Applying in the Fall

[Determined1]

Hello everyone, I am applying to grad school this fall and I wanted to know if anybody had any advice. My dream school is to study University of Michigan, which is also extremely competitive. I am the only person I know who is applying to grad school, I dont really know what to expect but I wanted to be as prepared as possible. Is there anything that you wish you did or if given the opportunity to go back and change anything, what would you change?

[lyonessrampant]

These are REALLY field-specific questions, so I'd recommend filling in some details (why UM? who do you want to work with? what is your background in terms of reserach/grades/scores? what is your thesis/writing sample about?) and then re-posting this in the relevant forum for your interest areas (lit/poli sci/math, etc.). That said, the first thing I'd do is research people you want to work with and select schools to apply to based on that list. Next, look at placement records for those schools and a VARIETY of rankings lists. Contact those people if that is common in your field. Study for the GRE and subject GRE. Prepare a WIDE list of schools. Apply to both Ph.D. and MA/MS programs so you have options. Contact LOR writers. Start working on your SOP now. If you have what will be your writing sample, revise and share with lots of people. Anyway, just a bit of introductory advice. With more specifics, I think we'd all be able to help you a lot more.

Edited to add: OOPS! Just saw you ARE in the psych board. I got linked through the main boards. Anyway, I think a lot of the above advice is still relevant. Research away!!! Other psych folks will be able to give you program and people-specific recommendations. Good luck!

Edited April 29, 2011 by lyonessrampant

[neuropsych76]

Hello everyone, I am applying to grad school this fall and I wanted to know if anybody had any advice. My dream school is to study University of Michigan, which is also extremely competitive. I am the only person I know who is applying to grad school, I dont really know what to expect but I wanted to be as prepared as possible. Is there anything that you wish you did or if given the opportunity to go back and change anything, what would you change?

Welcome to the forum!

You'll find a wealth of information on this site just by browsing around the psych forum and application forum

First off, what type of psychology program are you applying to? One of the biggest factors for admission is fit so having specific goals is important.

Knowing what type of psych program you're interested in will help us give you more specific info but much of what the previous poster is helpful!

[Determined1]

These are REALLY field-specific questions, so I'd recommend filling in some details (why UM? who do you want to work with? what is your background in terms of reserach/grades/scores? what is your thesis/writing sample about?) and then re-posting this in the relevant forum for your interest areas (lit/poli sci/math, etc.). That said, the first thing I'd do is research people you want to work with and select schools to apply to based on that list. Next, look at placement records for those schools and a VARIETY of rankings lists. Contact those people if that is common in your field. Study for the GRE and subject GRE. Prepare a WIDE list of schools. Apply to both Ph.D. and MA/MS programs so you have options. Contact LOR writers. Start working on your SOP now. If you have what will be your writing sample, revise and share with lots of people. Anyway, just a bit of introductory advice. With more specifics, I think we'd all be able to help you a lot more.

Edited to add: OOPS! Just saw you ARE in the psych board. I got linked through the main boards. Anyway, I think a lot of the above advice is still relevant. Research away!!! Other psych folks will be able to give you program and people-specific recommendations. Good luck!

Thank you! I will definitely start asking people to review my SOP!

Info About Me:

GPA: 4.0

Conference Presentations: 3

GRE: taking this summer

Research Experience: 2 summers of research

UM's has two faculty members that fit my interests extremely well. Also I would love to work in their African American Identity lab. My interests in psychology is the African American experience and education.

I tried to contact the professors I want to study under but they never responded to my e-mail : (

[neuropsych76]

Thank you! I will definitely start asking people to review my SOP!

Info About Me:

GPA: 4.0

Conference Presentations: 3

GRE: taking this summer

Research Experience: 2 summers of research

UM's has two faculty members that fit my interests extremely well. Also I would love to work in their African American Identity lab. My interests in psychology is the African American experience and education.

I tried to contact the professors I want to study under but they never responded to my e-mail : (

You still didn't say what particular program your looking for. UM is super competitive so you might need more research experience than 2 summers. A 4.0 is nice the most important aspects of the application are research experience and fit.

[socandwomen]

Thank you! I will definitely start asking people to review my SOP!

Info About Me:

GPA: 4.0

Conference Presentations: 3

GRE: taking this summer

Research Experience: 2 summers of research

UM's has two faculty members that fit my interests extremely well. Also I would love to work in their African American Identity lab. My interests in psychology is the African American experience and education.

I tried to contact the professors I want to study under but they never responded to my e-mail : (

Determined! What a great way to start! Listen, UM was one of my top choices, and I didn't think I had a chance, and then got wait-listed! I ended up accepting an offer from Penn State, but here is what I did:

1. Research your faculty. I found people that I wanted to work with, rather than schools. This took a really long time, like hours upon hours. But you already know you are interested in the faculty of UM, right? So email them and delineate how their research corresponds with your research interests, AND FIND OUT IF HE/SHE IS TAKING NEW GRAD STUDENTS.

2. Be extremely professional in all interactions with Profs of Interest. I made the mistake of getting a tiny bit silly (exclaiming about how long I've taken to decide exactly what I want to study) and even though they later told me that my other qualifications outweighed the gaffe, I almost lost their interest. Seriously, when in doubt, always be professional.

3. I wish someone had directed me to "The Compleat Academic" before applying to schools. You can download the first chapter (the one most relevant to you right now) for free via Kindle on your computer. Read this chapter, it will help you understand that everything youve been doing as an undergraduate will be different from what you do as a graduate student. For example, you can get "straight A's" in grad school, but that doesn't get you a PhD. Publishing gets you a PhD. Can you show the faculty that you are a serious academic who is willing to put lots of time and effort into research and writing in addition to your school work?

For now, study for the GREs HARD; practice the timed tests. Also, really put a lot of time into solidifying your position as you apply to schools. THhink about how your experiences have shaped your long-term research goals, and think of as many ways as possible to demonstrate your persistence and ability to work up to a PhD.

You can do it! UM Bound!

[honkycat1]

to be honest, the only advice I have now is study for the GRE and aim for 1350+

its not like you can get more research experience now that your applying in 3 months...

and start the application as early as possible. but i'm sure these are things you've heard before.

though, one thing I would like to add is, don't be afraid to apply to some "long shot" schools because the process is so unpredictable that no school is really a "long shot". if they have a program that you think fits your interest well and you can demonstrate that in your application, go for it.

the thing is, what you have done in the past 2 year should say what you should do. just make sure you demonstrate that in your application. just know, that they are looking for people they can WORK with, not just a composite score of GRE, GPA etc etc... also, do a lot of research and talk to graduate students. I had a lot of graduate student friends and I felt when I applied, I had a good grasp of what graduate school is about, demonstrating that in your application and especially your letter is huge. If you just say things like "I did this, that that and I want to be in grad school" without demonstrating that you know what your getting yourself into, doesn't matter how good your credential is, professors might not want to take you because more than anything, they want to see that your FIT for the program, and FIT to be an academic.

Edited May 4, 2011 by donnyz89