Rejectees: Opinions on what should we work on?

[deadmau5]

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Hey guys, I thought this might be a good thread for those who got rejected from their choices to maybe get some opinions on what to work on for the following year.

Maybe you could post your stats and maybe others could help comment on what you could improve on.

Of course, the forum allows us to keep it anonymous... I know a lot of people don't like sharing their grades and personal test scores.


cGPA: 3.31... should be 3.4 when I graduate in June. Last 3 years: >3.5. Highest term: 3.9 once. I know this seems low, but I really can't get it much higher without taking a lot more credits.

GRE: V 590 (83), Q 690 (69), AW 5.0 (77)
GRE-PSY: 710 (84th)

Experience:
- Experimental: 1 basic position, proofreading, manuscript preparing, searches
- Experimental: 1 lab based position, experimental work; 1 publication almost ready for submission (significant paper)
- Clinical: 1 position, starting work on 1 publication soon; i volunteer with two high profile clinical psychologists in Ontario

Work Experience: 8 years+
Volunteering: various things for the past 6-7 years. Not that great.

I really am passionate about research and I am aiming for a PHD over Clinical, but I am probably going to apply to Clinical schools as well, based on researcher-match. (or should I not even bother?)

Any ideas what I could work on first?

 

[cara susanna]

Problem is that it's hard to pinpoint it, especially for people who got to the interview stage. You'd be better off emailing the people where you applied and asking them.

 

[FranklinR]

Emailing the various decision makers and asking why you were rejected is important. Many don't respond, and some respond with meaningless and/or unhelpful information, but some do respond thoughtfully.

For example, two different schools told me that even though I was published, the fact that my publications were in a different area of specialization than my future interests meant they weren't interested because I lacked focus. I would have dismissed this as a fluke if two different schools hadn't said it.

In your case, I would think about the GRE scores. They're not bad, but the GRE can reward studying and re-taking. If you made it to the interview stage, then your GREs were fine for those schools.