Lost on the PhD path

[BakedPotatoSoup]

Hello Everyone

 

I'm new here, and this is my first post! 

 

I finished my undergrad in Psychology this year (with another major in Japanese) and I'm currently volunteering at two Psychology labs (one Social, one Sexual Health). I'm trying to improve my profile before I formally apply to any programs. I want to go for a PhD, and I'm leaning towards Social psych, but I'm worried about employment (I'm not interested in being a professor, but I enjoy conducting and applying research) so I've been investigating other more applied branches of Psych (I/O anyone?). I also, like many others, want to go to the best programs out there, but seeing all of the brilliant posters here reminds me of how intimidating applying to grad school can be, haha. Here are my stats so far:

 

Undergrad GPA: Cumulative - 3.32 (went through a rough patch when I used to be Pre-med), Psych - 3.77

GRE: Verbal -160, Quant -155, Analytical - 4.5

 

I'm coming out of undergrad having been a student RA in a developmental lab for about a year. No publications or conference presentations, but we'll see what happens this year. I'm preparing to take the GRE again and am trying to focus my interests to see if I need to look into other branches (I'm interested in non-verbal communication, motivation, secondary language learning in adults, depression, positive psych, adjustment to foreign cultures, and much more). 

 

This year I'm applying to a program to teach English abroad in Japan (I would be there for one year) but I don't know if it's a good idea or not. I'm not sure if my time would be better spent doing something else to prepare for graduate school.

 

What should I be doing right now if I want to stay on the PhD path?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iphi]

Most people I know in Social Psych are now going into industry. There are lots of user experience researcher positions at places like Facebook, Google, Mozilla, etc. Just another path to consider!

[EastCoasting]

Honestly, I would take more undergrad classes to boost your GPA which is very low. Otherwise I would retake the GREs in hope of a grade so seller that your GPA will be forgiven. For some programs it might not matter, but I think for most top ones, either officially or not, 3.5 is kind of a cutoff point, unless you are absolutely brilliant with a perfect fit. I don't think going to Japan for a year will make less competitive. We just accepted a student in our very highly ranked program who worked a couple of years ago in Europe teaching English. I know another student who spent a year in Japan researching microorganisms. Professors appreciate interesting applicants so long as they are focused, bright, and have a good application package (and obviously interview well).