Do I have a chance?

[Pretty_Penny]

Hi all!

Looking for some feedback on where I stand in applying to Developmental Psych Ph.D. programs. Here are some facts:

Will graduate in May of 2013 with a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish, and Honors in the Psych Major

Undergraduate GPA of 3.916 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (3.917 Psych)

GRE: Verbal-166 (96%), Quantitative-154 (60%) so 320 total; AW-4.5

Psych GRE scores come out Monday

Research experience in the Developmental field since January 2011

Finishing my Senior Honors Thesis for which I had a $3000 grant

Member of Psi Chi (Initiation Chair), Phi Kappa Phi, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Phi Beta Kappa

Rec Letters from three faculty members at UW-Madison

First generation college student

I am applying to: Penn State University, the University of Maryland-College Park, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Northern Illinois University, Loyola University of Chicago, Northwestern University (Ph.D. in Human Development and Social Policy), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[DarwinAG]

I have not sat on any Adcom's but based on numbers alone I would say you have a very good shot. I wish you the best of luck.

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

How many of those LORs can comment on your research? Grades and scores are important, but research experience is also really important.

[Edugy]

The only thing that not absolutely fantastic about your profile is the quant score on your GRE. Have you contacted any of the professors at the schools you're applying to yet?

[Pretty_Penny]

I suppose two of my LORs could comment on my research, the PI of a developmental lab I have worked in since 2011 and my Psychology 225 Professor, as we were required to carry out and write up an experiment for that class. I really have only worked in a lab under the guidance of one professor, but she is considered an expert in the field..

I know my quantative score is less than fantastic. Math (though not statistics) has never been my strong point. I have been in touch with every professor I plan to apply to and they have all encouraged me to apply. I didn't discuss my GRE scores with any of them, however. Based on the averages for each school it tends to fall right around average to a bit below.