Where should I apply, and should I apply this year?

[randompsychologist]

I am (sort of) new to these forums. Although I have been reading posts on GradCafe for a while, I finally decided to sign up.

I am a BA/MA student in the Honors College at one of the CUNY schools (don't want to say which one) and I should be getting my degrees in Psychology this September. I will be done with all my coursework by next week and all I have left to do is defend my thesis in July.

I have a good GPA (3.93 overall GPA and a 3.96 psy GPA... but a 4.0 psy GPA if you only count my undergrad classes) but horrible GRE scores after totally flipping out on the day of the exam (V: 570, M:670 A: 4.5 and I don't remember the percentiles). I was surprised by how horrible my GRE scores were because I was doing very well (1400+) on the practice exams. I am planning on taking the new exam in August. I have not taken the Psych GREs yet.

I do not have any publications, but I have presented three posters at conferences (I presented at EPA, APS, and at the annual meeting for the associated professional sleep societies… yeah… I know that's not even close to having actual publications ). At this point, I have 3 years of research experience and I will have defended a thesis on the effect of circadian-rythm related mood changes on emotional memory. All of my work to date has been in the emotion/cognition/sleep areas-- I know that this is not very well-defined.

I feel that for me to be able to explore the things I am interested in, I have have to leave my department (although I have some amazing mentors here). So, for this gap year (the 2012-2013 academic year) I applied to two post-bac fellowship-type programs. I was rejected from one after a great interview (the PI who was considering me was amazing... unfortunately, logistically, it ended up not working out). I have not heard from the other yet but apparently acceptances/rejections should be out soon and one of the other posters on these forums heard back last week. If I don't get the other post-bac program, this next year, I want to spend some time working in a lab that uses some neuroimaging techniques, take some bio and stats classes, and work as a TA/adjunct.

So, basically, do you think it is wise for me to apply to PhD programs for the 2013-2014 academic year? Or should I take two years off and apply for the next year? If I do apply for fall of 2013, would neurocognition programs be feasable for me?

[randompsychologist]

I also wanted to say, every time I read the posts on here, I am amazed at how bright everyone is but the vibe is not as intimidating as College Confidential.

[3point14]

Most people who apply are not going to have publications. Three conference presentations is very good. Retake the GRE and you'll be a really strong applicant. Even if you didn't retake it, it might not be a dealbreaker with your other credentials (but I would definitely still retake it). Also, check and see if the programs you're applying to require the psych subject test. None of mine did. I plug this program every chance I get, but the NIH postbac program is really awesome (https://www.training...ms/postbac_irta)

Edit: I hate college confidential. I hated it when I applied to undergrad, and I hated when I browsed there during this grad school app season. I found it very condescending and not very helpful. Maybe I just had a bad experience though.

Edited May 20, 2012 by 3point14

[randompsychologist]

Thank you so much for the info on the NIH program and for your advice! I'm going to apply to the program (wish I'd done it earlier... but I'm glad that the deadline's rolling).