developmental psych phd programs

[babyology]

Hi,

I'm applying now for phd programs in developmental psychology, and I was just wondering if any of you are in the same boat. I'm trying to put together my short list of schools still, so if any of you have suggestions, I would love to hear them! I'm interested in development of theory of mind, parenting, emotion, and the intersection of those three subjects (ie the effect of parenting styles on theory of mind and emotional development). Honestly though, my interests extend beyond that to most social and cognitive development topics; I just think babies are fascinating! Right now, I'm most interested by some of the west coast schools: uw-seattle (repacholi, sommerville, meltzoff) and uc - berkeley (gopnik, etc) are my favorites at the moment. A couple of the other UC schools look intriguing (Davis, especially), but I've heard there's just no funding to be had in the UC system at the moment, even for top applicants. One of my friends got an offer for psych there last spring and they offered her a stipend of $17k (in Berkeley!!) for the first year with no guaranteed funding after that. She said it seemed like everyone in the department had outside funding.. The only reason berekely is still on my list is because Alison Gopnik seems so awesome. Also, I just took the GRE and did much better than I was thinking I would (790 Quant, 760 Verbal), so I'm feeling a little better about my chances...

I'd love hear what you guys think!

Thanks.

[tauren]

Hi,

I'm applying now for phd programs in developmental psychology, and I was just wondering if any of you are in the same boat. I'm trying to put together my short list of schools still, so if any of you have suggestions, I would love to hear them! I'm interested in development of theory of mind, parenting, emotion, and the intersection of those three subjects (ie the effect of parenting styles on theory of mind and emotional development). Honestly though, my interests extend beyond that to most social and cognitive development topics; I just think babies are fascinating! Right now, I'm most interested by some of the west coast schools: uw-seattle (repacholi, sommerville, meltzoff) and uc - berkeley (gopnik, etc) are my favorites at the moment. A couple of the other UC schools look intriguing (Davis, especially), but I've heard there's just no funding to be had in the UC system at the moment, even for top applicants. One of my friends got an offer for psych there last spring and they offered her a stipend of $17k (in Berkeley!!) for the first year with no guaranteed funding after that. She said it seemed like everyone in the department had outside funding.. The only reason berekely is still on my list is because Alison Gopnik seems so awesome. Also, I just took the GRE and did much better than I was thinking I would (790 Quant, 760 Verbal), so I'm feeling a little better about my chances...

I'd love hear what you guys think!

Thanks.

I am currently a first year in a life-span developmental psychology program. I would be willing to answer any of your questions or anyone else who wanders into this thread, as best as I can.

[eucalyptus]

Hi,

I'm applying now for phd programs in developmental psychology, and I was just wondering if any of you are in the same boat. I'm trying to put together my short list of schools still, so if any of you have suggestions, I would love to hear them! I'm interested in development of theory of mind, parenting, emotion, and the intersection of those three subjects (ie the effect of parenting styles on theory of mind and emotional development). Honestly though, my interests extend beyond that to most social and cognitive development topics; I just think babies are fascinating! Right now, I'm most interested by some of the west coast schools: uw-seattle (repacholi, sommerville, meltzoff) and uc - berkeley (gopnik, etc) are my favorites at the moment. A couple of the other UC schools look intriguing (Davis, especially), but I've heard there's just no funding to be had in the UC system at the moment, even for top applicants. One of my friends got an offer for psych there last spring and they offered her a stipend of $17k (in Berkeley!!) for the first year with no guaranteed funding after that. She said it seemed like everyone in the department had outside funding.. The only reason berekely is still on my list is because Alison Gopnik seems so awesome. Also, I just took the GRE and did much better than I was thinking I would (790 Quant, 760 Verbal), so I'm feeling a little better about my chances...

I'd love hear what you guys think!

Thanks.

Hey there, I'm in my first year of a developmental psych PhD program and I might have some suggestions for your school shortlist. I was considering focusing on ToM when I started putting together my applications last year, although I ended up getting more excited about another idea. My interests in ToM are definitely more languagey and evoluation-based than yours, so I don't know anything at all about emotion and parenting... UW was on my radar as well, and I've heard that Jessica Sommerville is a great person to work with, although their stipend is less than generous if I remember right. I didn't apply to any UCs because I'm not American, and they had literally no funding for non-American students last year (although Alison Gopnik was really nice while telling me this when I emailed her!). If you're willing to explore the UCs though, you might want to check out Nameera Akhtar at UCSC. Other people you might find interesting are Amanda Woodward at Maryland, Henry Wellman at U Michigan, some combination of people at Yale (Karen Wynn, Kristina Olson, Laurie Santos if you're interested in animals too), or if you're into Canadian schools maybe Mark Sabbagh and Valerie Kuhlmeier at Queen's. Not sure if that's helpful at all, but good luck with your applications!!

[TheDude]

Developmental applicant here.

I have done a quite a bit of work with ToM and language specifically. Out of the 6 schools on my list 4 are in that domain. I was considering a UC school but I ruled it out due to potential moving costs and a lack of funding.

My big question is a stat thing. I have been told it would be in my interest to apply to some bigger name schools, but I'm worried with my stats that i might be a waste of money. So if you can size me up that would be great!

GPA: 3.6 Undergrad (3.8 something the last 2 years), Psych GPA: 3.8

Research: Manuscript under review as co-author. Submitted to a journal that was a reach but feasible. Hopefully if we get a rejection we can shop it to a journal a little bit more domain specific before I apply. It's a solid piece of work though and will certainly get picked up. It just took longer to get it done than I had anticipated.

Refereed Conferences: 3 as first author on poster (submitted as second author on a poster and colloquium at SRCD...we'll get picked up for one of those if not both)

Non-Refereed Conferences and or talks: 2

Semesters involved: 7 (managed lab, ran my own project, ran subjects, managed databases, analyzed data in SPSS, etc)

Fellowship for original project.

A couple academic awards as runner up for academic awards...but that might not matter?

LoRs: Solid!

Statement of Purpose: Fantastic according to those who looked at it.

GRE: I don't know yet. I'm not expecting to be in the 1400's. On a good day, based on practice tests, in the low 1300's. On a bad day with nerves mid to high 1200s.

Do you think I stand a shot applying to a school like Harvard, specifically the Harvard Graduate School of Education? I have my list of schools to 6 and need 2 more. I think I'll be competitive as an applicant, but I don't know what a "lock" school would be or what a reach school would be? I attended a lesser known state university, while I think I did a great job of making my eduction happen I know names matter to a degree.

Thanks.

I've had mostly positive correspondences with schools I emailed in the summer.... a few really good ones. had a couple pre application interviews that have me REALLY excited, but I'm trying to be tempered!

Edited October 9, 2010 by musicforfun

[db2290]

Developmental applicant here.

I have done a quite a bit of work with ToM and language specifically. Out of the 6 schools on my list 4 are in that domain. I was considering a UC school but I ruled it out due to potential moving costs and a lack of funding.

My big question is a stat thing. I have been told it would be in my interest to apply to some bigger name schools, but I'm worried with my stats that i might be a waste of money. So if you can size me up that would be great!

GPA: 3.6 Undergrad (3.8 something the last 2 years), Psych GPA: 3.8

Research: Manuscript under review as co-author. Submitted to a journal that was a reach but feasible. Hopefully if we get a rejection we can shop it to a journal a little bit more domain specific before I apply. It's a solid piece of work though and will certainly get picked up. It just took longer to get it done than I had anticipated.

Refereed Conferences: 3 as first author on poster (submitted as second author on a poster and colloquium at SRCD...we'll get picked up for one of those if not both)

Non-Refereed Conferences and or talks: 2

Semesters involved: 7 (managed lab, ran my own project, ran subjects, managed databases, analyzed data in SPSS, etc)

Fellowship for original project.

A couple academic awards as runner up for academic awards...but that might not matter?

LoRs: Solid!

Statement of Purpose: Fantastic according to those who looked at it.

GRE: I don't know yet. I'm not expecting to be in the 1400's. On a good day, based on practice tests, in the low 1300's. On a bad day with nerves mid to high 1200s.

Do you think I stand a shot applying to a school like Harvard, specifically the Harvard Graduate School of Education? I have my list of schools to 6 and need 2 more. I think I'll be competitive as an applicant, but I don't know what a "lock" school would be or what a reach school would be? I attended a lesser known state university, while I think I did a great job of making my eduction happen I know names matter to a degree.

Thanks.

I've had mostly positive correspondences with schools I emailed in the summer.... a few really good ones. had a couple pre application interviews that have me REALLY excited, but I'm trying to be tempered!

The HGSE course is in an education department, so I would imagine most applicants would have prior experience in educational research/teaching or some related field. The Harvard psych department might be better suited for your research interests perhaps?

[db2290]

Developmental applicant here.

I have done a quite a bit of work with ToM and language specifically. Out of the 6 schools on my list 4 are in that domain. I was considering a UC school but I ruled it out due to potential moving costs and a lack of funding.

My big question is a stat thing. I have been told it would be in my interest to apply to some bigger name schools, but I'm worried with my stats that i might be a waste of money. So if you can size me up that would be great!

GPA: 3.6 Undergrad (3.8 something the last 2 years), Psych GPA: 3.8

Research: Manuscript under review as co-author. Submitted to a journal that was a reach but feasible. Hopefully if we get a rejection we can shop it to a journal a little bit more domain specific before I apply. It's a solid piece of work though and will certainly get picked up. It just took longer to get it done than I had anticipated.

Refereed Conferences: 3 as first author on poster (submitted as second author on a poster and colloquium at SRCD...we'll get picked up for one of those if not both)

Non-Refereed Conferences and or talks: 2

Semesters involved: 7 (managed lab, ran my own project, ran subjects, managed databases, analyzed data in SPSS, etc)

Fellowship for original project.

A couple academic awards as runner up for academic awards...but that might not matter?

LoRs: Solid!

Statement of Purpose: Fantastic according to those who looked at it.

GRE: I don't know yet. I'm not expecting to be in the 1400's. On a good day, based on practice tests, in the low 1300's. On a bad day with nerves mid to high 1200s.

Do you think I stand a shot applying to a school like Harvard, specifically the Harvard Graduate School of Education? I have my list of schools to 6 and need 2 more. I think I'll be competitive as an applicant, but I don't know what a "lock" school would be or what a reach school would be? I attended a lesser known state university, while I think I did a great job of making my eduction happen I know names matter to a degree.

Thanks.

I've had mostly positive correspondences with schools I emailed in the summer.... a few really good ones. had a couple pre application interviews that have me REALLY excited, but I'm trying to be tempered!

The HGSE course is in an education department, so I would imagine most applicants would have prior experience in educational research/teaching or some related field. The Harvard psych department might be better suited for your research interests perhaps?

[TheDude]

Nope. The Human Development faction of the HGSE is doing some REALLY COOL research that I want to get into. I'm not big of Ed.D. vs. Ph.D, but it is a serious research institution. A lot of applicants do have teaching experience but the department of Human Development has a lot of really great Developmentalists (i.E., Howard Gardner, Catherine Snowe). A quick search of prior graduate students does reveal a few who came right from undergrad w/ heavy involvement in research. I wonder if there is anyone lurking on here that has some inside info on this?

Anyways back to you: Check out UC Santa Cruz

Edited October 12, 2010 by musicforfun

[babyology]

GRE: I don't know yet. I'm not expecting to be in the 1400's. On a good day, based on practice tests, in the low 1300's. On a bad day with nerves mid to high 1200s.

Do you think I stand a shot applying to a school like Harvard, specifically the Harvard Graduate School of Education? I have my list of schools to 6 and need 2 more. I think I'll be competitive as an applicant, but I don't know what a "lock" school would be or what a reach school would be? I attended a lesser known state university, while I think I did a great job of making my eduction happen I know names matter to a degree.

Thanks.

I've had mostly positive correspondences with schools I emailed in the summer.... a few really good ones. had a couple pre application interviews that have me REALLY excited, but I'm trying to be tempered!

I have spoken to the PI at the lab I work at now (she's a pretty big name in language acquisition research), and she said that when she reviews applicants of students applying to work with her, she looks for people that work hard, rather than people who can slack and still look smart anyway. So she said she actually takes a high GRE score combined with only so-so course work/experience as a red flag - she would much rather have someone with an OK GRE score and lots of good experience and high GPA (showing that they worked hard in the their classes). She says that in her experience, those people make much better grad students. So I would say that your application could be a very competitive one, even if you don't break 1400 on the GRE! And emailing profs is a great thing to do too - if they have had a chance to get to know you a bit, I think things like a GRE score matter less.

Also, just for the record, I was scoring consistently below 1400 on my practice tests, and often below 1300. I ended up getting a 1550 on the actual test. So don't get too down on yourself.

[babyology]

Hey there, I'm in my first year of a developmental psych PhD program and I might have some suggestions for your school shortlist. I was considering focusing on ToM when I started putting together my applications last year, although I ended up getting more excited about another idea. My interests in ToM are definitely more languagey and evoluation-based than yours, so I don't know anything at all about emotion and parenting... UW was on my radar as well, and I've heard that Jessica Sommerville is a great person to work with, although their stipend is less than generous if I remember right. I didn't apply to any UCs because I'm not American, and they had literally no funding for non-American students last year (although Alison Gopnik was really nice while telling me this when I emailed her!). If you're willing to explore the UCs though, you might want to check out Nameera Akhtar at UCSC. Other people you might find interesting are Amanda Woodward at Maryland, Henry Wellman at U Michigan, some combination of people at Yale (Karen Wynn, Kristina Olson, Laurie Santos if you're interested in animals too), or if you're into Canadian schools maybe Mark Sabbagh and Valerie Kuhlmeier at Queen's. Not sure if that's helpful at all, but good luck with your applications!!

Thanks for your response! It was really very helpful. Prof Akhtar looks awesome - thanks for recommending her! And so does Amanda Woodward! I feel like I heard her give a talk at a conference last year, but I can't quite remember. I'll have to go back and look at my notes.

My interests have been shifting a bit too, as I keep reading about more and more research as I'm preparing to apply. My background is in language (BS in Linguistics, I work in a language acquisition lab), and I'm getting more and more excited about finding a way to pursue that further as well. I'm afraid I'm still a bit scattered. I really need to get this stuff ironed out soon, if I'm applying for next fall!

I've also been looking at a couple people at Stanford: Michael Frank and Carol Dweck might be a pretty cool co-mentor pair. I would love to work with Anne Frenald (I think her research is really interesting), but I've heard from several people that have spent time in her lab that she's a little, um, hard to work with.

I'm also considering Linda Smith at Indiana, and maybe some people at Harvard. Not really sure.

[TheDude]

If you know that psycholinguistics is your bag than you might want to look at Brown. In fact, I'd definitely look at the school as the whole psych department has reoriented in that direction.

[babyology]

If you know that psycholinguistics is your bag than you might want to look at Brown. In fact, I'd definitely look at the school as the whole psych department has reoriented in that direction.

Thanks for the tip! I did look at Brown a bit (there are definitely some cool researchers there!), but I heard the department is kind of a nightmare right now. They just merged the psych and linguistics depts (as you mentioned in your post), and apparently there's a fair amount of infighting as a result. I think the two departments used to be one thing a while ago and ended up splitting off because of some pretty serious differences of opinion, and now they're reluctantly back together again... Who knows though? Maybe it would be a really good time to be a grad student there. Being in a department that was sort of in flux might mean more opportunities and flexibility. That would probably be the type of thing that would be really difficult to determine until you actually get a chance to visit the campus for interviews.

I haven't crossed it off my list.

Edited October 22, 2010 by mosessupposes

[eucalyptus]

Thanks for your response! It was really very helpful. Prof Akhtar looks awesome - thanks for recommending her! And so does Amanda Woodward! I feel like I heard her give a talk at a conference last year, but I can't quite remember. I'll have to go back and look at my notes.

My interests have been shifting a bit too, as I keep reading about more and more research as I'm preparing to apply. My background is in language (BS in Linguistics, I work in a language acquisition lab), and I'm getting more and more excited about finding a way to pursue that further as well. I'm afraid I'm still a bit scattered. I really need to get this stuff ironed out soon, if I'm applying for next fall!

I've also been looking at a couple people at Stanford: Michael Frank and Carol Dweck might be a pretty cool co-mentor pair. I would love to work with Anne Frenald (I think her research is really interesting), but I've heard from several people that have spent time in her lab that she's a little, um, hard to work with.

I'm also considering Linda Smith at Indiana, and maybe some people at Harvard. Not really sure.

If you have questions about Harvard or decide to apply, feel free to PM me (I'm there right now).

[cogscipixie]

Thanks for your response! It was really very helpful. Prof Akhtar looks awesome - thanks for recommending her! And so does Amanda Woodward! I feel like I heard her give a talk at a conference last year, but I can't quite remember. I'll have to go back and look at my notes.

My interests have been shifting a bit too, as I keep reading about more and more research as I'm preparing to apply. My background is in language (BS in Linguistics, I work in a language acquisition lab), and I'm getting more and more excited about finding a way to pursue that further as well. I'm afraid I'm still a bit scattered. I really need to get this stuff ironed out soon, if I'm applying for next fall!

I've also been looking at a couple people at Stanford: Michael Frank and Carol Dweck might be a pretty cool co-mentor pair. I would love to work with Anne Frenald (I think her research is really interesting), but I've heard from several people that have spent time in her lab that she's a little, um, hard to work with.

I'm also considering Linda Smith at Indiana, and maybe some people at Harvard. Not really sure.

Linda Smith at IU is really cool! Her research spans a lot of different areas into basic and more applied language research. I almost went to IU for cognitive science but was waitlisted and decided to go into more applied cognitive work. You would be a good match with her lab. Good luck!