[Profile Evaluation&Asking for Suggestions]-Quantitative Psychology/Educational Measurement/Cognitive Science

[quantpsych]

I'm  going to apply for PhD in 2014 fall.I have a background in Math&Stat&Business,but more interested in Psychological&Behavioral research.Thus I finally decided to try some areas combining math and psychology together.

 

MY PROFILE

 

Undergrad: An asian university,one semester exchange in a well-known Canadian university

Major: one year in Math,three years in Statistics

Relevant Courses:

Quant :Mathematical Analysis Ⅰ&Ⅱ,Advanced Algebra,Physics,Introductory Statistics, Probability&Mathematical Statistics,Operation Research, Multivariate Statistics,Non-parametric Statistics(gonna take), Categorical Data Analysis(gonna take),Sampling Method(gonna take)

Psych : Cognitive,I/O,Consumer Psychology,Experiment Design and Methodology,Personality(gonna take),Educational(gonna take), Psychometric(gonna take)

CS/Programming:Statistical Software(SAS&R),Database,Management Information System

 
GPA: 3.4 / 4.0,so bad:(
 

Research Experience:1.5 years RA for consumer psychology professor,0.5 year RA for marketing modeling,0.5 year RA in a consumer research lab(running several experiments),3 independent research projects(social psychology&cognitive psychology).Conducting data analysis using SPSS&R

 

Work Experience:0.5 year in an actuarial company and 0.5 year in a market research company,both doing data analysis

 

GRE: V540,Q800,A4.0, Gonna take it again.

 

Research Interests:Longitudinal Data Analysis,SEM,Multi-level Model,Cognitive Modeling

 

Some questions:

1.I decided to apply for quant psych programs while one of my professor suggested me turn to Educational Measurement  which he thought have better job prospects.Is it true?

 

2.I'm also interested in Mathematical Modeling in Cognitive Psychology,but it seems there're not many programs doing this stuff? I'm wondering if anyone could recommend some relevant programs. 

 

3.Due to my low GPA,what should I do to strengthen my profiles?Could profound research experience compensate my weakness in GPA?

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

1) I don't know if this is true but there are a few quant psych programs jointly housed in education and psych. Vanderbilt comes to mind.

 

2) You might want to look at behavior and decision making programs: OSU and CMU have them.

 

3) Research experience can compensate. It depends on what the coursework is that's dragging you down.

 

4) Make sure you take Linear algebra. (I didn't. It wouldn't fit into my schedule. I suspect that this was one of my weaknesses).

[quantpsych]

1) I don't know if this is true but there are a few quant psych programs jointly housed in education and psych. Vanderbilt comes to mind.

 

2) You might want to look at behavior and decision making programs: OSU and CMU have them.

 

3) Research experience can compensate. It depends on what the coursework is that's dragging you down.

 

4) Make sure you take Linear algebra. (I didn't. It wouldn't fit into my schedule. I suspect that this was one of my weaknesses).

Thanks for your help:)

[Graham17]

2.I'm also interested in Mathematical Modeling in Cognitive Psychology,but it seems there're not many programs doing this stuff? I'm wondering if anyone could recommend some relevant programs. 

Your coursework and interests may pair well with "Mathematical Psychology."

http://www.apa.org/research/tools/quantitative/index.aspx#

Page 4 offers a description of the field, with some schools that offer programs.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Graham17

[Graham17]

4) Make sure you take Linear algebra. (I didn't. It wouldn't fit into my schedule. I suspect that this was one of my weaknesses).

It may not show up on transcripts, but you can view a Linear Algebra course from MIT:

If anything, it may assist with the passing of time as programs notify students.

[n_psych]

It may not show up on transcripts, but you can view a Linear Algebra course from MIT:

If anything, it may assist with the passing of time as programs notify students.

Thank you for this!! I'm actually doing my MPH in Biostatistics right now so it will help me in some of my classes (...and the terrible wait for quant psych..).