Worth it to apply to PhD programs with limited/ no research experience?

aminta2013
Sun, 06 Sep 2020 16:58:36 +0000

Hi all,

I am in the process of applying for Industrial Organizational Psychology (I/O) grad programs to start Fall 2021. Originally, I was only considering master’s programs. However, corresponding with some people in I/O I think I should also at least consider PdD programs. My main question is: given my background, is it worth it applying for PhD programs this cycle? I am currently searching for Research Assistant roles and have had 2 interviews for one, but even if I did land an RA role, I would only be there for a few months before the applications are due (the Phd apps seem to mostly be due earlier than the master’s app’s). I don’t want to end up in a situation where I finish a master’s program and then go back for a PhD. I am already 3.5 years out of undergrad (2 years of work experience as a paralegal; the rest is in education – AmeriCorps Fellowship & tutor), and I don’t want to waste any more time. The master’s programs on my list at the moment are: Texas A&M, Florida Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Arlington, Akron, George Mason University, Minnesota State University – Mankato, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) (may take this one off because it is mainly applied) & Indiana University Indianapolis.

My undergrad major was economics. My GPA was 3.4/4.0, from one of the top 10 universities in the U.S. I have experience conducting statistical and data analysis. I completed an independent research project for my economics major using statistical programming in R and the creation of graphs using Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics datasets. Also, I completed field research on the impact of learning styles on educational outcomes in a school in my Urban Education class, during which I surveyed students and completed a final research paper on the topic. Would any of this count at all as “research experience”? I recognize that: 1. It was not for a psychology class and 2. It was not conducted in a lab.

During undergrad, I took Intro to Experimental Psych (covering research methods) & several statistics courses (statistical inference, probability, econometrics). I am currently taking a social psychology class and an organizational behavior class this semester at community colleges to prepare for graduate programs. I plan to take a psychology research methods class and one other psychology class next semester. I took the GRE this year and my scores are 163 Verbal, 163 Quant, 5.0 Analytic Writing. These scores put me in the range for some of the top programs but of course I understand that they are looking other aspects besides just test scores … How would you view my application overall, and what could I do to become more competitive? What do I need to touch on/ emphasize in my personal statement? I haven’t taken the psych subject test GRE, and now I won’t be able to for this cycle, since they aren’t offering subject tests this year due to Covid.

My main concern revolves around my lack of research experience and my lack of psychology background (although credit hour wise, I am OK for a lot of the schools I have researched, given my additional psych coursework this semester). With my lack of formal lab research experience, is it worth applying to any of the top and/or good PhD programs?

Ideally, I would apply to PhD programs, wait and see what happens, and then based on that apply to master’s programs. With the decision deadlines I am not sure that will be possible, so my plan is to apply to both PhD and Master’s (sometimes at the same school… does that look bad? I have seen some schools let you do this).