PhD in Psychology

Graduate School
1

I’m currently a sophomore in college. I haven’t declared my major yet but have decided on psychology and will be declaring it over the summer/in the fall. I plan on going as far as I can, and my school offers Master’s and PhD programs.

I realize I shouldn’t jump ahead but as I am two years late into the major, I do need to start thinking about these things. I have a few questions I was hoping someone could help me with.

  1. What exactly do graduate schools look at? My GPA is currently not where it should be, as I suffered some losses in my family last semester and was away long enough for my grades to be impacted. My GPA prior to last semester was a 3.5.
  2. Does it look poor on my application if it takes me longer to obtain my BA? Like I said, I'll be joining my major late; at best it will take me an extra year to complete my requirements.
  3. Are there any extracurricular classes that look good? For example, a course on professional writing?
  4. How much do recommendations letters help? Are there any particular people I should ask?

Thank you if you can help.

2
  1. Graduate schools look at your research experience, GPA, research statement/statement of purpose, your fit with the department you're applying for, your letters of recommendation, and GRE scores. You can explain a lower GPA in a statement, or have a trusted recommender address it for you. If you had a dip because of a loss in your family and it's clear on your transcript that you are otherwise a strong student, you can explain that.
  2. No, graduate programs won't care unless it took you excessively long. 5 years isn't close to excessive.
  3. No, that won't really matter much. The EC you need to be most concerned about is getting some research experience. If you are a sophomore and don't have any yet, you need to start looking for a lab to work in ASAP based on your professors' interests and projects and how they match your own.
  4. Recommendations are VERY important. The best recommendations come from professors who have known you for 2+ years and have supervised you in research - maybe they are the principal investigator of the lab in which you worked as a research assistant. The next best recommendations are professors who are academic mentors or advisors to you and maybe have taught you in 2+ courses and can comment on consistent positive academic performance (i.e., you got As in their classes). Other good recommenders are professors you took classes with and got a good grade, preferably an A and professors or other PhD holders who supervise a relevant activity that you're involved in (i.e., the advisor to Psi Chi or the manger of the clinical ward that you volunteer on, if you are interested in clinical or counseling psychology). The recommender should hold a PhD, so don't ask TAs or graduate students - ask the professor themselves. If they need help they will ask their grad student to help them write the rec.
3

Adding to that, when you apply as a Ph.D. candidate it’s worth remembering who will be reading your application. The most important reader will be a professor who wants to mentor YOU. Professors take on individual students. They are looking for the best fit for them to mentor personally for several years as a student and then extending into your career.

To make sure that your application has the most impact, you will want to review the various programs and the professors in the programs. Is there a professor who’s working on a topic that interests you? Maybe download and read some of her/his work and see if you have anything in common.

best of luck to you.