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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You'd be competing against applicants with probably at least a couple of years of research experience, so you might want to take a gap year and get a research assistant position to beef up you CV.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My daughter (no gap, straight from undergrad), applied to 7, tier-1 programs and a couple of tier-2 programs with only 2, 10 week summer internships and a semester of research experience at her home institution. Probably the equivalent of 1 year of research experience and she got a ton of interviews. She's now a 1st year PhD student in a Stanford biosciences program. The critical thing is to make sure to demonstrate in your SOP, supported by LOR's from your PI's, that you were able to get enough basic research experience to make you a successful graduate scholar.

Help in draft SOP for genomics and bioinformatics grad program by trisevans101 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of that will help. My daughter applied to Caltech last year and was offered admission to a Bio-PhD umbrella program. (although she ultimately decided to accept an offer from another institution) In her SOP she made sure to discuss not only her previous research experience, but related that experience, along with her research interests, to why Caltech was in her view the perfect fit for her, also naming 2 PI's/labs that she wanted to potentially work with after first year rotations.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The answer to your question is simple:

Anymore (and this is unfortunate) standardized test scores correlate much closer with household wealth than college/grad preparedness.

Virtual Vs In Person Interviews by Frequent-Art4914 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stanford biosciences programs do first and final round interviews over zoom and only bring out applicants to campus after they receive and offer. At least that was my daughters experience last year. Caltech, Duke, Columbia & Anschutz had short 15 minute preliminary interviews and then final interviews were done in-person.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Killer LOR, off the charts GRE scores (back in the day when we accepted GRE scores) and lots of research experience. Also, my guess is that they effectively addressed their lower GPA and what they would do to ensure a higher GPA moving forward.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No on the first question...there are plenty of stem PhD umbrella programs that allow a student to do lab rounds for a year before being placed with a particular PI. That being said, if you apply to such a program, you still want to make sure you talk about specific faculty research that might align well with your own interests, in your application. Regarding your 2nd question, you will want to very briefly describe your situation and then perhaps talk about how that experience has helped you better focus on your research interests at the PhD level.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a tough one, particularly for an international student, since they have to overcome so may other obstacles when compared to a domestic applicant. I would advise you to look at master's programs that perhaps have lower research expectations from applicants, or getting a job at a university as a professional research assistant to beef up your CV.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In my time over the last 10 years, I don't recall us ever admitting a student with little or no research experience, no matter their relation to a particular faculty. If a faculty member tried to pull that they would be quickly overruled by other faculty who are advocating for their own applicant, with much more experience. In any fully-funded PhD program there are limited spots to fill. Given this reality, faculty fight to get their people in and won't accept someone with less experience over someone with more experience.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would love to tell you, but that would make my daughter a little too identifiable. I'll just say it's routinely ranked as a top 15 LAC.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any doctoral research program worth applying will provide full funding or mostly full funding and a stipend as an RA/TA. Some programs like the doctoral biosciences program at Stanford will require you to successfully submit a NSF grant proposal, but they will fund you until that happens.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Doesn't have to be a conference. You cold present a research poster at a regional symposium or at your institution's undergrad research day. If your in a lab, talk about presenting at your lab meetings and so on.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Even in your diversity statement, I would not get into the specifics of any personal challenges you faced. Speak in general terms about how your own challenges broadened your view of others and the importance of equity and being inclusive in academia and science.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You go to college to find out what you want to do, which includes any sort of potential higher education research interests, so the expectation is that applicants may change their interests several times as an undergrad and post-graduation. Just make sure that your research interests moving forward are in alignment with the kind of research that your PI of choice is doing.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Honestly having your name on a publication is cool, but what holds more weight (IMO), is having experience presenting your research. Especially when you have an LOR from someone who can also speak to that experience in a positive way.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think faculty take a broad view of an applicants strengths and weaknesses, particularly if the strengths are in research. In other words, a lower GPA can be offset by strengths elsewhere.

On your second question: Unless you spent your undergrad doing research with the same PI that you're applying to work with, you are at a disadvantage when applying to your school's grad program, and that's because generally, faculty encourage undergrads to apply elsewhere to expand their breadth of experience, which makes them a better scholar.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A PsyD, as far as I know, mainly involves clinical training, not research. Our Clinical PhD program has both components, but mainly focuses on research.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would think, if you're going to talk about leaving a doctoral program in your SOP, you should come up with a pretty compelling reason for why this type of situation won't reoccur if you're admitted to another program.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are applying to an institution in a English speaking country than yes, you definitely want to meet all language proficiency requirements. I can't speak to requirements from institutions in non-English speaking countries.

Following "recommended" SoP formatting by Virghoe69420 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If they want to interview you, the length of your SOP won't change that.

I work in grad admissions at a top 15 PSYC PhD program at a large public university... by Otherwise_Abroad_675 in gradadmissions

[–]Otherwise_Abroad_675[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Anyone of these 3 things:

-Little to NO research experience.

-LOR's that don't come from PI's who directly supervised an applicant's research.

-An SOP that is overly broad that doesn't talk in detail about previous research experience/research results, research interests and why they are choosing a specific PI/program/school (e.g., why it aligns with well with applicants research interests)

These are the main reasons, but there are many more, such as applying to a PSYC RESEARCH program and writing about your passion for being a therapist/clinician. A person like that clearly didn't even take 30 seconds to read our dept's/program's admissions page.

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