Getting started

[Talia.A]

Hello everyone, I joined the gradcafe community just today... still having  a bit of trouble navigating through the website but hopefully i'll get the hang of it soon   

I am currently a psychology major and I will be graduating this Fall. A couple of days ago I started looking up psychology masters programs that begin as of spring 2014.  I'm still not sure what branch of psychology i would like to specialize in but I'm leaning towards a behavioral neuroscience program or something that's related to cognitive psychology. I have a GPA of 3.3, some research experience and I will be taking my GREs next week!

Any advice as to where I should start looking? 


 

[PsychGirl1]

There are a lot of threads on here about master's programs- both paid and upaid. Try searching past threads and you will be able to compile a long list. Then visit each program website, figure out how they are organized (ex. mentor model or not), look at prof's research, and start narrowing down your list.

 

Good luck!

[Talia.A]

Alright thanks! 

[Guest |||]

Study well for the GRE.

 

Consider what interests you about behavoiral neuroscience / cognition.  It is very broad to say I am interested in that field, and while its a start, it will be immensely more helpful to say "I am interested in action potentials during learning and the lasting and long-term potentiation" or "I am interested in how we determine whether or not something belongs to the category of cats - do we think have a sterotype we compare future cats to, or do we compare future cats to all previously encountered cats to determine whether or not what we actually see is a cat".

 

The point I am trying to make is, your narrowing attempt could still be quite vague, focused, serious or a bit silly, but, helping break it down will lead you to know whether or not what you are interested in really is a topic of behavioural neuroscience or cognition.

 

Similarly knowing what it is within the field you are interested in will be helpful when considering what school to go to, program to follow, and supervisor to potentially consider.

[Talia.A]

Study well for the GRE.

 

Consider what interests you about behavoiral neuroscience / cognition.  It is very broad to say I am interested in that field, and while its a start, it will be immensely more helpful to say "I am interested in action potentials during learning and the lasting and long-term potentiation" or "I am interested in how we determine whether or not something belongs to the category of cats - do we think have a sterotype we compare future cats to, or do we compare future cats to all previously encountered cats to determine whether or not what we actually see is a cat".

 

The point I am trying to make is, your narrowing attempt could still be quite vague, focused, serious or a bit silly, but, helping break it down will lead you to know whether or not what you are interested in really is a topic of behavioural neuroscience or cognition.

 

Similarly knowing what it is within the field you are interested in will be helpful when considering what school to go to, program to follow, and supervisor to potentially consider.

 

 

I understand thank you your your advice! 

[Lisa44201]

Also, especially if you're looking at either neuroscience or cognition, many programs will have a Fall '14 start.