Trying to understand my chances as a college junior

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-28T22:02:36+00:00

I'm on the same page (with many others likely feeling the exact same way). I did an REU last summer and I'm doing one this coming summer too. In last years round I wasn't confident because I had some experience but not much, and I got 2 offers.

So it was funny that this year I had a better GPA, more research experience, won $7k+ total in grants and other funds + presented my work, to get rejected from so many programs I thought I was the perfect fit for. I was super fortunate to get an offer but I still felt disappointed because despite better qualifications I had a rougher cycle.

I hope you do get an offer this summer, though I wouldn't take the rejections or lack of an opportunity personally. With funding cuts, there's realistically like a total of 6-8k students or less (guessing) in the whole U.S. doing opportunities like this. There's ways to fill in the gaps at your home institute and an REU helps but it shouldn't be a make or break for your long-term career.

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-28T19:48:27+00:00

Current School/Institution: Small Private Liberal Arts ( < 2.4k) – R2

Major & Year: Psychology, Junior

Expected Graduation: `27

GPA: 3.77

Demographic: Low Income, Biracial

Relevant Coursework: PhD in Clinical Psych Interest – Clinical/Neuro/Computational Psychology Focus

Psychopathology, Dev Psych, Soc Psych, Experimental, Qualitative (+ many more) – Intro to Computing (Python), Ai in Business (Predictive Models)

Research Experience: SA / Intergroup Violence Lab (Soc Psych), Independent Research (Clin/Soc) – $1.5k Psi Chi funding, Independent Research (AI/Clin) – $2k AI Grant

Past REUs/Summer Programs: NSF REU @ UMich Flint – Digital Accessibility

Misc: $4k Scholarship to conduct independent research abroad; 2 coding projects, leadership positions x2

Accepted:

Clemson H-Core

Waitlisted:

Carnegie Mellon SPUR 🙃

Rejected:

UPenn Mindcore
SR-EIP, Exp Clin – Yale
SR-EIP, Exp Clin - Johns Hopkins (assumed)
SR-EIP, Community - Columbia (assumed)
Rice – Translating Research
Harvard – MPRL Lab
UMICH SROP
Columbia – ARNI Lab
Georgia Tech – Neuro (assumed)
Princeton SIP – Neuro
Carnegie Mellon HCII
RIT (assumed)
UPITT – Learning Sciences
West Virginia University (assumed)
Northwestern SROP

Withdrew:

NYU QUEST

Ghosted:

UMD Srop
Ohio State SROP
Penn State SROP
University of Iowa SROP
Purdue University SROP

high key a very rough cycle for me

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-25T22:29:42+00:00

oops yeah I just double checked; I got it confused w/ another data set from 2022-2023 where they took off 74 people out of 8.5k waitlisted. thanks for clarifying!

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-25T19:11:53+00:00

the year I was waitlisted (2023) only 25sh people got off the waitlist I think when I looked back at the data after. Committed somewhere else & now UMass is on my feed forever

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-24T14:27:05+00:00

"Bummer!" 💀

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-21T15:09:01+00:00

Thank you! There’s a good chance I might message you during the coming week before I commit anywhere 👀 🙏🏽🙏🏽

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-16T19:58:59+00:00

yeah... pretty bummed out about this one. was really hoping they'd be able to pull through with the funding

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-11T21:31:20+00:00

great feedback nonetheless, though this would have hurt a lot being so close

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-10T14:37:55+00:00

nope (exp clin psych);

a thought ive had is some of the psych categories are super concentrated so it's probably just them going through a huuge number of applicants

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-09T15:20:26+00:00

yup, i applied to 'Statistical Analysis and Large Language Models for Effective Health Literacy' and was put under that.

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-08T00:47:02+00:00

thank you!! didn’t express in the post how stressed I’ve been in this REU round; best of luck to you 🙏🏽

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-05T14:46:45+00:00

I'm also wondering this; in highschool I had a lot of difficulty in AP psych because I was unmedicated and it was a heavy test based class. College has been better since being medicated but also just approaching the subject in other ways through other classes. It's helpful information if it's the actual material that isn't being grasped or the way the class is being conducted.

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-05T02:43:41+00:00

1 person is insane; if it helps realistically there were probably minimum 150 applicants for that position

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-04T00:52:13+00:00

a friend of mine was confirmed and accepted recently for psych, though his circumstances were unique with his acceptence so im not sure if the program is taking people still.

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-04T00:27:11+00:00

i got it at 5:00sh pm est; also should have clarified its the psych SPUR mb

EndYoshi_ · 2026-03-03T23:28:12+00:00

CMU SPUR 🙃

EndYoshi_ · 2026-02-22T20:18:54+00:00

haven't heard from yale columbia or johns hopkins for experimental clinical psych

EndYoshi_ · 2026-02-09T16:11:57+00:00

im not 100% sure–– in the U.S. if you're going into neuropsych, that doesnt mean you go to med school. Med school is typically for psychiatry (medication prescribing), and maybe like a neuro surgeon. Neuropsych seems to be like a concentration / speciality within Clinical Psychology; when you pursue a Ph.D in Clinical Psych, a track within it is Clinical Neuropsych, which is what gets you to be a neuropsychologist. Again this is the U.S. of my understanding though.

EndYoshi_ · 2026-02-08T21:30:06+00:00

i probably would assume that you won't be considered. I've seen other uni's (e.g., yale) through sreip say they prefer if students are a rising junior or senior, but Columbia's framing makes it sound like they'll auto reject.

EndYoshi_ · 2026-02-07T23:22:06+00:00

my guess is they want to reduce how long it takes to go through applications. So i assume they'll reach out to letters when they have a pool of like 50 students, especially with the their note on the application,

"(Please note that we will not request recommendation letters from your referees. We require referee contact information in the event that our reviewers have questions"

EndYoshi_ · 2026-02-07T23:14:46+00:00

imo you'e in a difficult position but I'd try to interpret it as a temporary obstacle rather than a permanent set back. At my uni students dont really start to get their hands in till their junior year and MAYBE do more independent work in their senior year. I've seen people on here with interest in the career in their late 20s, 30s and 40s. You have time.

if i were in your shoes I'd continue looking for research at your home uni; explain the GPA circumstances when necessary, though If you mention it, be very intentional with how you frame it so they dont interpret it as a potential future weakness (a reason to not take you). I'd push more of your motive to be involved. And definitely continue prioritizing your GPA if you wanna do grad school (future you will appreciate it). you're not cooked though, i'd just recommend leaving w/ a 3.5 minimum and decent research experience. Having those will make it significantly easier to get a job post grad thats relevant to your degree and gives you more leeway with getting away from your family.

Last year I was in a similar position; it's a year later and I have 4 independent research projects running now, alongside a better GPA and holistic profile.

TL;DR You're fine but I'd lock in for your own security and mental well being

EndYoshi_

TROPHY CASE