New here- trying to get a sense of other applicants' research experiences (~long)

[Jvcxk]

I'm pretty new to gradcafe but I've read through a ton of the site, so helpful.

I've pretty much finished my applications for Fall 2013.

I'm confident in my GRE/GPA/LORs and I don't THINK anyone's going to hold my SOP against me (haha..)

However, I'm somewhat concerned about my research experience (re: relevance to current interests),

So I wanted to get a sense of other applicant's research experience, in terms of: how long?, what duties?, how relevant to your graduate interests?, any publications/presentations?

My story:

I'm a psych major (B.S.) from a small (but reputable) private college where there is minimal funding for psych research and absolutely no lab facilities, beyond a room with a computer from early 2000 (so sad..).

When I began working with two of my professors on separate research projects (social/developmental lab and visual-cognition lab) , I was ok with these limitations because I was merely trying to explore and find what interested me research wise. Once I realized that my interests were more on the neuro side of psychology, I knew that the opportunities at my schools simply wouldn't cut it, and I obtained an RA job outside of my school in the lab of a well-known psychiatrist doing neuro research in psychiatric populations.

I have been working in the "neuro" lab since May 2012 doing data collection (mostly in in-patient units), and I am currently collaborating with my PI and 2 other doctors in the neuro and medical fields writing a paper linking neurophysiological, perceptual, and behavioral variables. The paper is a work in progress, but I've been promised first authorship (though I did not indicate this last point anywhere on my apps).

I have been working in the developmental lab at my school since Fall 2011. When I joined, data collection had already been finished, but I independently developed a hypothesis and linguistic coding scheme, performed data analysis, authored the abstract (1st author), and, with my professor, presented the poster at a conference. We are currently writing our study up as a full-length paper.

I have been working the cognitive lab at my school since Winter 2012. I assisted with experimental/stimulus design and data collection. Listed as 2nd author on abstract currently submitted to conference (no word on acceptance yet).

I should add that my current research interests fall under the broad label of "affective neuroscience." I want to study emotion (and motivation) at the molecular, cellular, and systems level (and the psych/behavioral correlates etc). Obviously the neuro lab was the most relevant to my current interests, but my other research experience did have some relevant elements (which I made sure to mention in my SOP).

Anyway, I know the whole admission process is so subjective, but there's no doubt research is important. I'd love to hear about others' experiences, especially those with similar interests to mine (~~neuro).

[mewtoo]

I think you shouldn't worry about your research experience for most schools as it sounds quit sufficient/normal. I've worked in my mentors lab for around 2 years. I'm an author (5th out of 6) on a poster for an international conference, 3rd author on a regional poster, and 1st author on a poster that was just submitted to a regional conference on which I did a supervisory role and is related to my research interest. We're also nearing completion on a manuscript that I am 2nd author on and will be submitted for pub before interview time. Its also related to my research interests.I also conducted my own independent project and its manuscript. I just submitted it as a paper at the regional conference. Its not related to my research interests. I also worked a summer on a joint project between my mentor and another professor that was unrelated to my interests. I was told by people on SDN that my research experience was normal to above normal for doctoral clinical programs.

[sing something]

I think your research experience sounds about average. I certainly wouldn't worry that it would hurt you. I am interested in affective neuroscience as well - emotion regulation and fMRI - and I have a somewhat comparable background. I've been working in the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at my school since Dec 2011. This is definitely a relevant lab/area to be working in, but the specific studies I worked on had nothing to do with my interests. I was/am in charge of running participants in three EEG studies. I helped out with the development of one of these studies, but only in stimuli selection and preparation, not in terms of methods design. I have no authorships from this lab. I started working in another lab in the summer of 2012. It is a family assessment lab and has nothing to do with my research interests, but I was able to get a first authorship on a poster and am currently working on an independent research project in this lab, for which I will have an authorship, but probably not until mid-late 2013. I designed an independent study course in affective neuroscience, but it is a readings based course not a research based course. I did complete a critical literature review on my exact topic of interest, however, and submitted this as my writing sample.

[Tolman's Rat]

It's funny, all along I have thought that research experience was a big strength of my application, but I'm starting to realize that others are actually further along in that regard.

It sounds like you've done a very good job in getting research experience, and you've been proactive in the process as well given that your undergraduate institution is not research heavy.

I've worked in one social-developmental lab for a long time, nearly three years. We presented a poster at a conference last year that I was third author on. I ran that study independently, the second author was my PIs MA student who has pretty much gone MIA but still got second authorship (ugh). I'm working on another study with them this year that is essentially a follow-up to the previous. I've done a lot of data collection, entry, worked with different programs/equipment (e.g., MATLAB, ECG) but don't have publications to show for my work. This PI is more involved in teaching and isn't really a leading researcher.

I worked in cognitive/affective neuroscience lab where I didn't really work on any projects specifically, but rather helped with data collection/entry for a whole bunch, cleaned and entered data, and helped to design some stimuli. Didn't get authorship on anything there, as I only worked with them for maybe 6 months. I have since taken courses with the PI and he's a big shot in his field (editor of the journal Brain and Cognition) and he really likes me, so hopefully that will be a solid letter.

I did my thesis research in a human sexuality lab, also with a guy who is a big name in his field. This was probably my most helpful research experience - I did a pretty complex analysis (multiple logistic regression), tons of data collection and entry (800+ questionnaires of 30+ pages), but it doesn't seem that my PI is too intent to publish. He said that there is a good shot that we publish a subsection of the results, but that my thesis covers such a wide span, that it would have to be broken down. I don't even know if I want to pursue publication at this point. I've mentioned it and he doesn't seem to be in much of a rush, even though he gave me an A+ on the thesis and promised me a very favourable LOR.

In sum - I think you are right on track with your research. You've got experience that is related to your field (more than what I can say) as well as experience in three different labs and publication/presentation experience. If you're confident in the other aspects of your application, this is certainly not going to bring you down.

[Jvcxk]

Thank you, everyone, for your input.

It's really fascinating to see everyone's experiences in greater detail- really drives home how difficult it must be to compare one student to the next.

Sing something-

Sounds like we have somewhat similar interests- care to share where you are applying?

EDITED: Saw where you applied at the bottom of your post. We have some overlap- Columbia, U Michigan, CU Boulder, and Boston College. Good luck!

Tolman's Rat-

I know the feeling. The whole reason I started this topic was because, aside from peers in your own institution and the ambiguous "worked in XYZ lab for 2 years" frequently posted in members' profiles, it's hard to truly understand what level of work is going on in the greater scientific community.

In my case, I actually stand out at my school for the sole fact that I've pursued research so seriously (I'm literally the only student with a key to the lab). Yet, at other institutions with greater research emphasis, I'm sure it requires much much more to distinguish one's self. I just hope that I've prepared myself enough for graduate programs that eat, sleep, and breath research.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Jvcxk

[DarwinAG]

Hey Jvcxk. Looks like you, sing, and I are all applying to similar programs. I presume you're applying to UNC as well. Your research interest is well matched with Dr. Fredrickson. Especially in terms of where her research program is moving in the next 5 years.

[Jvcxk]

DarwinAG,

I'm actually not applying to UNC. I looked at Dr. Fredrickson's lab page just now- she's actually a little light on the "neuroscience" end of the spectrum for my tastes. I primarily applied to people who are looking at the molecular and neural bases of emotional states/regulation/etc, whose hypotheses are conceptualized more or less in biological terms, rather than psychological theory.

Did you mainly apply to the social area? Or did you apply to the cognitive neuroscience area?

[DarwinAG]

I applied to social areas mostly. Btw Fredrickson is moving to testing her theory in the field of genomics. Its pretty fascinatig stuff.

Additionally, Lindquist is doing excellent research on the antecedents of emotional experiences.

[DarwinAG]

DarwinAG,

I'm actually not applying to UNC. I looked at Dr. Fredrickson's lab page just now- she's actually a little light on the "neuroscience" end of the spectrum for my tastes. I primarily applied to people who are looking at the molecular and neural bases of emotional states/regulation/etc, whose hypotheses are conceptualized more or less in biological terms, rather than psychological theory.

Did you mainly apply to the social area? Or did you apply to the cognitive neuroscience area?

Just to elaborate. If you read her latest published chapter on her website she is actually doing a lot of molecular research regarding positive emotional experiences. Just visit the PEP lab website. Did you apply with Dr. Cunningham at University of Toronto? He's doing fascinating work.

[fallen625]

I have had 2.5 years of undergrad research experience (in the field I want to study), and will have ~ 1 year of full-time paid RA (in a closely related field to what I want to study) work. Aside from that I have one 2nd author publication, one 2nd author poster at an international conference, one 1st author presentation at a university conference, and 1st author publication under review (may be in press by the time I apply - fingers crossed!)

I used to think my experience was a strength, but reading forums like this one makes me think it is average...

[mabro77]

In response to the first post and to give an idea what I felt I had to do to compensate mediocre GRE scores (I suspected, I would have to work hard on the research aspect, bc English is my second language and I didn't expect to do great on the GRE as a result.) However, I have a 4.0 GPA.

I have been an RA/volunteer in an anxiety lab for almost 3 years now. The researcher under which's supervision I work is quite well known in the field of adult anxiety disorders. During these three years I assisted in several masters and diss studies, administered clinician rated assessment scales, operated several lab tools (cold water press) or computerized assessment tools. Additionally, I have completed my honors thesis in the same lab, which I was also able to present at ABCT conference a few weeks ago (first author). I am also a second author on another poster, presented at the same conference.

Further, I have co-authored a paper (2nd) which is currently under review and I am in the process of compiling info and reviewing a meta analysis with two other authors. additionally, I am preparing to work on another poster or two for next years ABCT conference.

Moreover, I have worked in a developmental/cogn. lab for one year as a paid, part time RA.

Lastly, I worked as a study coordinator on a suicide screening study. I am also a co-author (3rd) on the paper discussing the findings of said study. My tasks involved managing the lab and a team of seven to collect 150 sets of initial and follow up data as well as administering the clinical assessment battery along with other grad students.

[Jvcxk]

Fallen-

I suppose it is average. At the same time, you figure that the top x% of college grads apply to grad school...of those, the ones who are especially motivated are the ones who seek out advice from sources like these. So maybe it's is average but I might qualify that with "among applicants that are seriously considered" (ya know, vs rejected fairly swiftly after passin the gre/gpa screen)

Mabro-

Your resume is seriously impressive! I'm sure it will more than make up for a slightly lower verbal gre score, especially since you seem to have done a significant amount of academic writing.