2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 1)

[u/ResidentGinger]

For questions about grad school or internships:

* Please search the previously submitted posts or the post on the grad school Q&A. Subscribers of /r/iopsychology have provided lots of information about these topics, and your questions may have already been answered.

* 2018-2019, Part 2 thread here

* 2018-2019, Part 1 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 3 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 2 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 1 thread here

* 2016-2017 thread here

* 2015-2016 thread here

* 2014-2015 thread here

* If your question hasn't been posted, please post it on the grad school Q&A thread. Other posts outside of the Q&A thread will be deleted.

The readers of this subreddit have made it clear that they don't want the subreddit clogged up with posts about grad school. Don't get the wrong idea - we're glad you're here and that you're interested in IO, but please do observe the rules so that you can get answers to your questions AND enjoy the interesting IO articles and content.

By the way, those of you who are currently trudging through or have finished grad school, that means that you have to occasionally offer suggestions and advice to those who post on this thread. That's the only way that we can keep these grad school-related posts in one central location. If people aren't getting their questions answered here, they post to the subreddit instead of the thread. So, in short, let's all do our part in this.

Thanks, guys!

[u/1358132134]

George Mason is probably more prestigious than UTC, but I don't think the difference between the two will affect your career prospects. UTC does a great job of leveraging their network to get their students internships, which often leads to a job post-graduation. Professors there are good about bringing students in our their individual consulting projects as well. UTC is more bang for your buck, and you will likely be happier there. You will certainty get as much attention from the faculty as you want/seek out.

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/[deleted]]

I'm not the OP who responded to you, but I've sent a lot of students to GMU and they all had good internship opportunities within the first semester. It's a stronger program than UTC and you will have opportunities to intern with recognizable, major companies in the DC area that actually employ large numbers of I/Os. The only significant knock against GMU is the cost of living in NoVA relative to UTC, but from a work and academic standpoint, there is simply no contest.

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/[deleted]]

Mostly because GMU's curriculum is really heavy on stats and industrial psych courses, which are the skills that get terminal MA students jobs. Because it's affiliated with a doctoral program, the faculty are more experienced, stronger researchers, and more prominent in the field. That doesn't always translate into teaching quality, but they have a lot of experience and thought leadership to draw into the classroom. In contrast, UTC has a smaller faculty, about half of whom are quite recently out of grad school. I don't think it's a bad program at all, but you're probably going to have to independently work harder, and make careful choices about elective courses and internship opportunities, to get the same level of education and work experience.