international student - i/o psychology

[yaminishruti]

Hi,

 

I have completed B.A. and M.A in psychology from India. I have a few questions regarding admissions:-

 

1. What exactly are official transcripts? Universities mention that they need transcripts to be sent by the university I have previously attended in order to be considered official. However many universities in India just issue transcripts signed & sealed in envelopes to the students. Would these be considered official?

 

2. I gave GRE in 2011 & my scores were Verbal - 500, Quant - 580. Are these scores decent enough for applying for PhD programs in i-o psychology? I'm retaking GRE in november. What would be a good score according to the new format?

 

3. Do universities prefer candidates who have a specific research topic they want to study or would stating broad areas be enough?

 

4. I dont have any research experience as such but I have been working in the area of development of aptitude and behavioural assessments in private organisations. Would this be relevant experience for universities?

[BeingThere]

Hi,

 

I have completed B.A. and M.A in psychology from India. I have a few questions regarding admissions:-

 

1. What exactly are official transcripts? Universities mention that they need transcripts to be sent by the university I have previously attended in order to be considered official. However many universities in India just issue transcripts signed & sealed in envelopes to the students. Would these be considered official?

 

2. I gave GRE in 2011 & my scores were Verbal - 500, Quant - 580. Are these scores decent enough for applying for PhD programs in i-o psychology? I'm retaking GRE in november. What would be a good score according to the new format?

 

3. Do universities prefer candidates who have a specific research topic they want to study or would stating broad areas be enough?

 

4. I dont have any research experience as such but I have been working in the area of development of aptitude and behavioural assessments in private organisations. Would this be relevant experience for universities?

 

1. Official transcripts are issued directly from your school in a sealed envelope, usually with some marking on the envelope flap or some indication that the envelope seal has not been tampered with. 

 

2. Your GRE scores are low compared to what seems to be the average scores of students accepted into PhD programs in I/O.  Go here to search through a list of I/O programs and see GPA and GRE averages for I/O programs:  http://www.siop.org/gtp/GtpLookup.asp       <<this site also has links to I/O program websites where you can read about the general standards and program content of each program. 

 

3. You should (ideally) be interested in the specific research of a specific professor(s) at that university.  Professors need to have expertise in the topics you want to research in order to be able to advise you.  Additionally, they want students who know their research topic areas so the students can be useful to them as RAs.  Again, use the siop.org site links to go read about faculty research interests on program websites.  For example, to say you are interested in selection is a bit too broad.  You should refine that a bit to, say, assessment centers or personality as it relates to selection or whatever other more specific aspect of selection would be of interest. 

 

4. Depends on the program you apply to.  Most schools strongly prefer students with research experience, for a number of reasons which I won't go into here, so your lack of research experience will put you at a serious disadvantage for many programs.  Your practical I/O work experience is great and will definitely be a plus. 

 

Do you know what I/O topics you are interested in conducting research in?  Is there something about the experiences of your current job that have made you want to research a certain area?  Why do you want to get a PhD?

Edited October 20, 2013 by Bren2014