Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbadgers1
Hey everyone,
I am a Junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I just wanted to get some feedback on what people though my chances were to get into some psyd programs.
GPA - 3.4 (hopefully up to 3.5ish by the time I apply)
My GPA is low due to being "pre-med", but my trend should be a lot higher when I apply.
Psych GPA 3.75
I have completed 9 semester psych classes, and plan on taking 3 next semester and as many as possible my senior year.
I am taking the GRE this summer. After doing well on ACT and dedicating all of my free time this next semester to studying I hope to do well.
Research experience - 1 semester of research assitant, 1 semester of research coordinator work, working next semester as research coordinator, and hopefully working the summer and the next 2 semesters as a research coordinator. So hopefully 1 semester of RA and 4 semesters of RC. I have one publication already, a presentation in Feburary, and I will hopefull have another publication soon.
Clinical experience - I worked at the Mendota Mental Health Institute last semester. I am planning on working next semester, summer, and my senior year.
So what does everyone/anyone think?
What parts do I need work on?
Any comments would be appreciated!  |
Someone else said your GPA is low, I disagree with this because of the premed classes. Before taking premed classes I was well above 3.5, then I took premed classes and upper level bio classes, and am now at 3.27 overall. As long as you maintain high psych GPA AND you get the GRE scores to back it up, the overall wont hurt you because of quality of classes, in fact I think your GPA is quite good considering.
People say RA'ing is good research experience and a pub is nice, but what author were you? That makes a big diff in my opinion (i.e., 5th author on a 10 author paper, or 1st author etc). I actually have no clue what the difference between research assistant and research coordinator is, do you mean you actully design and perform independent experiments? Or you are still doing someone else's bidding? Have you thought about trying to do an independent project (maybe like a thesis) under the guidance of a faculty member?
I agree about the clinical experience thing, what IS nice is when you can combine the two, i.e., research in a clinical population, that has helped me.
Remember its not just about the quantity of what you have, its the quality. So lets say that presentation you have, is it at a national conference like the APA? Or was it local like a school-organized presentation? Is the publication in a journal with a high impact factor or a very low impact factor? Having a lot of different research positions isnt quite as nice as one or two really productive positions that result in letters from advisors speaking really highly about you.
Just some things to think about.