What are my chances? (Social Psychology Phd Programs)

[Andersonkm16]

I posted in a different part of the forum... I realized there was a psychology based subforum, so I thought it would be good to post here too.

Here are my stats:

GPA: 3.9/4.0, 3.8 for the last two years, at a small midwestern university

GRE: Quant: 740 Verbal 580 AWA 4.0/6.0

Completed an Honors Thesis at undergraduate institution

Presented at MPA conference in Chicago

Spent 2 years after undergrad volunteering at prejudice/stigma lab at Arizona State

I am considering re-taking the GRE to up my verbal and AWA.

I chose institutions based on fit with professors I want to work with, and not the institution as a whole. My main interest is prejudice, stigma, and intergoup relations between stigmatized and non-stigmatized groups.

My top choices are:

UCLA

Kansas

Florida State

Purdue

My next choices are:

Connecticut

Harvard

Michigan State

Colorado

Iowa

Kansas State

I am also considering several paid masters programs:

Villanova

Wake Forest

Ball State

William and Mary

Thank you for your comments!

[DBP]

I think you have good stats, with well-written supportive letters and a throughtful SOP - you have nothing to worry about.

My best piece of advice would be to contact the POIs during the Fall, send them your CV and let them know you're applying. This is also a good time to ask if they have any openings in their lab. I did this and saved a lot of money by only applying to schools where I knew there was a possible spot.

[franks98]

You have a lot of schools listed that receive a hundred + highly qualified applicants for 2-4 spots in their program. You have good stats yourself; but I would recommend also finding schools that maybe wouldn't get as many applicants -- many schools like that still have top-notch training and will pay you a descent enough stipend. One thing I recommend is to look at those big names you want to apply to and look at their students who are now faculty at other universities. A lot of times, they may not have the name recognition; but, they may be very productive, funded with junior researcher grants, and in need of students.

Edited June 27, 2012 by franks98

[LuckyCat]

I agree with DMP; based on the information you shared, you are a competitive applicant. Having completed an ugrad honors thesis will be well-received, too. Given your research interests, you may also want to consider adding Northwestern (Jen Richeson) and UVA (Sophie Trawalter -- she's awesome!) to your list of possible schools.

Best of luck,

LC

[Andersonkm16]

I am applying to a few programs where the faculty aren't as established (not their fault, just being younger/having less experience). In fact, probably my top choice actually was a graduate student at ASU under the professor I have been working with for the past one to two years. Really, the weakest part of my application are my GRE scores (not that they're weak, just not as strong). I'm also fairly lucky because my advisor at ASU knows a lot of the well known people I'm applying to, I think.

I also forgot to mention that in addition to my thesis in undergrad, I continued working on refininig it with my undergrad professor and we just sent it off for publication to PAID (Personality/Individual Differences) journal. He stated it could be 4-7 months until it is published, because the process can be long and generally takes a revision and resubmit. But, it is something to look forward to!

I would say I have strong to really strong letters of rec, and my personal statement is pretty strong right now (I have been working on it for several months already).