My chances? Solid GRE/Mediocre GPA, opinion greatly appreciated

[andrewbaxley86]

I just took the GRE this morning, the result being...

Verbal- 167 (98th%, 710 on old scoring scale)

Quant.- 158 (79th%, 740)

My cum. undergrad GPA was a 3.45, 3.8 in my final two years.

I have research/internship experience and three strong letters.

I really have no idea where I stand with these numbers. Can I expect to be a competitive applicant for good Social Psych. PhD programs, despite my GPA? Should I be focused on applying for doctorate programs, or does it make more sense for me to start with a high quality masters degree?

Does anyone happen to know of either...

a) Social Psych PhD programs with an especially high emphasis on GRE and final two years GPA?

and/or

Fully/partially funded MA or MS programs?

Thank you everyone!

[NewScientist12]

Every university does it a little differently, but they'll all look at the whole package. I would guess that your overall GPA will be of little concern considering that your GRE scores, upward trend in grades, and dedication to research all reflect a strong work ethic and ability. The admissions process is too variable to answer your first question, but as for your second, the two main masters programs are Wake Forest and Villanova, both of which are usually fully funded, and as a result, pretty competitive.

[svh]

Your scores and gpa are pretty decent. The most important factor is research experience though. How much research experience do you have? What you should do is, aim for PhD programs and apply for masters programs at the same time. Ball State is another good fully funded program.

[watson]

I'm a social psych PhD student at Northwestern. I am on our recruitment committee for underrepresented students and so I'm pretty filled in on all details application/acceptance.

Those scores are enough to get you past the first review, meaning your letters and SOP will be seriously read over. So far so good. I'd talk about how your GPA improved in your SOP and have letter writers say it as well. Maybe also list your major-GPA.

For social psych, I always advise NOT to get a masters (unless you were not a psych major). You will have to repeat it at any PhD program unless you manage to stay at the same school for MA/PhD and that is highly unlikely--so you'll waste 2 years and probably a ton of money, and with your scores it really won't make you a more competitive applicant. You won't finish the PhD any sooner either since you'll have to repeat the masters. The best thing for your situation is adding to your research experience. Apply to PhD programs, and if you don't get in then look for jobs as a lab manager or as a full-time research assistant, or try to get a lab job at NIH. Those pretty much guarantee getting into a PhD program after 2 years--the same time it'd take to get a masters and you'll get paid.

[stereopticons]

I'm a social psych PhD student at Northwestern. I am on our recruitment committee for underrepresented students and so I'm pretty filled in on all details application/acceptance.

Those scores are enough to get you past the first review, meaning your letters and SOP will be seriously read over. So far so good. I'd talk about how your GPA improved in your SOP and have letter writers say it as well. Maybe also list your major-GPA.

For social psych, I always advise NOT to get a masters (unless you were not a psych major). You will have to repeat it at any PhD program unless you manage to stay at the same school for MA/PhD and that is highly unlikely--so you'll waste 2 years and probably a ton of money, and with your scores it really won't make you a more competitive applicant. You won't finish the PhD any sooner either since you'll have to repeat the masters. The best thing for your situation is adding to your research experience. Apply to PhD programs, and if you don't get in then look for jobs as a lab manager or as a full-time research assistant, or try to get a lab job at NIH. Those pretty much guarantee getting into a PhD program after 2 years--the same time it'd take to get a masters and you'll get paid.

I have to disagree with some of this. I may not be on a recruitment committee, but I am a social psych student applying for PhD programs after getting my masters degree. A fully-funded masters degree (all of the ones mentioned, and also William and Mary!) can give you research experience, teaching experience, lab manager experience, and publications. It can boost your CV in so many ways. And in a fully funded program, you still get paid! Some schools may make you repeat some of the course work, but most will accept your masters thesis and exempt you from doing a second one. Some schools (U of Illinois comes to mind) will exempt you from the first two years and make the PhD program 3 years instead of 5. I would apply to both PhD and Masters programs and see where you get in. That's what I did last time I applied, and I'm really happy about where I ended up.

There is no "guarantee" that you will get in to a PhD program, no matter what route you take (lab manager, masters, whatever). The only thing you can do is add everything you can to your CV.

[watson]

I agree that in some cases the masters can help--but OP's numbers don't suggest that being the best use of his/her time. Of all the programs I have spoken with (Northwestern, Yale, Harvard, OSU, Stanford, etc), none will accept a thesis from another program or make the program shorter...you can probably get out of some stats classes though. I suppose I'm saying that I would not enter a master's program thinking that a benefit would be a shorter PhD program, because, at least among the most highly ranked programs, it is unlikely. I'm glad that your masters program has worked out so well for you, but I can honestly say from my experience that the networking you get from taking a lab/manager job is more likely to get you into a PhD program than a masters. I do agree that a fully-funded masters is a considerably better idea than a partial/non-funded one.

[andrewbaxley86]

Thank for the input you guys. I really appreciate it.

Hopefully I will make it into a PhD program, but in the event that I don't, it seems to me that the two options I'll be willing to consider are a) a fully funded masters, or doing as Watson said, and adding to my research experience.

Along those lines, I have two more questions...

Are my numbers good enough to gain admission to a fully funded masters, such as William and Mary, Villanova, etc? I see on WandM website that their average applicant has a 3.69GPA(I am .24 lower), a 594 verbal(I am 116 higher), and a 679 quant(61 higher). Is it reasonable to expect that the difference in my GPA will be made up for by my GRE scores?

Also, directed at Watson, do you have any insight into how I might go about landing a paid research gig? Or a job with the NIH.

Thanks again everyone. You are extremely helpful.

[watson]

Most paid research positions are attained in one of a few ways. Ask a professor--they are probably aware of their colleagues at other schools and if they need RAs/lab managers, and get listserv postings. Join listservs--look up smaller societies that fit your specific interest (e.g., Social & Affective Neuroscience Society) and join their listservs, I get at least 5 emails a week with announcements that somebody is looking to a hire an RA/lab manager, they almost always list that they want someone who is interested in going to grad school later (these are generally 2 year positions). Look at websites for professors whose research you like--many will post on their lab's website that they are looking for someone. Cold call--send emails out to people you're interested in working with and ask if they are looking to hire an RA/lab manager (I'd use this option last). Don't worry if it isn't a social psych lab--adcoms are interested in seeing psych (or closely related) research experience, not necessarily research experience on the topic you want to study in grad school.

For the NIH, check their website--they post both employment opportunities and paid internships and have a pretty structured system for hiring. Look beyond NIMH, other institutes like NIAD and some others present equally great opportunities even though they are farther removed from social. I actually had no social psych research experience (all clinical/neuro) before grad school but its the experience moreso than the area of research that matters. You can also try places like the National Naval Medical Center/USUHS...I did a summer internship there and another student here worked there for 2 years (he incidentally had much worse GRE/GPA than you but had such incredible research experience and so many pubs from his time at NNMC that he got in here).