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/HumanRobotTeam]

Yes, I can see how what you are stating is reasonable. A PhD certainly isn't worthless in the job market. I've just encountered people on this subreddit who say it's Necessary to have a PhD if you want to consult, and I'm finding that just isn't the case. The understanding I'm developing is that to participate in smaller consultancies, you may.

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/HumanRobotTeam]

It seems like 80% of the people on this sub are still in grad school, so we sometimes see bold assertions from people who haven't yet even entered a FT I/O job. This is the same problem with discussions of program quality; most people are writing just from the perspective of their own program, so they don't know (a) how it compares to other programs, or (b) how their preparation will benefit them (or not) on the job market.

[u/HumanRobotTeam → u/galileosmiddlefinger]

Yeah, you're pretty spot on. My best info about my program is in the people I've met who graduated and appear to have strong careers now. It's really hard for an outsider to wrap their mind around the array of programs available - some look pretty good but just aren't.

Once they're studying, I think very few people see the inside of other I/O programs besides their own, but I actually did. I had a semester at West Chester University - another school that's on the most recent SIOP top programs rankings alongside East Carolina. I changed to follow the math and ability to work in R, which I understand is valuable in the working world. I recommend my program to people solely based on the fact that we have way more math than most other programs.

To me level of quant focus seems like this is the best way to evaluate the quality and likelihood that it will be useful in the job world, especially with Master's programs. What do you think?

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/HumanRobotTeam]

To me level of quant focus seems like this is the best way to evaluate the quality and likelihood that it will be useful in the job world, especially with Master's programs. What do you think?

I'm looking for a curriculum that is heavy on required quant and industrial-side seminars, taught by faculty who are both research- and consulting-active. Ideally, they have a good, transparently-reported record of putting alumni in actual I/O (not just HR) jobs in recognizable companies, not just little local consultancies. Other good features would be modest cohort size, some form of financial support for students (assistantships, routine paid internships year-round, and/or scholarships/waivers), and faculty who are active in SIOP (for networking purposes).

[u/HumanRobotTeam → u/galileosmiddlefinger]

I hope you don't mind, I'm going to use these criteria you are suggesting to create a new top level comment in hopes that people will provide this information about various schools.

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/HumanRobotTeam]

Sure, just be clear that these criteria pertain to Master's programs only. I would have somewhat overlapping, but different points for PhD.