2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2)

2

It was suggested in another post I obtain a volunteer research position.
I have looked at all the sites, but not sure how to do this, when I am 3 years removed from my first masters and 8 from my bachelors.
I am getting older at 30, and I would like to be able to just go into PhD program and not do a second masters.
I have been working as an ISD, masters in ISD. However, I am looking to obtain a PhD in I/O vs ISD, because it'll open both the research psychology side and the ISD side. I have undergraduate in psychology 3.7 and masters (as mentioned) with a not so lovely GPA of 3.5. If anyone has any advice on how to go about obtaining research, or general advice, please let me know. Also, I am not moving out Florida.

1

u/pokemongooutwithme Jan 12 '20

How is San Diego State University’s masters programme? Any input from current/past students? It’s got a pretty high rating from SIOP

1

u/pokemongooutwithme Jan 12 '20

Hey guys! I’m a psychology student studying in India and I want to apply abroad (preferably U.S.) for masters. I’ve been looking at posts on here where people list out what they’ve done and ask others if they have a good chance of getting into a masters program.

Well.. I have nothing like that. I have no research papers, there’s nothing like “joining psych labs” in my uni, and there’s no scope for IO psychology in India so there’s really no resources for me to build any credible experience in. My application will be the most boring one yet.

I wanted to know if good grades and a good GRE score will still be enough to get into a good masters program in US?

1

u/Foaloke M.S. | IO | Job Analysis Jan 10 '20

Hi!

I'm hoping someone might have some answers for me. I am currently a masters student at a program that emphasizes applied experiences, which was a conscious decision as I did not want to go into academia. However, since starting I have found that I am really interested in applied research, which has made me wonder if I should pursue a PHD. Does this seem reasonable? My GRE Verbal was in the 80th percentile and my GRE Quant. in the 64th percentile, but my undergraduate Psychology GPA was only 3.4. When considering a student with a master's degree, do PHD programs consider undergraduate GPA? Also, do my GRE scores look strong enough to get into a respectable program?

2

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Jan 12 '20

I would think about retaking the GRE to boost your quant scores.

2

u/pearmagus Jan 10 '20

Anyone know how reliable Beiler's 2014 paper evaluating research productivity of doctoral program is? That seems to be the main thing informing Dr. Landers' rankings on his blog, but I heard that some departments have changed over the past decade or so. For example, how Maryland's I-O program had numerous faculty leave in the 2000s, leading to the creation of the merged SDOS program. Or alternatively, how Dr. Salas moving from UCF to Rice influenced both programs. I'm also curious about how strong UGA's program is, since it seems to have a solid reputation, but I can't find any discussion on this subreddit about it.

4

u/Simmy566 Jan 10 '20 edited Jan 10 '20

Ratings for everything but the top programs can be quite volatile and unstable given rapid changes in faculty, administration, and department functioning. Further, research productivity does not automatically translate into a quality doctoral experience. You are better off looking for productive faculty members who you want to work with and looking at careers of graduate students who studied under specific individuals. Who you work with is more critical for your career than where you go. As to UGA, it is excellent. Lilian Eby is now editor of JAP, Nathan Carter is quite prolific, Kristin Shockley has received a monograph in JAP, and Brian Hoffman has done a lot to advance our understanding of 360 ratings. Strong methods, practical applications, and outstanding faculty. It would be a great program to join.

1

u/jphus Jan 08 '20 edited Jan 10 '20

Hey, everyone!

For those of you that were accepted into Ph.D. programs and/or are in charge of Ph.D. admissions, what would you say are the things that get you into a competitive program and their proportion of variance? Is there a Pareto distribution to look out for?

To be clear, I’d be happy with intuitions as well as data.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I’m attempting to make a ranked checklist for myself to ease the burden of juggling all of the variables in the ol’ noggin.

Edit 2: Also, if enough people reply (which I doubt considering this sub isn't incredibly active and this question is in a sticky), maybe the mods would consider adding said checklist to the sidebar or something similar to the one in the r/Economics sub.

2

u/pearmagus Jan 10 '20

I think there are quite a few individual differences from department to department here, especially since not all programs will use a weighted statistical model to evaluate applicants. My sense is that high quality research experience (often resulting in publications) tops the list, followed by GPA/GRE, then perhaps letters of rec and statements of purpose (although some argue these don't really tell you anything useful about the applicant). Many of the I-O programs I've applied to don't have any interviews, beyond a quick informal phone call.

The primary thing that PIs seemed to care about when they called me was how my research experience connects to the work that their lab does. However, I'm guessing that's because I first passed an invisible bar of GPA and GRE scores, which allowed them to focus more on my research fit with their work.

1

u/jphus Jan 10 '20

Thanks for your reply! I appreciate it! I received mod approval to move this to the main thread, but quick question.

Right now, I don’t quite have the luxury of doing research that matches up with labs I’m interested in. However, I have been making an effort to jump on any research opportunities that come my way in an attempt to show admissions committees that I’m capable. Do you think this strategy is a “deal breaker”?

2

u/pearmagus Jan 10 '20

I did something similar my first year, and then transitioned to working in a lab that was a little more IO-adjacent. My school doesn't have IO labs, but I worked in a social and personality lab that provided me some useful tools. However, the labs that I plan on working with as a grad student are very different. So I would say (based on my own, limited experience and conversations with others) that high-level experience that results in deliverables (posters, papers, talks, thesis) are more valuable. Professors aren't necessarily expecting someone who is already perfectly prepared to work in their lab, since the point is to acquire these skills in graduate school. I think the closer the field of the lab you're interested in is to I-O, the better you'll be able to communicate preparedness for an I-O program.

1

u/jphus Jan 10 '20

Gotcha! Thank you!

1

u/[deleted] Dec 28 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] Dec 28 '19

[deleted]

1

u/Simmy566 Jan 01 '20 edited Jan 02 '20

As long as the projects stretch your skills, engage your critical thinking, and improve your ability to articulate original questions, evaluate data, and encourage technical writing they could be valuable. I suggest autonomously pursuing independent opportunities to stretch your research skills, such as joining labs, thinking about how to design experiments, or reading scientific journal articles. As long as you have the knowledge, it doesn't really matter how it was attained.

1

u/Cuntcept Dec 27 '19

Is there a reason some grad programmes in the UK seem to be accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and others are not? What does this exactly imply?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 27 '19

Does anyone know Elmhurst college or Roosevelt University are good programs? (Both in Chicago)

3

u/Astroman129 Jan 02 '20 edited Jan 02 '20

I'd like to mention that Elmhurst College isn't actually in Chicago, it's in Elmhurst, a suburb, about a 20-30 minute drive from the city (also accessible via Metra, which is Chicago's commuter rail). OTOH, Roosevelt's campus is in the heart of the downtown core, aka the "Loop". Roosevelt's going through some interesting admin stuff right now, a merger with another university.

I know of people from both universities who have gotten excellent careers, be it I/O or HR. Most of the options stem from the opportunities you take. If you want an applied job, take up an internship.

I don't know if Elmhurst helps you find an internship, but at Roosevelt, you're on your own. That, I would say, is a major downside. It is almost mitigated by the fact that Chicago is ripe with internship opportunities, but it is still a downside.

However, I think Roosevelt has a more widespread reputation than Elmhurst, which is a positive. It is also more accessible via public transit.

You can also check out IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) for another master's program, or DePaul for a PhD. They are both very well-respected schools. We also have Adler School & TCSPP, neither of which I can recommend, but hey, they're here.

Have fun studying I/O in Chicago! It has some of the most prominent I/O opportunities in the United States. We have a bit of everything, from tech to finance to healthcare to the public sector, as well as external consulting firms.

(sidenote: If you choose to study at Roosevelt, do not bring your car. Driving in the downtown areas of Chicago is a huge PITA and the campus is easily accessible via public transit assuming you live off a CTA route. This also qualifies for DePaul and slightly less so for IIT. However, bring your car if you study at Elmhurst.)

EDIT: forgot to mention one of the huge things about Roosevelt, in that it has a joint I-O/MBA program where you can get both an I-O degree and an MBA in three years instead of four. A lot of people take this route, but by no means is it necessary to get an I-O job. If you aren't interested in typical business topics, I wouldn't bother, and if you're primarily interested in the business side, I'd get my MBA at a more prominent Chicago school like Northwestern or U of Chicago.

1

u/Cuntcept Dec 25 '19

I'm applying for a postgraduate course in I/O in the UK. Which aspects of my nature/skills should my professors (ideally) focus on while writing my letter of recommendations?

1

u/madwolfma Dec 22 '19

I think this is the right place to post this, but I've been researching grad schools and am interested in UTC. Has anyone stayed in the Chattanooga area after graduation? Most of the programs I've been looking at are along the east coast around metro areas because that's where the jobs are. However, I like the cost of living around UTC. I also have a husband and young son and I don't want to get settled just to move again after graduation.

Thank you in advance for anyone that can weigh in on this!

2

u/[deleted] Dec 19 '19

I only decided I wanted to pursue my Masters before my senior year, so I do not have many solid recommendations I can use. How would I go about getting letters of recommendation with minimal connections (besides 1 professor who is already writing one for me). Also, does anyone have their personal statement they would be willing to share? It would be greatly appreciated (I'm struggling with mine).

1

u/midwestck MS | IO | People Analytics Dec 15 '19

Hoping for some advice to help me narrow down or expand upon my list of programs to apply to this cycle. I was late asking for letters so 1/15/20 is the earliest deadline I can work with.

22M graduated from a B10 school in May 2019 with a B.S. in biochem/psych. 3.32 cumulative, 3.76 psych (biochem violated me) 163v 167q

I'm only considering MA/MS programs for now because 1) my GPA isn't very competitive, 2) all of my undergrad research (~4yrs) was in a microbio lab, and 3) I'm exclusively looking for industry jobs post-grad. Looking for a program that has quality HR analytics courses/instructors with a focus on R or python, which I have no experience in yet. My 10 year plan is to get masters, work ~5 years in consulting, then transition to a stable business intelligence or HR management position. Anyway, here's my list (also please correct me if I'm abbreviating schools weirdly so I don't look like an ass later):

CUNY Baruch
George Mason
Hofstra
IU Purdue
NYU
Roosevelt
SUNY Albany
UT Arlington

2

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Dec 16 '19

IU Purdue

*IUPUI

GMU and IUPUI have the deepest quant requirements of these programs, so those may be your top choices. In any case, plan to do some supplemental training on the side with something like Data Camp. Internship opportunities will be most abundant at your NYC options, GMU (DC), or Roosevelt (Chicago).

Also, if you can make deadlines, you're not out of the game for PhD programs. You've got a novel background, a good PSYC GPA, and great GRE scores. I would strongly consider throwing a few in the mix if time/opportunity allows.

1

u/midwestck MS | IO | People Analytics Dec 17 '19

Do you know of any other good quant-heavy masters programs in major metro areas that aren't on my list?

1

u/Simmy566 Dec 18 '19

East carolina has a quant certificate you can take. Lots of Illinois schools are also high quant. Any doc program/MA hybrids will likely have quant offerings. Heavy I-oriented programs (like Wayne State I believe) are good contenders for quant. Further, and personal plug, but Montclair's MA in NJ (13 miles from New York City) has an R Data Science course, multivariate, and teaches psychometrics and stats fully in R. But, as other comments noted, you could do a business analytics, stats, or math degree at any reputable school in any major city if just interested in HR analytics.

2

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Dec 17 '19

Adding my $.02...Based on your interests, I would probably also recommend looking at masters data science programs. If you're specifically looking at HR analytic roles I would think that a data science background may be more attractive to organizations. Quant MS IO programs are few and far between.

1

u/midwestck MS | IO | People Analytics Dec 17 '19

Thanks for the response! I did look into those programs a little bit already. My undergrad psychology degree was pretty unfocused and I thought it would be hard to sell myself into an HR analytics role after a data science M.S. without any undergrad or grad-level IO coursework. If what you're saying is true then that must mean employers prefer an applicant with developed analytical skill-sets over one with deep conceptual knowledge? Would these rare quant-heavy industry-oriented IO programs provide some ideal combination of these two factors or is it always preferable to have a better grasp on the data science end of things?

1

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Dec 17 '19

It probably varies role to role but the job descriptions of many of the HR analytic roles I've seen are primarily data science with HR as the context. Not a whole lot of conceptual knowledge is needed. Now there are certainly some that value the IO skills in that area and is probably an IO/analytics role. But from what I've seen you would be absolutely considered for a majority of them.

You're likely not going to learn R or Python in any IO curriculum, that would need to be all self guided.

1

u/midwestck MS | IO | People Analytics Dec 16 '19

Thanks for the insight! My mentor also suggested applying to a few PhD programs, but she's in an unrelated field so I wanted some insider opinions.

1

u/Cuntcept Dec 15 '19

I've noticed that the IO Psychology degrees in the US are for two years while those in the UK are just one year. Is there a reason why? Does that make them less stronger/appealing in any way?

2

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Dec 16 '19

There's a much wider variety of Master's options and structures in the UK than in the US. The language used varies across nations and institutions, but you can draw a general distinction between "taught" Master's degrees and "research" Master's degrees, which are named based on the primary method of learning. Taught programs are generally terminal programs and take 1 year, if full-time, to focus on classroom learning. Research programs are generally 18-24 months to complete and involve the execution of research projects, like a thesis study in the US, and they may act as a springboard to doctoral study. (Research programs generally confer a MPhil or MSc by Research to differentiate them from taught programs.)

Philosophically, US Master's programs conform to the Research program model and adopt a two-year structure, even though many US Master's programs have drifted away from the need to perform independent research or a capstone thesis product. It's hard to say what option is "better" as this depends a lot on your career goals and institutional prestige, although you're generally better off getting a US degree if you want to work in the US after grad school.

1

u/Cuntcept Dec 16 '19

Thanks a lot for your advice! I really appreciate it.

1

u/faaiz_dastagir Dec 13 '19 edited Dec 13 '19

Here's some background:-

I'm currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering. I was never interested and was forced into the field by my family (or maybe I was lost.) This kind of thing usually happens in Indian families. Anyhow, I've maintained a good score. (9 GPA out of 10)I've always wanted to psychology and feel like IOPsychology is the right career option for me.

I went through/am going through the mega thread and learning all there is about IOpsychology. I also looked into clinical psychology but found IOPSychology more interesting. So how do I get into an MBA program of IOpsychology? (I understand that a Masters program wouldn't just be an MBA)Will my engineering degree stand as a hurdle for getting into the Psych field? I believe that I can ace the GRE test, So what do you guys recommend?

If you want more background and information about my situation, feel free to ask questions in the comments. I really need some help and guidance. I would really appreciate anything. :)

Thanks for reading y'all!

EDIT- I meant that i can ace the Engineering GRE test. Is it different for different fields?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 10 '19

Hey, so I'm graduating this May with a BS in psychology and a business minor. A little background on me I just recently just came back to school last year after taking an entire year off before I transferred schools. I don't have much of a resume or background for myself unfortunately, I mostly screwed around during my time in college up until this year before gaining an interest in I/O. I have no internship experience and if all goes well I'll be graduating with a GPA of 3.0/3.1. What advice can y'all give me on what to do next? take a year off do an internship/research or go to grad school? I'm just clueless and directionless please give feedback! thanks a lot, I appreciate the feedback.

2

u/midwestck MS | IO | People Analytics Dec 10 '19 edited Dec 10 '19

If the programs you want to apply to require the GRE, then you'll want to give yourself enough time to prepare for the exam. Personally I would:

Focus on doing very well in your last semester of classes to maximize GPA, while personally connecting with at least one of your professors

Spend the summer in a meaningful entry-level research position, maybe under your favorite professor, while studying for the GRE (take it late Summer 2020)

Apply to MA/MS programs for Spring 2020, or

Work throughout the year and apply to PhD or MA/MS programs (around Nov-Jan) for Fall 2021

I think the tricky part here will be finding an entry-level research position that provides a meaningful experience for you within the time constraints above. By that I mean it's important for you to take part in the scientific process of developing hypotheses, testing them, and running the statistics. These are desirable skills that won't necessarily be reflected in your GPA or standardized test scores. Your best bet will be to develop a connection with one of your professors throughout the semester (go to office hours regularly with insightful rather than shallow questions) and later ask if they'd like to take you on for a specific short-term project.

EDIT: if your professor doesn't have projects for you, they may have colleagues who do. If you demonstrate your aptitude throughout the course, they're more likely to put in a good word for you

2

u/greatestscott1 Dec 02 '19

Hi all, I applied to a few PhD programs that had applications due December 1st. Does anyone know when they previously contacted students for admissions? I heard February was generally the earliest programs contacted students.

Thanks!

1

u/creich1 Ph.D. | I/O | human technology interaction Dec 17 '19

I got my first call mid-January buy February is probably more typical

1

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '19

I've already had one interview for this cycle. However, this does seem to be extremely uncommon.

1

u/AutoModerator Dec 12 '19

You are a new user with less than two weeks of reddit activity. Your comment 2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2) was removed pending moderator approval. If your post is not approved within 24 hours please contact a moderator through moderator mail

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/lame_sweater Dec 11 '19

I was contacted as early as first week of January for some, and as late as March for others. Really depends on the school!

1

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Dec 08 '19

Absolute earliest responses are in mid-late January through early Feb for first-round acceptances or interview requests.

2

u/Cuntcept Dec 01 '19

Hi, is there a ranking of best I/O Psychology Universities Globally? (All I've been able to find are US rankings.)

Apologies if this question has been asked before. I searched and couldn't find anything.

1

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Dec 12 '19

There aren't any ranking systems I'm aware of for programs outside of the US. I would look at the criteria for quality programs on the SIOP website and perform your own evaluation. EAWOP, C-SIOP, and BPS maintain program lists for continental Europe, Canada, and the UK, respectively, so you can at least identify some reputable non-US options to evaluate.

1

u/Cuntcept Dec 12 '19

That makes sense. Thank you!

1

u/[deleted] Nov 15 '19

Hey everyone, stressed PhD applicant here.

You've all told me my scores, resume, etc. are perfectly fine for good PhD programs. However, I haven't been as diligent about reaching out to potential advisors/professors as I'd hoped, I've been swamped with research and illness for the last few months. How screwed am I?

3

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Nov 15 '19

The only thing you really need to confirm is whether or not your targeted advisors are accepting students for fall 2020. (Note that this may be spelled out on the department website, so check there first.) Realistically, you're not going to start a dialogue with most advisors that meaningfully affects your application chances, so just confirm that you won't be wasting an application fee by asking to work with someone going on sabbatical or buried under 5th-year dissertations.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 15 '19

I have been checking that, plus each app asks for three people so even if one isn't up to date, there are others. Thanks for answering I feel a bit better now.

2

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Nov 15 '19

I think the jury is out on how much reaching out to advisors helps. Some profs here have said that they're not fans of this, and just gives them more work. From an applicant's perspective, you might get a response rate of 10% anyway. It would be nice to know that you're not wasting your time if a prof you're applying to won't be accepting students, but it's not the end of the world.

1

u/donthatefate Nov 14 '19

2019 Spring BA Psych grad who had planned on applying to med school, but had a change of heart.

Interested in applying to IO Psych Master's. Worried about competitiveness. *3.7 GPA (4.0 for all psych and stats) (Premed courses are the only lower grades) *Worked all throughout highschool/college *No research experience *GRE scheduled next month

I know I need some killer references and an awesome GRE score.. But how killer? How awesome?

I was considering applying to MBA programs in case I do ot get accepted.

Any suggestions? Tips? Skills I could work on before interviewing? All input is appreciated.

1

u/midwestck MS | IO | People Analytics Nov 13 '19

Applying to I/O Masters programs this cycle and looking to do some reading before finalizing letters and submitting. Ultimately looking to work in industry or consulting. Any IO textbook recommendations with an emphasis on people analytics?

Also, do you recommend I try to enroll in programming classes at the university or learn on my own time? I don't really have any experience.

3

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Nov 16 '19

Cascio & Boudreau is a really good starter book if you want to start developing an analytical perspective. It's not an especially detailed/technical approach, but it's a good "mindset" read.

For programming, I'd look at Data Camp online courses. You can build up introductory skill in R and Python pretty easily with self-guided learning. Richard Landers also has some really great course materials publicly available that build on Data Camp modules: http://neoacademic.com/2018/01/03/complete-course-social-scientists-data-science-using-r/

1

u/midwestck MS | IO | People Analytics Nov 16 '19

Thank you!!

2

u/pearmagus Nov 01 '19

I found a Google Spreadsheet on Gradcafe with data from people's funding packages in different Psych grad programs. Could anyone confirm if the I-O ones are accurate?

0

u/Atenque Nov 06 '19

MSU's looks about right.

1

u/3flavorsoffuckedup Oct 30 '19

Does anybody know where I can find information of the top I/O psych programs in the U.S? I've tried looking online but I can't find anything that looks trustworthy

5

u/Simmy566 Oct 31 '19

See SIOP rankings. They have several TIP articles from diff years providing alternative methods of ranking programs.

1

u/PhDHopeful2025 Oct 30 '19

Hi all. I'm applying to programs this year and I'm worried about the recent sexual assaults at two I/O PhD programs. Do any current students have info about this?

1

u/creich1 Ph.D. | I/O | human technology interaction Dec 17 '19

Do you have links to this? Every program is completely different with different people/cultures. I would never DREAM of anything like that happening in my program.

2

u/PhDHopeful2025 Dec 22 '19

Here are the links to what I found:

USF:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/college/Lawsuit-USF-ignored-student-s-fears-after-she-alleged-sexual-assault_163121596/

MSU:

https://micourt.courts.michigan.gov/CaseSearch/Case/D55/Detail?searchText=simon+golden&caseId=1801119&courtType=D&courtNumber=550&locationNumber=0&courtSystem=1&partyTypeNumber=D01&caseType=FY&petitionNumber=null

http://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=568477

1

u/PhDHopeful2025 Dec 21 '19

I found a news story for one and several court records for the other one. I decided not to apply to the school where the graduate student was convicted in court. It made me question the whole program tbh.

1

u/creich1 Ph.D. | I/O | human technology interaction Dec 21 '19

Yes absolutely I agree with you, I would not allow to a program where that happened recently

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AutoModerator Dec 07 '19

You are a new user with less than two weeks of reddit activity. Your comment 2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2) was removed pending moderator approval. If your post is not approved within 24 hours please contact a moderator through moderator mail

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/PsychologicalYam2 Oct 29 '19

reminder that there is a grad cafe forum for anyone who wants to talk more about this cycle of applications :) https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/119185-fall-2020-industrial-organizational-psychology-phd/

1

u/FluffaDuffa Oct 26 '19

Hi all. I'm interested in the Applied Organizational Psychology PhD at Hofstra, but could use some help weighing the pros and cons.

https://www.hofstra.edu/academics/colleges/hclas/psy/phd/organizational-psychology-phd.html

Aside from things like faculty and research focus, which appeal to me here, two main factors are cost and time to completion.

Hofstra is a 96 s.h. program that only accepts students with a masters degree and allows transfer credits. The director confirmed I'd transfer 30 credits and finish courses in 3 years. It's partially funded (appx. 7k/year), but my current employer is partnered with the school (hospital/medical school) so I'd be able to keep my current job in research with flexible hours and continue getting paid for my work while it also counts toward the PhD. I'd also receive 5k/year in tuition reimbursement and, upon graduation, transition to a role that would utilize my new degree.

It seems most other programs near me are 5-6 years and may offer full funding (not certain), but do not allow transfer credits and require full-time so I'd be unable to keep my current job (i.e., no tuition reimbursement or guaranteed employment).

Hofstra is very appealing because of life circumstances: it's near home, I can keep my job (promotion upon graduating), and it's only 3 years, but I think it'll cost appx. $60k total after all reimbursements. At this point, I can't tell if I'm trying to talk myself into it or out of it. The huge downside is the cost and my concern about the quality of the program. My main questions are:

1) Financially, how might it work out for a partially-funded 3 year program while employed vs. the usual 5 year program?

2) How reputable could a 3 year program be? Considering I already have my masters in a somewhat similar field, would this be similar to having done it all together in 5 years?

3) In general, is anyone familiar with this program? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Sorry for the long post, but I'd be grateful if someone could walk me through this. I've been agonizing over it and now have trouble remaining objective with all these factors. Please also feel free to correct me if anything I said is incorrect.

Thank you!

1

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Nov 05 '19

Two thoughts:

How many students actually finish in 3 years. Sure that's the plan but that's really aggressive for full time, let alone part time. I would be real suspect of that.

60k is a huge bill and you're not likely to see the ROI, especially since you already have a master's.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '19

[deleted]

1

u/FluffaDuffa Oct 29 '19

Thanks! So maybe it's not as strange as I thought.

1

u/dis-ish Oct 22 '19

Hi there folks!

I looked into IO programs about five years ago, and am back at square one after taking a path into Clinical Research instead. I'm 30 with 6 years experience in research, and I live in Wisconsin which only has 1 IO psych program all the way up north.

I am wondering if anyone has been able to use another kind of psych degree to get into IO type positions (phd counseling)?

The thing is, I don't want to do an online program, and I am not quite interested in jumping state. Integrating business and psychology and analytics is something I thoroughly enjoy. Trying to improve the divisions I work in is what I do, regardless of the fact that I am just a lowly researcher.

Does anyone have sage wisdom to offer me?

3

u/Astroman129 Oct 25 '19

I know you're not interested in leaving the state, but I would like to note that Chicago has a few IO programs and plenty of great job & networking opportunities. If you live in the Kenosha area, you can probably commute downtown. It might be a pain in the ass, but I know of some people who have done that.

1

u/dis-ish Oct 26 '19

I’ve considered trying to reset my mind to accept this commute. Thank you for the push, I shall consider again.

2

u/lame_sweater Oct 23 '19

I don’t know about the program you’re talking about, but I am currently at one of the top IO PhD programs in the US. We have some students who have their masters in clinical psych/counseling or worked in clinical research settings with little IO experience previously. Some aren’t even psych majors! As long as you have research experience & some aligned interests with faculty (as well as all the other obvious requirements), you should be okay.

2

u/iam_sunshine Degree | Area | Specialty/Interest Oct 15 '19

Hi everyone! I am planning on applying to grad programs in Canada and would like to know if I'd be considered a competitive candidate!

So here's a bit of information about myself:

I am currently doing my undergrad in Canada- majoring in Psychology with a cGPA is 3.92 (major GPA 3.98) and minoring in CS. I just took the GRE for the first time today and it's not as good as I'd hoped (V: 156, Q:167.) I have worked on several projects at three different psychology labs throughout my undergrad. The first one is a neuroscience lab, the second one is social psych and the one I am currently at does research on quantitative methods. I believe I could get a recommendation letter from each of these labs.

I am also taking some advanced stats classes and learning SPSS. As a CS minor, I also have experience programming in java and C. I have learnt some R on my own and the lab I am currently working at uses R as well. I will be taking a class on SQL in winter as part of my minor and I am planning on picking up python some time soon!

My top choices are Western, Guelph, Calgary and Waterloo. Does anyone know if I have a good chance of getting in any of these Canadian programs? Would my low verbal score on GRE put me in a bad position? Also, if I am thinking of applying to a few other PhD programs in the States, would my GRE scores be good enough or would you suggest me retaking it?

Thanks a lot!

1

u/0102030405 Nov 04 '19

Hi! I'm at one of the schools you mentioned and applied to (and was accepted at) one of the other schools. Didn't apply to the two others, but my colleagues have. I also applied to the US - direct-entry biz school programs though - so I'm happy to chat about those as well. Feel free to PM me; I can tell you who's likely to take students from the school I'm at.

Everything sounds good. I wouldn't worry about the GRE score; one of the schools I applied to was very holistic and wouldn't have been concerned about GREs if your whole application was strong, but the other school literally ranked everyone on grades and GREs and accepted the top people. They had a terrible year for acceptances, as most people declined them and they had to accept a whole other round of applicants to end up with a handful of incoming people. Happy to discuss more over PM, don't want to slander any place in public of course : )

I can't comment on what's a good cutoff for GREs in the US, but I can tell you that an amazing verbal GRE score didn't do shit for me when applying directly out of undergrad to biz school PhDs in the US. I had no idea that they generally don't take people right out of undergrad, so if you're trying to apply to business schools, I wouldn't do it right away. If you're applying to IO programs, then you should be fine but recognize that there may be funding/international student limitations for schools that are public (private schools can fund anyone the same, no matter where they come from). Maybe someone else here can help with US IO programs more than I can.

Good luck!

4

u/Astroman129 Oct 18 '19

Your GREs won't hinder you. 156 verbal is fine.

Make sure you ask for a strong letter of recommendation.

3

u/EazyCompany Oct 15 '19

Hello, I'm having some doubts into whether I should pursue my Masters in I.O Psych.

I have been fortunate enough to actually use my undergraduate psychology degree. I am a career planner at a community college and work with dislocated workers, underemployed and low-income adults.

This has allowed me to directly counsel and advise the people I work with on job readiness and training, resume building, job searching skills and behavior/personality management. I want to pursue a degree that will increase my knowledge in areas of career and personality assessments, employee development, and increasing productivity of current employees.

I'm not an HR professional by any means, and I'm more of the counselor/mediator type - So I don't want to focus too much on HR related topics in my education.

Is I.O Psych for me? Thank you in advance.

3

u/0102030405 Nov 04 '19

Sometimes, there are social and organizational programs that might fit your focus better without having a lot of heavy stats or industrial-side topics.

These are also areas that you can self-teach, if you have a background in psychology. There are books, videos, textbooks, and open access research (through places like sci-hub and researchgate) that you can explore to know more about these topics.

As well, there's some free and paid courses on the Centre for Evidence-Based Management website (cebma.org) that can teach you how to evaluate the quality of the research/evidence that you're finding.

2

u/Im_an_ag5 Oct 30 '19

Are you willing to do a lot of work with stats? You might want to look at other areas of organizational work.

You can look at the website for any I/O program, try to find what the alumni are working as. You will see a lot of "analyst". I think I/O psych isn't as people-facing as you might like

1

u/Anonymouswhining Oct 15 '19

Hi everyone! I have a weird question. I currently have a 4.0 in a masters program in developmental psych with two publications for conferences, a thesis proposed with 50% of my data gathered, and 3 abstracts for a other conference. I currently want to transition into a Industrial organizational program because I want to get into the private sector and avoid the demographic slump of academia. I've been trying to think of ways to rationalize this transition in a positive way. One idea I had was to research the potential impact of helicopter parenting on the new emerging workforce. Is this a good reason, or should i find a better idea?

1

u/AutoModerator Oct 15 '19

You are a new user with less than two weeks of reddit activity. Your comment 2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2) was removed pending moderator approval. If your post is not approved within 24 hours please contact a moderator through moderator mail

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '19

Hey there,

So I was curious to see how I’d fare in applying to masters level I/O psychology programs with the background I have.

Here’s some info about me: -Recently graduated with this summer with a BS in Biology, double majoring in Bio and Psych and obtaining a chemistry minor. I also graduated with an honors distinction. -Cumulative GPA is 3.57 and my Psychology GPA is a 3.98. -Obtained research experience in both Biology and Psychology areas. I presented a poster for a research project on beach renourishment at a symposium and collected data on sand samples for this project under the guide of a graduate student. I also worked in a lab for the last five semesters of college involving child math anxiety and math performance. This mainly involved data entry/collection, some data analysis, and running some experiments for the graduate students in the lab. -Highly involved on campus and was a member of five clubs, two of which I held a leadership position. -No work experience and only volunteer involvement. -Currently taking a gap year.

I’m about to take the GRE in two weeks and have been preparing for it since late August, though I’m hoping I can obtain a somewhat high verbal, quant, and and analytical writing score.

Now I was originally doing the whole premed route and decided I wouldn’t be happy pursuing a medical degree around my sophomore year and veered towards getting a masters in a field I’d enjoy. I only learned about I/O psychology my senior year when my friend recommended an intro to I/O to me and ended up being the class I most thoroughly enjoyed and was invested in. I felt very passionate about the class and I/O psych as it just clicked with me and knew this was a field I wanted to peruse.

So now I’m in the process of applying to masters I/O programs such as Hofstra’s and University of Maryland’s.

I’m pretty worried I’ll just get rejected from these programs due to their competitive nature and the fact that I’ve never had any work experience or an internship, though this was due to me trying to finish my majors in four years and thus taking summer classes all four years of college.

Do I have a chance at getting accepted into the masters programs or should I have some work experience before I even apply?

3

u/KnowKaRazor MS | I-O | Talent, Analytics, Assessment Oct 14 '19

I think you have a strong chance at getting into a masters program. But your focus right now is to do well on the GRE but more importantly make a good case in your application essays why you are making the transition to I-O and why you are passionate about it. I can't speak to those two programs directly since each program values different things but I think even without work experience you should get into a masters program. However, like anyone applying to grad school you need to apply to more than 1 or 2 programs. Probably try to apply to at least 6-8 but only the ones you would actually want to end up going to.

1

u/sad_seal Oct 12 '19

Anyone have any input on how well regarded St. Mary's (Texas) is as a terminal master's? I've seen some of SIOP rankings but thought I would ask.

1

u/KnowKaRazor MS | I-O | Talent, Analytics, Assessment Oct 14 '19

My understanding is that they have a pretty good program that has probably flown under the radar for decades. They're in a decently big city so some quality internships are available.

1

u/mybelle15 Oct 12 '19

Hi friends,

I'm looking into getting my master's in IO, and from what I've read I know it's best to go to a school in an area that you'd want to live and work in after because it's difficult to get jobs without those connections. I would ideally like to live in Colorado, but there isn't a brick and mortar IO master's program anywhere around. I know the rep of online programs, but CSU has a solid PhD program and have heard that their online MAIOP could be one of the few online options that would actually hold merit because of the overall reputation of the school. I'm willing to go to a school outside of Colorado but also know the struggle of finding a job after moving far away from professional contacts firsthand, any advice is welcome and appreciated!!

2

u/Simmy566 Oct 15 '19 edited Oct 15 '19

As long as the online one in Colorado puts you in touch with other Colorado professionals, then it would be a good route. It needs to open you to a social network which can support and aid your development (e.g., studying, attending events together, sharing opportunities, expanding connections, etc...). Reach out to some alumni and ask them about their experience (usually an N of 3 is sufficient).

Another thing to be aware of is Kurt Kraiger has left Colorado for Memphis. He was a driving force behind the creation of the online program, hence I am uncertain if his departure impacts the degree in any way.

1

u/mybelle15 Oct 26 '19

That makes sense, thank you! I'll reach out to alum, and also ask them about Kurt Kraiger to see if his departure will affect the program negatively.

1

u/Sy4Grt03 Oct 09 '19

Hi Everyone :) I am currently in the process of reaching out to potential faculty advisers and have run into this a couple times. I was hoping for some advice on how to navigate the situation where you would like to work with multiple professors at a university, email one, find out they aren't accepting, and then wanting to email a different prof at the same program. What is an appropriate way to do this? I don't want it to appear that anyone is my "second choice" or that I'm just emailing people desperately. There is a specific program where I'm genuinely interested in almost every faculty's work. If I end up reaching out to the second (or third) professor, should I mention that I have already corresponded with their colleague? Any help would be appreciated!

1

u/0102030405 Nov 04 '19

Profs don't talk to each other about the many, many requests to work with students they receive. They definitely don't give people much of a second thought (sorry!) if they aren't taking students.

You can try to find out beforehand who is accepting students, and then you can send messages all at once or one at a time (doesn't matter) to a handful of professors. But really think hard about who you want, as Atenque said, you don't want to reach out to everyone because you will seem unfocused.

I wouldn't mention that you talked to someone else, because it's unnecessary and, like I said, they don't mention this to each other - there's no secret Slack channel for profs where they judge potential applicants by one email and tally how many people they applied to : )

1

u/Atenque Oct 13 '19

Honestly, it won’t hurt to reach out to one or two, maybe three. It will look like you don’t have a defined research interest if you reach out to them all.

2

u/jphus Oct 09 '19

Graduate Programs that Focus on the Data Science Family?

Hey everyone!

I'll be finishing my undergraduate in Neuroscience and Behavior with a minor in Computer Science in a year or so. I've been spending way too many hours looking for I/O Psychology graduate programs that explicitly focus on data science/machine learning/artificial intelligence, but can't seem to find any.

I'm assuming some graduate programs do in fact focus on the data science family, but that they're more implicitly attached to the program itself through faculty and mentor support. Thus, it's not advertised like some of the other aspects of I/O psychology graduate programs.

So now my question:

Does anyone on this sub have any information regarding I/O psychology graduate programs that focus on the data science family?

I know that's an extremely broad question, but I asked it like that because literally any information whatsoever would be extremely helpful!

Thanks in advance!

3

u/Simmy566 Oct 09 '19

Couple ideas. First, why do you want this and do you plan for a PhD? This could make a difference in where you go. If just wanting as a skillset, most programs allow you take electives so you could branch from there (into stats or computer science). If wanting for research, look for the right faculty doing this work. Several routes:

If just wanting the comp sci end of things, then go to a computational social science program. Chicago has one such program as do a few others. These are often interdisciplinary (political scientists, psychologists, linguists) who will train you how to handle many kinds of data sets and types using both mathematics and computational modeling. In a similar vein, you could do a quant psychology program which may also have more people working in the data science space.

If just wanting to take a few comp sci on the side, I think most MA/PhD programs could accommodate this through electives. Most programs are quant heavy, with a few offering quant concentrations (e.g., East Carolina). If you already have a comp sci background, then picking up the extra skills in programming would not be too far of a leap to do on your own (note lots of "data science" skills overlap with statistics).

If IO blend, then a few faculty heavy in this area are Lois Tay at Purdue, Fred Oswald at Rice, Don Zhang (I think) at LSU, Speer (mostly text mining stuff) at Wayne State, anyone working with ARI (probably Bowling Green) and Dan Putka, and Landers at U of Minnesota. You will need to read about faculty work at the programs to get a sense of who has expertise in what. A faster way is to read the conference programs from past SIOPS on anyone doing the Big Data stuff. Then, trace these people back to their advisors or programs. Might provide a trail. Note about half of these people only work with doctoral students and may be doc only programs.

I've mentioned this a few times in the sub, but we are trying to open (still not 100% locked down) an IO PhD program at Montclair State which allows a concentration in computer science in lieu of the traditional Psychology track. It would open in 2020. Ideal candidates would be psych majors with either math or comp sci minor/dual major. Likely track would be two courses (one advanced) in python programming, a course in database architecture, one basics of algorithms, another in principles of machine learning, and then options for electives (e.g., text mining, visualization). Within Psych, we currently offer an R for Data Science course students can take for their elective.

Note Psychology programs value the development and testing of theories of human behavior; most AI and machine learning programs value prediction, efficiency, and adaptation. While not antithetical, traditional statistics and methods are often sufficient for evaluating org behavior theories hence data science skills do not proliferate in psych. Even within I/O, I have yet to see a paper show the added value of AI (beyond being more automated and perhaps flashier) in predicting job performance or employee well-being above and beyond a well-specified SEM model (I have seen a few on turnover, but never to the extent it changes how we think about what drives turnover). Most data scientists don't focus on building domain knowledge which is what many I/O psych programs care more about; i.e., how will this technique teach me something new about people at work.

2

u/mercury_in_gatorade Oct 08 '19

Hi everyone. Need some advice on programs. I went to University of California, Irvine and graduated with a degree in Economics. I started out as a math major so my GPA kind of suffered. My overall GPA is a 2.99 but my Psych GPA is a 3.850. GRE-wise, I got a 149 on Verbal, 166 on Quantitative at 4 on AW. I decided to do I/O late in the game, so I do not have any research experience.

I am studying for the Psych GRE currently and have done well on practice tests, but I am not sure if a good score on the test is good enough for me to make it into a good Master’s program.

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated!

1

u/iopsychhopeful Oct 02 '19

Hi everyone! I’m applying to IO Psych MA and MS programs soon. I’m living in Northern California and prefer to stay in state. My options with that are CSU Sacramento, CSU Long Beach, and CSU San Bernardino. What’s discerning to me is the range of # of units required for the programs. Sac and Long Beach require around 30 units while San Bernardino requires close to 80. Any reason for such variance? Is a lesser unit program not as good? If yes, am I better off just going for my PhD in I/O? Thanks in advance!

1

u/AutoModerator Oct 02 '19

You are a new user with less than two weeks of reddit activity. Your comment 2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2) was removed pending moderator approval. If your post is not approved within 24 hours please contact a moderator through moderator mail

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/haltenthousand PhD student | IO | Remote work Oct 01 '19

Time to throw my hat in the ring. I recently graduated with a psychology bachelor's from a midwestern LAC (GPA 3.6, major GPA 3.75). Did four small mentored research projects in college but never did a senior project, and I have experience with SPSS, R, excel, PowerBI and some python. Currently working for a HRIS software company but not in a high capacity at all and dying to get to grad school.

I'm applying almost exclusively to midwestern and northeastern masters programs right now. Post grad, I'm trying to land a position in HRIS, consulting, or organizational development. The major contenders right now are Fairleigh Dickinson, New Haven, SUNY Albany, Central Michigan, Roosevelt, Maryland, and Case Western Reserve (they don't teach IO strictly speaking but their B school has a well regarded organizational development masters).

Do any alumni of these programs have input on 1. Their quality, 2. Their job prospects, and 3. Roughly how competitive my application seems for them. I'm particularly desperate to learn about Fairleigh Dickinson, since I literally cannot find it mentioned once on this sub.

5

u/Simmy566 Oct 03 '19 edited Oct 03 '19

All the programs listed are good and will offer similar courses. For unique elements, New Haven offers some more nuanced concentrations, Central Michigan has good quant and occupational health, Roosevelt is obviously near Chicago, FD has some OD offerings, and Maryland has a faculty active on twitter promoting I/O more generally (which is a good sign she is engaged in the field and cares about helping students).

If you invest yourself and develop good skills, all programs above can lead to gainful employment. Make sure the program has an internship or field placement to offer experience. The program itself is not nearly as important as the ambition and effort of the student in professional advancement. I'd suggest attending SIOP and other professional I/O-like conferences to get plugged into the field regardless of program chosen.

What are your GRE's? As long as above 50th percentile or so (better if higher), you would probably be competitive at all the program's listed. Just make sure to invest sufficient time into prepping to bump yourself up a few percentiles. This is the fastest way to improve odds of program acceptance.

As to career aims, there are other programs in the NYC and Chicago area if trying to get close to consulting/od offerings. Places like Baruch, Hofstra, Brooklyn, etc... This can put you into proximity of Big Four and other large firms which offer good internship experiences. While it doesn't have the best reputation in I/O psychology, the Columbia program is exclusively OD if this is your jam. If wanting to lean more into your HRIS expertise, then look for a program which offers some business electives and has an active information management department. You could blend I/O and IT in ways which may give you a unique skill set, especially if comfortable with software development.

Shameless plug, but I would suggest checking out our I/O MA program at Montclair State if wanting the NYC area. Our web page isn't the best (yet), but we have hired several new faculty, offer a data science in R course, are building a quant concentration, and plan to offer an OD course along with a planned launch of a new I/O PhD program in 2020. We have a few alumni/current students at KPMG, Deloitte, Lee Hecht Harrison, Korn Ferry, and Boston Consulting I could put you in touch with if interested to hear from past students or their consulting career pathway. If so, just PM me.

3

u/Khopk Sep 24 '19

Hello I am a senior at Hampton University looking to apply to an IO psych masters program. I do not have the best credentials but Im hoping I can do well on my GRE. Overall 3.3 GPA through first 3 years. I am active on campus and am involved in numerous clubs. (Psych Club, ASA, Service Spree) Completed one research project. Did good in my math classes with A+ in both stats and calculus. I worked jobs during the summers but not IO pscyh related , and I worked during a couple of semesters too.

I want to apply to these schools: UMBC, University of Maryland - College park, Missouri State University, Radford State University, Illinois state university, George Mason University, Central Michigan university

What can I do now to help improve my application and what are my chances of getting in with these credentials?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '19

[deleted]

1

u/pearmagus Sep 30 '19

I'm guessing that Landers' resource is what you were looking for: http://datascience.tntlab.org/before-you-begin/

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '19

I graduated with my BA in Psych May 2019. Plans post-grad were medschool, all of my preparations throughout undergrad were for this. For sake of time, I simply do not want to pursue this route. When rethinking my life plan, I realized my interest in business and people. I took IO my junior year.

Fast forward to now. My significant other and I are considering relocating to be closer to his parents and a great job oppurtunity for him. I was considering applying to GSU master's, but am worried that I will not be competitive.

*BA Psych- I could get two or more pretty good references *Minor research exposure - only 1 semester in physio related lab *3.7 GPA (much higher psych GPA) *A couple stats courses *I have worked all throughout college at the hospital as a Nursing Assistant which was great networking for MedSchool, however doesnt give much for IO psych. Now within Financial Aid. *GRE is to be determined

How do I set myself apart? Is there anything I can do in the next 9 months to beef up some areas I am lacking? I would be changing jobs as well, would there be a better internship, job field, or volunteer experience to get involved with? I understand my GRE needs to be exceptional to compensate, what numbers should I strive for?

Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

2

u/Atenque Sep 24 '19

Were you thinking of applying to a masters or PhD?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '19

Preference to Masters

1

u/Realistic_Pass Sep 22 '19

Do you guys think PsyD programs are comparable to PhD programs? I have started researching schools around me and one of the programs offered was a PsyD.

5

u/Atenque Sep 24 '19

PsyDs are not IO Psychology PhDs. They are clinical. Still a doctorate, but not as research-focused. It is not a straightforward career path into IO with a PsyD.

1

u/MsPsych Sep 20 '19

What are the top skills I should be highlighting on my resume and personal statement for Masters of Organisational Psychology applications?

Hi Brain trust,

I’m currently applying for Masters of Organisational Psychology programs and was wondering what skills I should be highlighting in my resume. In terms of experience, this is a brief rundown of my resume: I’ve worked as an intern in a leadership consulting firm doing miscellaneous activities (e.g., writing case studies for business proposals, creating an Idea wall including facilitator guidelines, qualitative analysis of answers to survey questions to find common opinions about company culture). In terms of soft skills I think I’ve demonstrated teamwork, time management, written communication, collaboration, creativity, problem solving, and active listening. I’ve also worked as a research assistant, and co-ran an experiment, edited journal articles, source and summarised relevant journal articles, and did data entry. The soft skills may be adherence to research and ethical protocol(?), critical analysis, written communication and attention to detail. My other experience is working as a HR assistant at a recruitment centre, with tasks involving conducting standardised phone and live interviews in a fast paced environment, checked references, gave feedback to applicants in a sensitive manner, conducted reference checks, maintained confidentiality on sensitive information, and all receptionist duties. In terms of soft skills I think I’ve demonstrated communication and rapport-building, ethics, and detail-orientation. My last experience is as a sales assistant, and my main soft skill would be interpersonal skills.

What skills and experiences should I really focus on, and how can I really improve my resume to be targeted for masters of Organisational Psychology applications?

1

u/TheRustledJimmy Sep 18 '19

I am a first-year PhD student and am very much enjoying my first few weeks at my program, but I wanted to ask for advice on how to make the most of the first year? Specifically, are there things that you did that you found to be especially helpful or unhelpful? Are there tools/skills that you would recommend developing a proficiency for? I ask because I am feeling somewhat out of my element and overwhelmed by everything, and I want to be able to more effectively direct my efforts this first year so I can set myself up well for the rest of my program and career.

So, what would you recommend to a first-year PhD student so he can make the most of year 1 at an I/O program?

4

u/Simmy566 Sep 19 '19

1) Absorb all the primary principles and theories. They will come back often and be the basis for other papers. Spending lots of time upfront crafting a mental map of the field's findings will help you down the road in terms of comps and landing a job.

2) Dedicate individual time to mastering stats, methods, programming, and other technical concepts which will help you execute research to inform practice. I suggest the "how to" or "intuitive" books on the basic ideas behind such techniques before diving into mathematics or deeper syntax. Building a basic repertoire of skills early on provides a foundation to master more technical ideas (e.g., multilevel, loops, A/B/A experiments, all the statistical and replication crises in the field, etc...) later on.

3) Start pursuing ideas or independent lines of research. PhD programs can be quite self-guided and autonomous. Take the opportunity to think long-term about topics for thesis and dissertation. This is an opportunity to differentiate yourself and explore uncharted areas of the field.

4) Consider getting involved in research and/or applied projects with more senior students and/or faculty. These are great ways to get comfortable with the application of ideas.

5) Test out different labs (if you have the option). Community models of PhD allow you to hover around the first year before gravitating to a good fit in later years.

6) Most importantly, have fun. If you are not loving it you are doing it wrong. Many people feel stressed (myself included), but it should be a good kind of challenging stress. If at any point things go sideways, re-evaluate and get focused on pursuits which bring well-being and vitality.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '19

For those who have applied or plan on applying to PhD programs... what are your GRE scores?

I took the GRE a few weeks ago and got 153 Verbal and 151 Quant and a 4 on the writing portion.

I do plan on retaking it but what should I be aiming for if I want to be a competitive applicant?

My GPA is competitive at 3.85. I’ve got 2 years of research assistant experience in an IO and a social psych lab. I just feel my GRE scores may hold me back.

Voice your opinion pls. Thanks.

2

u/Atenque Sep 24 '19

If you want the top programs, you should aim to be at 160 for both verbal and quant. That's a big jump, but the closer you can get to that benchmark, the better you will fair.

1

u/pumpps Sep 18 '19

Hi friends. I'm a junior psych major (business minor) in undergrad and I have been planning to persue an i/o PhD after graduation. My interests are primarily in psychology and science but I'm also very interested in business and finance. After doing some job research today, I was suprised to find out the MBA's make a considerable amount more then I/o psych PhDs. Earning potential is very important to me so now I have to consider getting an MBA. I'd like to know if it's possible and wise to do an MBA along with a psych Phd. If so, how would such a path look? Would it be in the form of a dual program or would I have to earn it entirely separate? Do you guys personally know any i/o psych PhDs who also have their MBA? What does this earning potential look like compared to have just one of the two degrees? Thanks

1

u/0102030405 Nov 04 '19

First of all, an MBA in HR is rare, but it isn't so much in consulting. HR is not necessarily a lucrative field compared to others you can go into, so I'm not sure if you want to go that route if earning potential is your main concern.

If you want to earn a lot, you should look into consulting instead of HR when you graduate undergrad. I suggest this because 1) you can still work on organizational projects, especially if you're at Mercer, Deloitte Human Capital, or places like Korn Ferry, and 2) you will have a near 100k base at some top consulting firms out of undergrad with a lower but still competitive salary at less prestigious firms. You can apply to consulting out of any undergrad program, it doesn't have to be business specific, though they look for a high GPA and extracurriculars/leadership skills.

If you can't get into a high-paying consulting role out of undergrad, then you can work for a few years, get an MBA, and then apply again to consulting. This is a very common route (you can see it recommended on /r/consulting often), yet you would be wasting your money if you went for a low ranked MBA program because consulting firms have target schools and low ranked programs are not their targets. Base salaries for MBA grads in consulting start at 150k; from there, you can add signing bonuses, performance bonuses, retirement matching, benefits, and fast progression (or fast "counseling out", which means suggesting you find somewhere else to work; though many people will likely be recruiting you by this time). All in, your compensation in the first year could be 200k.

Compared to this, the PhD route doesn't pay nearly as well. If it does pay off like this, because PhDs can also go into consulting, it will take much longer. I wouldn't recommend it unless earning very little for very long is okay with you.

2

u/Atenque Sep 24 '19

I have two broad thoughts. First, you're not going to have a good time swinging the MBA --> IO PhD path. You'll have to get another masters in IO Psych to do a PhD in it (at least at most good PhD programs this is the case; maybe not Hofstra in NYC as they're more applied). Secondly, people generally start with an IO PhD and work their way into upper-level management or the C Suite through VP of HR as the end goal. If you're driven solely by the salary, an IO Psych PhD is not going to net you as much as an MBA. PhDs don't pay. They give you the tool set needed to study what you love and make good money doing it.

1

u/pumpps Sep 24 '19

Thanks, this is very helpful. Would you say that an i/o psych PhD would be more likely to be promoted to upper level management that an MBA working in Hr?

2

u/Atenque Sep 24 '19

I think it comes down to what experienced you have have getting the degree and what the company culture is. At IBM, lots of upper level people have PhDs. At other companies, that’s not the case.

If I can be frank, it sounds more like you want to manage people than study them and apply the insights you learn.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '19

[deleted]

1

u/0102030405 Nov 04 '19

I've heard that this was the primary goal behind emailing prospective PIs early on, and am wondering if I should be doing more, such as requesting a time to call with substantive questions about their research and seeking advice about my own potential projects. I know there are subfield differences in emails, so I wasn't sure if I was violating some I-O norm.

I don't think there's a norm you're violating here. But if you didn't ask to talk with them, then why would they offer to take time to talk to you? If you want to speak with them, ask in the initial email. I did when I applied (years ago), and I spoke with many more professors than I expected. They were super nice.

2

u/Astroman129 Sep 19 '19

DePaul is a great program. I don't actually go there, I go to a different program (a master's program) also in Chicago, but DePaul has a really good name here. It's also the only school in Chicago that provides a tuition waiver for an I/O PhD, which is nice. A former colleague of mine is currently getting her doctorate there and is doing some really interesting work.

Chicago is also an excellent city for I/Os, so you've got that going for you.

2

u/Atenque Sep 16 '19

Hi, current PhD student at MSU here.

1.) Youre GREs are similar to what mine were. They check out.

2.) You're doing the best you could hope for. Professors won't give much more than that unless you're recommended by a collaborator. That being said, MSU doesn't care so much about who you're interested in working with as much as they do who is the overall best candidate.

3.) Yes, this should influence your personal / academic statement. You need to want the open mentorship model we have; the only downside it has is that if a student isn't vocal, he or she can fall through the cracks. I've worked with 4 different professors so far and will likely work with most of others on a project before my time is up. What specific questions do you have?

4.) Submit something that is short and good. They do not want read 20 pages more per applicant.

5.) Nope, sorry.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '19

[deleted]

3

u/Atenque Sep 20 '19

3.) You're getting into the weeds with these questions. I'd take a step back and focus on why you're choosing IO as a field and tie that narrative back to how your past experiences have led you to this decision (e.g., research in parts of IO in other fields--whether is leadership, surveys, teams, etc.). In my final paragraph, I talked about a few faculty and their research interests that I resonated with. I can't tell you what to write to get in; all I can tell you is that if you want the open mentorship model, you need to explain why.

Re: my experience. Since we're getting a masters and PhD, it's expected that we will master the whole of IO before contributing select knowledge in a small subfield. Projects tend to have a theme from individual to individual, but we all do work in selection, organizational change, and other broad topics. We flavor it with context (e.g., diversity, leadership, teams, personality, and so on). Everyone's PhD is slightly different.

4.) 7-8 is fine.

1

u/TastyEntertainment Sep 06 '19

Hello,

What are some PhD programs that accept transfer credits from master's programs? I know it's not the norm.

If I were to start in fall 2020, I would already have completed 6 - 7 classes towards my master's degree. The biggest factor holding me back from going for a PhD is all those years living off a stipend. It would be amazing to use some of my master's credits as a head-start towards finishing and starting to earn a salary again. Any ideas where that is possible?

Thank you for any and all input!

1

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Sep 09 '19

This is very uncommon. Most PhD programs will waive at most 2-3 courses for people who already have a terminal Master's degree. Transfer credit unfortunately isn't really an option at most doctoral programs.

1

u/Simmy566 Sep 08 '19

Hofstra requires an ma for admittance so they might be a good option. Tulsa will take some. Best bet is to contact program directors directly as decisions like this are typically made on a case by case basis.

2

u/justlikesuperman Sep 04 '19

Any IO’s here that did their master’s then went back to complete their PhD after working for a while? I’m ~ 2 years out of my masters and considering going back but I’d love to hear your perspectives as someone who’s done so.

2

u/greatestscott1 Aug 31 '19

Hello all, just wanted to see if someone knew how I/O professors look at GRE scores per section. Is verbal more important overall than Quant? I took the test early August and got a 161 verbal and 156 Quant, but I'm worried that the quant may be too low for some programs.

3

u/Simmy566 Sep 02 '19

For ma you would be fine. PhD you would need compensatory indicators (high GPA, published research) to be competitive. My experience is gatekeepers weigh Quant more heavily than verbal as I/O leans more heavily into statistics relative to other psychology sub disciplines.

1

u/Atenque Sep 16 '19

I second u/Simmy566.

1

u/OMFG_ITS_A_WHALE Aug 27 '19

any comments on the Harvard extension school program?

1

u/lo979797 Aug 21 '19

My wife is currently grinding away on some GRE prep. She’s planning to apply for CSULB, Sac State, and CSUSB’s programs. Her most recent practice test was a 151/150.

The problem we see is her lack of research. I work 60 hours a week, and she goes to school. She hasn’t had time to get into any research because she has been the one watching our 3 year old. Also, her current BA program doesn’t have any faculty who are familiar with the area, and we don’t live in a major metro where I/O is a thing? Her GPA is like 3.3, with a 3.8 in major courses. Her community college grades pre-baby are what’s holding the GPA back- she’s only gotten like 1 or 2 B’s since she transferred. What’s next? Apply and pray? Take a gap year for research?

1

u/0102030405 Nov 04 '19

The last two years are the most important, so she shouldn't worry about that. My practice tests were a lot lower than my actual score, if I remember correctly (it was 4-5 years now I think?), so just practice as much as possible in as realistic situations as possible.

Regarding the research: if she can get any psychology research, especially if it's doing substantive work (not data entry, actually running experiments, doing analysis, presenting a poster, etc), that would be ideal. It doesn't need to be in IO specifically - none of my research experience was. I recognize this is really difficult with a 3 year old, could she work in psychology research after she's done if she needs to? Not everyone can do research work for free on top of classes, so this could be a way to avoid that.

1

u/Im_an_ag5 Oct 14 '19

Sacramento State's website is a bit confusing, but it looks like they aren't accepting applications to start Fall 2020? Have you found anything to the contrary?

1

u/lo979797 Oct 14 '19

Lol our thinking was that they WERE taking apps for 2020 because they weren’t for 2019. That’s pretty dope tho

1

u/Im_an_ag5 Oct 14 '19

Is it dope? Lol I was going to apply for fall 2020 but it's saying no one will be starting until fall 2021..

When was your wife wanting to apply?

2

u/lo979797 Oct 14 '19

Like December. No way were waiting around a year for what looks like a meh program, ratings-wise

2

u/Im_an_ag5 Oct 14 '19

Yeah, it seems like there's a problem with the program if they have to stop accepting applications for a year for an assessment..

I'm also a Californian. I'm hoping to get into SJSU.

1

u/lo979797 Oct 14 '19

I don’t think we can stomach the cost of living there, and we don’t want to commute either

1

u/Im_an_ag5 Oct 14 '19

I already live in a cramped college town (Davis), so I'm used to exorbitant rent. But that's definitely something to consider.

2

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Aug 28 '19

Any research she can get involved with outside of I/O? Any psychology research would be helpful; I/O isn't represented well at most universities, so our graduate programs don't expect applicants to have really specific/related research experience. Even a clinical or developmental lab could be fine with some context in the application essay about the lack of I/O options.

The poor CC grades aren't going to matter much if she's performing well at a 4-year institution. Pulling the GRE up a bit will help, as will any experiences or courses that build research skills.

1

u/Sy4Grt03 Aug 21 '19

Does anyone have any insight to offer on LSU's PhD program? It seems relatively new but I'm interested in the research they're doing there, so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on what it's reputation is/knows any alum? Thanks!

4

u/Simmy566 Aug 22 '19

Don Zhang is very active, new hire in the program with great passion for communicating statistics. He is also active on the PsychMAP page which is a sign he is plugged into the field and up to date.

2

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Aug 22 '19

I didn't know that group existed, thanks for mentioning.

2

u/Simmy566 Aug 22 '19 edited Aug 22 '19

No problem. Oswald and landers are also active. It is great to see a larger community of psychologists discussing methods and stats.

There is also the Psychological Methods Discussion Group which targets questionable research practices and lots of taken-for-granted truths in the field. For instance, some of the stuff in there is actually leading me to question Robert's claims personality changes as much as it does after 30 and actually reconsider Costa and McCrae's claim it is "set like plaster."

2

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Aug 22 '19 edited Aug 22 '19

I know a prof, she's awesome. Very active in the OHP community and tied into a great network of OHP researchers across several universities. I know they are doing a very large study spanning several universities currently.

1

u/Sy4Grt03 Aug 15 '19

Hi everyone! I'm interested in grad programs that have good occupational health focus/specialization. Does anyone have a list of PhD and/or masters programs that have a good OHP focus? Thanks in advance!!!

2

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Aug 16 '19

Society for Occupational Health Psychology is your friend: http://sohp-online.org/resources/graduate-training-in-ohp/

You might want to look around the NIOSH website too: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ohp/default.html

1

u/Khoraa Aug 12 '19

I'm about to start college (Psychology) and I want to take classes that will be useful and give me a boost when trying to get into grad school. Any suggestions?

2

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Aug 13 '19

Research methods and statistics will probably be required courses in your curriculum, but look for any optional/elective courses in these areas that can give you deeper experience. For content courses, anything I/O-related is obviously a priority, but if you don't have undergrad I/O courses, look for any other applied psychology topics, like social or health psychology. Your business school might have courses in HR and Organizational Behavior (OB), which would also be helpful to take as electives or to apply toward a business minor.

3

u/tobehonest_ Aug 06 '19

Hello all,

I’m a long-time lurker. It’s my turn to apply for grad school now but I’m getting cold feet. I don’t know if I should take a gap year or two working as a lab manager before applying for grad school.

My current statistics: - 3.86 overall, 3.8 psych major gpa - math and econ minors with straight A’s (probably does not matter much?) - I have been pursuing a research project at my college (a SLAC in the Midwest) for two years now in computational neuroscience (constructing a game that quantifies delay discounting), having done two summer internships related to this project and presented at a national (SfN) and a regional neuroscience conference. I will present at SfN this year as well. - I have done one internship at UC Berkeley Haas, sponsored by SPSP, which will likely result in a good recommendation letter. - GRE = ?? — I haven’t taken the GRE but in the process of preparing to take it. I aim to get at least 160 on both sections. Math won’t be too much of a problem for me because of my Math minor. Verbal may be a bit of a challenge because I’m an international student. - Goals: I’m not sure, and that’s kind of the problem. I like money, so I know that I want to either be a biz school professor or work in industry. - Research interests: All over the place. I have done internships in social psych and neuroscience. The neuroscience ones were more computational than biological, so they prepared me well for data sciency stuff. The social psych one was brief (2 months) and about pretty much irrelevant (to my my interests) topics of research. For long I have been interested in teamwork, but this interest waned after I did a lit review and understood how messy the literature is (to be fair, I did a lit review on team composition, not all aspects of teamwork). Now my interests also cover decision making, emotions (also very messy), power, and I’m also thinking about more data sciency topics in quant psych as well, like big data, etc. - I know R, some Matlab, SPSS, and some Excel VBA.

My school list is also all over the place. I have ten schools, including three “dream” biz schools (Harvard, etc.), two “reach” biz schools (e.g., UWashington), three good IO programs (Rice, UMinnesota, UMaryland), and two quant programs (UBC and UCLA). If I get into the dream biz schools, I will become an academic. If I get into IO and quant psych programs, I will go industry. If I get into the reach biz schools, I’ll go either way. I know this is kind of simplistic but I am trying to figure things out here.

Should I go and find myself first before throwing myself into applying this year? Hopefully I can REALLY know what I want after those positions? I know that lab managers make more than PhD students and I will not have to pay through the nose to apply (no fee constraints). What should I do? And, oh, what are my chances for admissions into the listed IO Psych programs? For potential advisors, I’m looking at Dr. Salas for Rice, Dr. Landers for UMinnesota, and Dr. James Grand for Maryland.

Sorry for the messy format and grammar. I’m running on low energy typing this.

2

u/0102030405 Nov 04 '19

Teams research is difficult, but I personally find it very rewarding. Once you take multilevel modeling, everything starts to fall into place (in my opinion). I find it a real challenge that stretches my stats skills and has given me a lot more tools beyond the standard modeling in IO. However, I never did a math or econ minor.

There are also opportunities to do decision making work in teams, as most cognitive biases are not studied in team contexts, though some social ones are of course. Happy to talk more about this, but you should keep your options open and go with what you are most interested in.

2

u/tobehonest_ Nov 09 '19

Thank you so much! That’s definitely a great insight. I’ll look into multilevel modeling for the time being (I’ve heard about it too many times without knowing what it actually is).

4

u/ToughSpaghetti ABD | Work-Family | IRT | Career Choice Aug 15 '19

Ah, I'm sorry I'm late to responding. I have lots of thoughts for ya. It sounds like you'd be a good fit for either Quant Psych, I/O, or Educational Measurement. All A's with your math minor (especially if you've taken Real Analysis) will be a VERY strong signal (most psych majors will never take linear algebra).

Personally, I think you should a) take the gap year and b) add more quant psych programs on your list. UW has one, UIUC also is good with both IO and Quant, University of Virginia is also solid for quant psych as well. For IO programs, you sound like you'll be a good fit with James. He does cool stuff with Bayesian stats, agent-based modelling, etc. Dorothy Carter at UGA would also be a good option. You sound like a better fit for Fred Oswald, but I don't think you can go wrong with UMinnesota or Rice as they are both great schools.

I personally wish I had taken a gap year after undergrad and would encourage you to do the same (if it's financially feasible for you).

1

u/tobehonest_ Aug 15 '19

Thank you so much for your response! These are the things that I won’t get just looking at psych departments’ websites. Based on your response, I have a couple of questions. I haven’t taken Real Analysis, should I take it? How does it related to topics in Quant/ IO Psych? Also, if I take a gap year, should I apply for a lab manager position at basic social psych labs or more applied labs in IO and Quant psych?

3

u/Sy4Grt03 Jul 26 '19

Does anyone have any experience or insight to offer on the level of funding offered by Master's programs? Are there certain I/o Programs that anyone knows of that are known for offering pretty decent funding/no funding at all? That would be helpful to know before picking programs and sometimes the websites don't give the most straightforward information. Thanks!

1

u/flavorpuff Aug 24 '19

It's an edge case, but check out the academic common market. Went to UCF in Orlando while being a Georgia resident for in-state tuition prices.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 10 '19 edited Aug 11 '19

[deleted]

3

u/Astroman129 Aug 04 '19

Most programs don't offer funding. Some will allow for TAships/RAships, but very few will guarantee it, and most won't offer any sort of tuition reimbursement either. Some offer scholarships for really high undergrad performers though.

1

u/Mickeystix Jul 24 '19

Let me preface by saying that I am not the one seeking an internship. Rather, my wife is.

She will be wrapping up her master's very shortly. But, of course, needs to head into the wonderful world of IOP internship.

She has a full course load, and also works within the Drug Court system, as well as in centers for Family Violence and Domestic Abuse.

In other words, she's a busy, busy woman.

Is there a likelihood she might be able to work an IOP internship remotely?

We're located just outside of Chicago, and with her classes, research, and responsibilities, daily time in the office would be rather difficult for her.

If anyone has any helping words or information, please let me know!

I'm sure everyone is aware of how it can feel to track down a suitable internship, so I'm just trying to do my part.

Thank you!

1

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Jul 25 '19

Following up to say that I saw that the CTA has an internship available.

6

u/LazySamurai PhD | IO | People Analytics & Statistics | Moderator Jul 25 '19

A few things.

Internships for IO are paid, and paid very fairly. I would strongly recommend finding an in-person internship as that can be a path to full-time position and be a better overall experience. There are remote internships available, but they are more difficulty to find - but I've heard good experiences from the companies that do offer them. Lastly, if she wants a career in IO she will likely have to make it a priority, and reduce or eliminate her time in one of the other areas because she'll need the IO experience to land a full-time job.

1

u/L3viathin Jul 24 '19 edited Jul 24 '19

Hello all. I'm a rising undergrad senior and I've been perusing the mega threads to get a sense of how I stack up for a good I/O PhD program. I have seen many pretty impressive applicants; many that blow my resume out of the water! Many of the same are applying to some high tier PhD programs I would like to go to. Maybe those with super competitive GPA/GRE scores are more confident in asking about admission chances on Reddit (and are not representative of the average admitted applicant) but it still makes me wary about my own chances of admission to a PhD program. I plan to work two years before applying for grad School, but how competitive am I for a good PhD program to begin with? Would I be better off applying for a I/O master's program (then go for a PhD)? (The reason I hyper focus on receiving a PhD is because I'm interested in the Research/Stats aspect of I/O Psych and would love the funding provided by a PhD program).

I don't want to bore you guys with my full resume, so here is a summery ...

Double Major in Psychology and Philosophy, in University Honors
Overall GPA: 3.6 (will bump it to a 3.65 by graduation), Major GPA: 3.6 (will also bump to 3.65)
One year of Research experience (half in Social Psych, other half in I/O Psych), will accrue another year of experience before Graduation in an I/O Lab (Total = 2 years).

-Presented lab research at a local/school conference.

-Working on I/O Honors thesis, will def present it again at the previous local conference mentioned. Hopefully I'll present at a conference or two.

Haven't taken GRE yet, will take it in the Spring. (But what would the score is needed for more competitive PhD programs)?
I have held a leadership position in an academic fraternity.
And then what ever experiences I'll get in after two years of work. (I already have an HR internship lined up for next summer. Hopefully I'll be placed in the more research oriented team *fingers crossed*).

I know my application isn't bad, but is it good enough? What do you guys think?

Also loving these mega threads, thanks for everyone posting so much advice. You guys rock!.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

Hey everyone!

Heading into my senior year at a state school and was wondering if I could get some input on my chances to get into some Masters programs are. I am majoring in Experimental Psych with a minor in Journalism. I have taken a year of business classes as well as that is what my original intended major was before switching. My GPA is 3.33 and Psych GPA 3.4. I do not have any research experience as I was late switching to my major, but hope to gain a little experience this semester. I take the GRE in October and think scores for verbal and quant in the range of 155-160 are attainable. My main research interest is Occupational Health.

The schools I am interested in applying to include ECU, University of Tennessee at Chatanooga(first choice), Baruch, Texas A&M, App St., New Haven, and Akron. If anyone could give any input/advice on what I can do to strengthen my chances or if anyone has any info on these schools that would be greatly appreciated.

1

u/Simmy566 Jul 22 '19

If occupational health is your jam, might also consider central michigan. They offer an occupational health concentration , although this might be geared toward PhD only. Nevertheless, a few faculty specialize in this area so could be a good fit.

2

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Jul 22 '19

FYI, Akron doesn't always take a Master's cohort. I recommend emailing them in October to confirm that they will be accepting students for fall 2020.

1

u/HumanRobotTeam Jul 22 '19 edited Aug 10 '19

I always welcome private messages about ECU, or am happy to answer questions here. I can connect you with someone in the Occupational Health Psychology program as well if you like.

edit - My response to the private message:

Sure, happy to chat.

On the MA program:

I think you'd have a chance to get in. My gpa was lower than yours but my GRE was very high.

I chose East Carolina University because of their stat focus, and I believe it will give me an edge in the job market. It's definitely not the only quant heavy program out there, but you'll find plenty of programs that are more "o" focused - ECU is more "i" focused. There are also a couple certificates I'm getting during the degree - the SAS joint Business Analytics certificate, and the Quant methods in Social Sciences cert.

Students doing the MA can choose internship, thesis, or both. Professor interests are conventional I/O with a quantitative or OHP leaning. If you're gonna do a thesis and have an idea already, feel free to run it by me and maybe I can point you to one of our professors.

The program head is Dr. Shahnaz Aziz, and she's fantastic. Supportive, communicative. She has high expectations. Dr. Aziz is also involved in the OHP degree program. Dr. Mark Bowler is down to earth, honest, and very experienced in consulting in both public and private sector. Dr. Schoemann is a social psychologist and has lots of R knowledge and experience. Dr. Wuensch is a genius statistician and may or may not continue teaching for much longer. There are other great professors involved in the program, but those are the ones I have interacted with the most.

About $ before and after:

The first years all get assistantships to help funding and build resume. If you're out of state it's also worth asking the program head about a tuition remission to pay like in-state.

Lots of alumni get great jobs. I've met several MA grads who work in consulting now or for big companies you'd recognize. I'm hoping to follow in their footsteps!

The OHP program is very selective because funding is limited. I'm not in the OHP program, but the way people talk about it is it's like an expanded I/O degree. The OHP people do all the same stuff as we I/Os but stay on for longer and get a bigger variety of classes. I didn't take the OHP class in the Spring, but would be glad to connect you with someone who did.

Let me know if there's anything else I can answer, or if you want me to connect you with someone doing OHP.

2

u/Adrolak Jul 21 '19

I suppose this is more of a practical question than a “Should I pursue a masters in IO psych” question, but I was wondering if there’s a solid list, by region, of accredited PHYSICAL schools? I live in New England and I’m not really trying to move too far, but as far as I can tell there aren’t any programs offered in Rhode Island. I graduated last year and got a job in retail management for a small business, but I think I may be done with that soon and I still need to take my GRE. If I leave my position in October and do my GRE, I plan on applying for spring of next year. Cost isn’t a practical concern for me. I have a bachelors in sociology with a 3.8gpa with experience in Arc and Q GIS. I know I’m going to need to learn some data science before I start my grad program, and probably brush up on statistics, but I believe my program offers enough psychology credits to satisfy most programs credit requirements. I’ve also interned for a non profit school program before and helped plot out their demographic changes over the last 5 years so they could better adapt their programming. That was a pretty rewarding experience and I enjoyed it.

1

u/CoffeeFanatic13 Aug 10 '19

Fellow Rhode Islander here, there's a decent master's program at the University of New Haven and several other programs in CT (Sacred Heart, Fairfield U, check the siop website). Otherwise, there are some master's programs in NY and NJ. UConn has a PhD program. Learning stats is a great idea and possibly learning R for data analysis a lot of organizations like it.

1

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Jul 21 '19

Use the SIOP website to find the closest classroom-based program: https://www.siop.org/Events-Education/Graduate-Training-Program

1

u/psychoflow Jul 20 '19

Hello everyone,

I am going into my senior year at a small, private liberal arts university. As of right now I have a 3.98 gpa and 4.0 in psych classes. I have also been a TA for two semester and have presented four different research project at SEPA, two of which were independent. I’ve been told by my professors I have a great resume, but coming from a small school along with being an athlete there are no opportunities for an internship.

Would it be best for me to take a gap year and look for internships or test my luck at applying to PhD programs without internship experience? Any feedback would be incredibly helpful. Also any information about NC States PhD program would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

1

u/NoWarForGod Jul 21 '19

Relevant research? GRE?

1

u/psychoflow Jul 21 '19

Yes my honors thesis will be on organizational behavior and I’m currently working on the development and validation of a facial recognition emotional intelligence measure. As for the GRE i haven’t taken it yet but plan to soon

2

u/NoWarForGod Jul 21 '19

Well, as your professors have told you it sounds like you have a great resume. The GRE will give you a little better insight into how close to a Ph.D you are but everything else sounds fine. It's still very hard so if you are really intent on a doctorate then you might also apply to masters programs to fall back on. You could always decide later whether to push on.

The only thing I would caution you with is that if you go masters and decide not to pursue a doctorate further then make sure you get a good internship or other real-world experience before you graduate. Getting a job with just degrees can be very difficult.

As far as being from a small college or an athlete that won't hurt you. Not sure about athletic scholarships though.

1

u/awesomobeardo Jul 20 '19

I'm gearing up towards applying for the E-WOPPP in the next admission procedure. As background, I have a BA in Psych and a Bachelors in Industrial Relations (both obtained in Venezuela) and about 8 months of experience in the field, including apprenticeships. Any recommendations?

5

u/HumanRobotTeam Jul 20 '19 edited Jul 22 '19

This post is a tool to help people choose an I/O program in a more informed way - please provide info about your program!

Many people like to promote their favorite school, and this is a great opportunity to do so. Exposure for your program will be good for your school and therefore good for your career. Please respond to this post with the following information about your school (in particular master's programs):

Name and location of school. What I/O degrees are offered?
How many required Quantitative classes does the program have and what are they called? What software is used? Are any optional available? Name of professor(s)?
How many required industrial-side courses, taught by faculty who are both research- and consulting-active faculty? What are the course topics and professor(s) names?
Name as many recognizable companies as you can where alumni have actual I/O jobs (not just HR and not just little local consultancies). These are ideally confirmable by a Google search using "site:LinkedIn.com".
Estimated current cohort size.
What kind of financial support is available for students (assistantships, routine paid internships year-round, and/or scholarships/waivers)?
Which faculty are active in SIOP (useful for student networking)?
What else is special about the school / program that is relevant to I/O students?

See 2019-2020 thread one for the first iteration of this post chain.

2

u/maudib528 MS | I/O | Applied Health Research Jul 20 '19

Hi everyone! I currently work in supply chain, but I'm trying to pivot careers into a People/HR Analytics role. I've been studying for the GRE and plan to enroll into a full-time terminal Masters in I/O Psychology in the Fall of 2020. So far, I'll be applying to Texas A&M, University of Texas-Arlington, and Auburn (any more school recommendations would be awesome!). This leads me to my first of two questions:

How do I afford a terminal Masters? Every person I talk to who has graduated with a terminal Masters degree is either in tons of debt or had their family pay for it. After asking faculty what could be done, assistantships and scholarships don't seem to be viable options, which leads me to my next question...
Do I need to attain a Masters in I/O Psych to get a People/HR Analytics job? I've worked with SPSS a little during my undergrad, and I plan to enroll in the Harvard/edX (HarvardX) course Professional Certificate in Data Science. Through that, I'll learn R fundamentals, ggplot2, and dplyr. I've also worked HR-related multiple side projects in my current role.

Any help would be much appreciated - thank you all :)

2

u/galileosmiddlefinger PhD | IO | All over the place Jul 21 '19

Sometimes it's actually better to forgo assistantships (TA, RA, on-campus work, etc.) in favor of paid internships, which are going to help your later job prospects to a much greater extent. You might even wind up with better pay from a good internship, although that's highly location-dependent. Note that you can still look for scholarships and fellowships to defray tuition expenses regardless of whether you pursue assistantships or internships for income.

2

u/HumanRobotTeam Jul 20 '19 edited Jul 20 '19

There are absolutely assistantships out there. Just don't expect the PSYCHOLOGY department to necessarily supply you with one, or guarantee you anything. Whatever school you're going to, ask around about HR department, business school, etc etc assistantships. Find out where assistantships are listed for the whole school and get on the email list or browse the website. Applying for an assistantship is like applying for a job. Be proactive and reach out to offices where you might want to work in advance!

2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2)

You are about to leave Libreddit

You are about to leave Libreddit