Finding gap year opportunities in the time of COVID-19

[Novina]

Hello! I'm a recent psychology graduate (Hon. B.A. Psych, minors in computer science and philosophy; 3.91 GPA, 90%+ percentile GRE scores; stats for reference) who applied to a handful of PhD programs this past year without luck. Other than a lack of research experience and publications, I have a pretty good grasp of psychology and what I want to research, so now I'm looking for ways to gain more research experience during my gap year. The only problem is that, by the time I realized that interview invites were all out and that I was not invited, COVID-19 had already reached its nasty little hands into my country and RA positions/internships were being pulled left and right. The only internship I landed got pulled. Potential MA funding got pulled. It's been a nightmare manifest.  I've been trying to work on building my coding expertise (I'm fluent in Python and R) and running simple computational research projects, as well as building soft but useful skills like website design, but I still feel like I'm not *really* doing anything. 

My country has botched the COVID-19 response so the job market is shot too, and I'm terrified of being proverbially stuck on the couch for a year until next application season. For those of you in the same boat, or who came out of your B.A. suddenly deprived of a game plan, is there anything you found helpful? Any resources that you could recommend to me, and other individuals in this position? 

Edited June 9, 2020 by Novina

[Psychological Yam]

What type of PhD programs did you apply to? Cognitive, developmental, IO, social?

[jenny67]

Hey,

I would try the following:
1. Reach out to your letter writers and ask them for advice in terms of research and projects- I assume these people support you so they may offer you resources and maybe even you can volunteer some of your time to help them on their research to add to your CV meanwhile

2. use this downtime to reconsider the programs you applied to (make sure they are a fit with where you want to take your research rather than applying to top-ranked schools). Also, make three different categories of "reach programs"- programs that are hard to get into, "mid-tier"- programs that you are more likely to get into; the "bottom tier" is the easy schools you are sure get an offer from. With this you also have to look at all the different faculty and see if the program has faculty that fit the way you want to head with your research, which I'm sure you're already aware of (wanted to throw that in for those who weren't aware). I recommend 3-4 for reach programs, 5-6 mid-tier, and maybe 4 low tier

3. work on your writing sample to refine it and make it better for the next round of apps

4. work on your statement of purpose and personal statement for the next round of application- find a way to discuss/ incorporate how you had a gap year and how COVID-19 impacted your ability to conduct research, but you did "a, b, and c" in replacement which shows your commitment

5. you should reach out to poteintal faculty with a BRIEF email to let them know you're intrested in working with them and let them know you're considering applying during the fall to get your food in the door. Gives you the chance to get your name out there, see if they are responsive, and get a feel for the way things have been impacted since COVID. They might say they aren't taking people this year b.c a lot of depts took financial hits, or they might be taking two extra people because they found funding. 

Reach out if you want to talk things out- hope this was helpful! Sorry if it wasn't.

[Suraj_S]

Have you presented at any psych conferences?

[t_ruth]

Not sure if you are still looking for opportunities, but depending on your area of research, I might have some leads for you. You can message me.