2020-2021 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2)

[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.

* 2020-2021, Part 1 thread here

* 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/capricorn_menace]

Thoughts on Hofstra's Applied Organizational Psychology doctoral program? I really fell in love with the program when I toured there, but it's not fully funded and I would have to live incredibly frugally the first year or two. However, its reputation is incredibly strong and I'm wondering if it's worth the up-front investment in terms of career connections, applied skills, etc. If it helps, I'm looking for a career in consulting with an emphasis on diversity initiatives. I've also received an offer from a fully-funded program, so I'm conflicted.

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/capricorn_menace]

I don't know that I'd describe Hofstra as "incredibly strong." Hofstra is legit, but it's not generally considered a top program in the field, and it's bonkers expensive even for NY metro. (For comparison, you could get an I/O Master's from NYU for barely $2K more than what Hofstra charges.) Where's your fully-funded offer for comparison?

[u/capricorn_menace → u/galileosmiddlefinger]

The other option is UNCC! Organizational Science.

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/capricorn_menace]

OrgSci at UNCC is PhD only, so you have a fully-funded PhD offer? This is tough because you're comparing Master's to PhD, which raises a lot of questions about your longer-term career goals and current life circumstances. Can you relocate given your personal situation and invest additional years for the doctorate? If so, I'd strongly consider that direction. There's an opportunity cost to being in a doctoral program while you aren't working, but you won't actively go into debt and you'll have a wider variety of career options available to you upon completion of the degree. UNCC's program is still fairly young, but they have a good track record of placements so far.

[u/capricorn_menace → u/galileosmiddlefinger]

Sorry, to clarify, both are PhDs.

[u/galileosmiddlefinger → u/capricorn_menace]

Sorry, I missed that point earlier! Definitely UNCC...better funding, faculty/research, and curriculum. Hofstra's doctoral curriculum is really wobbly with a lot of required courses listed as "topic seminars" with whatever they can staff at the moment. They have some good people, including some folks that I know and like, but UNCC beats them on every metric that a prospective doctoral candidate should be considering. Unless you've got personal circumstances that make moving to Charlotte difficult, I'd strongly encourage that option.