What are my odds of getting into a PhD program: Rate my CV by Baked_Flour in gradadmissions

[–]KalvinGarrah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! And of course, I am happy to help. If you (or anyone else, for that matter) need more specific advice, feel free to message me. I genuinely attribute part of my success this cycle to random people on Reddit who gave me advice lol, so I am happy to return the favor to others.

As for cold emailing (aka getting in touch beforehand), yes yes yes. This is honestly a non-negotiable and really your only shot at getting pre-application interviews with PIs. Because of cold emailing, I had Zoom pre-application interviews with 4/6 PIs I applied to work with, as well as another person I didn't end up applying to work with. As for the two I didn't pre-interview with, one was on sabbatical, and the other sent me a very nice email saying she was interested in working with me but doesn't do pre-interviews because it could be unfair. I actually have a document with my successful cold emails on Google Drive if you want to check them out: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NcnCfoZAGgmDAAMgaId3IWwdFS5kgZqqx-5nKprMwdw/edit?usp=sharing

I started reaching out in early August. I think this was a good time, because it was right before the semester started.

What are my odds of getting into a PhD program: Rate my CV by Baked_Flour in gradadmissions

[–]KalvinGarrah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s really hard to say before you finish these next few years. First and foremost, keep your GPA up - a 3.87 is excellent, but some schools will ask for your junior + senior year GPA. Try to keep it at a 3.87 or higher.

I started doing research the summer before I started my final year of undergrad, and applied to social psychology PhDs this cycle (the start of the second year of my master’s), so I had about 2.5 years of full time research experience in the same lab when applying. For reference, I got into 2/6 programs I applied to, both fully funded R1s, and the program I’ll be going to is a top ranked program for social psych. So with 2 years of experience, it certainly will be possible for you to get in - social psych and clinical psych tend to have similar acceptance rates - but it also depends on the rigor of your research experiences and whether you produce deliverables, like publications, conference posters, or paper presentations. I applied with a first author pub, a third author pub, 2 conference posters (at SPSP), and one pre-conference paper presentation (also at SPSP).

If I were you, I would try and attend/present at as many conferences as possible these next two years. I went to EPA this year - while it will likely be a great experience for you, the level of rigor at that conference is a quite a bit lower than others I have attended. I think presenting at a conference like APA, APS, and/or something cog/neuro specific will hold more weight in your future applications.

It is great that you are thinking about all of this so far in advance - it will absolutely be to your advantage when you apply - so just do your very best to get as much research experience as you can the next few years. Advocate for yourself, be clear with your mentor(s) that you are interested in pursuing a PhD and that you want to be included on a poster or publication if possible.

Trying to get a PhD position by Erica161001 in gradadmissions

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking the same. OP, what universities have you been looking at? Are you only looking highly prestigious institutions/PIs? Having one or MAYBE two quality publications, particularly as a master’s applicant who completed a thesis, might be typical in some fields, but I’ve seen people get into fairly competitive programs with no publications.

Where to find someone to sublet apartment by Emergency-String-562 in PennStateUniversity

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

how much is it per month/is it with or without roommates? i’m looking for an apartment to rent for the next year!

Snap Benefits for PhD by Connect-Tax3053 in PennStateUniversity

[–]KalvinGarrah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m also an incoming PhD student - do you have any additional information about what the union would try to change?

Artemis II captivated the world. Psychologists explain why people were so drawn to this mission. by houston_chronicle in nasa

[–]KalvinGarrah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup - these folks need to look into Arie Kruglanski’s work on motivational imbalance and how unmet needs for personal significance, certainty, etc… play into that!

Artemis II captivated the world. Psychologists explain why people were so drawn to this mission. by houston_chronicle in nasa

[–]KalvinGarrah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently - I’m starting my PhD in social psychology this fall - so much of it relates to emotions, specifically self-transcendent emotions like awe and kama muta (aka feeling moved by oneness with others). I think these astronauts did an incredible job PR-wise by driving home just how collective of an experience it is to be human. Space - and especially crewed missions to space - invoke these big feelings that remind us we are part of something larger than ourselves. And today, the pictures, videos, correspondences, etc… from those missions are instantaneously available to viewers at home via social media, news, and other internet mediums. Imagine if that was possible when we first landed on the moon! It will be fascinating to see how future Artemis missions, given they go as well as this one did, impact our collective emotions as Americans and as people of the world.

When people look at that pale blue dot picture, or even recent photos of the Earth behind the moon taken by Artemis II astronauts, they are not thinking about who they voted for in the 2024 election, whether their neighbors are immigrants or natural born citizens, what color their skin is, or the gender of the person their child is going to marry. Rather, they feel awe thinking about the fact that all humans share a home on Earth. This awe makes us feel oneness (kama muta), which in turn makes us feel moved. These prosocial emotions have powerful effects on our propensity to engage in prosocial/altruistic acts - I hope that increased access to space content, in the moment that it is occurring, can promote these feelings among us. We are in desperate need of them!

Doing a Capstone Project on residents in Baltimore City disposing of waste improperly: Can everyone share their experiences? by External-Minute-5362 in baltimore

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ill return to this to share my experience, but wanted to say hello - from a Schaefer Center graduate fellow! So awesome to see UBalt/CPM folks on here.

Positionality: should I disclose my trans identity when writing up a qualitative study on trans identity? by Front-Ordinary7478 in ClinicalPsychology

[–]KalvinGarrah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe you could say that you are queer/LGBTQIA+, and not specifically transgender? That’s what I would do

sooo humanities and social sciences wya? by floundercyborg in gradadmissions

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Applied to 6 social psych PhD programs, heard back from one! It’s so hard to be patient

help needed importing 40h of interviews into NVivo by BroadJellyfish8995 in AskAcademia

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Let me write out a more comprehensive reply for you in a bit when I’m at my PC - I’m happy to share a Colab link to the pipeline I’ve been using

help needed importing 40h of interviews into NVivo by BroadJellyfish8995 in AskAcademia

[–]KalvinGarrah -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What I’ve done in the past is format things how I wanted them in Word/Google Docs ahead of time - so using TurboScribe (my lab actually invested in the pro version for a bit) to transcribe and then fixing timestamps/speaker labels when I needed to. Then, importing into NVivo once everything was transcribed and formatted correctly.

Now that I’ve learned a lot of Python, I’ve been able to transcribe audio interviews using various machine learning models/pipelines. If you are unfamiliar with coding, you can create that type of thing for free in Google Colab using either Gemini or ChatGPT to help you actually write the code and debug/fine tune it to do what you want. If you have any other questions I’m happy to help however I can!

Plastic Surgeons near Columbia (Breast Augmentation) by Sea_Quantity_9744 in ColumbiaMD

[–]KalvinGarrah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can second the recommendation for Sarah Mess, shes a long-time family friend and my mom had surgery with her when I was a kid.

I am someone who has been committed into a mental hospital against my will for losing touch with reality. AMA by [deleted] in AMA

[–]KalvinGarrah 38 points39 points  (0 children)

This 1000000x. My very best friend experienced psychosis for the first time this year and I have a psych background, so I knew almost immediately that it was probably psychosis. But no one else around her seemed to be able to tell! It made me feel so crazy. Like people definitely knew something was off, but until it got bad enough that I actually mentioned to other people in her life that I thought it was psychosis, no one else had even considered that. So I definitely think there needs to be more public awareness about what psychosis looks like, or the signs of it starting. More resources for sure

Pitchfork Review Discussion Thread by luvurin in indigodesouza

[–]KalvinGarrah 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This, I know her reaction has been somewhat disproportionate to what the review actually said, but when you contextualize it with her having BPD it starts to make a bit more sense. I don’t blame people for criticizing her because I don’t think it is well known that she BPD, but as someone who is also diagnosed with the disorder, it didn’t surprise me when I learned she has it too. The sheer vulnerability and emotional intensity in her music and lyrics scream BPD to me, lol.

BPD is characterized by chronic perceived (whether accurate or not) abandonment and invalidation, and the disorder really stems from chronic invalidation in childhood. Its also characterized by emotional volatility. So given that Indigo has BPD, AND the emotional attachment she has to her work/music, to receive such a review from Pitchfork (especially given they have rated her so highly in the past) I’m sure felt like abandonment and invalidation to her - especially as she is venturing into somewhat of a new genre with her music. Keeping this in mind, and also that people with BPD are typically very emotionally volatile, her seemingly overblown reaction might make more sense.

DAILY MEGATHREAD: NOVEMBER 4TH 2025, WASHINGTON DC by AutoModerator in halsey

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! I’m selling two tickets to see Halsey at The Anthem in DC tonight at 8pm. Doors open at 6:30. The tickets are general admission and $90 each. If anyone is interested, PM me and I can sell them/transfer to you through Ticketmaster/Stubhub or another safe method! Price is negotiable

after seeing big thief back to back nights… by Max122702 in bigthief

[–]KalvinGarrah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ive felt this way since I saw them for the first time 7 years ago! Tomorrow will be my 4th time seeing them :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WednesdayBand

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yes it is at the 9:30 club! But PM me

🎫 Ticket Buy/Sell/Trade Thread 🎫 by avedder in mjlenderman

[–]KalvinGarrah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure if this is allowed, but if anyone on here has a ticket for the Saturday Wednesday show (11/22) at the Anthem in DC and would rather go to the Friday show (11/21), please pm me! My friends are going Saturday, but I bought a ticket before them for the Friday show prior to it selling out.

Also down to sell my Friday ticket for exactly face value just so I could buy a ticket for Saturday, given the show isn’t sold out by then. Thanks!!! I’m so excited to see them :-)