Fall 2017 Applications

[St0chastic]

19 hours ago, MyDogHasAPhD said:

Applying for the second time to doctoral programs this Fall. So terrified of not getting in again. Currently getting a Masters in Experimental Psych. Applying to Social/Social-Personality/Applied Social programs. 

Here is what I look like on paper: 

Undergrad GPA: 3.91/ Grad GPA: 4.0

B.A. in Psychology, will have an M.A. in Experimental Psych. Four years of research experience, two undergrad (independent studies/honor's thesis) and two grad (worked in two labs, multiple studies, process of completing my Master's thesis). Three poster presentations, Accepted to present a poster at SPSP, and two paper presentations. Two pubs under review, one accepted pub. Here's the kicker (and thorn in my side). My GRE scores. Verbal is fine (78%). Writing is fine (5). Quant...42%. I want to strongly believe my other accolades will carry me through but gosh.. I am terrified. I am retaking my GRE but honestly, it will be 6th time taking it over the course of my lifetime and I have raised it a total of 10 points over that period of time. I just don't see myself breaking the 50th percentile, but I am trying to be optimistic. So what do you guys think? Think I am screwed because of that dang quant score?

That quant score unfortunately does put you at a disadvantage.  I would get in touch with the DGS' of the programs you are considering applying to and ask them if they have cutoff scores for the GRE.  Many places won't even review applicants with scores below a certain threshold.  

How did you prepare for the GRE in the past?  Given your GPA I take it you are a bright and motivated person, so there shouldn't be any reason you can't raise your score if you prepare properly.  I used a combination of Khan Academy, Magoosh, the official ETS GRE books, and the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of practice problems.  I solved an ungodly amount of math problems to prepare (many, many thousands), and that helped me immensely.  That said, I've always done well on standardized tests, so you may need to find another strategy that works for you.  

You might also want to brush up on vocab and/or general test-taking strategies.  A 78% verbal isn't bad, but typical scores at top programs are generally >90%.

Edited September 4, 2016 by St0chastic

[MyDogHasAPhD]

18 hours ago, St0chastic said:

That quant score unfortunately does put you at a disadvantage.  I would get in touch with the DGS' of the programs you are considering applying to and ask them if they have cutoff scores for the GRE.  Many places won't even review applicants with scores below a certain threshold.  

How did you prepare for the GRE in the past?  Given your GPA I take it you are a bright and motivated person, so there shouldn't be any reason you can't raise your score if you prepare properly.  I used a combination of Khan Academy, Magoosh, the official ETS GRE books, and the Manhattan 5 lb. Book of practice problems.  I solved an ungodly amount of math problems to prepare (many, many thousands), and that helped me immensely.  That said, I've always done well on standardized tests, so you may need to find another strategy that works for you.  

You might also want to brush up on vocab and/or general test-taking strategies.  A 78% verbal isn't bad, but typical scores at top programs are generally >90%.

I have talked to a few of my POIs via email and one phone call. I am getting a bit of mixed feedback. A couple of them have said that they personally do not care about the GRE compared to other experience (mostly research and fit) but their overall department and graduate school's administrative end requires GRE to be at a certain percentage, mostly due to funding. My top choice, however, did say that he believes my other experience would be sufficient to offset a questionable quant GRE. But another top school said they rarely admit applicants with under a 60th percentile in the quant section (Penn State, one of the top social psych doctoral programs currently). 

I have used Magoosh, private tutors, Kaplan courses, just about every resource available to me to prep in the past. I am currently using Magoosh again, as it has proven to increase my score the most in the past. I am not a great standardized test taker-- I have a math learning disability which doesn't really help. 

[St0chastic]

I don't know what to say other than keep at it and don't lose hope!  There are some people who genuinely do have a math disability (dyscalculia) and maybe this is you, but if you are scoring in the 42% chances are you just need to build up your math intuition.  I used to believe this was something that was more or less intrinsic and set in stone by young adulthood, but now I think it's a skill you can develop just like any other (thanks Anders Ericsson and Carol Dweck!).  

So the first step is to build up this math intuition by doing a combination of learning about math theory (Khan Academy, Magoosh, mathisfun.com), doing a lot of practice problems (Khan, Magoosh, Manhattan 5 lb. Book, official ETS problems), and perhaps most importantly, thinking about the abstract relationships between mathematical concepts.  Also, do mental math whenever you get a chance.  Think of this kind of like going to the gym.  At first you aren't going to be able to run for very long or lift much weight, but with repeated practice and the progressive overload principle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_overload), you can work your way up.  I think math ability functions similarly.  

A big part of math intuition is thinking visually about abstract concepts.  The most basic example of this is the number line and something like absolute value.  A natural way to think about absolute value is the distance from zero.  This is something you can easily visualize using a number line.  Or take the case of the Pythagorean theorem.  It's really just a formal way of saying that there's this special relationship between the sides of a right triangle: https://www.mathsisfun.com/pythagoras.html  This same relationship also underlies the distance formula.  If you think about distance in a Cartesian plane, you will see that you are basically just drawing a right triangle when you calculate distance.  Visualizing math will help you with fractions, probability, combination/permutation problems, rates problems, and all kinds of things tested on the GRE.

Don't underestimate the power of repeated practice, especially if it's distributed in time (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacing_effect). To get really good at something there aren't any shortcuts.  You just have to do that thing a whole lot.  It's like that training sequence in the Karate Kid (wax on...wax off).  So create a daily schedule for yourself where you are alternating between learning a new concept and practicing problem solving.  Do this at least 2-3 hours per day.  Interleave the types of problems you solve (so don't just do a bunch of triangle problems one after another, mix things up just as the real GRE does.  The Magoosh practice problems do this for you).  Remember that for the real exam you will have a time limit, so do your practice problems under timed conditions.  Learn tricks and shortcuts to find solutions more quickly (the Magoosh videos have a lot of these, and the Magoosh blog even more).  

If you do all of this I think you should definitely be able to score >60% and potentially much higher than that.  

Final tip:  try to have fun!  Seriously, if you change your mindset from "I can't wait 'till I'm done with this stupid exam" to "yay, I get to learn about math today!" you will probably do a lot better and not stress out nearly as much.  It'll also help motivate you to actually practice problem solving every day.

Best of luck and have faith in yourself! 

Edited September 5, 2016 by St0chastic

[MarineBluePsy]

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone luck with this application season.  It's a ton of work and stress, but it is all worth it once an acceptance letter rolls in.

@FacelessMage  I strongly suspect your SOP is in need of a revamp.  I'm not saying it is terrible as it is, but that there is room to go from great to excellent.  I went through this last season and as sucky as it was to start all over with only a couple months before apps were due it was totally worth it.  I also second the suggestion that you apply to more programs if you can at all generate the funds to do so.  At the start of last season I was asked if I wanted to go somewhere or if I want to keep applying.  Somewhere would mean casting a wider net and continue to apply would mean spending an absurd amount of money year after year.  Now I'm somewhere and I couldn't wait to pitch all that app stuff in the trash lol.

[MyDogHasAPhD]

6 hours ago, St0chastic said:

I don't know what to say other than keep at it and don't lose hope!  There are some people who genuinely do have a math disability (dyscalculia) and maybe this is you, but if you are scoring in the 42% chances are you just need to build up your math intuition.  I used to believe this was something that was more or less intrinsic and set in stone by young adulthood, but now I think it's a skill you can develop just like any other (thanks Anders Ericsson and Carol Dweck!).  

So the first step is to build up this math intuition by doing a combination of learning about math theory (Khan Academy, Magoosh, mathisfun.com), doing a lot of practice problems (Khan, Magoosh, Manhattan 5 lb. Book, official ETS problems), and perhaps most importantly, thinking about the abstract relationships between mathematical concepts.  Also, do mental math whenever you get a chance.  Think of this kind of like going to the gym.  At first you aren't going to be able to run for very long or lift much weight, but with repeated practice and the progressive overload principle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_overload), you can work your way up.  I think math ability functions similarly.  

A big part of math intuition is thinking visually about abstract concepts.  The most basic example of this is the number line and something like absolute value.  A natural way to think about absolute value is the distance from zero.  This is something you can easily visualize using a number line.  Or take the case of the Pythagorean theorem.  It's really just a formal way of saying that there's this special relationship between the sides of a right triangle: https://www.mathsisfun.com/pythagoras.html  This same relationship also underlies the distance formula.  If you think about distance in a Cartesian plane, you will see that you are basically just drawing a right triangle when you calculate distance.  Visualizing math will help you with fractions, probability, combination/permutation problems, rates problems, and all kinds of things tested on the GRE.

Don't underestimate the power of repeated practice, especially if it's distributed in time (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacing_effect). To get really good at something there aren't any shortcuts.  You just have to do that thing a whole lot.  It's like that training sequence in the Karate Kid (wax on...wax off).  So create a daily schedule for yourself where you are alternating between learning a new concept and practicing problem solving.  Do this at least 2-3 hours per day.  Interleave the types of problems you solve (so don't just do a bunch of triangle problems one after another, mix things up just as the real GRE does.  The Magoosh practice problems do this for you).  Remember that for the real exam you will have a time limit, so do your practice problems under timed conditions.  Learn tricks and shortcuts to find solutions more quickly (the Magoosh videos have a lot of these, and the Magoosh blog even more).  

If you do all of this I think you should definitely be able to score >60% and potentially much higher than that.  

Final tip:  try to have fun!  Seriously, if you change your mindset from "I can't wait 'till I'm done with this stupid exam" to "yay, I get to learn about math today!" you will probably do a lot better and not stress out nearly as much.  It'll also help motivate you to actually practice problem solving every day.

Best of luck and have faith in yourself! 

Thank you so much for the help and pointing me toward some more resources. I have been hitting the GRE studying pretty hard for the last month (minimum 2 hours a day). I am getting better, or at least it is all becoming a bit more intuitive than it was before so, progress! I will retake mid-October so I am hoping the next 6 weeks of studying prove to be fruitful. 

 

Thanks again!

[FacelessMage]

23 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone luck with this application season.  It's a ton of work and stress, but it is all worth it once an acceptance letter rolls in.

@FacelessMage  I strongly suspect your SOP is in need of a revamp.  I'm not saying it is terrible as it is, but that there is room to go from great to excellent.  I went through this last season and as sucky as it was to start all over with only a couple months before apps were due it was totally worth it.  I also second the suggestion that you apply to more programs if you can at all generate the funds to do so.  At the start of last season I was asked if I wanted to go somewhere or if I want to keep applying.  Somewhere would mean casting a wider net and continue to apply would mean spending an absurd amount of money year after year.  Now I'm somewhere and I couldn't wait to pitch all that app stuff in the trash lol.

I've thought about revamping my SOP, but I'm not sure where to start. Any tips?

[MarineBluePsy]

30 minutes ago, FacelessMage said:

I've thought about revamping my SOP, but I'm not sure where to start. Any tips?

You're a nontraditional student right?  One of the SOP workshops I attended last year talked about how nontraditional students can unintentionally present themselves as a bad risk by going on about undergrad, family background, struggles during gap years, etc.  We were blatantly told no one cares, focus on what you're doing now.  I should mention this particular workshop was aimed entirely at nontraditional students, whereas those I'd gone to in prior years weren't and said nothing like this.  When I got home and took a look at my SOP I saw how I spent too much time on these very areas, and even though the early years helped me get where I am now what I have been doing in recent years was far more interesting.  

It was also suggested that we be more specific about what we might consider for dissertation research.  Meaning instead of just stating a population you'd like to study for your dissertation research actually pose possible questions regarding that population to explore.  You're not going to be held to it because your questions are expected to change as you go through your program, but it's a way to show you're thinking, if what you're interested in is studied by everyone or only a few, and if your questions can be answered in 5-6 years.

I'm sure other things will pop into my head, but you're welcome to pm me and I'm happy to read your draft if you're in need of another set of eyes.

[FacelessMage]

15 minutes ago, MarineBluePsy said:

You're a nontraditional student right?  One of the SOP workshops I attended last year talked about how nontraditional students can unintentionally present themselves as a bad risk by going on about undergrad, family background, struggles during gap years, etc.  We were blatantly told no one cares, focus on what you're doing now.  I should mention this particular workshop was aimed entirely at nontraditional students, whereas those I'd gone to in prior years weren't and said nothing like this.  When I got home and took a look at my SOP I saw how I spent too much time on these very areas, and even though the early years helped me get where I am now what I have been doing in recent years was far more interesting.  

It was also suggested that we be more specific about what we might consider for dissertation research.  Meaning instead of just stating a population you'd like to study for your dissertation research actually pose possible questions regarding that population to explore.  You're not going to be held to it because your questions are expected to change as you go through your program, but it's a way to show you're thinking, if what you're interested in is studied by everyone or only a few, and if your questions can be answered in 5-6 years.

I'm sure other things will pop into my head, but you're welcome to pm me and I'm happy to read your draft if you're in need of another set of eyes.

Hmmm. Yep, I am a nontraditional student at this point. I've tended to focus my last two rounds of applications on what I was doing in my Master's, since I felt that research would be more applicable than anything I did during undergrad (I'm applying to supervisors in clinical programs in the same research area as my experimental Master's degree research). The problem is that I'm not really doing anything right now (unemployed for a few months, been publishing some papers but that's it). I wonder if it's worth mentioning why I want to make the transition from experimental to clinical, as I feel like this will be important for my application. I'll also specify more specific research question with regards to my proposed dissertation research.

In any case, thanks for your help! I'll most likely be prevailing upon your help at some point!

[MarineBluePsy]

2 hours ago, FacelessMage said:

Hmmm. Yep, I am a nontraditional student at this point. I've tended to focus my last two rounds of applications on what I was doing in my Master's, since I felt that research would be more applicable than anything I did during undergrad (I'm applying to supervisors in clinical programs in the same research area as my experimental Master's degree research). The problem is that I'm not really doing anything right now (unemployed for a few months, been publishing some papers but that's it). I wonder if it's worth mentioning why I want to make the transition from experimental to clinical, as I feel like this will be important for my application. I'll also specify more specific research question with regards to my proposed dissertation research.

In any case, thanks for your help! I'll most likely be prevailing upon your help at some point!

It's amazing how similar our paths sound.  I changed gears in psych, rode the unemployment train, and during last application season I wasn't really doing much research wise.  Unlike you I've never published anything and had zero posters.  Regardless this will be your year!  Explaining the transition from experimental to clinical does seem relevant, but perhaps only as a brief mention so you have more time to focus on other things.

[catmom92]

On 8/23/2016 at 8:29 PM, St0chastic said:

Yeah, I agree with Plasticity.  While clinical is insanely competitive, I think you have a good shot if you tailor your personal statement to your POIs and apply to a lot of schools. Research fit is really key, and it sounds like you are basing your schools on mentors so I think you are on the right track.  It says your location is Rhode Island.  I'm curious, are you at Brown?

Also, I would recommend only applying to schools where there are at least 2 PIs you might want to work with.  That way if your primary PI leaves or you don't get along with them for whatever reason, you won't be left completely in the lurch and can switch advisers.  Plus, it's helpful to have several faculty members who are researching things in your area. This can enable collaborations and also makes it easier to find members for your dissertation committee.  You'll also up your admissions chances since if one faculty member can't take you that year maybe the other can.

 

The department I'm in is affiliated with Brown, but I don't technically work there. And thank you for the advice on applying to multiple PIs at each school! I appreciate all of your feedback, it's helping me to ruminate a little bit less about my chances or lack thereof.  

[catmom92]

On 8/25/2016 at 8:33 PM, daisy_may said:

I think you have great chances getting in on your first round as long as you have a  strong personal statement that is tailored to POI interests and have a good round of interviews. your stats are fantastic! I'm currently in a clinical program and I did not score nearly as high as you did on the GRE, nor did I have as much research experience as you did--but I do now have my masters. I also went through the process twice. My advice would just be to apply to a good number of schools, because many of times the ones that you think you have no chance of getting into you do, and the ones you think are guaranteed will surprise you.

I don't think you need to take the GRE again especially with your verbal score. Most programs consider verbal scores to be more important, and if you take it again you risk a lower verbal score for a higher math score. 

Good luck! 

Hi daisy_may, thank you for the feedback! Right now I'm planning on applying to 18 schools, which feels verrrry overwhelming, but I have gotten a pretty good head start and I want to give myself the best chances. I was advised to apply to 15-20. 

[dander]

Hello, I'm new here. As an entering senior, I'm going to be applying to Industrial / Organizational Ph.D programs for 2017 Fall as well as Quantitative Psychology programs. I'm trying to get as many opinions as possible and gauge my competitiveness. I currently live on the west side of the U.S, and am attempting to get into programs on the left side of the country (UW, UMN, ASU, UCLA... etc.)

On paper, here are my current statistics:

GRE Q+V: 328 GRE Q: 165 (89%) GRE V: 163 (92%) GRE AWA: 5.5 (98%)

I have a major in Psychology and a minor in Political Science

GPA Overall: 3.3 (3.75 last 1.5 years) GPA Psych: 3.3 (3.8 last 1.5 years) GPA PS Minor: 3.9

One year research experience in a behavioral coding lab. One year research experience in a parent-child family lab editing micro-social interactions. One year research experience in a focus group in which I was personally invited to by a prestigious personality/political psychology faculty member. Half year research experience in a brain development lab interacting with families, cold-calling, aiding in or performing assessment.

Will have strong letters of recommendation from tenured psychology faculty members at the University of Oregon.

Have a few psychology awards/scholarships earned through research papers and a documentary project I recently finished.

Not sure if it is relevant, but I also have two years professional experience in management and content production, and the content I produced garnered hundreds of thousands of unique visitors to the company website (I work between 20-50 hours per week while in school). I also have a couple years of leadership experience in the form of organizing, running and performing in the university's LoL and HotS clubs & teams. 

Any feedback would be extremely helpful, thank you! I started out school without proper motivation and I wasn't in the right headspace, my goal is to demonstrate that in these last years of academia I have demonstrated a significant upward trend. 

[St0chastic]

4 hours ago, dander said:

Hello, I'm new here. As an entering senior, I'm going to be applying to Industrial / Organizational Ph.D programs for 2017 Fall as well as Quantitative Psychology programs. I'm trying to get as many opinions as possible and gauge my competitiveness. I currently live on the west side of the U.S, and am attempting to get into programs on the left side of the country (UW, UMN, ASU, UCLA... etc.)

On paper, here are my current statistics:

GRE Q+V: 328 GRE Q: 165 (89%) GRE V: 163 (92%) GRE AWA: 5.5 (98%)

I have a major in Psychology and a minor in Political Science

GPA Overall: 3.3 (3.75 last 1.5 years) GPA Psych: 3.3 (3.8 last 1.5 years) GPA PS Minor: 3.9

One year research experience in a behavioral coding lab. One year research experience in a parent-child family lab editing micro-social interactions. One year research experience in a focus group in which I was personally invited to by a prestigious personality/political psychology faculty member. Half year research experience in a brain development lab interacting with families, cold-calling, aiding in or performing assessment.

Will have strong letters of recommendation from tenured psychology faculty members at the University of Oregon.

Have a few psychology awards/scholarships earned through research papers and a documentary project I recently finished.

Not sure if it is relevant, but I also have two years professional experience in management and content production, and the content I produced garnered hundreds of thousands of unique visitors to the company website (I work between 20-50 hours per week while in school). I also have a couple years of leadership experience in the form of organizing, running and performing in the university's LoL and HotS clubs & teams. 

Any feedback would be extremely helpful, thank you! I started out school without proper motivation and I wasn't in the right headspace, my goal is to demonstrate that in these last years of academia I have demonstrated a significant upward trend. 

You have a lot going for you.  Solid GRE scores, research experience in a lot of different labs, academic awards, and real-world work experience. The one thing blotting an otherwise excellent application is a mediocre cumulative GPA.  What you need to do is convince admissions committees that you have turned over a new leaf and have the academic chops to succeed in grad school.  This can be done in your statement of purpose, where you may want to explicitly mention your early lackluster grades and how you have made an effort to turn things around, and by having your letter writers emphasize that you have the aptitude to do well.  Also, if you were working while taking classes, maybe you can discuss how this limited the time you were able to devote to coursework and studying.  You don't want to make excuses for yourself, but if you've been working 20-50 hours/week I think you have a valid reason for not being a straight A student.

I think it's ridiculous that a couple of bad grades early in college can undermine one's admissions chances, but that's just the way it is.  Try your best to get very high grades this year so you will have a more competitive GPA next year if you need to reapply.  Cut back work hours if necessary. A 4.0 senior year certainly wouldn't hurt. : )  

You will also need to explain why you are interested in IO psych or quant and how your various research experiences have prepared you.  Previous research experience is perhaps the most important factor in the admissions process, so make sure you highlight this in your statement of purpose.  Since the research you've done is quite different from what you plan on doing, you should explain how the general skills you've acquired will transfer to a new area.

Best of luck!

Edited September 9, 2016 by St0chastic

[caprice]

Hello everyone. I am applying to PhD programs in Quantitative Psychology / Educational Measurement for Fall 2017 cycle. Do you guys think I have a shot?

Major: Psychology, Minor: Statistics
I also took courses on C++ Programming, Calculus and Linear Algebra.

GPA: 3.5

GRE: V 158 (80%), Q 167 (93%), A 4.0 (59%)

TOEFL: 104 (I am an international student)

Research:
- Worked at a few labs in my undergrad but they weren't my research area (they were in clinical psyc, social psyc and marketing)
- Completed an honour thesis (it is related to I/O Psychology though)
- Currently working as a research assistant on educational evaluation projects

Award: Dean's list (one time)

Schools I am considering to apply are Notre Dame, Minnesota, U of Kansas, Iowa, UNC-Greensboro, Georgia State, U of Georgia, Maryland.

I think the weakness of my application is the lack of statistical research experience...and because of that I can't really be too specific about my research interest when I am writing my statement of purpose (other than writing generically like "item response theory and structural equation modelling look interesting to me blah blah blah...").

Any advice? Thanks for any input in advance!

[transfatfree]

9 hours ago, caprice said:

Schools I am considering to apply are Notre Dame, Minnesota, U of Kansas, Iowa, UNC-Greensboro, Georgia State, U of Georgia, Maryland.

As an international student, I would look beyond these schools if I were you. I've read here and there that some public colleges have limited funding for international students. Try to include more private schools and/or find PIs who have got a big grant (so they're "financially independent" in a sense) to increase your chance. 

[St0chastic]

5 hours ago, transfatfree said:

As an international student, I would look beyond these schools if I were you. I've read here and there that some public colleges have limited funding for international students. Try to include more private schools and/or find PIs who have got a big grant (so they're "financially independent" in a sense) to increase your chance. 

Definitely check with the Directors of Graduate Studies to see if this is the case.  I know this is true for California schools like UCLA, but I'm not sure if it's universally true across the country.

[superlative_high]

Hi all, nervous cog psych/neuro PhD applicant here. I'll be applying this fall to start fall of 2017. Any thoughts on how I could improve my application? I'm particularly unsure about my GRE AW score. I'm generally satisfied with my GREs but I'm wondering if I should retake considering how competitive the schools I'm applying to are. 

Undergraduate (at non HYP ivy): 
Major - Psychology, Minors - Philosophy, French (also took a couple of CS classes and linear algebra)
GPA Overall - 3.86 / Major GPA - 4.00 

Masters in Experimental Psychology (at top UK school): equivalent of A; prize for best overall performance

GRE - Verbal: 169, Quant: 167, AW: 4.5
Psych GRE 98th percentile

Research - 

• 5 years of research in various fields within cog psych/cog neuro (4 different labs - currently in an RA position) - Extensive programming experience (particularly with Matlab) as a result 
• 3 publications currently under review - 2 first author and 1 second author. Unfortunately, I starting to doubt any of these will be out by the time I apply
• 5 posters/talks (including 3 at SfN this November)

Honors

• Bunch of department prizes (for best honors thesis, poster presentation, overall performance etc) from both undergrad and grad institutions

I'm planning to apply to a mix of psych and neuro programs with a number of top programs in there (Harvard, UCSD, Stanford etc). Do you think its worth retaking the GRE or should I focus more on other parts of my application? Any input would be really appreciated

[St0chastic]

13 minutes ago, superlative_high said:

Hi all, nervous cog psych/neuro PhD applicant here. I'll be applying this fall to start fall of 2017. Any thoughts on how I could improve my application? I'm particularly unsure about my GRE AW score. I'm generally satisfied with my GREs but I'm wondering if I should retake considering how competitive the schools I'm applying to are. 

Undergraduate (at non HYP ivy): 
Major - Psychology, Minors - Philosophy, French (also took a couple of CS classes and linear algebra)
GPA Overall - 3.86 / Major GPA - 4.00 

Masters in Experimental Psychology (at top UK school): equivalent of A; prize for best overall performance

GRE - Verbal: 169, Quant: 167, AW: 4.5
Psych GRE 98th percentile

Research - 

• 5 years of research in various fields within cog psych/cog neuro (4 different labs - currently in an RA position) - Extensive programming experience (particularly with Matlab) as a result 
• 3 publications currently under review - 2 first author and 1 second author. Unfortunately, I starting to doubt any of these will be out by the time I apply
• 5 posters/talks (including 3 at SfN this November)

Honors

• Bunch of department prizes (for best honors thesis, poster presentation, overall performance etc) from both undergrad and grad institutions

I'm planning to apply to a mix of psych and neuro programs with a number of top programs in there (Harvard, UCSD, Stanford etc). Do you think its worth retaking the GRE or should I focus more on other parts of my application? Any input would be really appreciated

You are probably one of the most qualified applicants I have seen around here.  I would NOT retake the GRE.  AW isn't that important anyway--I know that I didn't bother preparing for it.  I scored basically identically to you (170V/168Q/5.0AW/99% Psych GRE), but my other stats were no where near as good as yours.  I didn't apply to uber competitive schools like Harvard/Stanford, but I was accepted at UCLA, UMichigan, and others.  

I think if you find a POI with a good research match you are just about guaranteed acceptance anywhere.

Edited September 13, 2016 by St0chastic

[superlative_high]

Thank you St0chastic, I really appreciate it. Good to hear about the GRE. Retaking it currently seems unnecessarily stressful but I wanted to check just in case the AW score stood out in a bad way. 

[St0chastic]

6 minutes ago, superlative_high said:

Thank you St0chastic, I really appreciate it. Good to hear about the GRE. Retaking it currently seems unnecessarily stressful but I wanted to check just in case the AW score stood out in a bad way. 

If you had a 4.0 that might be a problem (but even then, given your other accolades I don't think most admissions committees would bat an eye), but with a 4.5 you are squarely in safe territory.  If you want to convince schools of your writing chops, submit a thesis or publication.  

Edited September 13, 2016 by St0chastic

[neur0cat]

2 hours ago, superlative_high said:

Hi all, nervous cog psych/neuro PhD applicant here. I'll be applying this fall to start fall of 2017. Any thoughts on how I could improve my application? I'm particularly unsure about my GRE AW score. I'm generally satisfied with my GREs but I'm wondering if I should retake considering how competitive the schools I'm applying to are. 

Undergraduate (at non HYP ivy): 
Major - Psychology, Minors - Philosophy, French (also took a couple of CS classes and linear algebra)
GPA Overall - 3.86 / Major GPA - 4.00 

Masters in Experimental Psychology (at top UK school): equivalent of A; prize for best overall performance

GRE - Verbal: 169, Quant: 167, AW: 4.5
Psych GRE 98th percentile

Research - 

• 5 years of research in various fields within cog psych/cog neuro (4 different labs - currently in an RA position) - Extensive programming experience (particularly with Matlab) as a result 
• 3 publications currently under review - 2 first author and 1 second author. Unfortunately, I starting to doubt any of these will be out by the time I apply
• 5 posters/talks (including 3 at SfN this November)

Honors

• Bunch of department prizes (for best honors thesis, poster presentation, overall performance etc) from both undergrad and grad institutions

I'm planning to apply to a mix of psych and neuro programs with a number of top programs in there (Harvard, UCSD, Stanford etc). Do you think its worth retaking the GRE or should I focus more on other parts of my application? Any input would be really appreciated

You've a similar background and stats (except I didn't score as well for the GRE Quant) as I have. I am actually also applying to a mix of psych/interdepartmental/neuro programs. I think you are really competitive even if you lack publications!

P/S Sent you a PM!

[Developmental and Social]

Hey! I am applying to Ph D. program in psychology with a concentration in social and developmental psychology, I graduated in 2015 and have been working full time in a behavioral research lab. I have 3 publications, working on 4 other manuscripts. I have presented at different conferences including Harvard. My supervisor is an Assistant assistant professor at an Ivy league school. However, my GPA is pretty low (3.46). My GRE score was comparatively low and I am taking it again in November. Any thoughts on my chances of getting into a "good" Ph D. program.

[bdeck]

I have a low gre score for quant 152 and 157 on comp, analytical is 4.5. I have obtained a 3.61 gpa in neuroscience and I have submitted two papers for publishing (haven't been accepted yet) and I have presented at 6 different international conferences. I Work at the University of Pennsylvania with a clinical population in neuropsych (the field I plan to work in) but I am worried that my gre scores will hold me back from getting into a good phd program in psychology. I have good letters of recommendation from prolific well respected authors of their fields. I have worked so hard to make my application as strong as possible so that lower gre scores aren't a problem. I'm still concerned about my scores though. Any thoughts would be helpful!

 

Schools I am applying to:

 

UCONN

BU

Drexel

Fordham

Kent State

Penn State

Washington U in St. Louis

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

University of Toronto

and McGill

[St0chastic]

4 hours ago, bdeck said:

I have a low gre score for quant 152 and 157 on comp, analytical is 4.5. I have obtained a 3.61 gpa in neuroscience and I have submitted two papers for publishing (haven't been accepted yet) and I have presented at 6 different international conferences. I Work at the University of Pennsylvania with a clinical population in neuropsych (the field I plan to work in) but I am worried that my gre scores will hold me back from getting into a good phd program in psychology. I have good letters of recommendation from prolific well respected authors of their fields. I have worked so hard to make my application as strong as possible so that lower gre scores aren't a problem. I'm still concerned about my scores though. Any thoughts would be helpful!

 

Schools I am applying to:

 

UCONN

BU

Drexel

Fordham

Kent State

Penn State

Washington U in St. Louis

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

University of Toronto

and McGill

The importance of the GRE varies greatly from school to school and maybe even year to year.  Your presentations and research experience will go a long ways, but a mediocre GPA (by grad school standards anyway) and GRE scores won't do you any favors.  I know that retaking the GRE is expensive and a pain, but in your case I would strongly recommend it. I've posted about this several times in this thread, so take a look at the past couple of pages.  For the more competitive schools on your list, you should ideally be scoring >80% quant, >90% verbal, and at least 4.5 on AW.  A strong research background and letters of recommendation can compensate for lower scores, however. 

The way I see it is this.  What will help you more at this stage, pouring 100+ hours  into research or GRE prep?  In your case, almost certainly GRE prep.  

[bdeck]

58 minutes ago, St0chastic said:

The importance of the GRE varies greatly from school to school and maybe even year to year.  Your presentations and research experience will go a long ways, but a mediocre GPA (by grad school standards anyway) and GRE scores won't do you any favors.  I know that retaking the GRE is expensive and a pain, but in your case I would strongly recommend it. I've posted about this several times in this thread, so take a look at the past couple of pages.  For the more competitive schools on your list, you should ideally be scoring >80% quant, >90% verbal, and at least 4.5 on AW.  A strong research background and letters of recommendation can compensate for lower scores, however. 

The way I see it is this.  What will help you more at this stage, pouring 100+ hours  into research or GRE prep?  In your case, almost certainly GRE prep.  

I am retaking the GRE at the end of this month and have been studying rigorously for 3 months. Past two have been 4-5 hours every day. Keep in mind I work 50+ hours a week at Penn. I also was thinking that my gpa wasn't so low if you take into consideration the type of courses I had to take as a bio/neuroscience major compared to a normal psychology degree. 

 

Thanks for the advice!