Guaging my chances for Ph.D. in Behavioral Psych or I/O Psych?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hey, everyone</p>

<p>Quick background:</p>

<p>3rd year UCSD undergrad double majoring in Joint Math/Econ and Psychology. Came into the school as a Computer Engineer major and that quickly got me off to a bad start my first year.</p>

<p>Cumulative GPA: 3.303 (can probably get it to a 3.4+ by application time and 3.5+ by graduation time)
Math/Econ GPA: 3.4
Psychology GPA: 3.8</p>

<p>I was accepted into the Honor's Program for Psychology (fairly competitive as 60 people applied and only 27 were accepted). Those in the program take advanced research methods/statistics and carry out a one-year long senior honor's thesis that they'll present in a department conference.</p>

<p>Research Experience: 1 quarter of independent research with a grad student for Economics (not a strong LoR). 2 quarters of independent research with a distinguished faculty member in Psychology (very strong LoR as I'm doing my senior thesis under his advising). Currently interviewing for another independent research position in an applied behavior analysis with autistic children. No publications as of yet, but I am emailing professors in regards to possibility of carrying out actual research.</p>

<p>1 quarter experience TA'ing for Econ. No experience TA'ing for Psychology yet, though I've gotten advanced approval from 2 of my professors to TA their classes the next time they offer them.</p>

<p>Job experience: 1 supervisory job in a campus dining hall (sophomore year); current job is a computer programmer/analyst. Current supervisor will probably write a LoR as long as I'm there at least a year.</p>

<p>GRE: Haven't taken the real one yet, but I've taken the ETS PowerPrep software practice GRE twice. First and second scores are as follow: V: 520 -> 570, Q: 710 -> 780; AW: ?. I don't know how this will translate to the real one, but I'm going to be taking the actual GRE either in April or May. Right now, I'm mainly working on my verbal and have already printed out the Barron's 3500 Word List.</p>

<p>Right now, I'm torn between applying to Behavioral and Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology programs. So far, my breadth has been predominantly Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral oriented research, but since I took a class and a seminar on I/O psych, I've been very interested in this field (and maybe Human Factors/Engineering Psych, too).</p>

<p>I was wondering what programs I may be able to look into. I've bought the APA Guide to Graduate Study in Psychology, but all it tells me is the median--whereas the inter-quartile range would have probably been tremendously more helpful as my GPA is lower than most averages.</p>

<p>Anyway, any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks, everyone.</p>

2

<p>Frankly, I’d say you’re a mediocre applicant for most funded programs in psychology.
I/O and Bx Psych are both highly research-oriented subfields, so a few quarters of research experience, 0 pubs and a departmental conference presentation really seems minimal for an I/O or Bx hopeful. Additionally, your mediocre GPA and GRE scores aren’t going to help your application get much consideration.</p>

<p>On the other hand, the experience you are applying for and seeking (or say you will be seeking) will be very helpful. It sounds like in a year or two you could be a very competitive applicant, minus the GPA. (You could fix that by doing an MS or MA prior to doctoral applications.)</p>

3

<p>Thanks, apumic.</p>

<p>What I’m hoping to do is focus my SOP on my last years in undergraduate to detract away from my 2.7 first year GPA from Computer Science classes. Right now, my upper-division GPA is a more decent 3.65 at the moment, and will probably move up since I’m done with most of my math/econ major.</p>

<p>Also, was your statement in regards to fully funded or even those that are partially funded?</p>

<p>One last thing–I know that if I choose to get an MA for Behavioral, it’ll be for general psych or a research concentration, but if I do decide to fully commit to I/O, do you should an MA/MS in I/O would be more beneficial than a general psych concentration? Lots of Masters programs in I/O seem to concentrate on practice methods rather than research, so I don’t know if that’d be a strength or deficiency to a doctorate.</p>