Fall 2018 Quantitative Psychology PhD Applicants

[Quantitative_Psychology]

On 11/5/2017 at 7:00 PM, Legend111 said:

Hello all,

I am heavily considering applying to a few quant programs here in CA (UCLA and Davis mainly) and I am wondering what you think may be my chances for acceptance. Right now I am in my second year finishing my MS in I/O psychology, where I have taken courses in graduate ANOVA, regression, psychometrics, research methods, and multivariate methods. In addition to my coursework, I am running an experiment on campus (for my thesis); however it is an I/O related topic. I am also a tutor in statistics and facilitate workshops on campus. My graduate GPA is pretty good (around 3.8). My only concern is that my GRE score isn't especially high (I only scored around 60th percentile in V and Q), although I did get a 5.0 on the AWA. 

Do I seem like I would be a viable candidate? Applications are due soon, so I need to make the decision on whether or not apply as soon as possible.

 

 

I'm applying to those schools too! Will you also apply to UC Merced? Who are you applying to at UCLA (you can PM me if you want)?

 

It's hard to tell how much the GRE matters in quantitative psychology. There aren't really any statistics out there because there are so few of us. I dug through the admission results on this website for quant programs once, and I saw a wide variety of GRE scores. It isn't a terribly large/good sample. However, your coursework sounds exceptional. I would think you have a very good chance.

[Quantitative_Psychology]

How are applications going for everyone?

[sc9an]

Looking out for the arrival of my last recommendation letter now!  About to go to the waiting period. Let's hope we are experienced enough this time to cope with the feeling of uncertainty.  

[Quantitative_Psychology]

7 hours ago, schenar said:

Looking out for the arrival of my last recommendation letter now!  About to go to the waiting period. Let's hope we are experienced enough this time to cope with the feeling of uncertainty.  

I still have to get the UNC application in, but I'm about to enter the waiting stage. It sucks having no idea when you'll hear back. Did you narrow down your research interests @schenar ? We're applying to almost the same schools

[sc9an]

@Quant_Psych_2018 Yeah I also need to wrap up the ASU application after my recommendation letter comes in. My research interests as described in the SoPs were around Bayesian methods and longitudinal modeling. These are big topics so I could customize a bit towards the professors' interests.

I guess this area does not leave us with many choices lol. We will see how it goes. I am trying to see how to keep myself engaged in the waiting stage with lab's work or other things, hopefully to fend off that feeling of uncertainty a bit!

[Quantitative_Psychology]

On 11/29/2017 at 1:27 PM, schenar said:

@Quant_Psych_2018 Yeah I also need to wrap up the ASU application after my recommendation letter comes in. My research interests as described in the SoPs were around Bayesian methods and longitudinal modeling. These are big topics so I could customize a bit towards the professors' interests.

I guess this area does not leave us with many choices lol. We will see how it goes. I am trying to see how to keep myself engaged in the waiting stage with lab's work or other things, hopefully to fend off that feeling of uncertainty a bit!

3

I do find it somewhat amusing that our interests aren't terribly similar, but we still managed to match programs. It truly is a small quant world!

Can we mention how nightmarish some these applications were? Between ASU having two and UCLA doing a complete application overhaul in November, I honestly thought it would never end. I'm not even sure what to do with my time anymore. I'm certain tomorrow I'll be extremely nervous though with several apps being due (although I've already submitted them).

I might pick up a hobby in December to make this whole waiting game more tolerable. X)

[sc9an]

22 hours ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

I do find it somewhat amusing that our interests aren't terribly similar, but we still managed to match programs. It truly is a small quant world!

Can we mention how nightmarish some these applications were? Between ASU having two and UCLA doing a complete application overhaul in November, I honestly thought it would never end. I'm not even sure what to do with my time anymore. I'm certain tomorrow I'll be extremely nervous though with several apps being due (although I've already submitted them).

I might pick up a hobby in December to make this whole waiting game more tolerable. X)

Right it was quite some effort to navigate those application platforms. OSU's portal also seems to take days to update itself...I might get a story book to read, taking a break from the quantitative world when there is still time...Hope this December goes well.

[Quantitative_Psychology]

On 12/1/2017 at 2:02 PM, schenar said:

Right it was quite some effort to navigate those application platforms. OSU's portal also seems to take days to update itself...I might get a story book to read, taking a break from the quantitative world when there is still time...Hope this December goes well.

OSU was the first one I applied to because you had to submit the application in order to send LOR requests (annoying as could be). I'm not surprised they are slow to update the portal though. I emailed UCLA about their portal not showing my GRE score, and the person informed me that the portal was not accurate and that they would be personally reaching out to any applicants missing transcripts or GRE scores. It definitely put me at ease.

23 minutes ago, wnk4242 said:

I ended up applying to 11 programs. Only two out of the 11 programs are pure quant psych programs and the rest are ed psych with a focus on quant methods. It seems that you guys only applied to quant psych programs.

Have you reached out to your POIs? I contacted all of my POIs and some PhD students and most of them responded warmly.

Hopefully everything goes well.

I did reach out to a majority of my POIs (mostly the ones I really wanted to work with). The responses were all good, but they were a little concerning. Several of them referenced uncertainty about how many grad students would be taken this year based on funding. I was a little surprised, and it makes me even more nervous. 

A lot of people told me to apply to some ed psych programs, but I couldn't quite find one that meshed with my interests and got me excited. You picked some good ones though!

[wnk4242]

1 hour ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

OSU was the first one I applied to because you had to submit the application in order to send LOR requests (annoying as could be). I'm not surprised they are slow to update the portal though. I emailed UCLA about their portal not showing my GRE score, and the person informed me that the portal was not accurate and that they would be personally reaching out to any applicants missing transcripts or GRE scores. It definitely put me at ease.

I did reach out to a majority of my POIs (mostly the ones I really wanted to work with). The responses were all good, but they were a little concerning. Several of them referenced uncertainty about how many grad students would be taken this year based on funding. I was a little surprised, and it makes me even more nervous. 

A lot of people told me to apply to some ed psych programs, but I couldn't quite find one that meshed with my interests and got me excited. You picked some good ones though!

The ed psych programs I applied to are quite similar to quant psych programs. I specifically asked my POIs in ed psych programs if it would be an issue if I was only interested in quant methods and they said it was not a problem at all. What are your research interests again? I am still interested in meta-analysis but I also stated that I am interested in combining SEM and Bayesian statistics with meta-analytic methods in my SoPs so I have a reason to work with professors who specialize in those areas.

It's normal that they don't have enough funding. As far as I know, out of the 11 programs, only Notre Dame has enough funding to offer every student they accept so they don't need to work for their advisors as RAs or TAs to support themselves. Even if you are not able to get fellowships or tuition assistance, you can still apply for RAships and TAships to support yourself.

Edited December 6, 2017 by wnk4242

[Quantitative_Psychology]

1 minute ago, wnk4242 said:

The ed psych programs I applied to are quite similar to quant psych programs. I specifically asked my POIs in ed psych programs if it would be an issue if I was only interested in quant methods and they said it was not a problem at all. What are your research interests again? I am still interested in meta-analysis but I also stated that I am interested in combining SEM and Bayesian statistics with meta-analytic methods in my SoPs so I have a reason to work with professors who specialize in those areas.

It's normal that they don't have enough funding. As far as I know, out of the 11 programs, only Notre Dame has enough funding to offer every student they accept. Even if you are not able to get fellowships or tuition assistance, you can still apply for RAships and TAships to support yourself.

I won't go to a program that doesn't offer a tuition waiver and some kind of stipend whether it be from TA/RA/fellowship. Financially, it just wouldn't be worth it to me. However, everywhere I applied says they offer the tuition waiver and stipend. I think they just won't make offers if they can't afford to do that or it will limit the number of offers they make.

My research interests are primarily in missing data and mediation/moderation analysis. I'd like to work with someone who does both, but I'm also applying to people who either do all missing data or all mediation/moderation.

Bayesian seems to be very hot right now. That's not a bad approach to take!

[sc9an]

2 hours ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

I won't go to a program that doesn't offer a tuition waiver and some kind of stipend whether it be from TA/RA/fellowship. Financially, it just wouldn't be worth it to me. However, everywhere I applied says they offer the tuition waiver and stipend. I think they just won't make offers if they can't afford to do that or it will limit the number of offers they make.

Right I thought the norm is to have tuition waiver and stipend for PhD-track students. The limit of funding on admission professors mentioned, on the other hand, could be seen as a universal concern every graduate applicant is more or less facing...In this sense your nervousness is shared by all of us.

3 hours ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

I emailed UCLA about their portal not showing my GRE score, and the person informed me that the portal was not accurate and that they would be personally reaching out to any applicants missing transcripts or GRE scores. It definitely put me at ease.

The OSU application portal was indeed a bit taxing, but I also heard these same sentences from the UCLA admission office.

3 hours ago, wnk4242 said:

When would you guys start preparing for potential interviews?

Interestingly I have not run into much discussion on interviews under the psychology tab of this forum. I guess the SoP is a good source of preparation to start with, but otherwise to me it would be more efficient to prepare after the invitation comes lol.

[Quantitative_Psychology]

4 minutes ago, schenar said:

Interestingly I have not run into much discussion on interviews under the psychology tab of this forum. I guess the SoP is a good source of preparation to start with, but otherwise to me it would be more efficient to prepare after the invitation comes lol.

2

I was going to wait until I get an invitation to prep for interviews. I have had a professor offer to help me practice skype interviews which are more likely to occur in December/January. I'll admit I'm pretty nervous about initial phone calls and skype interviews because I've never actually had one before. My master's program didn't require it.

[Quantitative_Psychology]

I finished my last final on Tuesday. Now I have plenty of time to sit around and think about whether I'll get any offers. Anyone else caving to the anxiety? Anyone hear anything from any programs yet?

[sc9an]

19 hours ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

I finished my last final on Tuesday. Now I have plenty of time to sit around and think about whether I'll get any offers. Anyone else caving to the anxiety? Anyone hear anything from any programs yet?

Yeah the anxiety is definitely around...the gradcafe result page has a few quantitative programs sending out interviews around the middle/end of December last year, so it is harder for me around these days not to think about it, but the result page records might not always be predictive of the next year.

The way I see it, the ladder of competitiveness in the schools' we applied should allow for an acceptable chance in getting at least one offer? Still I'd certainly hope to avoid too much mind-wandering.

Edited December 15, 2017 by schenar

[wnk4242]

I haven't heard anything so far. 

[spunky]

On 12/6/2017 at 10:55 AM, wnk4242 said:

The ed psych programs I applied to are quite similar to quant psych programs. I specifically asked my POIs in ed psych programs if it would be an issue if I was only interested in quant methods and they said it was not a problem at all. .

 

If I may offer some advice from the perspective of someone who already graduated and went on his first round of  job hunting, there is an edge from an academic job perspective to go for a quant psych program rather than an ed psych program with a measurement/psychometric focus. I found out (sadly, a little too late) that ed psych type departments have no problem hiring people coming either from ed psych depts or from  psych depts as long as the courses/research they did in quant psych overlaps with ed psych  (i.e. some emphasis on measurement or psychometrics). Psych depts, however, seem to be a lot less interested in hiring people coming exclusively from ed psych programs. 

The course materials and research in both programs are usually 99% similar but I guess it does make a difference to them from which dept you come from :/

[Quantitative_Psychology]

Just a heads up, I've received an interview invite for UC Davis (approximately 10 minutes ago). The email came from the Graduate Program Coordinator, and a majority of the information was not personalized. If anyone is curious who my POI is, I'm happy to PM. I'm so excited!

[sc9an]

23 minutes ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

Just a heads up, I've received an interview invite for UC Davis (approximately 10 minutes ago). The email came from the Graduate Program Coordinator, and a majority of the information was not personalized. If anyone is curious who my POI is, I'm happy to PM. I'm so excited!

Yeah I have Davis just now as well! I hope my flight won't go over their budget. Looking forward to it!

[otter27]

Got an interview invite for the University of North Carolina!

And also a skype interview for Vanderbilt, except I got the email from my POI not the program so idk how official that is? but anyway really looking forward to it!

[Quantitative_Psychology]

6 hours ago, otter27 said:

Got an interview invite for the University of North Carolina!

And also a skype interview for Vanderbilt, except I got the email from my POI not the program so idk how official that is? but anyway really looking forward to it!

How exciting! I'm really stoked for you. UNC is a great program!!!  What are you doing to prep for the skype interview? I've never had one.

Do you mind PMing me your POI from Vanderbilt? 

5 minutes ago, wnk4242 said:

Just received an email from POI from Univ of Iowa asking for a skype interview. 

That's fantastic news! Congratulations!!! Are you doing anything special to prep for the skype interview?

[wnk4242]

2 minutes ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

How exciting! I'm really stoked for you. UNC is a great program!!!  What are you doing to prep for the skype interview? I've never had one.

Do you mind PMing me your POI from Vanderbilt? 

That's fantastic news! Congratulations!!! Are you doing anything special to prep for the skype interview?

Thank you! The POI told me that he wanted to learn more about my meta-analysis experience, so I'm going to review the work I did last year. I'm also going to prepare answers to the basic questions the POI may ask. I've also prepared many questions to ask him about the program.

[Quantitative_Psychology]

1 hour ago, wnk4242 said:

Thank you! The POI told me that he wanted to learn more about my meta-analysis experience, so I'm going to review the work I did last year. I'm also going to prepare answers to the basic questions the POI may ask. I've also prepared many questions to ask him about the program.

That sounds like a great idea. It’s nice of your POI to give you a heads up on what he/she wants go talk about. I’ve heard it’s not bad idea to enlist a friend or mentor to do a mock Skype interview to make you comfortable with the format. I’ll probably do this if I get one. 

[wnk4242]

1 hour ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

That sounds like a great idea. It’s nice of your POI to give you a heads up on what he/she wants go talk about. I’ve heard it’s not bad idea to enlist a friend or mentor to do a mock Skype interview to make you comfortable with the format. I’ll probably do this if I get one. 

I think the aim of an interview is just to get to know each other better. So, even if he didn't tell me what to expect during the interview, I'll still prepare for the questions I mentioned before. Think about what you really want your POIs know about you, your strengths and your idea about your future research. 

Edited December 20, 2017 by wnk4242

[otter27]

2 hours ago, Quant_Psych_2018 said:

How exciting! I'm really stoked for you. UNC is a great program!!!  What are you doing to prep for the skype interview? I've never had one.

Do you mind PMing me your POI from Vanderbilt? 

That's fantastic news! Congratulations!!! Are you doing anything special to prep for the skype interview?

its my first time having a skype interview as well so didn't really know what to prepare haha, but it turned out to be very chill!

I feel it's mostly the professors making sure you know why you're doing quant psych and why this particular program/professor, so it would be good to prepare a list of questions to ask them (i didn't do very well preparing this). And yeah I will PM you my poi from Vanderbilt!

[tj1864]

I posted on this thread a while back in the summer saying I was applying to masters programs. Really excited to find out that today I got an offer for the MS in Applied Stats & Psychometrics program at Boston College and I will be accepting!

Good luck to everyone as you go through the interview process!