Prospective Applicant, 2015

[Saman]

Hi Folks,

 

Hope you are doing great !! I have some questions to ask I came across recently while shortlisting universities for Fall 2015. It would be great if you through some light on these questions and help me to get on a right track. Anyway these are as follows.....

 

 

 

1. My GRE V score-151 (Though TOEFL is above the minimum but not good-87) is under the minimum requirement of the university while my Q is above average along with all the remaining one's...does it mean that my application would be straight away rejected ??

 

2. While writing the SOP for Master's, is it required to mention your research interest which you want to pursue in your Ph.D ??

 

3. In Ph.D's SOP, applicants have to mention their POI whom they are really interested in working with for their doctoral program or it's more of the university's job to assign you the faculty which they think are right irrespective of your choice ??

 

4. And in the last, What if I have broad research interest e.g. five or six topics but the faculty of the program shares only two or three topics with me then should I still state all my research interest in the SOP or I should go on emphasizing little more on the shared interest while ignoring the rest of them.

 

 

Please let me know your thoughts and views on above mentioned queries.

 

Thank you so much in advance   

[clinicalpsychphd20]

1. Are you applying to PhD or Masters programs? If you are applying to PhD programs, you should definetly raise that Verbal Score. Verbal is a lot of vocabulary, so if you spend the next 3 or so months memorizing a bunch of words this is totally doable

 

2.Not sure, but I would think you need to mention research interests in a Masters program app and career goals

 

3. You should def mention POI in Phd APplications

 

4. It depends on how broad the other interests are. Ei - if you are interested in eating disorders and depression and the PI is only interested in eating disorders, you should not mention depression. But if the PI is interested in the etiology of eating disorders and you are interested in etiology and assessment of eating disorders, I would think you can mention both. Don't be a chameleon but make sure you can do the research you want with your PI

[Saman]

1. Are you applying to PhD or Masters programs? If you are applying to PhD programs, you should definetly raise that Verbal Score. Verbal is a lot of vocabulary, so if you spend the next 3 or so months memorizing a bunch of words this is totally doable

 

2.Not sure, but I would think you need to mention research interests in a Masters program app and career goals

 

3. You should def mention POI in Phd APplications

 

4. It depends on how broad the other interests are. Ei - if you are interested in eating disorders and depression and the PI is only interested in eating disorders, you should not mention depression. But if the PI is interested in the etiology of eating disorders and you are interested in etiology and assessment of eating disorders, I would think you can mention both. Don't be a chameleon but make sure you can do the research you want with your PI

 

Thank you so much ClinicalPsychPhd20 for your thoughts. And yes I'm applying for Ph.D in I/O Psychology, and Master's as a back up. Anyway I don't think I can boost those V score since I have done my best and memorized  lots of words already but couldn't achieve the desired score. Do you think in anyway I can compensate for that low V score in my app. Please let me know views.

 

Again thanks for your response     

[adela]

1. Depends on the university and program. If the program is really swamped with lots of applications, low GREs or GPAs might be a way of immediately cutting out some applicants. 

 

2. I did. It's a good way of letting the committee know where you're going with your degree. The MS program I'm going into can be set up to help people like me who  are interested in research and plan on going into a PhD program. 

 

3. I asked the professor who is in charge of the MA program at the school I got my BA from about this. He said yes. I did so for the program I'm doing my MS at, but it didn't really matter because the professor I really wanted isn't actually one of the MS program's advisers. Oh well! 

 

4. That sounds like a good idea. Touch on the areas you're interested, but emphasize the ones that are more closely affiliated with the specific program you're applying to. 

 

Good luck with your applications!!

[clinicalpsychphd20]

Thank you so much ClinicalPsychPhd20 for your thoughts. And yes I'm applying for Ph.D in I/O Psychology, and Master's as a back up. Anyway I don't think I can boost those V score since I have done my best and memorized  lots of words already but couldn't achieve the desired score. Do you think in anyway I can compensate for that low V score in my app. Please let me know views.

 

Again thanks for your response     

 

Hmm, it's tough to tell, it's really school dependent. I would apply to broad range of schools in terms of how competitive they are/etc. 

[Saman]

 

1. Depends on the university and program. If the program is really swamped with lots of applications, low GREs or GPAs might be a way of immediately cutting out some applicants. 

 

2. I did. It's a good way of letting the committee know where you're going with your degree. The MS program I'm going into can be set up to help people like me who  are interested in research and plan on going into a PhD program. 

 

3. I asked the professor who is in charge of the MA program at the school I got my BA from about this. He said yes. I did so for the program I'm doing my MS at, but it didn't really matter because the professor I really wanted isn't actually one of the MS program's advisers. Oh well! 

 

4. That sounds like a good idea. Touch on the areas you're interested, but emphasize the ones that are more closely affiliated with the specific program you're applying to. 

 

Good luck with your applications!!

 

 

Thank you Adele for your comments, you almost solved my queries but you said in Q. 2 that it's good to let the committee know where you are going in terms of research interest but what if the research interest doesn't match with the faculty ?? Would that be a problem like Ph.D application. As far as my instincts are concerned I think it's not required to match your research interest with faculty for Master's... Right ??

 

 

 

 

Hmm, it's tough to tell, it's really school dependent. I would apply to broad range of schools in terms of how competitive they are/etc. 

 

Ahh I see. I'm applying to 12 Ph.D program which I think vary in their requirement. I really hope that I get in one of them, anyway thank you so much for insights.

 

Best of luck with your studies   

[adela]

Thank you Adele for your comments, you almost solved my queries but you said in Q. 2 that it's good to let the committee know where you are going in terms of research interest but what if the research interest doesn't match with the faculty ?? Would that be a problem like Ph.D application. As far as my instincts are concerned I think it's not required to match your research interest with faculty for Master's... Right ??

 

 

 

 

 

I think that's correct. Definitely not important to the extent it would be for a PhD program. My research interests for my MS aren't too closely related with my potential advisers, same for the other school I applied to and got into. I think the fact that I AM interested in research, was specific about what topics, and have research experience helped me along.