Fall 2016 Social Psych Applicants

[Mystic_Fog]

59 minutes ago, Freudian_Slip said:

MysticFog- that page with the interview time range was updated like 2012, so it might have been true at the time. On the cynical side I do though also believe especially from experience that they tend to either be very ambiguous or exaggerate toward the later dates so they don't get inundated with status checks

Well from when invites tend to out versus when the program says invitations will go out, it seems that this may be the case. I can certainly understand why, but it does suck for those of us holding out without realizing that invites have already been sent. 

[acole1177]

Does anybody want to claim the UNC invite? Would love to hear who your POI is!

[coffeeaddict29]

I got a Skype interview invite with my POI for UNC Chapel Hill. I'll private message you the POI's name. 

Edited January 6, 2016 by coffeeaddict29

[socpsychstudnt]

Thought you guys might be interested in this article: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/06/new-book-reveals-how-elite-phd-admissions-committees-review-candidates

Some food for thought if you don't get in to one of your top schools!

[homonculus]

1 hour ago, sarahgeeeeee said:

Thought you guys might be interested in this article: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/06/new-book-reveals-how-elite-phd-admissions-committees-review-candidates

Some food for thought if you don't get in to one of your top schools!

That was a very interesting read! Assuming the departments I applied to are anything like this, there are some good signs and some bad signs. I had a suspicion that the GRE is used more than they let on; a textbook I had on social cognition mentioned a study where admissions decisions seemed much more based on GRE than the professors were willing to admit, but I'm surprised how openly they talk about it in this article. 

[Piagetsky]

I've requested the book from my library.  Can't wait!  I wonder how this works for Canadian schools that don't require the GRE.  I've always wondered how they sort through all those applications without a cutoff.

[CatLady4Lyfe]

This article induces a lot of emotions (probably completely related to interviews and this whole waiting game, ha). My first response is, "well, that's not fair!" but I don't think it's necessarily fair to the committees, either. That has to be a tough decision. We all look good on paper. Period. We wouldn't be applying to PhD programs if we didn't already stand out and have at least one person tell us we were worthy of that elite status. I can't imagine how you could feel 100% sure that you're being fair to applicants and providing an equal opportunity while keeping in mind those who have excelled in a variety of environments (big schools, small schools, private schools, professional settings, professional memberships). And that's not even touching the areas of funding availability and politics within the department as far as which professors get first picks.

I had one professor from U of Maryland tell me he didn't even consider potential students unless they had previous fMRI experience. Well, that sucks for me. Where I completed my undergrad and master's didn't have that kind of equipment. I had to fight to get basic physiological equipment, and while I succeeded and tried to highlight my resourcefulness, it's just not enough. 

In regards to increasing diversity - yikes. I think diversity is great, but wouldn't that feel just a little crummy thinking in the back of your mind that you were only accepted because the school wants to show off their multicultural cohort? 

I want to get my PhD more than anything I've ever wanted in my whole life, but geez the system is so flawed. You have to get your undergrad at a great school, hopefully work in someone's lab who is a good name to drop, and score in the top percentile for the GRE. Isn't college supposed to be a place to explore your interests? I took piano class and loved it! And I took some philosophy classes and some counseling classes and some psychology classes...if I had stuck with what I thought my dreams were at 19 I would be so miserable today! 

That's all Thanks for the article, haha 

 

[Applicant 1746]

To those who posted that they heard from Stanford's social (or experimental generally?) program, would you please PM me? I'd love to know if you were contacted by your POI or if it was a mass e-mail. Thanks!!

[psychadelic5]

^^ Ditto to applicant 1746's post. Would love a PM from those who heard from Stanford's Social program.

[Tahlain]

56 minutes ago, Applicant 1746 said:

To those who posted that they heard from Stanford's social (or experimental generally?) program, would you please PM me? I'd love to know if you were contacted by your POI or if it was a mass e-mail. Thanks!!

 

8 minutes ago, psychadelic5 said:

^^ Ditto to applicant 1746's post. Would love a PM from those who heard from Stanford's Social program.

I'm not sure if social is the same way, but for affective science, individual PIs made the contact. For us, it was a two tiered process where people were short-listed and had Skype conversations with PIs and then a very small number were invited for in-person interviews from there. I got to Skype, but no on-site interview. 

Procedures may be different for social though.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Tahlain

[tallulah]

4 hours ago, psychadelic5 said:

^^ Ditto to applicant 1746's post. Would love a PM from those who heard from Stanford's Social program.

Me too! Wonder if they have the same POIs

[kom]

Would the person who received an interview from UC Davis mind PM-ing me the POI? Congrats and thanks in advance!  

[homonculus]

If someone who got an interview at British Columbia sees this, please PM me! I'd love to know who your POI is!

[mylifeinshambles]

For those curious about OSU social, decisions will be going out this week.

[sociallyawkard]

First time applicant, first post. Looks like invitations have gone out for the schools I've applied to with Social PhD programs (Stanford, Berkeley, Davis).

I thought I'd presented a pretty strong set of qualifications based on what is publicly available, but I'm just guessing about how to further refine my application for next time, for those who received interviews, or acceptances, I wonder if you have advice. I can provide a bunch more detail, if you want.

 

I still have two schools with Masters-only programs that are left to hear from.

[Freudian_Slip]

1 hour ago, mylifeinshambles said:

For those curious about OSU social, decisions will be going out this week.

Where'd you find out from?

[PinkFreud22]

37 minutes ago, sociallyawkard said:

First time applicant, first post. Looks like invitations have gone out for the schools I've applied to with Social PhD programs (Stanford, Berkeley, Davis).

I thought I'd presented a pretty strong set of qualifications based on what is publicly available, but I'm just guessing about how to further refine my application for next time, for those who received interviews, or acceptances, I wonder if you have advice. I can provide a bunch more detail, if you want.

 

I still have two schools with Masters-only programs that are left to hear from.

Hi "sociallyawkward,"

This is my first time applying as well but I had a lot of help from both a graduate student at my current institution and from my honors senior thesis advisor. The best advice I can give is to get a ton of research experience and try to do an independent project or lab manage if you can. Also, to narrow down your application try to discover a specific area of interest to hone in on.

Best of luck with your other applications.

 

[PinkFreud22]

4 minutes ago, Freudian_Slip said:

Where'd you find out from?

I was given the same news about OSU. I got an email from my POI to schedule a brief phone call before final decisions were made later this week.

[Freudian_Slip]

1 hour ago, mylifeinshambles said:

 

[sociallyawkard]

3 minutes ago, jre2016 said:

Hi "sociallyawkward,"

This is my first time applying as well but I had a lot of help from both a graduate student at my current institution and from my honors senior thesis advisor. The best advice I can give is to get a ton of research experience and try to do an independent project or lab manage if you can. Also, to narrow down your application try to discover a specific area of interest to hone in on.

Best of luck with your other applications.

 

Thanks jre, are you still waiting to hear from you schools?

I'm currently in the midst of my honors research project, I have one completed research project as well as working as an RA on a faculty project. The completed project was not published, the current projects are in-progress. If I complete a Masters program prior to reapplying to research schools, I should end up with at least 2 more projects and some teaching to put on my CV. My undergrad institution has hardly any active research going on - and this presents some difficulty in accruing more RA experience prior to another application.

Does anyone have experience applying to work in labs which are not affiliated with their institution?

[PinkFreud22]

23 minutes ago, sociallyawkard said:

Thanks jre, are you still waiting to hear from you schools?

I'm currently in the midst of my honors research project, I have one completed research project as well as working as an RA on a faculty project. The completed project was not published, the current projects are in-progress. If I complete a Masters program prior to reapplying to research schools, I should end up with at least 2 more projects and some teaching to put on my CV. My undergrad institution has hardly any active research going on - and this presents some difficulty in accruing more RA experience prior to another application.

Does anyone have experience applying to work in labs which are not affiliated with their institution?

I have heard back from 8 out of the 14 programs I applied to and have gotten phone or in person interviews with 7 of the 14. I'm still anxiously waiting to hear back from the other programs. 

For research not affiliated with your institution, I know lab managing is usually an option at another institution if you choose to take a gap year which may or may not be appealing to you. You could also look into Research Experiences for Undergraduates  (REU) through NSF which I have heard very positive things about. I'm sure things will work out for you because you sound very dedicated to and interested in research.

[jzp406]

31 minutes ago, sociallyawkard said:

Thanks jre, are you still waiting to hear from you schools?

I'm currently in the midst of my honors research project, I have one completed research project as well as working as an RA on a faculty project. The completed project was not published, the current projects are in-progress. If I complete a Masters program prior to reapplying to research schools, I should end up with at least 2 more projects and some teaching to put on my CV. My undergrad institution has hardly any active research going on - and this presents some difficulty in accruing more RA experience prior to another application.

Does anyone have experience applying to work in labs which are not affiliated with their institution?

I knew I wanted to go to grad school during undergrad but didn't want to go straight through. So I wanted to find a job as a research assistant or lab manager in the interim. Towards the end of my senior year of undergrad, I emailed professors across the US with whom I was interested in working. I let them know I was interested in their work and asked if I would be able to find a full-time research position working with them. Those with labs, it was easier to ask something along the lines of "do you have space in your lab?" 

I definitely wanted to find a paid position, but if you're looking for just experience, you can say that too or leave off the "full-time" employment. You can say you are looking for a position to better prepare yourself for a doctoral program in social psychology. 

Fair warning, most people I emailed didn't have funding for an extra research assistant. But I found something eventually. Good luck!

[mylifeinshambles]

1 hour ago, jre2016 said:

I was given the same news about OSU. I got an email from my POI to schedule a brief phone call before final decisions were made later this week.

^ This. Would you mind pming me who your POI is? 

[haiqtpi]

Anyone who got interview or contact from Carnegie Mellon for social psych, can you pm me the POI name?

[PsychWill]

Will anyone else be in LA this weekend for the USC interview?

Going to the Admitted Student Day at UMichigan on Feb 19. Will I see any of you at any of those??

 

Research Interests: Social Neuroscience, Decision-Making, Gender and Sexuality, Stereotype Formation

Applied (8) : UCLA, UC Davis, Stanford, USC (Southern California), IU Bloomington, Columbia, U Chicago, U Michigan

Interview Invitations (3/8) : UC Davis, USC, IU

Rejected (0/8) :

Admitted (1/8) : U Michigan (admitted without interview)