Grad School Here I Come…

1. Grad School Here I Come… • Grades • GREs • Letters of Reference • Personal Statement/Faculty Interest • Scholarly Productivity • Clinically-Related Experiences • Intangibles

2. Grad School Here I Come… • Grades • 2.5-3.0 gets your foot in the door • MA/MS programs not as competitive as PhD/PsyD (they may want 3.0 or higher) • Overall, last 2 years, Psych only • Got a C in Research Methods (or any other psych class)? Might want to re-take. • D is Basket Weaving? (Don’t bother)

3. Grad School Here I Come… • GREs • Verbal (define cow), Quantitative (2+2 = ?), Analytic (A is to B as C is to ___) • General Test/Advanced Test (200-800 scale), percentile also relevant (29th percentile) • Writing Test (6 point scale) • Different schools ask for different things: • V + Q = 1000 (or 1200) • 30th percentile of higher

4. Grad School Here I Come… • GRE less than 500? Don’t panic (yet). • GREs are 1 of several components to your application. • May want to think about re-taking if scores are low; scores are good for 5 years (if you accept them) and all scores within 5 year period sent to all schools you apply to. • Some take average, first time taken, last time taken

5. Grad School Here I Come… • Letters of Reference • Pick letter writers wisely. • They should be willing to write you a STRONG letter; otherwise do not ask them (as they may then write you a crappy letter)! • Should be profs you have had a class (or 2 or 3 or X) from with grades of A and/or B; could be manager from work, supervisor (check what school wants). • Don’t ask Mom, Grandma, BFF, etc.

6. Grad School Here I Come… • Letters of Reference • If school want 3, don’t sent 2 or 7 or 50; send 3 (but have back-ups just in case) • Check letter writers to make sure they meet deadlines. It is a real shame when a highly qualified applicant is rejected because a letter writer “forgot” to send the letter in. Actually, YOU are responsible for seeing that all letters get sent (or that you send them).

7. Grad School Here I Come… • Personal Statement/Faculty Interest • Here you can convince a school or faculty member(s) to have you work with them. • Also a place where students add too much (I like cheese) or too little (I want to help people) about them selves. • Be discreet! No pictures, No FACEBOOK or MySpace stuff (and clean these up before applying). That picture of your doing a keg stand at DU is not acceptable! • Some schools will present you with some questions to answer as part of your response; others will not.

8. Grad School Here I Come… • Personal Statement/Faculty Interest • Read over dept materials to see who you would want to work with. • Contact this person (are they still alive, taking new students, still at XYZ University?) • Include this in your personal statement. • Say why you would want to work with them (otherwise why are you applying?)

9. Grad School Here I Come… • Scholarly Productivity • Takes many forms • Presentations (local, regional, national, international) • Publications (abstracts, articles, book chapters) • Best advice: start early and do as much as you can.

10. Grad School Here I Come… • Scholarly Productivity • We have PSY 294 (S/U grading, have not had PSY 303 yet); PSY 494 (Graded, have had PSY 303) for being Research Assistant (RA) • Honors Thesis may also be attractive to you (need 3.20 or higher GPA, 75 credit hours or more in total (not just PSY). • Also, PSY 395 (Practical Experiences in Psychology) and PSY 397 (Cooperative Education) for those who want expereince but may not as RA (or in addition to being an RA)

11. Grad School Here I Come… • Scholarly Productivity • Hunt out profs whose interests match yours (check out dept website for this); don’t wait to be ask to be involved in research • Discuss research ideas/topics with profs • Many undergrads have 1-2 publications and 1-2 presentations before they apply. Depends on the level of involvement (might work with 4 profs in 4 labs, etc.)

12. Grad School Here I Come… • Clinically-Related Experiences • Could take the form of volunteering at Stadter Center, REM, homeless shelter, Community Violence Intervention Center, Wonder Years, administering psychological tests as part of a research project, interviewing participants, etc. • Dept has many contacts in town and in region for this; you can also devise your own experiences. • Some may pay some may not but don’t (always) let $$$ dictate this. Some great once-in-a-lifetime experiences may not pay anything!

13. Grad School Here I Come… • Intangibles • Can take many forms • Maybe you were a TA for a course, or a Tutor • This may not be on application form but it can (and should be added) • Include vita/resume with application • Learn how to interview (as you may be invited to an open house, be interviewed and then attend a social gathering (think Animal House!) • Many of these may tip the balance in your favor (admit) or not (reject)

14. Grad School Here I Come… • Other Stuff • Don’t only apply to 1 school • I suggest 10-15 • 3-5 you will kill to get in to • 4-5 that are in the middle but you would still go there • 3-5 you know you can get into (i.e., call these your back-up schools) • Come April (usually) you will finally find out. • You may get into 1 place, 5 places or none at all • Have back-up plans (i.e., I didn’t get in, now what?)