Fall 2016 I/O Psychology

[I/OFall2016]

6 hours ago, ihatechoosingusernames said:

If you happened to be at UConn this weekend I just want to say how great it was to meet you all! 

It was great to meet you!:)

[I/OApplicant]

Hey everyone! At this point I have a few offers that I am considering (to all of those on the wait list, I will be making my decision soon!) but I am wondering how you all feel about the rankings posted on the SIOP website. How important do you think ranking really is for job prospects, especially non-academic positions? There is one program I really enjoyed visiting and feel like it would be a great fit for me, but it is not as highly ranked as some of the others I have been accepted to. Any thoughts?

[ihatechoosingusernames]

12 minutes ago, I/OApplicant said:

Hey everyone! At this point I have a few offers that I am considering (to all of those on the wait list, I will be making my decision soon!) but I am wondering how you all feel about the rankings posted on the SIOP website. How important do you think ranking really is for job prospects, especially non-academic positions? There is one program I really enjoyed visiting and feel like it would be a great fit for me, but it is not as highly ranked as some of the others I have been accepted to. Any thoughts?

I think it depends. I think the rankings are good starting points, at the very least. It's good to know how often professors are publishing and publishing (and especially how often they publish with student co-authors). I also see that a lot of faculty members tend to come from the same top universities, so if you were looking for an academic career you might want to take that under consideration. For non-academic careers, I think name recognition is important (as is a good program alumni base), but if your school can help set you up with a dream research opportunity or internship, that's great. Fit is super, super important and I don't think you can pass up a place where you felt at "home," especially since it's a huge commitment. I'm of the firm belief that you'll flourish if you go to a school you're passionate about, with research you love, under an advisor you enjoy.

I mean, how much of a difference are we talking regarding rankings? 

[I/OApplicant]

20 hours ago, ihatechoosingusernames said:

I think it depends. I think the rankings are good starting points, at the very least. It's good to know how often professors are publishing and publishing (and especially how often they publish with student co-authors). I also see that a lot of faculty members tend to come from the same top universities, so if you were looking for an academic career you might want to take that under consideration. For non-academic careers, I think name recognition is important (as is a good program alumni base), but if your school can help set you up with a dream research opportunity or internship, that's great. Fit is super, super important and I don't think you can pass up a place where you felt at "home," especially since it's a huge commitment. I'm of the firm belief that you'll flourish if you go to a school you're passionate about, with research you love, under an advisor you enjoy.

I mean, how much of a difference are we talking regarding rankings? 

I do think it's important to have an idea of how much the faculty are publishing, but the rankings don't indicate how much of that publishing is what student co-authors, which I think is even more important for prospective students. I'm also concerned about advisor experience/tenure because I've heard both positive and negative things about older professors: some say that are great because they have a larger network and are more well-known in the field, whereas others say that because they have tenure they are less motivated to publish and care less about student success. Of course, during the interview/visitation weekends, it's hard to judge this because obviously students and faculty are going to be raving about their own programs. Is it possible to get an objective perspective on this?

[ihatechoosingusernames]

21 minutes ago, I/OApplicant said:

I do think it's important to have an idea of how much the faculty are publishing, but the rankings don't indicate how much of that publishing is what student co-authors, which I think is even more important for prospective students. I'm also concerned about advisor experience/tenure because I've heard both positive and negative things about older professors: some say that are great because they have a larger network and are more well-known in the field, whereas others say that because they have tenure they are less motivated to publish and care less about student success. Of course, during the interview/visitation weekends, it's hard to judge this because obviously students and faculty are going to be raving about their own programs. Is it possible to get an objective perspective on this?

Objectivity would be pretty difficult to achieve overall I've been able to email students I've met afterwards and ask for their opinions. Some of them definitely try and sell the program, but they also give honest opinions about mentorship styles which I find to be very helpful. I've also been successful with asking if they feel like they have plenty of opportunities to publish. Some aren't as interested in publishing a lot because they want to go applied, but most are cognizant of the fact that they need to publish to make a name for themselves. You can also try to find your POI's profile on Google Scholar. If they have a profile set up there you can see how many publications they've put out in the last 5 years (I mean, they show all years, but I'm mostly interested in the past 5 or so). You can also check co-authors and see if they've been students or other professors. 

I think it really depends from person to person about whether or not they're still going strong when they're older. I've talked to some professors who are still active, involved, and care deeply, and others who have clearly stated that they're slowing down and pursuing more casual lines of research. For me, I've tried to look at programs that have more than one faculty member I could potentially work with. If one is a dud for whatever reason, I don't want to have to reapply or transfer schools. I just want to hop from one lab to the next.

 

[I/Oaspirant]

On 2/29/2016 at 0:50 PM, lifealwaysworksout said:

I applied to IIT but not Bowling Green State, what's up?

I have been accepted for MS in PHRD at IIT. Any idea about job prospects for international students?

Anyone got acceptance from Rice University? Still awaiting results!(Should I still hope?)

Edited March 2, 2016 by I/Oaspirant

[pri5]

On February 8, 2016 at 3:54 PM, school_cas said:

Hey, I think it depends on the program.  For example, University of Akron has had phone interviews and have invited some interviewees to their recruitment weekend (as far as I know, they have not sent out accept/reject decisions yet).

I've not seen some other places on the board yet, such as Clemson and SUNY Albany, both of which had a January 15th deadline.

Not sure if this helps or not.

It was helpful.  I haven't heard anything yet and have only seen one school I applied to on here so I'm hoping the other ones are still deciding. It seems like most schools have made decisions though 

[lifealwaysworksout]

2 hours ago, I/Oaspirant said:

I have been accepted for MS in PHRD at IIT. Any idea about job prospects for international students?

Anyone got acceptance from Rice University? Still awaiting results!(Should I still hope?)

Sorry, I have no idea about that. 

[Zero Darko Thirty]

Released an offer to DePaul, good luck to anyone on the waitlist! 

[eagereyez]

I've been waitlisted at MNSU. It's my top choice, so I'm crossing my fingers hoping a spot opens up. 

[kprothf]

Anyone applying to St. Cloud State University?

Edited March 4, 2016 by kprothf

[Infinite544]

On 10/8/2015 at 5:31 PM, goodenough said:

It sounds like with your stats this round you should be pretty strong. Your work experience, GPA, and research are solid. Maybe don't apply to too many reach schools that have crazy first round GRE cutoffs, but otherwise you should just go for research fit! What do you think held you back the first time you applied?

Well I can say that I got admitted into a program at Florida Institute of Technology! I got wait listed for Saint Louis University and moved to Masters for George Washington University. I don't know about funding with Florida. For those who received offers, did you get an e-mail with funding info or in a letting the mail, etc?

[I/OApplicant]

1 hour ago, Infinite544 said:

Well I can say that I got admitted into a program at Florida Institute of Technology! I got wait listed for Saint Louis University and moved to Masters for George Washington University. I don't know about funding with Florida. For those who received offers, did you get an e-mail with funding info or in a letting the mail, etc?

For my offers, I got letters via email with the funding info in them and then mailed letters a few days later. If you haven't received that yet, you could probably reach out to the program director and ask about the funding situation.

[ihatechoosingusernames]

So does anyone know 100% for sure where they're going? I just need to hear back from a few places (seriously, let me know either way!) before I make a decision, but this month seems to be crawling by. I'm ready for April! 

[Nanu]

Any opinions about the Social - Organizational Psych master's program at Teacher's college, Columbia University? Please help! 

[ct2]

Hi all, 

New to this website....but I'm still waiting to hear from most of my schools. I suspect that no news is bad news, but anyone know about any of the following: 
Rice University, UCONN, Virginia Polytech, University of Georgia, or University of North Carolina-Charlotte (Organizational Science).

I've had a few unofficial rejections, and am wondering if anyone can give me some feedback on my application. Most of the schools were unwilling to do so. My GREs were 162 verbal, 154 quantitative, 4.5 analytical. I have an undergrad GPA of 3.83 with a 4.0 in psychology-related courses, and a 3.97 for my masters in counseling psychology. I have a bit over a year of research experience, with some conference presentations under my belt, but it is in counseling psychology-related topics because we do not have any I/O programs near me. However, I did intern at a management consulting firm under a woman with a PhD in I/O. Anyone have any advice for me?

[school_cas]

55 minutes ago, ct2 said:

Hi all, 

New to this website....but I'm still waiting to hear from most of my schools. I suspect that no news is bad news, but anyone know about any of the following: 
Rice University, UCONN, Virginia Polytech, University of Georgia, or University of North Carolina-Charlotte (Organizational Science).

I've had a few unofficial rejections, and am wondering if anyone can give me some feedback on my application. Most of the schools were unwilling to do so. My GREs were 162 verbal, 154 quantitative, 4.5 analytical. I have an undergrad GPA of 3.83 with a 4.0 in psychology-related courses, and a 3.97 for my masters in counseling psychology. I have a bit over a year of research experience, with some conference presentations under my belt, but it is in counseling psychology-related topics because we do not have any I/O programs near me. However, I did intern at a management consulting firm under a woman with a PhD in I/O. Anyone have any advice for me?

Hey!  I have a similar story, so I feel ya!  I am kind of switching from clinical to I/O, and I think some faculty members can be skeptical about the switch, especially if you've gone on to complete a masters (I've done the same).  I also have research experience; again, not in I/O.

I'm on a few waitlists, but I don't have anything concrete yet.  The wait is horrible.  But I am on the waitlist to UConn, so I can give you at least some information on that.

So perhaps my advice is try to take the steps that I am trying to take (or take with a grain of salt).

What I really had to do was to emphasize my interest in I/O and explain my switch in my personal statement.  For instance, my research interests haven't really changed, but how it is applied has.  PM me if you want more specifics on that.

I contacted all of my POI before applying, so I could gauge how receptive they would be of my application and the switch.

I know that I/O is a little more quant heavy field.  I feel like my quant score is low.  I would image that some schools may have official or unofficial cutoffs, which may mean that you are/are not on their radar, depending on their cutoff.  I'd like my quant score to be higher; so if I don't get in this round, I will probably try to get that up.

I am also trying to find more I/O experiences, especially research experiences.  PhD programs seem to be scientist/practitioner, so they rate research as pretty important.  If you can't get research experience, maybe try for more applied experiences, like the internship.  Try to tie that back into your research interests in you personal statement.

If you can really match a faculty member on research interests and have good research questions, you may fare well after you get past initial hurtles (GRE, GPA, explaining the switch).  Some faculty have been really receptive to me, despite the switch, because I can easily explain how I got where I am and what I'm interested in.

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

Edited March 9, 2016 by school_cas
grammar...

[Sospeso]

On 3/5/2016 at 3:45 PM, Infinite544 said:

Well I can say that I got admitted into a program at Florida Institute of Technology! I got wait listed for Saint Louis University and moved to Masters for George Washington University. I don't know about funding with Florida. For those who received offers, did you get an e-mail with funding info or in a letting the mail, etc?

I received an email containing PDF letters from the Office of Graduate Admissions and from the College... nothing from the I/O program specifically. I am super excited to be admitted to the MS program, but funding is a concern. I am hoping that this information will come from the I/O program in the next couple of days, and that the fact that it isn't mentioned in these two letters doesn't mean I didn't get any funding...

Have you had any updates since posting this, Infinite544?

[lnz1221]

1 hour ago, Sospeso said:

I received an email containing PDF letters from the Office of Graduate Admissions and from the College... nothing from the I/O program specifically. I am super excited to be admitted to the MS program, but funding is a concern. I am hoping that this information will come from the I/O program in the next couple of days, and that the fact that it isn't mentioned in these two letters doesn't mean I didn't get any funding...

Have you had any updates since posting this, Infinite544?

I also got accepted into the MS program, but I haven't received any info from anyone...just the email to set up my school email account. Super anxious to hear about funding. Do you mind sharing what the pdf letters said, Sospeso? Wondering why I didn't get those

[Sospeso]

6 minutes ago, lnz1221 said:

I also got accepted into the MS program, but I haven't received any info from anyone...just the email to set up my school email account. Super anxious to hear about funding. Do you mind sharing what the pdf letters said, Sospeso? Wondering why I didn't get those

Congrats!! I am also anxious about this funding! It's my top choice, and I want to make it work, but... it's pricey without funding.

I got the email to set up the school account about one week ago. The email with the PDF letter attachment came today (and the College letter was dated same day I received the email to set up the school account). It might just take them some time to get their ducks/letters in a row.

I don't mind sharing! The letters contained pretty standard info (e.g., my student ID #, how I'll need to perform to stay in the program if I choose to attend, etc.) and a form to complete if I want to attend by April 15th. The letter from the College said that I should be receiving an email from Dr. Steelman and the student-run mentor program soon... My guess is that that one would contain the information we're both waiting on! I'm also curious to see the mentor program in action, since I've heard really good things about it.

[lnz1221]

1 hour ago, Sospeso said:

Congrats!! I am also anxious about this funding! It's my top choice, and I want to make it work, but... it's pricey without funding.

I got the email to set up the school account about one week ago. The email with the PDF letter attachment came today (and the College letter was dated same day I received the email to set up the school account). It might just take them some time to get their ducks/letters in a row.

I don't mind sharing! The letters contained pretty standard info (e.g., my student ID #, how I'll need to perform to stay in the program if I choose to attend, etc.) and a form to complete if I want to attend by April 15th. The letter from the College said that I should be receiving an email from Dr. Steelman and the student-run mentor program soon... My guess is that that one would contain the information we're both waiting on! I'm also curious to see the mentor program in action, since I've heard really good things about it.

Great, thanks for the info! It's also my top choice out of the schools I've been accepted to  hopefully we'll hear soon!

[Infinite544]

8 hours ago, Sospeso said:

I received an email containing PDF letters from the Office of Graduate Admissions and from the College... nothing from the I/O program specifically. I am super excited to be admitted to the MS program, but funding is a concern. I am hoping that this information will come from the I/O program in the next couple of days, and that the fact that it isn't mentioned in these two letters doesn't mean I didn't get any funding...

Have you had any updates since posting this, Infinite544?

I got this same letter regarding my acceptance into the PhD program. It says to reach out to the director for further questions. I haven't reached out yet because in the same letter it says the director will e-mail. I'm going to wait over the weekend and then reach out next week

Edited March 11, 2016 by Infinite544

[ihatechoosingusernames]

I've made my final decision! Signing the paperwork this weekend, then sending it in on Monday! 

[I/OApplicant]

4 hours ago, ihatechoosingusernames said:

I've made my final decision! Signing the paperwork this weekend, then sending it in on Monday! 

Congrats! Where are you accepting? PM me if you don't want to post.

[Infinite544]

On 3/10/2016 at 7:22 PM, Infinite544 said:

I got this same letter regarding my acceptance into the PhD program. It says to reach out to the director for further questions. I haven't reached out yet because in the same letter it says the director will e-mail. I'm going to wait over the weekend and then reach out next week

I sent an e-mail to the student mentor just to inquire about the program. 

I'll let you know what I hear back