On Tuesday, Oct 27th, we held our graduate panel and welcomed 4 Graduate Students who shared about their experiences! The majority of the evening focused on research experience. They also discussed the application process, how to choose your institution and supervisor, and financial aids. Here, they introduced their specialization and why they chose it:
Julia Nakamura: Health
She chose this specialization because she is interested in aging and older adults on a public health scale, its issues, and future implications.
Matt Billet: Social/personality
He chose this because he enjoys abstract concepts starting from religion, and then ended up in environmentalism.
William Orwig: Cognitive
He chose this because he initially took a class about the neuroscience of creativity which peaked his interest. Generally, he is interested in how people think.
Serene Qiu: Clinical
She chose this because she enjoys clinical work and helping people. She is also a current clinician!
The application process: Applications are processed in the following timeline: submit in November/December, hear back in December, interviews from Jan-March. Julia took the GRE, psych GRE, and made a personal statement. In order to prepare, she heavily emphasized the importance of starting early and getting feedback. The interview heavily focuses on research, and that researching the lab is vital. Next, we discussed research experience.
Gaining Research Experience for Grad School: The best way to demonstrate your skills and experience is to get independent research, work in a variety of labs, and to familiarize yourself with different topics! Matt and Julia noted experience as an RA, Lab Manager, or Directed Studies. Will mentioned that more experience will build your research style, and also help build a reputation in your lab!
Choosing an Institution: Matt talked about researching the institution’s labs and supervisor’s research is useful for proving your interest! Then, Matt talked about institution choice. He emphasized that funding is vital to your project, and he explained that he researched the funding for each university, and considered those as his top choices. Matt mentioned that institutions only accept based on the available supervisors, so be sure to time your application.
Julia added that you are choosing the program as much as is choosing you, so be sure that you are confident about commitment.
Choosing your supervisor and lab: Serene and Matt advised on choosing your supervisor wisely. They will be your future reference, so consider personality fit and work style! Prior to, you will submit a research proposal about your interest and plans. Serene personally chose based support and reputation. Will listed out supervisors and applied to several people.
Financial aids: Will, an international student himself, described funding for international students. For psychology, you submit an affiliated application with a CV, recommendation letters, and research experience.
Clinical Specialization: Serene elaborated on clinical psychology. She explained that there is less emphasis on research and that that you will be required to work with different age groups. So prior to applying for a clinical program, try to gain volunteer experience with people! Due to the pandemic, those who do research remain online while those needing to complete their practicums have restricted, in-person activities.
Extra Tips
Will: Look into your potential supervisor’s research! If you can integrate it during the interview and provide suggestions or follow up studies, this proves your interest.
Matt: There are mentorship programs for research, so look out for those!
Julia: For a work-life balance, have a schedule that incorporates self-care and try to communicate openly about burnout concerns with your supervisor.
Serene: If taking a gap year, you can take the time to gain extra experience in a lab.