I/O Applicants 2010!

[fuddy]

Hey guys-

Just wanted to have a thread for anyone planning on applying to I/O Psychology programs this fall. I think I've finally decided on the ten schools I'm applying to. Looks like it's going to be a tough year with this economy. Let the games begin...?

[uberskooper]

I may be able to give you some advice if you have any questions.

I started the last I/O thread (it looks like it's still there at the bottom of the page). Since that time, I've been accepted into a Ph.D program and will begin classes in about 3 weeks.

Out of curiosity, which programs are you applying for? I keep hearing that last year was a tough year to get in and that this year isn't any better. I personally think that it doesn't matter much for serious minded students.

[fuddy]

Thanks for the reply uberskooper! Yes, I thoroughly stalked the 2008 and 2009 I/O topics. I'm assuming this year will be as competitive as last year, but you know what happens when you assume.

Sorry for the laundry list - I'm currently considering these 11 programs and am looking to maybe narrow it down by a few. This is based on interests, location, all that good stuff.

GMU

GWU

UIUC

USF

UMD

Columbia

Penn State

Georgia Tech

Illinois Tech

Depaul

UHouston

I have somewhere between a 3.8-3.9 GPA, a 1370 GRE, research experiences in 2 different labs (but no publications, and my school does not have I/O), and will be doing an honors thesis this year.

Any words of advice? I'm still mainly in the research stage and am a little discouraged and overwhelmed.... I guess time will tell!

[prefers_pencils]

I'm starting a master's program in I/O this fall and plan to reapply for a PhD afterward, so I hope you don't mind my two cents.

FWIW, Columbia's program - at Teachers College - is not fully funded. Paying per credit hour for 96-ish credits, plus the cost of NYC living, is an awful lot of money! I don't mean to assume your monetary status, but I think it's something to consider when you look into their program.

That being said, good luck applying! Your stats seem great. I applied only to master's programs, as I had a 3.3 GPA and a 1290 GRE and didn't think I was a competitive candidate.

[dherres]

FWIW, Columbia's program - at Teachers College - is not fully funded. Paying per credit hour for 96-ish credits, plus the cost of NYC living, is an awful lot of money! I don't mean to assume your monetary status, but I think it's something to consider when you look into their program.

Ditto. And scholarships/financial assistance from the school is sorely limited as their priority is education, not psychology. I'll also add that apparently, they don't have that strong a presence in the field.... of course they're decently-regarded, it's Columbia, but not particularly noteworthy like Penn State or Minnesota (the former of which, I've learned, leans more heavily on training for academia rather than industry, despite what they advertise -- this coming from two different sources).

That being said, good luck applying! Your stats seem great. I applied only to master's programs, as I had a 3.3 GPA and a 1290 GRE and didn't think I was a competitive candidate.

Never sell yourself short. My quantitative stats were about the same, and I still managed to get accepted into one PhD program and waitlisted at 2 others! Talk about a shocker to me.... lol!

I'd also add that you should email faculty at different programs you're considering. Ask what sorts of projects they might have in the works if they're able to discuss them, maybe mention your interests as they relate to the professor's published work, and if you feel comfortable (maybe in the 2nd or 3rd email?) ask if they are taking students for this next year. I had planned on applying to Berkeley as they had an I/O faculty, but as it turned out, he was leaving the department for an admin position elsewhere and so wasn't going to accept any students for the fall. Had I not asked, I would have wasted the time and money applying -- and then felt the crushing weight of rejection in March!

I assume you're familiar with SIOP?

[IOPsych83]

From what I understand GWU and Columbia are still Org. programs, they have said they were adapting a balanced program to follow SIOP guidelines, but I don't believe they have yet (you can tell by looking at the faculty research interests).

When I was applying 3 years ago I had a few people tell me some pretty discouraging things about GT, regarding the profs fighting for students and not collaborating on research (very competitive environment).

I have heard Illionois Tech invites multitudes of students (30-35) and then they weed students out, you need to be very proactive to get attention from advisors, etc.

I have heard good things about GMU, USF, UIUC,UMD, and PSU. PSU and UIUC prefer to train individuals for academia, so if you want to go there make sure you put that in your SOP.

Let me know if I can help more, I am beginning my 3rd year in a PhD program.

[TexasMark]

Hi

How hard is it to get into these 3 schools for MA?

Teachers College

New York University

CUNY Baruch

I have a 3.4 GPA at a local college here in Texas, major GPA in psychology with 3.96

I have worked in

Social/Organization lab - 1 year

I/O Psychology lab -1 year

Cognitive Psychology lab - 1 year

as well, a technology/psychology internship for half a year.

Unfortunately my GRE will suffer, and I am expecting a

650 Quantitative

450 Verbal

1100 Total

Assuming it is that low, do you think I have a decent shot at any of these schools. I know NYU said they want a minimum of 580 on verbal GRE, and I am far from it. Anyway I'll apply and let everyone know what happen. I really want to come to New York!

[amiddleton]

I'm applying this fall, but I don't know if I'll get in anywhere. I actually already have a degree in English. I'm working on finishing up my 18th hour of Psych classes, and I'm applying to Master's programs in the hopes that I can be accepted as an English major. Working against me, though, is my ~3.15 GPA (overall and in English). I do have a 3.8 in Psychology,though, and I'm working on my first semester of research assistance. I'm currently studying for the GRE. I'm not great at standardized testing, though.

I'm not expecting anything grand, but I'm applying to places like UT-Chattanooga, App. State, East Carolina, Radford, and so forth.

Anyone have any recommendations on how to improve my chances?

[IOPsych83]

I would recommend focusing on improving/working on the quantative score of your GRE (not that I know what you have, haha). Above a 700 in quant will greatly increasing the chances of being accepted into I/O programs.

[TexasMark]

730Q/430V for me :x

[amiddleton]

I would recommend focusing on improving/working on the quantative score of your GRE (not that I know what you have, haha). Above a 700 in quant will greatly increasing the chances of being accepted into I/O programs.

I haven't taken it yet. I'll definitely work toward that, though! Thanks for the advice!

I should do relatively well on the English section, being an English major/creative writer.

A final question, and this one might be kind of dumb - Do I need to take the GRE before applying? With the SAT, you could take it and have the scores sent to schools even after you had submitted your application. As you might have guessed, I haven't even looked at an actual grad school application.

[alexis]

I'm not applying to I/O programs, but something similar; I want to study organizational behavior, and I'm applying to both social psych and management PhD programs that have it (I'm limited by geography and unfortunately no I/O programs are in my area, but a lot of the profs have an I/O background).

Does anyone know how specific you have to be in your application in regards to your research interest in I/O (which I hope is similar to the social psych app)? Do you have to know the specific question you want to study for the next five years? Or is just saying you want to research topic x within OB enough?

A little bit about me: GRE: 600V, 730Q, 5.0AW; GPA: 3.72 from top-25 undergrad, 3.98 from grad; 3 years work experience, no published papers or lab experience. I'm feeling quite discouraged by the application process, in part by the lack of support I thought I'd get from some professors; I'm starting to worry that I'm going to get rejected from everywhere!

[dherres]

I'm not applying to I/O programs, but something similar; I want to study organizational behavior, and I'm applying to both social psych and management PhD programs that have it (I'm limited by geography and unfortunately no I/O programs are in my area, but a lot of the profs have an I/O background).

Does anyone know how specific you have to be in your application in regards to your research interest in I/O (which I hope is similar to the social psych app)? Do you have to know the specific question you want to study for the next five years? Or is just saying you want to research topic x within OB enough?

A little bit about me: GRE: 600V, 730Q, 5.0AW; GPA: 3.72 from top-25 undergrad, 3.98 from grad; 3 years work experience, no published papers or lab experience. I'm feeling quite discouraged by the application process, in part by the lack of support I thought I'd get from some professors; I'm starting to worry that I'm going to get rejected from everywhere!

The lack of lab experience is going to hurt, in all honesty, although everything else looks great. I recommend being as specific as possible; you'd be VERY lucky to know going in what you're going to write your dissertation on. Be specific enough that you can identify one or two faculty members in your application who share your interests. In some cases for me, I also wrote about why I became interested in the topic (although some of it was just bs, lol. But you do what you have to do to get in).

[IOPsych83]

The lack of lab experience is going to hurt, in all honesty, although everything else looks great. I recommend being as specific as possible; you'd be VERY lucky to know going in what you're going to write your dissertation on. Be specific enough that you can identify one or two faculty members in your application who share your interests. In some cases for me, I also wrote about why I became interested in the topic (although some of it was just bs, lol. But you do what you have to do to get in).

I agree with alot of what dherres said , but in I/O programs they don't really expect you to know exactly what your research interests are and they expect they might change (unless you already have a master's in the area). I do think you should at least decide what areas interest you (you just don't need specifics) and definately frame that around why you would want to work with TWO professors in their program. The reason I say two is because some profs may have too many students or are not taking students that year and you could have by mistake shot yourself in the foot for that program by only choosing one prof.

Both management and social psych programs will put a lot more emphasis on research experience, so I agree that will hurt you. Both of those degrees lead to professor positions (almost exclusively) where you will be doing research, so they want to see you can do research and understand what it takes.

[dherres]

I agree with alot of what dherres said , but in I/O programs they don't really expect you to know exactly what your research interests are and they expect they might change (unless you already have a master's in the area). I do think you should at least decide what areas interest you (you just don't need specifics) and definately frame that around why you would want to work with TWO professors in their program. The reason I say two is because some profs may have too many students or are not taking students that year and you could have by mistake shot yourself in the foot for that program by only choosing one prof.

Both management and social psych programs will put a lot more emphasis on research experience, so I agree that will hurt you. Both of those degrees lead to professor positions (almost exclusively) where you will be doing research, so they want to see you can do research and understand what it takes.

Your first point I'm finding to be spot-on, at least at my school. The social and clinical people have come in and immediately begun work with their advisors, with whom they had discussed topics and research over the summer. Virtually no one in our program (my year and current, older students) were in that position. It's comforting to me to not have that pressure to commit at the outset! I say to be as specific as possible because (I think) it's something they like to see: that you know what you're doing and have put thought into your decision, you have specific goals and direction, and (apparently, at least) aren't going to grad school simply to stay in school. It's similar to the "what do you want to do with your PhD" question: say you want to do research, you love doing research, you never want to stop doing research -- DON'T say you want to go applied and work in the field, regardless of whether that's the case (which for most people in I/O that I've met, it is!). Also, I was told to mention 2 people not only for the reasons IOPsych83 listed, but also so you have a back-up plan in case that faculty suddenly leaves the department/school to go elsewhere. Additionally, looking further down the road to defense time (and this one may be a stretch, but again, it's what I was told by someone who's done grad school), you typically have to have at least two individuals from your program on your committee and this implies you've taken that into consideration as well.

[TexasMark]

I know most I/O schools vary to a degree, but approximately how much weight would be placed in the analytical section of GRE in relevance to everything else for most masters programs? I think Im in real trouble, 740q/430v/4.0a. thakns

[IOPsych83]

I know most I/O schools vary to a degree, but approximately how much weight would be placed in the analytical section of GRE in relevance to everything else for most masters programs? I think Im in real trouble, 740q/430v/4.0a. thakns

It looks like you are in the range for a master's degree with an 1170. The quant. being high is also very helpful. I can't answer for how competitive it was this year, dherres would be a better judge of that. From what I saw the down economy caused a lot more people to apply to graduate school, so master's might be more competitive than they were a few years ago.

I have never heard anyone mention the analytical section when talking about qualified or unqualified students, I think a 4 is something they would just pass right over. Now below a 4 might raise some eyebrows, but I tend to think you are fine.

[dherres]

Scoring the analytical portion is somewhat subjective and relatively difficult to accurately quantify. Beyond a cursory "Ok, this person didn't "fail" that portion," it doesn't hold much weight or meaning for schools.

[iopsych86]

Hi all,

I'm new here. Does anyone know anything about the MSc program at London School of Economics?

Thanks!

[GBear]

Hey All,

I'm new and trying to get a feel for schools that i should apply to and what i should expect from them. It seems that timing is just as important as credentials.

I'm hoping my 3.9gpa, 1350gre, and 4 publications (i'm only primary author on 2 though and only one is in I/O) are enough to get me into an elite school. Also i'm considering deferring acceptance to next year.

I'm looking for a Ph.D program with emphasis on scientific research and leadership as it affects arousal and indirectly performance. I also need a very good assistantship package...

Any school suggestions?

I like clemson, NC state, uconn, so far...

[bleez01]

Hey GBear

you could also apply to Urbana-Champaign, Michigan State, Penn State.. They're really hard to get in but your credentials are awesome!

http://www.siop.org/gtp/gtplookup.asp

here's a list to follow...

Is any one applying to Virginia Tech? I need help... In their application they want "a statement describing your scientific and professional goals and how they fit with the emphases of the program to which you are applying. Please identify faculty with whom you would like to work on research."

I can't find any of the faculty's research interests online.. What should I do? Should I email them directly?

[dherres]

GBear -- yes, look at SIOP's site, there're also a few studies they list that are a bit outdated but a good starting point on where to look if you're looking at "elite" programs.

I can't find any of the faculty's research interests online.. What should I do? Should I email them directly?

That's weird!! You could try emailing, asking what projects they anticipate starting soon, or first you could try doing a literature search in PsychInfo (if you have access) or GoogleScholar for papers they've authored. That'd give you a bit of a better sense of their interests.

[alexis]

I agree with alot of what dherres said , but in I/O programs they don't really expect you to know exactly what your research interests are and they expect they might change (unless you already have a master's in the area). I do think you should at least decide what areas interest you (you just don't need specifics) and definately frame that around why you would want to work with TWO professors in their program. The reason I say two is because some profs may have too many students or are not taking students that year and you could have by mistake shot yourself in the foot for that program by only choosing one prof.

Both management and social psych programs will put a lot more emphasis on research experience, so I agree that will hurt you. Both of those degrees lead to professor positions (almost exclusively) where you will be doing research, so they want to see you can do research and understand what it takes.

Thank you so much for the advice! I actually just recently joined a lab in my master's program- my professors OB lab, and we're doing work on innovation. It's a great study we're working on and I hope it will add some strength to my application, even though I've just started it, I feel it makes my application & SoP much stronger. For my top program choice, the management program's profs have done a lot of work on innovation & creativity, so for that program, I've stated that as my research interest...hopefully that's specific enough. Thank you again for all the wonderful feedback!!

[GBear]

Thank you all for your awesome advice!! I'm looking into all those schools too. I'm hoping to head somewhere a little more sunny for a few years after growing up in VT and doing undergrad in MA. But if i were lucky enough to get into Penn State or Michigan it would be hard to turn down. Next step is contacting faculty members. How do they typically respond to emails from potential students?

[manatee08]

Just to throw this out there...

I'm a second year I/O PhD student at the University of Akron, and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the program. We have faculty spanning a huge variety of expertise areas, the culture and people are wonderful, the funding is excellent, and both research and applied opportunities are plentiful.

It is a competitive program to get in to, but it is definitely worth applying!

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or need advice about the application process- aecarr10(at)gmail.com.

Edited October 21, 2009 by manatee08