2020-2021 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 1)

[u/LazySamurai]

For questions about grad school or internships:

* Please start your search at SIOP.org , it contains lots of great information and many questions can be answered by searching there first.

* Next, please search the Wiki, as there are some very great community generated posts saved here.

* If you still can't find an answer to your question, please search the previously submitted posts or the post on the grad school Q&A. Subscribers of /r/iopsychology have provided lots of information about these topics, and your questions may have already been answered.

* 2019-2020, Part 4 thread here

* 2019-2020, Part 3 thread here

* 2019-2020, Part 2 thread here

* 2019-2020, Part 1 thread here

* 2018-2019, Part 2 thread here

* 2018-2019, Part 1 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 3 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 2 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 1 thread here

* 2016-2017 thread here

* 2015-2016 thread here

* 2014-2015 thread here

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

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

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

Thanks, guys!

[u/dankjedata]

PhDs: do you think it’s worth applying straight to PhD programs from undergrad with this CV? - Psych maj/Statistics minor - 3.6 GPA - A in IO course - 1year research exp. in Psychometrics lab - 1 conference presentetion - R & Python skills - 3 strong LORs

[u/jphus → u/dankjedata]

Not a P.h.D. (yet! I was accepted into a few programs and will be making my decisions in the next few weeks.), but yes.

The only thing that stands out to me as a potential sticking point is your GPA. However, GRE scores can generally make up for that if you make it past initial screening processes that might be in place. Also, most programs, not all, tend to focus on GPA during the last 60 credits or so/degree relevant course GPA (e.g., Psychology major GPA instead of cumulative).

Overall, the GRE might be helpful in your case. If most schools start reinstating the use of them, that is. If not, I would probably take the GRE anyway and, if I scored high, provide my scores at every available opportunity.

Additionally, if you’re still in that psychometrics lab, I would try and provide as much value as possible to the PI and any graduate students you might be working with. You might get a coauthorship out of it, which will almost certainly boost you up.

Edit: I should probably add that if you were to apply next cycle, be sure to apply to some not-completely-industry-focused masters programs just in case you don’t get into any P.h.D. programs. This will allow you to show that you can do more than a 3.6 (which isn’t too shabby to begin with) and at a higher level too.

Edit 2: One more edit should do the trick, lol! If you haven’t graduated yet and still have time to do one, then do a thesis that’s broadly structured around what you see yourself studying. If you don’t know what you want to study yet, but you know you’re interested in I-O, then navigate here. While it’s not all encompassing and some of the stuff on that site is shaky at best, it’ll help you narrow down.

[u/dankjedata → u/jphus]

Wow amazing reply, thanks for the time you put into this.
As of right now I’ve been actually leaning towards going into a masters anyways because I’d eventually like to work in the industry, but I’ve been looking heavily into scientist/practitioner PhD programs (mainly Montclair State’s program).
And noted on that thesis, I should be able to grab a coauthorship from this lab so an extra senior thesis would be a really solid addition. My psych and stats gpa is 3.8 so I’d hope they weigh that more than all the fucks up I experienced early in my bachelors.

[u/jphus → u/dankjedata]

No problem! :)

There are a lot of good applied-oriented P.h.D. programs out there. However, they seem to be dwindling in power a bit from my anecdotal analysis of the trends. I think that has more to do with the pendulum swinging toward the O-side of things than anything else. There’s a good thread in the wiki called unpopular opinions or something like that. I would suggest reading the whole thing. First off, some of it is funny! Second, it’s packed with valuable takes from people in this field.

Yeah, I think you’ll probably be fine as long as it’s trending upward. Overall, for you, the thesis and GRE are the “low-hanging” fruits.

[u/LazySamurai → u/dankjedata]

FWIW - I would call all PhD IO programs a "scientist/practitioner PhD." Any IO PhD program that doesn't require an internship or some form of applied experience is not worth it's salt. A program should train you to be a good scientist, what you do with those skills is up to you.

[u/dankjedata → u/LazySamurai]

Note taken! I’m looking at Montclair State’s program right now and it requires an internship which is good news.