How competitive is my grad app (cognitive psych PhD)

mommyrocks
Thu, 10 Aug 2017 05:53:51 +0000

I recently scoped out the admissions requirements of a few science PhD programs for my daughter to consider. While they were not in cognitive psychology, my takeaway was that the requirements can vary significantly from one program to the next.

Some universities will not review her application if she has not first contacted professors there and gotten one to agree to be her sponsor. Others don’t even want her to contact a professor at all. Some require a 3.5 or higher GPA, and others only require a 3.0 minimum. Some care a lot about GRE scores, and others don’t. Some have long lists of specific courses they expect her to have taken, and others are much more flexible. Some require an interview in person, and some don’t. Many of the websites gave a lot of good tips for what makes up a great application. I wound up starting an Excel chart with notes about all of these requirements along with the tips, so my daughter can use it next year (she’s a junior this year).

What I’m saying is that how competitive you are depends on where you are applying, who the other applicants are, and how much you fit what a particular PhD program has described as its ideal applicant, and also how your research interests align with one or more professors (that have funding). If an interview is required, it can also depend on how well that goes. Admission might also depend heavily on your statement of purpose, and how well you convey the fit of your interests with a particular program’s interests.

If a program requires you to contact a professor before applying, or if they strongly recommend that, then be sure to do that as soon as possible. Keep in mind that admissions rates to PhD programs typically range from 5% to 15% – much lower than admissions to most bachelor’s degree programs.

Overall I think you have achieved a lot. Excellent work on the grades and research experience and posters! My first thought in looking for any weaknesses was that you have not published research in a peer-reviewed journal yet, and some of your competitors will have done that already. I also didn’t see you mention any leadership roles or volunteer roles, such as science outreach to the public and/or contributing to your university.

Be sure to apply to some “safeties.” I say that loosely, because it isn’t clear to me that there even is such a thing as a safety when applying to PhD programs. It is not uncommon for someone to be denied admission everywhere they apply, and then they have to wait and reapply later. Hopefully you will have good luck and have a choice of places to go!