Is my list of schools too ambitious?

[eucalyptus]

I'm applying to mostly Developmental (some Cognitive) programs, and my research is generally in the realm of language evolution. Because there aren't a whole lot of profs in my field, my list is looking overly top-heavy:

Harvard

Yale

UPenn

UC-Berkeley

Columbia

WashU

Emory

NYU

University of British Columbia

Is this excessively ambitious?

If it helps, I'm almost done a Masters, and have a 3.6 undergrad GPA and good GRE scores (660V/800Q/6.0A and 790 Psych). I have a lot of research experience, including a couple months of chimpanzee stuff, but nothing published yet (2 first-authored papers under review, but who knows what'll happen to them). I've presented at a handful of conferences as well. The one shaky part of my application is my LORs - I expect them to be fairly strong, but not spectacular.

[cheesethunder]

i like a little ambition

i think its good, afterall its hard to get into schools you dont even apply to! and if you feel they match your interests best then sure, idont know anything about some of those schools or if you have an more safeties.....maybe 1 safety? you already have a masters so i guess that hsould work in your favor? i don't know wha ta 3.6 means.......im not on a 4pt. scale.

my list is ambitious and i did pretty terrible on my gres

but i figure you only go to grad school once may as well only apply for the ones you can really see yourself going to/ enjoying

[shai]

I'm on the same boat...

Applying to Social Psych. in :

Cornell

Harvard

Yale

Duke

Princeton

Uni of Chicago

WUSTL

Carnegie Mellon

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Uni of Virginia

They're pretty tough ones, but I couldn't find a "security" school i want to be in.

[eucalyptus]

Thanks a bunch for the feedback!

I just added USC to my list - not a safety school by any means, but a little lower ranked than most of my others.

I think the reason that I'm hesitant to add real "safety" schools is that last year I turned down an offer to transfer from my Masters to a PhD at a good UK school (before I asked/applied!). I'm kind of assuming that if I can't get in anywhere in North America, which I would really prefer, I could always go there.

[liszt85]

I'm kind of assuming that if I can't get in anywhere in North America, which I would really prefer, I could always go there.

Make sure of this. Funding situations change like crazy from year to year.. not just funding, research objectives change too! The person who showed interest in taking you on as a student last year may not this year due to reasons that may be out of his/her control.

[eucalyptus]

Make sure of this. Funding situations change like crazy from year to year.. not just funding, research objectives change too! The person who showed interest in taking you on as a student last year may not this year due to reasons that may be out of his/her control.

Thanks, that does sound like something I should consider! I don't think I'd have any trouble getting in (the prof who wanted me to move there is the head of the department so he can admit anyone he wants), but you're right about the funding thing. Especially as an international, funding is really not a guarantee. I'll shoot him an email and ask about the funding situation and any deadlines I'd have to pay attention to on that front. I'm just not entirely sure how to phrase it - I don't want him to think that he's my fallback! Maybe something along the lines of "keeping options open"...

[psycholinguist]

I wouldn't worry so much. Just apply and see how it goes. How good a match you appear to be for the department plays such a major role, after all.

Had you considered Cornell, by the way? I only met him once while I was there, but Morten Christiansen does a lot of evolution-of-language work from a generally cognitive perspective.

[swisnieski]

You've got a decent GPA, great GRE's (especially on the subject test and quant/AW section), and lots of research experience, so I think you're in good shape! In light of all this I don't see how your LORs could be anything but good. But at any rate, it's commonly said that you only really need one spectacular LOR and the rest pretty good. I'm sure you'll get plenty of offers.

[eucalyptus]

I wouldn't worry so much. Just apply and see how it goes. How good a match you appear to be for the department plays such a major role, after all.

Had you considered Cornell, by the way? I only met him once while I was there, but Morten Christiansen does a lot of evolution-of-language work from a generally cognitive perspective.

You know, I did consider Christiansen but I thought he was a little too computational for my tastes (which is funny because my bachelor's degree is a B.Computing in Cognitive Science). I just went back to my undergrad school to get some advice from some old profs, and I heard that he's trying to move away from the purely computational stuff. So, I'm definitely going to have to reconsider Cornell!

[psycholinguist]

You know, I did consider Christiansen but I thought he was a little too computational for my tastes (which is funny because my bachelor's degree is a B.Computing in Cognitive Science). I just went back to my undergrad school to get some advice from some old profs, and I heard that he's trying to move away from the purely computational stuff. So, I'm definitely going to have to reconsider Cornell!

I can totally understand the aversion to computational work! I didn't realise in advance that my current MA supervisor does as much connectionist modelling as he does, and now it's boring the absolute heck out of me. Oh well. At least I get to do some empirical studies for my MA project.

Anyway, no pressure; just wanted to make sure you were aware of him! Heh.