigan are also on my list, but none of the others. I have also been considering some Communication programs, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to give up having my "home" in Psych. Are you at all concerned about that? Are any of the other programs Comm?

I'll put in another plug for considering Ed Psych, Human Dev, Learning Sciences programs--lots of work in this area studying development and media!

[amazingbutternutsquash]

1 hour ago, t_ruth said:

I'll put in another plug for considering Ed Psych, Human Dev, Learning Sciences programs--lots of work in this area studying development and media!

I second this! Personally, I've found that the big differences between these fields aren't so much in the topic areas studied (especially between human development and developmental psych) but in how the research is conducted (e.g., experiments vs observational studies), how interdisciplinary the work is, and the way they consider personal context/what that context is. 

But all of that still depends on the faculty member and the department in question. 

[emotional]

Happy to see activity on this thread!

These past couple of months have been a whirlwind. Particularly, the last 6 weeks have been nuts, where I've been studying for the GRE and preparing that beastly NSF fellowship application. @goldenxpenguins I completely empathize, I felt like I was consistently revising my statements up until the deadline.... I am so relieved it's sent. Now, the occasional pestering of my LOR writers to be sure to upload their letters. Extremely excited to get this wrapped up this week.

I wanted to get advice from people in this thread around the GRE. I just took the GRE today after prepping for 2 months, and I scored a total of 312: 153 (V) & 159 (Q). Only one school (UW-Madison, which is also my top choice) on my list gave minimum requirements for the GRE, which was a combined score of 310, so I am extremely happy about that. The other programs on my list did not list minimum requirements, but did share their admitted cohort GRE averages (ranges from 314 to 317). Is it worth it to prepare to take the test one more time in an attempt to improve my scores for a couple of points? I think the saving grace about my current scores is that both the verbal and quant are above the 50th percentile (thank goodness). Honestly... I am so fed up with this wretched test, and I am not sure if it's worth it to crazily study for another 3 weeks to increase my scores for a couple of points... Thoughts?

Edited October 26, 2019 by emotional