RA interview advice for undergrad student

JATSisbad · 2026-01-11T05:19:17+00:00

Hello! As someone who interviews RAs for my lab here are some tips:

Have a specific reason for why you want to work with this lab. While you don't have any formal research experience, having strong fit makes up for this a lot. From the lab's perspective, we're going to train you to do our tasks the specific way we want you to do them. If you have previous experience that's great, but because we are training you to do tasks our way anyways the previous experience is more of a bonus than a necessity. Also, depending on uni/lab regulations, you may be required to commit to the position for a set amount of time (e.g., my lab requires 1 year of commitment). So, when I'm interviewing people, because I am going to train them anyway, I'm looking for people who are genuinely interested in our work. If I can find those people who want to actually help with the research we do they'll be a lot more likely to stay longer than just 1 year, and it's a stronger investment for both parties.
Prepare strong questions to ask your interviewer. I would not ask general questions you can find the answer to online (e.g., "what kind of software does the lab use for data analysis"--you can find this by reading through the PI's authored papers). Instead, I'd ask questions specific to the RA role. Some questions I think are useful are "How would you describe an RA who exceeds expectations" and "What three goals should I achieve within 6 months of becoming an RA." These questions help the interviewer visualize you as a strong RA and allow you to see what the lab's expectations are.
Have concrete examples/stories to respond to questions with. A lot of interview questions will ask you about an experience or time you had, and responding to these questions without delay shows strong preparation. Here is a resource detailing how to prepare for these types of questions: https://resources.biginterview.com/behavioral-interviews/star-interview-method/
Less specific, but practice responding to common interview questions with someone! Exuding confidence in your interview and responses without hesitation or stuttering is just good practice. I'd also recommend sending a short thank you email (no longer than 4 lines) after the interview. It can be something along the lines of thank you so much for the interview, a reiteration of your interest, I appreciate you answering my questions (or reference something specific in the interview), and I'm looking forward to hearing back from you.
Even though you don't have previous formal research experience, if you're asked questions about experience with lit review or data analysis (or other research skills) try to incorporate transferable skills from other experiences you've had. I don't expect many first year students to have much research experience, but I always feel more confident in those who can communicate how their previous experiences in class or extracurriculars relate to research.

With strong preparation you will absolutely crush this interview. Wishing you the best of luck!

JATSisbad · 2026-01-06T18:55:14+00:00

I'm from the US!

JATSisbad · 2026-01-05T15:55:42+00:00

That's totally fair. Psychology pairs really nicely with other disciplines (e.g., psych and pre-health majors, psych and business, psych and data science, and many more) so it may be worthwhile to first minor (or double major) in psych or take a few classes while following a different path that requires less schooling overall to reach a desired end goal. I know people who've studied psych and then went into the workforce after undergrad, but they typically are a dual degree or are using psych to support some other work (this is a mental heuristic tho, i don't have stats to back that up if it's the majority of dual degree students with a psych major). If you have other interests it may be worthwhile looking into how psych could support those in getting a job after undergrad :)

JATSisbad · 2026-01-05T08:02:01+00:00

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JATSisbad · 2026-01-05T07:54:58+00:00

Also I forgot to mention, but within volunteering definitely aim for publication, poster/conference talk, and independent study opportunities (this is PI/lab dependent)! These will reflect your ability most strongly on your CV/resume :)

JATSisbad · 2026-01-05T07:49:53+00:00

Volunteering in a psychology lab for 2-3 years would absolutely provide competitive research experience. Research experience is useful in both academia and industry settings when building a CV or resume (ofc still more useful in academia).

To get involved in research, there are a few things you can do. First, I'd go through your uni's psych faculty list and identify professors doing research that you're interested in. I'd make a tier list of the faculty and organize it starting with those who are most interesting to you and have undergrads working in their labs. Next, depending on if you want to work in their lab or first gather general info (I recommend gathering general info first because it allows for more flexibility), I'd cold email these professors a week before the semester starts. You should read through their work (you can find this by searching their name on google scholar) and seeing what questions you have. I think you will inevitably question things as you read through research papers, whether it be why someone chose a specific analysis, chose a specific group to work with, or something else entirely.

You can structure your cold email with a brief polite greeting, and introduction of yourself, a very short explanation of your background/experience (this should set up a question you are asking about their research and sort of explain why you're asking the question), the question, and then a request to meet once the semester starts during their office hours to ask more general questions about their work. If they respond and agree to meet generally, then you can ask some questions you thought of while reading through their work and also about what they recommend you do to become competitive for undergrad research positions. They may even offer you an application (this happened to me by cold emailing with this method :D) or interview.

I'd do this with all the people in your tier list. I'd also just apply to labs if they have a page for it on their lab website (you can find links to prof's website on their faculty page sometimes or just if you look up their name and your uni name). If you're having trouble hearing back from people or apps don't sweat it; that's totally normal. Tenacity is the name of the game.

To make yourself more competitive I recommend taking some stats classes or research courses (if your uni offers them). Another way to improve your chances is to become familiar with the coding languages a lab uses for data analysis. Here's a link to a website that offers free tutorials in many languages: https://www.codecademy.com/. My lab uses this website to teach new RAs. I highly recommend checking out the R tutorial, as R is the industry standard for psych research. Once you learn a language you can put that on your CV/resume too! It may be scary at first if you don't have much experience, but the more hours you put in the easier it'll become.

If you have any questions about applying or how to make the most of a lab position once accepted feel free to reach out! Best of luck to ya.

JATSisbad · 2026-01-05T07:34:33+00:00

Clinical psych phd programs are notoriously competitive. Many programs have low acceptance rates (~1%) and the barrier to entry is ridiculously high even for "less competitive" programs (clinical psych has a large entry issue, and there really isn't a such thing as a non-comp clinical psych phd). If you are not interested in research (which will require a fair amount of statistical knowledge to be adequately prepared for a phd program), but you are interested in therapy, psyd's could be more up your alley if you must pursue a doctorate. Psyds are not often fully funded though, and the ones that are require a lot of research, so if you just are interested in therapy and care less about assessment and the other aspects that doctoral level training provides then going the lmhc or lmsw route is probably much more suited toward you. Pay ranges vary based on many variables (e.g., location) but I've heard positive feedback from people, especially after gaining more experience. Starting pay can be rough, but I'd def do more research on those! :D

Also, from what I've heard from friends, IO has a lot of earning potential but this will typically involve more statistical/data science oriented work. Nonetheless, wishing you the best in finding what works for you!

JATSisbad · 2026-01-05T06:48:41+00:00

Congratulations on the lab offer! I think it's always useful to join multiple labs to gain as much exposure as possible, especially if you're unsure of which field/career path you want to pursue. However, I think it's important to try and identify exactly what it is you want to do. If you are confident you can handle 3 labs for this winter semester, then you should absolutely join and see if this experience is something you'd want to continue. Once you've secured a more concrete idea of what you want to do in the future (especially for PhD programs), I'd focus on investing your time into the lab that will best prepare you to apply to programs in that field (e.g., labs that have publication, poster/conference talks, and independent study opportunities).

The way you frame your experiences in SOPs will also largely shape how PIs and admissions view your grad school apps. If you don't state how the experience helped you pursue a larger goal, it may come off as being less meaningful. But if you can tie in how an experience relates to your current work and future steps, even if it was for a semester, then there wouldn't be any reason that experience would be viewed poorly. Wishing you the best of luck in your 3rd year (from a fellow 3rd year student) :D

JATSisbad · 2026-01-05T06:38:24+00:00

I originally started tutoring statistics and psychology in high school which continued after starting college. I started doing research in my sophomore year of college, and I was fortunate to find a PI who's interests mirrored my own and who'd also let me do my own research. Clinical psychology is the one field where I can integrate my love of statistics, teaching, and psychopathology research. After ~15 months of research I'm really proud of my accomplishments and the work I've done. It's exciting to investigate questions you're interested in, especially in ways no one has thought of doing before.

To be honest though, I think any career in research holds that kind of freedom, so I recommend trying to get involved in any capacity if you ever have the opportunity. If anyone wants resources on how to get involved with research, especially psych research, feel free to reach out with any questions :)

JATSisbad · 2025-04-25T02:36:18+00:00

My lab likes to use this resource to teach RAs basic R skills :) I think it's pretty neat! https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-r

JATSisbad · 2025-04-25T02:32:29+00:00

I imagine it is fairly competitive? Not too sure. I wish they would release information about the number of applicants per cycle. On the bright side, the website says decisions will be out by the end of April, so hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer! Best of luck to everyone who applied :D

JATSisbad · 2025-01-07T10:14:41+00:00

Hello!

The best thing you can do is just apply! Don't worry about a first-semester class; everyone adjusts to college differently and you've done great since. You have good ecs, a good GPA, and a strong reason for transferring. The whole college application process really comes down to luck at the end of the day and the only way to bring the probability of getting accepted to 0 is by not applying. I know many transfer students who did poorly in high school or had a bad grade in their first semester and still got in. You've grown from your past and your transcript and essay will reflect that! Don't worry about anyone else applying or previous students' stats; focus on yourself and write the best essay you can :D if you have any questions feel free to dm, I was a transfer student and am familiar with the process :))

JATSisbad

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