Next step? Simply too late to apply?

[ajaxanon]

I am hoping to get some feedback on what my next step forward should be. Let me give some brief background info about where I'm at:

Intended graduate program:

- Cognitive Neuroscience (USA or Canadian schools).

Credentials:

- graduated this semester with a BA in psychology, summa cum laude (GPA 3.9) University of Texas at Arlington. GRE score is 1380 (770Q, 610V).

-Co-author of a manuscript submitted for review to the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology (waiting to hear if it was accepted)

- Awarded 'distinguished senior in psychology'

- Got a B on my honor's thesis (which in my opinion wasn't deserved, but such is life).

- have a fair amount of research experience having worked as an RA in a couple of labs.

- Don't really have a feel for the quality of my letters of recommendation.

Other info:

- Between 2003 and 2005 I studied in South Africa (where I grew up), and my grades, when evaluated in the US, were simply appalling. This is partly because of the different grading systems - in which an A in South Africa was 75% and generally rather difficult to obtain, and partly because I didn't really apply myself and got mediocre grades anyway.

Looking forward:

Given that it's already January 7th, what would be my best plan of action given that my primary goal is to get into a PhD program in Experimental Psychology?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

[Eigen]

Quick question:

Are you wanting to go into Cog Neuro, or Experimental Psych? The two aren't always the same program.

You're probably after most of the deadlines, but you might contact some of the schools you're most interested in and see if they'll accept late admissions... You never know!

After that, you're probably best off seeing if you can secure a research position for the next year and applying next season.

[newms]

Yeah your best best is probably to try to use this year to improve your resume, maybe take some graduate level classes if possible and try to establish firmer LoR contacts. Alternatively there might be some schools that have later deadlines such as in February or in March, however these might not necessarily be the schools you would ft best at. If I were you, I would take this year to improve my resume, research schools and profs that I wanted to work with and take my best shot at applying for Fall 2012.

[ajaxanon]

Quick question:

Are you wanting to go into Cog Neuro, or Experimental Psych? The two aren't always the same program.

You're probably after most of the deadlines, but you might contact some of the schools you're most interested in and see if they'll accept late admissions... You never know!

After that, you're probably best off seeing if you can secure a research position for the next year and applying next season.

To answer your question, Cog Neuro is my preferred subfield. I am, however, open to the possibility of other subfields within the general framework of experimental psych. Cognitive Neuropsychology (also seen social and affective neuroscience programs) is such an example. I think there is quite a bit of overlap between some of these sub-disciplines, and many of them are fairly broad ranging, so I haven't closed my door on other areas of experimental pscyh

Thanks for the responses btw

Edited January 7, 2011 by ajaxanon

[Eigen]

To answer your question, Cog Neuro is my preferred subfield. I am, however, open to the possibility of other subfields within the general framework of experimental psych. Cognitive Neuropsychology (also seen social and affective neuroscience programs) is such an example. I think there is quite a bit of overlap between some of these sub-disciplines, and many of them are fairly broad ranging, so I haven't closed my door on other areas of experimental pscyh

Thanks for the responses btw

I guess what I'm asking is, do you have a specific type of program you want?

You can find cognitive neuroscience in a range of programs- Cognitive Sci programs, Neuro programs, Psych programs, etc....

So do you want a PhD in experimental psychology focusing on Cognitive Neuroscience only, or are you open to other degree programs that do work in cog neuro?

Some of the interdisciplinary neuro programs might have later application dates than psych departments, it might be worth checking out.