Social Psychology Ph.D as an international student

[ccinnnc]

Hi,

 

I'm an international student. My major is Psychology and I will apply to Social Psychology Ph.D programs in the U.S. this Fall.

Until now I have a CGPA of 3.88, and I am also doing a minor in Communication

I have 2 research experiences each consisting of more than one studies and will have 2 more research experiences including my senior thesis this Fall. I also have 3 work experiences and I am doing a volunteer work. Additionally I did a research assistantship, helping one of my professors and had an experience as a teaching assistant for one course.

 

I applied for the GRE exam. However as I am an international student I do not think that I will have 160+ in the verbal section. I looked at a few schools for the GRE requirements and although they mentioned that there is no minimum grade, the average of students admitted to the programs had around 160 in verbal section.

 

Do you think that having a low verbal grade on GRE would affect my chances even if I have a TOEFL grade of 100?

 

What would you recommend me to do in the mean time?

Should I contact the professors or the schools before applying? As there is an application fee for each school I have to know which schools would definitely not accept me.

Moreover, I also need fellowships to pay for my tuition.

 

So far the schools I have listed include UCLA, UCSB, Berkeley, University of Michigan, I am also going to add a few schools more but I would love to hear your recommendations. My research interests include gender studies and close relationships.

 

Should I do a masters in Europe before applying to U.S. for PhD programs or do you think that my experience is sufficient to be qualified for these schools?

[iphi]

No, the verbal does not matter. They are looking for a "range" within the GRE scores, but even if you don't have it (which 160 definitely WOULD) it really doesn't matter compared to the other parts of your application.

 

Your experience should be sufficient, and I think a Master's in Europe would be a waste of time and money.

[lewin]

If you're concerned about your verbal GRE scores, it becomes especially important to have a great written statement to show that, where it counts, you can write very well. Make sure it's perfect.

 

Also, not too much point worrying about it until you actually get your scores back. Maybe you'll do just fine.

[spunky]

as another international student who is not a native English-speaker i can say that it is very important for you to convey the idea that you can write and express yourself efficiently in English. i know for a fact that professors are wary of taking in students if they feel they'll spend  too much time correcting their grammar or English style mistakes.

 

if you feel like your verbal GRE is lacking, make sure your analytic GRE and your statements are top notch. 

 

i struggled with the verbal GRE as well, but found out that if you memorize a lot of the obscure English words the test uses, you'll be fine. it may be an absolute bore, but if you commit as many words as you can to short-term memory, you'll see  a great improvement in your scores. 

Edited June 21, 2014 by spunky

[Guest joshw4288]

Hi,

 

I'm an international student. My major is Psychology and I will apply to Social Psychology Ph.D programs in the U.S. this Fall.

Until now I have a CGPA of 3.88, and I am also doing a minor in Communication

I have 2 research experiences each consisting of more than one studies and will have 2 more research experiences including my senior thesis this Fall. I also have 3 work experiences and I am doing a volunteer work. Additionally I did a research assistantship, helping one of my professors and had an experience as a teaching assistant for one course.

 

I applied for the GRE exam. However as I am an international student I do not think that I will have 160+ in the verbal section. I looked at a few schools for the GRE requirements and although they mentioned that there is no minimum grade, the average of students admitted to the programs had around 160 in verbal section.

 

Do you think that having a low verbal grade on GRE would affect my chances even if I have a TOEFL grade of 100?

 

What would you recommend me to do in the mean time?

Should I contact the professors or the schools before applying? As there is an application fee for each school I have to know which schools would definitely not accept me.

Moreover, I also need fellowships to pay for my tuition.

 

So far the schools I have listed include UCLA, UCSB, Berkeley, University of Michigan, I am also going to add a few schools more but I would love to hear your recommendations. My research interests include gender studies and close relationships.

 

Should I do a masters in Europe before applying to U.S. for PhD programs or do you think that my experience is sufficient to be qualified for these schools?

As an international student, first make sure that your undergraduate degree is equivalent. I know some places have 3 year university educations that often will not be accepted when applying to graduate programs in the states without doing an equivalent to a 4th year first. I do not think that the verbal score will be too much of hindrance. I have no doubt that schools likely expect that there will be a difference in verbal scores between native english speakers and others, but I still would not take it lightly. It appears you are applying to many of the top 15 or sos programs in social psychology in the country. Many of these schools have acceptance rates of 2-3%, meaning even with excellent experiences, grades, and scores, you may still not get in because of limited spots. At any of these schools you mentioned, full funding will likely be provided for every admitted student so applying to outside funding sources would not be necessary, although if you have secured outside funding prior to the application, this could benefit your application. 

[Applemiu]

Gre verbal score does not matter too much. I would wait till the end of August/early September to contact professors, but you can start working on a general draft for your SOP. Have a look at Bolger's research at Columbia, he studies close relationships.

[ccinnnc]

Thanks everyone for the helpful comments 

[ccinnnc]

As an international student, first make sure that your undergraduate degree is equivalent. I know some places have 3 year university educations that often will not be accepted when applying to graduate programs in the states without doing an equivalent to a 4th year first. I do not think that the verbal score will be too much of hindrance. I have no doubt that schools likely expect that there will be a difference in verbal scores between native english speakers and others, but I still would not take it lightly. It appears you are applying to many of the top 15 or sos programs in social psychology in the country. Many of these schools have acceptance rates of 2-3%, meaning even with excellent experiences, grades, and scores, you may still not get in because of limited spots. At any of these schools you mentioned, full funding will likely be provided for every admitted student so applying to outside funding sources would not be necessary, although if you have secured outside funding prior to the application, this could benefit your application. 

Hi,

First of all, thank you for responding. My school is definitely equivalent, so no problem there. By the way, do you have any idea about the "safety" schools? I think it would be better for me to apply for a few schools that would definitely accept me. As there are too many schools in the U.S. I get lost while searching online  

[hj2012]

In PhD admissions, there is no such thing as a "safety school." You will not be able to find a place that will definitely accept you; even "lower tier" schools routinely reject qualified applicants. That said, the schools you mentioned are absurdly competitive, and you should definitely think about applying to a broader range of places. 

[Guest joshw4288]

Hi,

First of all, thank you for responding. My school is definitely equivalent, so no problem there. By the way, do you have any idea about the "safety" schools? I think it would be better for me to apply for a few schools that would definitely accept me. As there are too many schools in the U.S. I get lost while searching online

Unfortunately, in PhD admissions there is no such thing as safety schools. There are simply too many factors in admissions for doctoral programs. I have known many people who get into top programs in their fields and get rejected to other schools that are not even comparable in terms of prestige. The most important factor seems to be research fit and personality during the interviews. With this said, most programs admit for students to work with a specific professor. Which professors get priority cycles each year. There may be a professor who desires to have you admitted but if that professor is 4th in line, you may be declined anyway, despite having a better profile than the other 3 who were admitted. You need to apply to a broad range of universities in broad geographic locales, all with professors who have as similar research interests as possible. 

[Guest joshw4288]

In PhD admissions, there is no such thing as a "safety school." You will not be able to find a place that will definitely accept you; even "lower tier" schools routinely reject qualified applicants. That said, the schools you mentioned are absurdly competitive, and you should definitely think about applying to a broader range of places. 

Agreed. Limiting yourself to the most prestigious institutions severely decreases your chance to be admitted to a program. This is fine if you are set on one of these schools but prepared to spend 2-3 years re-applying because you may not be admitted the first cycle. My additional advice is do not apply somewhere for the sake of increasing odds of admissions if you would not desire to attend that university anyway. 

[ccinnnc]

Hi again,

So today I took GRE, my verbal score is 154 and my quantitative score is 163. Writing is not available yet. Do you think that I should enter GRE again in order to increase my chances?

P.S. I added Northwestern, University of Rochester, Cornell and Rutgers University to my list.

[spunky]

Hi again,

So today I took GRE, my verbal score is 154 and my quantitative score is 163. Writing is not available yet. Do you think that I should enter GRE again in order to increase my chances?

P.S. I added Northwestern, University of Rochester, Cornell and Rutgers University to my list.

 

well... i mean, it could definitely be better since you barely cracked above the 60th percentile... but i would wait until you get the analytics section score. if it's stellar + you've got a nice TOEFL score, i think you're on the safe side for the non-top schools you mentioned and somewhere in the middle for the top schools. 

 

your profile looks strong though. got any conferences/posters/publications to sparkle it up? 

[Applemiu]

I PM you with a list of possible POIs.

[ccinnnc]

well... i mean, it could definitely be better since you barely cracked above the 60th percentile... but i would wait until you get the analytics section score. if it's stellar + you've got a nice TOEFL score, i think you're on the safe side for the non-top schools you mentioned and somewhere in the middle for the top schools. 

 

your profile looks strong though. got any conferences/posters/publications to sparkle it up? 

 

Well, I do have a poster presentation but no publications yet.

It is really boring to study all those words and memorize them but I think I will need to try once again.

 

Even in Rutgers University which is not a top university I guess, the average verbal score was 160.

[spunky]

 

It is really boring to study all those words and memorize them but I think I will need to try once again.

 

 

 

 

i know it is super boring

 

but from an (ex-) international student to another i'd strongly recommend you do it (i think i said on my first post on your thread?)

 

the fact of the matter is that there isn't anything particularly challenging in the verbal GRE *IF* you know all those weird words they throw at you. i mean, analogies are just analogies... unless you have no clue of what the word means so you can't relate them. just take it one step at a time... get one of those GRE word lists and do 10 or 20 every day. then add another 10 or 20 and so on until the exam comes. just to be on the safe side i memorized maybe close to 600-700 words? (although if you ask me about any of those today i ain't got no clue )

[ccinnnc]

the fact of the matter is that there isn't anything particularly challenging in the verbal GRE *IF* you know all those weird words they throw at you. i mean, analogies are just analogies... unless you have no clue of what the word means so you can't relate them. just take it one step at a time... get one of those GRE word lists and do 10 or 20 every day. then add another 10 or 20 and so on until the exam comes. just to be on the safe side i memorized maybe close to 600-700 words? (although if you ask me about any of those today i ain't got no clue )

 

You are right that it is not a very challenging thing after you memorize all those words, but when school starts I will have a lot to do; thesis, additional research projects, assistantships etc. That is the reason why I did not want to add another thing to study and work for in the list. But I mean, I want to get into a good school so.. there isn't anything else to do at this point  I guess. Back to studying 

[ccinnnc]

analytical writing score 4.5, the percentile is 80. Would this compensate my verbal score?

[spunky]

analytical writing score 4.5, the percentile is 80. Would this compensate my verbal score?

 

i think it would... unless you're applying to top programs (like you mentioned in your original post).

 

keep in mind you'll be one among hundreds of potential applicants and there're usually less than 10 openings (or so) for new grad students to fill in. you wanna make sure you're giving it your best shot. 

[Applemiu]

i think it would... unless you're applying to top programs (like you mentioned in your original post).

 

keep in mind you'll be one among hundreds of potential applicants and there're usually less than 10 openings (or so) for new grad students to fill in. you wanna make sure you're giving it your best shot. 

 

This is true, but above a certain basic level what matters most are research experience and fit, I think.

[spunky]

This is true, but above a certain basic level what matters most are research experience and fit, I think.

 

the issue i see with top programs is that *SO* many people apply to them and there are *SO* many qualified candidates, that small differences (which should mostly be irrelevant), can be the difference between getting an acceptance or a rejection letter. 

[Elliephant]

Hi,

 

I'm an international student. My major is Psychology and I will apply to Social Psychology Ph.D programs in the U.S. this Fall.

Until now I have a CGPA of 3.88, and I am also doing a minor in Communication

I have 2 research experiences each consisting of more than one studies and will have 2 more research experiences including my senior thesis this Fall. I also have 3 work experiences and I am doing a volunteer work. Additionally I did a research assistantship, helping one of my professors and had an experience as a teaching assistant for one course.

 

I applied for the GRE exam. However as I am an international student I do not think that I will have 160+ in the verbal section. I looked at a few schools for the GRE requirements and although they mentioned that there is no minimum grade, the average of students admitted to the programs had around 160 in verbal section.

 

Do you think that having a low verbal grade on GRE would affect my chances even if I have a TOEFL grade of 100?

 

What would you recommend me to do in the mean time?

Should I contact the professors or the schools before applying? As there is an application fee for each school I have to know which schools would definitely not accept me.

Moreover, I also need fellowships to pay for my tuition.

 

So far the schools I have listed include UCLA, UCSB, Berkeley, University of Michigan, I am also going to add a few schools more but I would love to hear your recommendations. My research interests include gender studies and close relationships.

 

Should I do a masters in Europe before applying to U.S. for PhD programs or do you think that my experience is sufficient to be qualified for these schools?

Did you end up retaking the GRE? How did it go? I'm asking because my scores are similar to yours and I will be retaking mine soon (and I'm nervous my scores won't improve). All the best to you!

[psych face]

Moreover, I also need fellowships to pay for my tuition.

 

I think you need to look carefully at your schools before you apply. A lot of the schools I applied to said specifically that international students had to come with full funding of their own. Check the applications carefully for that.