Mid-Tier Social Psychology PhD Programs

[Trillian8]

Hello Everyone!

I am looking to apply to grad school this fall for fall 2018 admission. My undergraduate GPA is terrible (2.85 overall, 3.1 major) but from a good school (Carnegie Mellon University) and I have a lot of research experience (3.5 years as an RA in undergrad, two independent projects, one with a classmate, two symposium presentations, and 1 year employed as an RA after graduation). I took the GRE and scored 160V/153Q/5W, but I plan to take it again to shoot for higher scores in verbal and especially quantitative so I'll at least have a great GRE score on my side. Since my GPA is so low, I was going to shoot for a master's programs this time around (Villanova, Wake Forest, and William and Mary are on my list currently), but I've had a few people tell me to go for a few PhD programs as well because of my research experience.  Does anyone know of any mid-tier Social Psychology PhD programs that I should look into/might have a shot at? Thanks in advance! (Just fyi, I'm interested in romantic relationships, friendships, social support, and online interactions.)

[ZachOxford]

Hey there! I know this isn't necessarily related, but I just wanted to reach out. 

I'm about to be a second year master's student at Villanova, and given your interests, I would say definitely submit an application there. We have not one, but two social psychology faculty members who are very personable and look at romantic relationships. Furthermore, they do a lot of work online (such as dating profile work) so it could be feasible to look at online interactions as well. While your GPA is a bit low for most Ph.Ds, work in a master's program will show you have what it takes academically while giving you additional research experience to set you apart from the competition. 

 

Best of luck! 

[elemosynarical]

On 2017-6-19 at 0:46 PM, Trillian8 said:

Hello Everyone!

I am looking to apply to grad school this fall for fall 2018 admission. My undergraduate GPA is terrible (2.85 overall, 3.1 major) but from a good school (Carnegie Mellon University) and I have a lot of research experience (3.5 years as an RA in undergrad, two independent projects, one with a classmate, two symposium presentations, and 1 year employed as an RA after graduation). I took the GRE and scored 160V/153Q/5W, but I plan to take it again to shoot for higher scores in verbal and especially quantitative so I'll at least have a great GRE score on my side. Since my GPA is so low, I was going to shoot for a master's programs this time around (Villanova, Wake Forest, and William and Mary are on my list currently), but I've had a few people tell me to go for a few PhD programs as well because of my research experience.  Does anyone know of any mid-tier Social Psychology PhD programs that I should look into/might have a shot at? Thanks in advance! (Just fyi, I'm interested in romantic relationships, friendships, social support, and online interactions.)

3.1? i think most grad programs require a minimum of 3.7 in the last 2 years, at least that's my experience w/ Canadian applications

[Trillian8]

15 hours ago, ZachOxford said:

Hey there! I know this isn't necessarily related, but I just wanted to reach out. 

I'm about to be a second year master's student at Villanova, and given your interests, I would say definitely submit an application there. We have not one, but two social psychology faculty members who are very personable and look at romantic relationships. Furthermore, they do a lot of work online (such as dating profile work) so it could be feasible to look at online interactions as well. While your GPA is a bit low for most Ph.Ds, work in a master's program will show you have what it takes academically while giving you additional research experience to set you apart from the competition. 

 

Best of luck! 

Ok, thank you so much! I just signed up for the graduate open house in the fall. Do you have any tips for contacting faculty whose work I'm interested in? Like, when I should email them? Thanks!

[PokePsych]

You may want to check this list to identify some programs: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ff78/ebcb5d4da24758a0f9ef205e3612840cf50e.pdf

Don't know if ALL are considered competitive - would argue not.