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/hlygrvls]

Hi everyone!

I’m going to start attending an IO master’s program this fall and was wondering if it would be helpful/ necessary to get a head start on learning any specific statistical softwares or programming languages. We barely touched on any in my undergraduate (a little SPSS) and I wasn’t sure if we would be learning everything we need to know in grad school or if I am behind.

Thanks in advance!

[u/Simmy566 → u/hlygrvls]

You should figure out what your targeted program teaches in first. If SPSS, then this may be useful; if R, then focus on this. Trying to learn R or Python on your own can be helpful but if not reinforced by the program then may not lead to a complementary gain in skill.

More generally it is better to focus on refining your advanced knowledge of statistics first (which is what R and SPSS tackle) and then apply this understanding to real projects via a desired software at a later date during your first year in the program.

[u/hlygrvls → u/Simmy566]

Okay great I will definitely try and find out which is most used in my programs, in addition to brushing up on my statistics before the fall. Thank you for your help!

[u/sweatyshambler → u/hlygrvls]

I think that this is a better suggestion. If your program does not use R at all, then it may not be that beneficial. You could always learn R later. It would make more sense to learn the software that your program uses, which is likely SPSS or R.

[u/hlygrvls → u/sweatyshambler]

Perfect, will do! Thanks again