How Does My Application Look (cognitive psyc)

[Sildrugtanni]

Hey guys, new to the forum here! I got rejected from all the schools I applied to last year, and am looking to give it another go this year. I thought I would post what my application looks like here, and was hoping I could get some opinions on how I'm looking:

Majors: Psychology; English (Writing Emphasis)

Overall GPA: 3.93

Psyc GPA: 3.97

English GPA: 3.84

Graduated with Honors (honors program) and Latin honors (Summa Cum Laude)

Dean's Honors List - Fall 2007-Spring 2011

GRE Verbal: 620

GRE Quantitative: 730

GRE Writing: 5.5

-Research assistant for ~3 years, tending to focus on the framing of information/questions concerning environmental issues

-Two Research Grants in psychology department: $4000 Summer semester (2010) and $1000 Spring semester (2011)--not sure if the size of the grant is important, but I thought I'd post it just in case

-2011 Psychology Department Research Award

-Spent a bit over 3 weeks studying environmental psychology in Germany

-Co-editor of Summit Avenue Review (literary magazine)

-Aquinas Scholars Honors Program student board member (2009-2011)

-Counting my research grant projects, I've been first author of 6 research projects

• 2 presented at MPA Psi Chi Conference
• 1 presented at Seven Rivers Undergraduate Research Symposium
• 1 presented at Midwestern Undergraduate Psychology Conference
  As far as what the actual projects were:
  
  • My two grant research projects examined ironic processes of mental control during conversation (essentially, people's ability to control/hide private information during conversational tasks priming them to slip that information). Essentially, I spent about a year formulating and carrying out this work.
  • Examined the effects of video game playing on the ability to perceive the gist of briefly presented (500ms) scenes
  • Looked at MMO games as models for collaborative learning environments
  • Archival project looking at the framing of religious delusion in popular press and scholarly literature in the US from the 1820s to the present
  • Examined relationship between styles of humor and relationship satisfaction

I'm looking to apply for cognitive psychology programs focusing on language/communication. Ideally, I'd like to continue studying aspects of mental control (such as what Daniel Wegner does at Harvard--some of these programs end up being social) or studying aspects of learning/communication in video games. I am, however, fairly flexible in the type of program I'd be willing to apply to. I realize I gave a lot of info, but I'm a bit at my whits end as to what I should be doing to improve my application, if anything. Whatever advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edited June 29, 2011 by Sildrugtanni

[LJK]

Hi Sildrugtanni,

Your resume looks very impressive. I think you already have all the qualifications you need to be considered competitive, after that it comes down to research fit and luck. How many schools did you apply to last year? Did you email the professors you were interested in working with before applying to check that they were accepting applications/introduce yourself? Did you tailor your SOP for each school? If you applied to a bunch of schools and did all the rest, it probably just came down to luck. Did you get any interviews? If there are professors you want to reapply to, email them and ask if there is anything you could do that would make your application stand out. Doing whatever they say won't necessarily get you in, but if one prof wants to see whatever they suggest it should help across the board. Also widen your search of schools, consider places that aren't on top lists but have great professors. But only apply to those places if you really think you could/would be happy there - you don't want to put ourself in the position of having to choose between an offer you would rather not have gotten and not going to school the following year.

I realize it sux to be qualified and not get in, but its awesome that you are ready to try again! Good luck!

[neuropsych76]

I agree with everything LJK said

I'll just echo the part about applying to a wider list of schools. You mentioned a guy from Harvard so I'm guessing you applied there and other ivies. Those schools are obviously hard to get in even with great stats. Too much emphasis is made on the name of the school. It is all about the professor your working with.

Good luck!

[t_ruth]

Did you look at any Ed Psych programs? Seems like that could be a good research fit too...

[Sildrugtanni]

Hi Sildrugtanni,

Your resume looks very impressive. I think you already have all the qualifications you need to be considered competitive, after that it comes down to research fit and luck. How many schools did you apply to last year? Did you email the professors you were interested in working with before applying to check that they were accepting applications/introduce yourself? Did you tailor your SOP for each school? If you applied to a bunch of schools and did all the rest, it probably just came down to luck. Did you get any interviews? If there are professors you want to reapply to, email them and ask if there is anything you could do that would make your application stand out. Doing whatever they say won't necessarily get you in, but if one prof wants to see whatever they suggest it should help across the board. Also widen your search of schools, consider places that aren't on top lists but have great professors. But only apply to those places if you really think you could/would be happy there - you don't want to put ourself in the position of having to choose between an offer you would rather not have gotten and not going to school the following year.

I realize it sux to be qualified and not get in, but its awesome that you are ready to try again! Good luck!

I'll quote your response, as it has a lot of important questions I need to answer:

• I only applied to 6 schools last year, which I realize in retrospect was really not enough. At the time, I had a very specific program in mind that I wished to apply for, and very few schools had it.
• I did not introduce myself ahead of time. I had some conflicting opinions as to whether or not I should do that, so I ended up not doing so; I'll make sure to do so this time.
• With my SOP...to be honest, probably not enough. I had spent a great deal of time writing one for Harvard which turned out very well, so I more or less adapted that one; at the time, given I was in the midst of a very busy semester, seemed like a nice time saver. In retrospect, not a great idea.
• I got an interview with Northeastern, and even if it had gone better (I had to interview with 4 profs--2 went well, 2 didn't go so well), it wasn't a good fit anyways.
• To answer your question, t_ruth, I did not look at Ed Psych programs; it might be something to think about, but I'm not really sure that's where my interests are at.
  I definitely am going to widen my list of schools that I am applying to, and I am glad to hear that my application seems pretty strong. While I did apply to largely upper end schools, believe me when I say it was not so much because of the name of the schools (I would be lying if I said that didn't account for some, however); it so happened that those schools with that very specific program I was looking for were in the top 30 range.
  
  I would like to follow up, if I may, with 2 more specific questions:
  
  • Based on my current GRE scores, do you feel it would be a good idea to retake it?
  • How necessary do you think it is to take the subject test?

[neuropsych76]

I would like to follow up, if I may, with 2 more specific questions:

• Based on my current GRE scores, do you feel it would be a good idea to retake it?
• How necessary do you think it is to take the subject test?

I think your GRE scores are fine. I'd only retake them if you think you can significantly improve, have extra free time to study, and have extra money for the exam.

The subject is pretty much only used for people who didn't major in psych. Since you did major in psych and almost got a 4.0, I wouldn't worry about taking it. However, some schools do require the subject test for all applicants.

[t_ruth]

I made the suggestion because you said you were interested in learning/communication in video games. There is a lot of that research happening in Ed programs (Ed Psych or Language, Literacy & Technology) and also some of it in Informatics.

[LJK]

Honestly, your verbal score is a titch low - some professors do put an emphasis on the GRE scores, but it really depends on what type of undergraduate experience you had: a high gpa at a no-name small liberal arts college doesn't hold the same weight as a high gpa at top-tier school. If you went to a top-tier school, I think your GPA will count more, if you went to a school lower on the scale, professors may pay more attention to your GRE scores than they would otherwise - its supposed to be a standardization across schools so if your school didn't have the best reputation, the GRE can help, if your school has a great reputation it doesn't matter as much. But, I think it is probably adequate if you don't have the time to put a ton of time into studying - taking the time to craft your SOP to perfection and gearing at least a solid paragraph to each school (the 'fit' paragraph) is more important then going from a solid verbal score to an excellent one.

I agree on the psych test assessment - I didn't major in psych but I applied while getting a MS in psych and not taking the psych gre didn't hurt me as far as I know - I got 2 interviews and another professor was somewhat apologetic that she couldn't offer me an interview. So I wasn't one of these applicants that was invited everywhere but I got some interest - that is all you need: one offer! Try to appeal to everyone you apply to, but make sure you would be willing to go to any program you get into - that way it only takes one offer to be ecstatic come March/April!

[MJordano]

Hi Sildrugtanni,

I think your resume is really impressive. Your GRE scores seem fine, especially taking into consideration your really high GPA (overall and in psych). You have a lot of really

nice research experience too, which is probably what cognitive programs stress the most. But most of these programs also really stress fit between your interest and research experience and the interests of the faculty at the schools you are applying to.

It might be a good idea to apply to a few education psych programs as well. With your qualifications it shouldn't be too difficult to get into one of those programs. Many of the professors with degrees in educational psychology are interdisciplinary and have related interests in cognitive psych, developmental psych and neurolinguistics as well.

If you're interested in any schools in the south, I know both Vanderbilt and UNC have faculty that are involved in combinations of child developmental psych, cognitive psych and language processing. Your qualifications seem on par with what these schools look for. Of course, there are many schools up north too that also specialize in these areas

Good luck!