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So you want to go to Graduate School... — Transcript

by Stephanie Baumann · 13,535 words · 2,226 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01hi my name is stephanie bauman
0:03and today i'm going to be talking about
0:05the process of applying to graduate
0:07school and we're going to kind of walk
0:08through
0:09the various steps um sort of from
0:12beginning
0:12all the way until acceptance i do want
0:15to sort of forewarn you
0:17probably like many of you have seen
0:18since we switched to a lot of this
0:20online learning
0:21um with october 19 and everything i am
0:24obviously recording at home
0:26and i do have two small children so
0:28there is a potential chance that we
0:29might hear some
0:31um background noise or elephants jumping
0:34from upstairs so i just wanted to give
0:36you a fair warning just in case
0:38um that this is this is real life
0:41all right so again today we're gonna be
0:43talking about applying to graduate
0:44school
0:46so before i um really get into it i
0:48thought it was important to talk about
0:50who i am and why i'm even the one
0:52talking to you about it
0:53so um as i said my name is stephanie
0:56baumann i am a um
0:57i guess about to be a sixth year
0:59developmental psychology phd student
1:02which yes i know that sounds like a very
1:04long time um we're going to talk a
1:06little bit about that you probably have
1:07already in this class
1:09um about how long phd programs are so
1:12um i am about to be a sixth year um but
1:15i wanted to kind of give you a little
1:16bit of a history about
1:17me and um some of my experiences that
1:20will hopefully explain
1:21um how and why i'm able to talk about
1:24the things that i'm able to talk about
1:25as we go
1:26on so um i got my bachelor's degrees in
1:28both political science and in french
1:30from virginia tech
1:31um you'll notice that neither of those
1:33things say psychology
1:34so those of you who are psych majors are
1:37already one step ahead of where i was at
1:39this point
1:40um i did not know what i wanted to do
1:43with my life
1:44especially at the time and so um i
1:46finished my bachelor's degrees and then
1:48i took a job in sort of the corporate
1:50world in washington dc where i'm from
1:52um for about a year and i hated it
1:56totally not for me which is fine it's
1:58for plenty of people but it was not my
2:00cup of tea so
2:02i learned a lot in that year and we're
2:03going to kind of talk about um
2:05gap years and what that means but um i
2:07learned a lot in that year
2:09um but i one thing i learned was that i
2:12really wanted to go back to graduate
2:13school
2:14and sort of focus the things that i
2:17wanted to do
2:18into a career bath so i went back to
2:21virginia tech and i got my master's
2:23of science and human development um
2:25you'll notice this also doesn't say
2:27psychology
2:27um the important thing to note about
2:30this particular program is that it was a
2:32terminal master's program we're going to
2:34talk about what that is and you all
2:36might have already talked about it in
2:37class
2:38but it was a terminal master's program
2:40um and it was actually also an
2:42accelerated master's program
2:44meaning that it was about uh 14 months
2:47of classes
2:48plus an internship and then a um sort of
2:51thesis
2:51defense so um that is faster than the
2:55average master's program often they're
2:56two to three years
2:57so but that is a possibility that
2:59programs like that are out there
3:01um but you also have to know that often
3:03you can't work while doing those things
3:05simultaneously
3:06you take extra classes um they are very
3:10intensive
3:11um hence why they're called accelerated
3:12so um that might not be the best fit for
3:15everybody
3:15just um that's something you'll have to
3:18kind of decide for yourself
3:20so after i finished that um again it
3:22took about a year and a half between
3:23from start to finish
3:25um i got a job first working in early
3:27intervention um
3:29uh in georgia it's called babies can't
3:31wait it's called something else in
3:32virginia so i worked with infants and
3:34toddlers with disabilities
3:35um for about two and a half years and
3:38then i switched and i worked
3:39with the marine corps with a program
3:41called the exceptional family member
3:42program
3:43so it worked with marines who had family
3:45members with any kind of medical or
3:47educational need
3:48and i did that for about three years so
3:51again if you're if you're tallying this
3:52up that's a
3:53sort of another five-ish year gap year
3:56if you will
3:57um before i returned here to georgia
4:00state
4:01um to get my phd in developmental
4:03psychology
4:04um you'll also notice that there's sort
4:06of the masters of developmental
4:08psychology and the phd in developmental
4:10psychology
4:11uh that's because here at georgia state
4:12we don't have a terminal master's
4:14program
4:15but you are expected to get a master's
4:16along the way so i got another master's
4:19degree
4:20i know it's ridiculous i got another
4:22master's degree um
4:24here on in the process of getting my phd
4:27so
4:27i completed that master's degree a few
4:29years ago and now i'm working towards
4:31and hopefully almost finishing up my phd
4:33in developmental psychology
4:34so what we can kind of take from this
4:36chart is that i have experience in both
4:38terminal master's programs
4:40in phd programs and in gap years
4:43twice over so um we're going to talk
4:46about all three of those things
4:47my different experiences with all of
4:49those and some of the lessons that i've
4:50learned
4:51because i have learned a lot of lessons
4:53uh in getting to where i am
4:54now so hopefully i'm able to pass these
4:56lessons off to you
4:58and you can sort of save you some time
5:01in learning these yourself
5:02so um here is kind of a sense of what
5:05we're going to be talking about today
5:07um the main actual focus of our time is
5:10going to be
5:10also all the steps before applying so
5:13some of those things to consider
5:15how do you choose a program what does
5:17the timeline look like
5:19um and then some special um sort of
5:21factors
5:22especially if you're applying to phd
5:23programs like contacting advisors
5:26um then we're going to talk a little bit
5:27about the actual application process
5:29itself and how it looks similar or
5:30different between masters
5:32and phd programs um they're going to
5:34talk just a little bit about what
5:35happens after the application i know you
5:37guys talk a lot about this
5:39about interviews and all of that in this
5:41course
5:42so um we're not going to spend too much
5:45time there but just a few lessons that
5:46i've learned
5:47from interviews that i've seen that have
5:49gone terribly um and then i have a few
5:51resources at the very end
5:53so that's kind of where we're going to
5:54go today
5:56so we're going to start obviously with
5:57what happens before you apply and what
5:59are some things that you should consider
6:01um the first thing that you really
6:03should consider is now even the right
6:05time to apply
6:06this is especially applicable uh given
6:08sort of the current
6:09state of the world um depending on where
6:12you are in your program
6:13um so it not only is now the right time
6:17just sort of
6:17in terms of the actual year and job
6:20market
6:20and what you want to do but do you
6:23really know what you want to do
6:24um i think this is a really important
6:26thing to consider a lot of times
6:28people will apply to graduate school
6:30because they don't know what to want
6:31what they want to do and i would
6:33actually argue that that's not the right
6:35approach
6:36graduate school can be really expensive
6:38it can be really time consuming
6:40it can be really exhausting i'm not
6:42going to lie about any of those things
6:44so if you're applying to graduate school
6:46just because you don't know what else
6:47you want to do
6:48you run the risk of spending all that
6:50time money energy
6:52um finishing up a degree and then
6:54getting out and realizing
6:56this isn't what i want to do this isn't
6:57the job that i want to have or i can't
6:59get the job that i want to have
7:01with this degree and now i've just
7:03wasted all this time so
7:04i really recommend taking some time to
7:06sort of self-reflect and think about
7:08do i really know what i even want to do
7:10what does that ideal job look like for
7:12me
7:12what do those ideal skills look like for
7:15me what do i think i could do every day
7:16for the rest of my life
7:18um take some time to think about that
7:20before you just jump right into graduate
7:22school
7:23um especially some of those bigger like
7:26phd
7:26long-term programs um because
7:29unfortunately i have seen people go
7:30through entire phd programs and get out
7:32and then
7:33say i actually don't want to do this
7:35anymore and
7:36that's really heartbreaking honestly so
7:39take some time
7:40think about do i really know what i want
7:42to do
7:44is a gap year a good option for me right
7:46i think a lot of times for whatever
7:48reason gap years get these really bad
7:49reputations
7:50like um you know the schools aren't
7:53going to accept you if you've taken a
7:54gap year they're going to look down upon
7:56it
7:57um i would again and i'm sort of talk
7:59about this in a second i would actually
8:00argue it's the opposite
8:02but gap years can be a great option for
8:04a lot of people
8:05they can be a great option for financial
8:07reasons uh
8:08graduate programs especially masters
8:10level programs are very expensive
8:13and a lot of times there's not a whole
8:14lot of sort of
8:16supplemental aid or financial aid for
8:19those sorts of programs
8:21um sometimes there's also requirements
8:22where you can't get a job i'm sort of
8:24saying in my
8:25accelerated master's program we were not
8:26allowed to get jobs at the same time
8:29um so it can be a real financial burden
8:32and so for some people
8:33taking that gap year where you can work
8:35and save up some money
8:37save up some some finances to
8:40not only pay for the program but also
8:42cost of living and books and all of
8:43those sorts of things
8:45um for a lot of people that can be a
8:46really good an important thing to do so
8:49definitely consider that um but also
8:51consider how it could strengthen your
8:52application
8:54how could you use that gap year or years
8:57to your advantage
8:58right um not that there's any shame in
9:01you know working in food service or
9:03retail or any of those other things
9:05those are definitely important
9:07but think about are there job
9:09opportunities
9:10that you could get that are in the field
9:12that you're applying to even if it's
9:13sort of tangentially related is it with
9:15the population that you're interested in
9:16working with
9:17um do you say you want to work with kids
9:19in which case can you get a position
9:21that somehow works with kids
9:23um or works with those in healthcare or
9:25whatever it is right
9:27can you get a job opportunity that would
9:29be ideal if not can you get an
9:31internship
9:32right even if not can you volunteer can
9:35you volunteer
9:36um at again with the population
9:39can you volunteer with businesses to
9:41help out with whatever it is they do
9:43um even just volunteering again at a
9:46um a walk or a event or
9:50something like that with the population
9:52you want to work with are things that
9:54you can then add to your application
9:56that not only sort of strengthen your
9:58application because now you have these
10:00extra volunteer
10:01or work experiences but also show the
10:04committee or whoever it is that's
10:06reviewing your application that
10:08not only do i say that i'm interested in
10:10working with this population
10:11but look i'm actually taking my time my
10:14energy my effort
10:15and my free time to work with this
10:17population so
10:18it's kind of that whole and i think you
10:20all have talked about this class um when
10:22talking about personal statements but
10:23this idea of
10:24what are the ways that you can actually
10:26show them that you want to do the things
10:28that you say you want to do instead of
10:29just
10:30tell them about it instead of just
10:31saying i'm really interested in working
10:32with kids
10:33you can show them hey i've spent my time
10:35volunteering with this organization
10:37or i had an internship here where i
10:39worked for a year at this place
10:41with the population that i'm interested
10:42in and now here are the questions that i
10:44have or hear the things that i've
10:45learned
10:46or here's why i'm still interested so
10:49gap years can actually be a great
10:50strength to your application
10:52and then kind of additionally can help
10:54solidify your goals right it can
10:57say yeah i thought i wanted to work with
10:59this population
11:00and then i realized maybe i don't or
11:03vice versa right
11:04i said i wanted to work with kids with
11:05autism and i spent my summer
11:08or spent a year volunteering with this
11:09organization or having this internship
11:11um working with this particular
11:13population and i loved it and it was so
11:15great and i realized yes this is for
11:17sure what i want to do
11:18right kind of ties back into that first
11:19question do you really know what you
11:21want to do
11:22so it can definitely help solidify your
11:23goals so don't
11:25think that a gap year is a bad option um
11:28for many people
11:29i would argue that it's actually a
11:30better option so
11:32really take the time to consider if
11:33that's a good option for you
11:36next time to think about what degree do
11:39you actually need
11:40right um and i know because i know
11:43dr sword out has said this before right
11:46phds are research degrees
11:48uh a lot of times people sort of think
11:50i'm gonna aim for whatever the highest
11:51degree is that i can get
11:53um and for many people they think okay
11:55i'm going to apply for that phd
11:57but do you actually need a phd to do
11:59what you want to do
12:00many people i talk to the answer is no
12:02you don't need a phd
12:04um especially people who are interested
12:05in counseling careers
12:07or um those sorts of that like that
12:10avenue of psychology right you don't
12:11need phds for that
12:13um phd specifically are research
12:16training degrees
12:17the average time frame is typically five
12:19to seven years
12:20um so i said remember i'm in my six
12:22starting my sixth year now
12:24so i'm right sort of in the middle um
12:26they're often full-time
12:28frequently you have to sign things that
12:29say you're not going to work outside
12:31of that phd program so i mean it is a
12:34full-time job for five to seven years
12:36getting paid you do get paid a stipend
12:39i'm gonna be totally honest with you it
12:40is
12:41not very much money i'm gonna be real
12:43frank about it is
12:45it's not um it's not a a full-time
12:48salary so
12:49um again that's something when you're
12:51thinking about those finances that you
12:52need to think about
12:54um so do you need a phd for what you
12:56want to do do you need
12:57just a master's degree for what you want
12:59to do and in many cases this is the
13:00answer right
13:01you just need a master's degree they
13:03tend to be more applied in terms of
13:04their training i know y'all have talked
13:06about this so i'm not going to go into a
13:07crazy amount of detail here but
13:09um frequently they are two to three
13:11years although you can find accelerated
13:13options like i said
13:14sometimes they're full time sometimes
13:16they're part time there are potentially
13:18online options which i think you guys
13:20talk about too
13:21um if not again be very uh
13:24do extra research on those online
13:26options um because unfortunately there
13:28are
13:28many people get scammed with those uh
13:30with some programs so be very aware of
13:32those
13:33um but the downside to master's programs
13:35is that there's frequently no stipend
13:37and no financial aid or very limited
13:39financial aid or financial support
13:41so that's something that you need to
13:43consider
13:44or do you need a different kind of
13:46professional degree i listed out a few
13:47here right
13:48you need an mba um a jd that's you know
13:51a law degree an
13:52md a medical doctor um or there's also
13:55you know
13:56masters of social work or other kinds of
13:57master's programs outside of
13:59psychology um that you should kind of
14:02think about what do you need for your
14:04career
14:05and and again i think you guys talk
14:07about this already but um
14:09think sort of backwards like what career
14:10do you want to have and then what
14:12degrees do you need to get there
14:13and that may mean looking at people
14:15online you do what you want to do in the
14:17future
14:18see what letters they have behind their
14:19names right see what degrees they have
14:21google those letters because
14:23if you don't know what they are a lot of
14:24times um people will get
14:26um you know like a ccc slp right that's
14:29a speech language
14:30pathologist you can google those letters
14:31and find out what that
14:33degree is to see if uh see what you need
14:36to do what it
14:37is you want to do so spend some time
14:39figuring out exactly what degree
14:41instead of just sort of aiming for the
14:43top um because arguably
14:45you could get a phd and want to be a
14:48counselor and be overqualified
14:49potentially for the kind of work that
14:51you want to do
14:53um what types of programs did you look
14:56for
14:56there are a lot of different kinds of
14:58programs and these are going to be
15:00very different um between each of them
15:02so
15:03makes again sort of this is where it
15:05differs from undergrad when you just
15:06have a general
15:07bachelor's in psychology right you may
15:10have
15:11like pick and choose some classes that
15:12sort of mean one way or the other
15:14but in higher level graduate programs um
15:17you're going to be in a specific
15:19subfield so in psychology this could be
15:20developmental that's what i am
15:22cognitive behavioral neuroscience
15:24experimental applied quantitative
15:26the list kind of goes on and we have
15:28community psych here which is a sort of
15:29newer subfield
15:31um there's social psych there's again
15:33other ones that i haven't even listed
15:34um sometimes they're named different
15:36things in different places
15:38um so kind of think about that um you
15:41can also again have that
15:42counseling versus clinical psychology um
15:44those masters versus phd level
15:46make sure you sort of check on those
15:48things um
15:50school psych again it's a whole
15:51different category here at gsu it's not
15:53even housed
15:54in the psychology department it's housed
15:56under
15:57education and human development i think
15:59that's what the school is called
16:00um so school psychology is a whole
16:02different branch of psychology there's
16:04also actually educational psychology
16:06which is also housed somewhere else here
16:08at gsu
16:09so make sure you sort of look into that
16:12um there's human development
16:14right i said that's what my master's
16:15degree is in i'm now a developmental
16:16psychology phd student
16:18there's definitely a lot of overlap
16:20between human development and
16:20developmental psychology
16:22but there are some differences between
16:24them um
16:25that i i'm happy to answer um if anybody
16:27has a specific question about those
16:29differences but
16:30um that that's an important thing to
16:33know is is
16:34um because often those programs are are
16:36located in different departments or
16:37different schools
16:38so you can have a school that has both a
16:41phd in human development and a phd in
16:43developmental psychology
16:45um and it might be worth looking at both
16:46programs instead of just limiting
16:48yourself to one
16:50there's also human resources there's
16:52what we call i o psychology industrial
16:54organizational psychology
16:56um there's also a lot of overall lab
16:58with public health or social work or
17:00those sorts of programs too so
17:02again it's very different than undergrad
17:04when you sort of just have psychology or
17:07just have um some of these like really
17:09broad categories
17:10and when you get to the graduate level
17:12they're going to be much more specific
17:13and so
17:14then you need to really think about what
17:16it is you want to do as your career
17:18what things are you interested what
17:19populations are you interested in
17:21those sorts of things to help you narrow
17:23down the programs um
17:24and know the difference between phd and
17:26master's level
17:29the question that i get frequently how
17:31many programs should i apply to
17:34i'm going to say that this is very
17:35dependent on whether you're applying to
17:37masters or phd programs
17:39um master's level you can typically um
17:42apply to
17:43fewer i won't say like one um
17:46you still should apply to several but um
17:48you can sometimes get away with fewer
17:50only because they tend to especially if
17:52they're terminal masters programs they
17:54tend to take on more students
17:56um so they are larger in terms of their
17:58cohort um so you have greater
18:00opportunity of getting
18:01in um and again they
18:04they're sort of more of them um phd
18:07programs however
18:08are extremely extremely competitive
18:11arguably more competitive than medical
18:13school sometimes so
18:15um sort of the answer that um i
18:17generally give is for
18:18if you're applying to non-clinical
18:20programs
18:22so for example developmental psychology
18:23is not it's different than clinical
18:25psychology right so
18:26it's a non-clinical program um they say
18:29five to ten i've also heard eight to
18:32twelve so kind of think something in
18:33that range right five to twelve ish
18:35programs
18:36um if you're applying for clinical
18:38programs again it is
18:40just as competitive if not more so than
18:42medical school so you should be applying
18:44to 10 plus programs
18:46um again the way that it was sort of
18:48told to me when i was applying
18:50was um applied between 8 and 12 is the
18:53number that i was
18:54told apply between eight and twelve
18:55programs in the hopes that maybe you get
18:58two to three interviews
18:59in the hopes that maybe you get one to
19:00two offers right so you can kind of
19:02think you're applying to maybe 12
19:04programs to maybe get one offer
19:06it's very competitive um so this is
19:09where you really start
19:10to need to think outside um again i get
19:13a lot of questions like
19:14well i know this one school that i want
19:16to go to or i want to stay close to home
19:18or those things and i don't mean to be
19:21harsh about it but for phd programs
19:22oftentimes that doesn't work
19:24um you know just putting all your eggs
19:27in one basket and applying to that
19:28school that's close to home
19:31for most people that does not work out i
19:32will not say that it never works because
19:34sometimes it does but
19:35um that should not be the approach that
19:37you take um
19:39and we're gonna kind of talk about some
19:40factors to look at specifically for phd
19:42programs things that you should be
19:43looking into when applying to them
19:45um because again this looks very
19:48different than undergrad
19:49um where you're not just applying to the
19:51school so um we're going to kind of come
19:53back to this one but this is a question
19:54i get all the time about the number so i
19:56would highly recommend
19:57um again applying to a lot of different
20:00programs
20:00um not just willy-nilly like with
20:03purpose but applying to a large number
20:05of programs
20:07and some other things to consider before
20:08we even start applying are the cost of
20:10applications
20:12even just applying to graduate school is
20:14extremely expensive
20:16um there are a whole lot of reasons for
20:18this
20:19and some i agree with and some i don't
20:21that's a whole different conversation
20:23but i'm going to be totally honest with
20:24you and i'll show you in a second
20:26actually the breakdown of
20:27what it costs me just to apply to phd
20:29programs i'm going to be really
20:31open and honest with you but just
20:33applying is really expensive so this is
20:34something that you need to think about
20:36again going back to that do i need to
20:38take a gap year and save up some
20:40financial resources to be able to do
20:41this because even
20:42just submitting those applications is
20:44going to cost you a large amount of
20:46money
20:47um so this is something that you really
20:48need to think about
20:50before you just start applying wherever
20:53right so think about that cost of
20:55application
20:56think about the location of the school
20:58right um
20:59we just sort of talked about how you
21:01shouldn't put all your eggs in one
21:03basket and try and stay close to home or
21:05stay the school that you went to
21:06undergrad in um a lot of times you're
21:09gonna have to look
21:10in different locations um but you also
21:12sort of need to decide are there
21:13locations that are
21:15limiting to you that you say no i for
21:17sure don't want to go there
21:18um to kind of give you an example when i
21:20was applying to phd programs
21:22um i was married so i am
21:25still married like i was married at the
21:27time when i was applying
21:28um and and so i also had to think about
21:31my spouse and where
21:33he was gonna get a job so that was sort
21:35of a particular concern for me and so
21:37while we definitely applied
21:39um to locations all over the country
21:41there were certain locations that
21:43um for example that were in more rural
21:45areas that were going to be much harder
21:47for him to find a job and so that was
21:49something that i had to consider
21:50um when applying and then when looking
21:53at programs that i was accepted to
21:54about whether those were good choices
21:56for us or not so this
21:58is something that might differ for some
21:59people maybe it's location because of
22:02weather you know and health reasons um
22:04maybe it's cost of living
22:06right those are some things that you do
22:07need to think about but
22:09again i will reiterate saying you know
22:11i'm from georgia i went to school in
22:13atlanta i want to stay in atlanta
22:15um it's usually not the best approach to
22:18take when applying to graduate school
22:19especially phd programs so
22:22um really you're gonna you're going to
22:24have to open yourself up um
22:26so location is important for some people
22:28cost of the program and available
22:30funding um programs vary widely in how
22:34much they cost
22:34masters and phd programs out of state
22:37versus in-state is going to vary widely
22:39what funding is available is going to
22:41vary widely the stipend for phd programs
22:43is going to vary widely
22:45um again these are all factors that may
22:46be more important to some people than
22:48others and so
22:49this is something that you need to
22:51consider when you're applying what are
22:52these things look like you need to do
22:54your research on it beforehand
22:56and say you know again are these things
22:57important to me what do they look like
22:59how do they differ between schools
23:01and then finally some of the specific
23:03aspects of a program so
23:05you know what are the courses i always
23:07say if you're not sure about a program
23:10pretty much all programs have their
23:12course requirements listed
23:14look at the names of those classes if
23:16you look at them and you say
23:17look this sounds terrible probably not
23:20the program for you
23:21right um but if you look at them and you
23:23say all if
23:25at least most of these classes sound
23:26really interesting to me and i'm really
23:28excited about it
23:29then maybe that's a good sign that this
23:30is the right program and the right fit
23:32for you
23:32um because sometimes even programs that
23:34have the same name have different
23:36focuses across schools and sometimes
23:37that's because of where they're located
23:39or if they're housed for example under a
23:41medical school or
23:43something like that right uh in a school
23:45that does a lot of policy work right
23:47sometimes
23:48um even the programs with the same names
23:50are going to look really different in
23:51different places and so
23:52again that's the kind of research you
23:54need to do beforehand
23:56is looking at these different um course
23:58requirements and seeing if that's
23:59interesting look at
24:00do they require practicums what do those
24:02look like where do students typically
24:04get them how many um what are the hour
24:06requirements these can vary widely too
24:08um in terms of how many hours a program
24:10requires um i will say because i've had
24:12this question from undergraduates before
24:14um especially for master's level some
24:17programs will list
24:18out only their sort of class hours and
24:20so they'll say you need
24:21you know 18 hours or 30 hours or
24:23something like that
24:24um and then other course or other
24:26schools will list out um what they like
24:28their courses
24:29and their practicum hours and so they'll
24:31say like you need
24:33you know uh 80 hours or something like
24:36that right and those things look really
24:37different but
24:38they may still both be two year programs
24:40so one is just counting there's
24:41practicum hours and one is just counting
24:43course hours
24:44so um just as a side note um do your
24:47research into one of those hour
24:48requirements what do they look like what
24:50are they including in those
24:52um so again just something else to
24:54consider
24:55so these are just a few factors to
24:58consider before you're even starting the
24:59application
25:00process and this is again going to vary
25:02widely for each person
25:04because a lot of these things are really
25:06individual right so
25:07but i would i would strongly urge you
25:09not to skip
25:11thinking about any of these things even
25:13if you kind of think about it you say
25:14oh location doesn't really matter to me
25:16i'm willing to go anywhere or
25:18cost of the program doesn't matter to me
25:19because you know
25:21i have unlimited funds in my bank
25:22account or whatever it is right
25:24some of those things might not matter to
25:25you and that's totally fine but make
25:27sure you have at least thought about it
25:28and acknowledged it because the last
25:30thing you want to do
25:31is be all ready to go and then they ask
25:34you to write that first check
25:35or you get there to orientation and you
25:38look at the courses and say like never
25:39mind this is not what i thought it was
25:41right
25:41those are the situations you don't want
25:42to get yourself in
25:44so these are all sorts of things that
25:46you should consider before you even
25:48start applying
25:49but i want to go back to that one about
25:51cost of applications because i told you
25:52i was going to be completely honest with
25:54you
25:55so this is an actual breakdown of the
25:58cost
25:58of applications for me for applying to
26:00graduate school so this is
26:02this is before i even uh got accepted to
26:05any programs or did any interviews or
26:07any this is just to hit submit
26:09on those applications right so sending
26:12gres costs money
26:14it's 27 apiece which you know you're
26:16like okay 27
26:17doesn't seem so bad now you're applying
26:19to 10 schools it's 270 bucks just to
26:22send those right
26:23so sending gre scores sometimes sending
26:26transcripts depending on your school
26:28um can cost money whether they require
26:30you to mail them or email them those
26:32sometimes look different
26:33um if you this is a side note but if
26:35you've taken any classes
26:37elsewhere other than at gsu even if it's
26:39just like one summer class that you took
26:41at perimeter back when it was still
26:43perimeter or somewhere else right
26:45you're gonna have to get transcripts for
26:46those schools too and send them over so
26:48that's an additional cost most schools
26:51have application fees and as you can see
26:53here they
26:54vary widely right everywhere from 30
26:57to 95 um i've seen ones that are even
27:00more expensive than that right so they
27:01do vary widely each school has an
27:03application fee
27:04um i will say that there are ways that
27:06you can wave out of that application fee
27:09um based on sort of fafsa and other
27:12financial needs um but that's something
27:14that you're gonna have to look into
27:16individually at each school um to see if
27:18that's an option for you
27:20which could reduce the cost potentially
27:22um because again some of these things
27:23get really expensive if you're applying
27:25between 8 and 12 schools right
27:26so again you can kind of see here and i
27:28don't know if you can mine says you are
27:30sharing your screen so i don't know if
27:31it's covering it up but the total here
27:33is 748
27:36just to hit submit on these things and
27:38this is not including
27:39taking my gres which is another 200 plus
27:42dollars
27:43it's not including any of the like this
27:45is just those applications
27:47and hitting submit on those things so
27:49again this is
27:50it is not cheap just to apply so this is
27:53that's why i really wanted to mention it
27:55because i think this is something that
27:56people tend not to be aware of um and
27:59they kind of get caught off guard by it
28:00and i don't want any of you all to get
28:02caught off guard
28:03um one tip is that the day you take your
28:06gres
28:07you know you sit down you take the whole
28:08test whatever it gives you your
28:10math and verbal scores right and then
28:12pretty much right after that it asks you
28:14um do you want to submit your gre scores
28:17to four schools for
28:18free four schools for free um
28:22if you say no or don't use all those
28:25four slots that opportunity is gone once
28:26you walk out of that testing center
28:28that opportunity is gone so do not waste
28:30it again
28:3127 times four i can't do that math in my
28:34head but
28:36it's a lot you should don't waste those
28:38those
28:39uh four free submissions so when you go
28:42i don't know if you can hear the
28:43elephants above me but when you go in to
28:45take your gres
28:46um go in with four schools that you've
28:48already done your research on that you
28:49are
28:51at least mostly sure that you're going
28:52to apply to um
28:54that way you can save yourself those
28:56four application fees
28:58um or those four gre application um
29:02things so um again this is an
29:04opportunity don't waste it because you
29:05don't get it back afterwards so
29:07um this is something again people i
29:09think get caught off guard with and then
29:10they say oh no i don't know what schools
29:12i'm applying to
29:13skip it and you don't get to go back so
29:16um that's one sort of tip for saving
29:17yourself some money
29:20so selecting a program again i know you
29:22all have talked in this class about the
29:23difference between masters and phd
29:25programs so i'm not
29:26going to spend a crazy amount of time
29:27here um
29:29the one thing about master's programs i
29:31want to reiterate because i'm sure that
29:34your other instructors have already
29:35talked about this but
29:37when you're looking at master's programs
29:38make sure you're clear about whether
29:39it's actually a terminal master's
29:41program meaning that
29:42that's the end they're expecting you
29:44just to get a master's and go on with
29:46your life
29:47um versus the master's to phd program so
29:49like for example here at gsu we
29:51technically have a master's in
29:52developmental psychology but it is not a
29:54terminal master's degree
29:56meaning that you can't just apply to a
29:58masters of developmental psych
30:00those of us who have gotten a master's
30:02in developmental psych are on the phd
30:04track and we just sort of get it along
30:06the way
30:06so um again another way you just don't
30:08want to waste your time and money
30:10if it's a program that doesn't have a
30:11terminal master's degree um
30:13on the flip side i will say there are
30:15programs like the human development
30:16program that i came from for my terminal
30:18masters where
30:19they had both the terminal masters in
30:21human development and a phd in human
30:23development
30:24so again this is where you're gonna have
30:26to do your research check out the
30:28program's website
30:28make sure you're very clear about what
30:30the expectations are
30:33um because again you just don't wanna
30:34sort of waste your time and money
30:36um some things to know about master's
30:38programs make sure you are
30:40tracking those application deadlines
30:42they are going to vary widely by school
30:43especially masters level programs
30:45very very much um so make sure you're
30:49paying attention to when those
30:50applications are due
30:52because you certainly don't want to miss
30:53it first of all that you're really
30:54interested in
30:55um look at those things like course
30:57requirements and prerequisites
30:59what are the degree expectations um
31:01again some will say like
31:02in my accelerated master's program it
31:05was two semesters of classes but then we
31:07had
31:07an internship at the end of it too that
31:09we had to get for ourselves so
31:11um some programs might require three
31:13internships or three practicums or
31:15you know multiple school placements or
31:17other sorts of things so make sure that
31:19you're checking on those things
31:20um so you can get a full picture of
31:22what's required um check out financial
31:24and aid information in case there is
31:26any options um and then also check for a
31:29thesis or
31:30portfolio requirements um it used to be
31:33that master's programs
31:34were pretty much always ended with a
31:36thesis that's not the case anymore
31:38um especially for more applied programs
31:40and so the reason i mention this
31:42is because if you're going into a career
31:44where all you need is a terminal
31:45master's degree
31:47then this might not matter for you right
31:50it might not matter whether there's a
31:51thesis or portfolio requirement
31:53one or the other it might not matter if
31:54there's nothing at all there's just
31:56practicums and internship requirements
31:58right and that's totally fine but if
32:00you're thinking
32:01maybe i'll go get a master's degree sort
32:03of do what i did right get a master's
32:04degree
32:05and then go work in the field for a few
32:07years and then come back and get a phd
32:09having a thesis is really important when
32:12you then go back for her phd
32:14that is part of the reason that i had to
32:15get a second master's degree is because
32:17my first master's degree
32:18ended with a portfolio i mean we had to
32:20go through a defense in the whole
32:21shebang it was
32:22still a process um but it wasn't an
32:25official thesis
32:26and in order to get a phd you need a
32:28master's with a thesis
32:30so basically gsu did not accept my
32:32master's degree
32:33even though i had one and i had to get
32:34another one along the way which
32:37happens quite frequently to people so um
32:40again if if you think that phd might be
32:42on the
32:43future list for you um this might be
32:46something that you really want to
32:47consider
32:48if phd is not on you know not in the
32:50future for you then that's totally fine
32:52this might not matter to you but i just
32:54wanted to
32:54mention it one of those lessons that i
32:56learned um had i
32:58if i was able to go back and do it again
33:00i would probably find a program as a
33:02thesis
33:02just to make sure i didn't have to do a
33:04second master's degree so just something
33:06to know
33:07um phd programs a lot of this is going
33:09to look very similar right
33:11make sure you're checking the program's
33:13website for details um identify those
33:15application deadlines
33:16they're a little bit closer together for
33:18phd programs usually between december
33:201st and january
33:21like 15 ish but again they're going to
33:25be different for each school so you're
33:26going to have like a december 1st
33:27december 8th december 15th
33:29december 31st january 5th january 10th
33:31january
33:32right and so like if you you don't want
33:35to miss
33:35one of those by one day and then be
33:38tough out of luck right
33:39um so make sure that you have some sort
33:42of documentation i'm gonna kind of show
33:44you some potential ways to do that but
33:45some way that you're tracking these
33:47application deadlines
33:48they will sneak up on you because again
33:50sometimes they are one or two days apart
33:52from each other and it can be very easy
33:53to miss one
33:54um and most most phd programs are very
33:57serious about their deadlines and there
33:59is
33:59there's no wiggle room there um you know
34:01it's arguably a little bit of a weed out
34:03process
34:03right if you if you're applying to a phd
34:05program and you can't get the
34:06application in on time
34:08you're probably not feeling like you're
34:09going to be a good student for them so
34:11be very aware of those deadlines um same
34:14thing look for those prereqs those
34:16course requirements degree expectations
34:18some phds do also require internships or
34:20practicums um especially some of those
34:22clinical
34:23um programs or community art community
34:25psych program here require some so
34:28those are things that you want to make
34:29sure that you're clear on about the
34:30program
34:32this is where it's also a little bit
34:33different for phd programs and i think i
34:35mentioned this kind of the very
34:36beginning right
34:38so with phd programs you are only
34:41partially applying to the school
34:42right that's just a tiny bit of it
34:44you're a tiny bit applying to school
34:46a tiny bit applying to the department
34:47europe you know you're applying to
34:49so developmental psych in my case you're
34:52primarily
34:53applying to an advisor right this is
34:55going to get different than undergrad
34:56and different than master's programs
34:58you're applying to a potential advisor
35:01so um this is why i say you need to be
35:05really broad a lot of times in your
35:07location
35:08because you could have a school that's
35:10right around the corner from you that
35:11has the program that you want that's a
35:13great school all that kind of stuff but
35:14if there was no advisor there who does
35:16the kind of stuff that you want to do
35:18or if there's no advisor that accepts
35:19you you will not get in
35:21right and it's not going to be a good
35:23fit for you so
35:24this is where you should really take
35:26some time um to do your research
35:28look up primary advisors um
35:31a lot of times they are going to have
35:32personal or lab websites listed on their
35:35um like under the school's page so check
35:38those things out see what kind of work
35:39that they're doing
35:40look at their cv right those documents
35:42that usually people just kind of skip
35:44through
35:44um actually take the time to read their
35:46cvs look at the kind of work that
35:48they're doing look at the kind of
35:49research they're doing look at what
35:50their research interests are
35:52those are really important things to
35:53know read some of their recent articles
35:56this is going to come back if you do get
35:58a an interview at a program you want to
36:00have
36:00read some of their work right but this
36:03is also really helpful to see like are
36:05they doing
36:05the kind of work that you're interested
36:06in read some of the stuff that they're
36:08currently doing research on
36:10um this is how you're going to sort of
36:11choose a school right
36:13um not just by location not just by
36:15native school not even just by name of
36:17program
36:18you're going to be applying to an
36:19advisor and hoping that they pick you
36:21back
36:22um which again is a very um sometimes
36:24really scary to ask for people
36:26but um this is why phd applying to phd
36:28programs is really different than
36:30applying
36:30to undergrad or master's level programs
36:33so
36:34um i want to add some additional stuff
36:36about phd programs
36:37again the school is important the
36:39advisor is way more important
36:41um the school can have a great name to
36:44it um but again there might not be an
36:45advisor who does the work that you do
36:47um or the advisor might not be a good
36:49fit for you or vice versa sometimes the
36:52person who does the biggest work in a
36:53very
36:54particular area that you're super
36:56interested in is that a school that
36:57doesn't have as big of a name
36:59or a school that you wouldn't have
37:00necessarily thought of if you were just
37:02like googling schools that i would like
37:03to go to
37:04right so this is why it's really
37:06important to do the research by looking
37:07at an
37:08advisor and not just by school name so
37:11what i recommend
37:12is what i kind of call like a bottoms-up
37:14approach right so instead of thinking
37:16like
37:17let me just google developmental
37:18psychology programs in the united states
37:21and come up with a whole list of it
37:22right a that's going to take you a lot
37:24of time
37:25um and b then you're gonna have to go
37:26through each school click on each
37:28advisor
37:28see what they do right that's it's just
37:30not a good use of your time
37:32um and arguably you're gonna miss out on
37:34potentially the most important people
37:35who do the work that you want to do
37:37so instead go the opposite direction
37:39right think about the stuff that you're
37:41interested in hopefully you've already
37:42thought about it by the time you get to
37:43this
37:44um this point um that was like what
37:48things to think about number one on my
37:49list what is it that you want to do
37:51um so think about that topic that you're
37:54interested in
37:55use those skills that you've been taught
37:57at gsu use the library right
37:59search for recent articles related to
38:01that topic so if you're interested in
38:04language development in children with
38:05autism do some
38:07searching on those topics look at some
38:09of those recent articles and not just
38:11like
38:12remember again those library lessons
38:14that you learned in
38:15what is it 35 30 um when you're looking
38:17doing research right
38:19don't just sort of throw in those
38:21keywords and see what comes up
38:23look for recent articles you know how to
38:25you can like change that scroll bar
38:27um say you know the last two to three
38:29years right what are some recent
38:30articles who's currently doing this what
38:32kind of work
38:33search for articles related to that
38:34topic and then at the top of that
38:36article right it's going to tell you who
38:38the authors are
38:39and then it's going to there's like
38:40usually a little number or letter next
38:42to their name and it's going to tell you
38:43what school they're from
38:44right there you go now you can say okay
38:47now i know
38:48that this person is from this school now
38:50i can google them at this school
38:52and then i can look at them more
38:53specifically look at those things that i
38:54just mentioned right their cvs their lab
38:56websites their personal websites
38:59all those recent articles right you can
39:00look at all those things this is going
39:02to save you a ton of time
39:05um and you're going to really be able to
39:07hone in on who are the people that
39:08that are doing the work that you want to
39:10do um currently
39:12who are the where where where are they
39:14located right and
39:16again some of those things might be
39:18limiting factors for you they might say
39:19oh look they're
39:20in canada right that's not going to work
39:22for me for whatever reason
39:24or you know whatever it is right use
39:27that
39:28as as a way to really sort of gather
39:31information about different schools
39:33different programs
39:34um because again school's important
39:36advisor is way more important
39:39so hopefully i've drilled that into you
39:41enough um
39:43so the kind of the next thing that i
39:44want to talk about that i get questions
39:46about a lot
39:47is the application timeline so you know
39:49what does that look like
39:51when do i start right um start as early
39:54as possible
39:55which i know is like a really vague term
39:57the fact that you're in this class
39:59is definitely a great start um so really
40:02start this process as early as possible
40:04there's
40:04sort of no such thing as a it's too
40:07early to start the research i mean
40:09arguably too early to
40:10hit submit in an application but um it's
40:13definitely not ever too early to start
40:14the research
40:16um also take some time to work backwards
40:18from those application deadlines so
40:20once you start gathering information
40:22you'll start to see again if it's a phd
40:24program these applications are due
40:25between
40:26december 1st and january 15th um so then
40:29i need to start working backwards and
40:30say like okay well then when should i
40:32have my applications ready when should i
40:33take my gres when should i start my
40:35research on these things right
40:37you can kind of work backwards from
40:38there um
40:40set yourself some reasonable goals
40:42especially if you're thinking about
40:43applying like while you're in your
40:44senior year
40:46the application process is also a lot of
40:48work partially a weed out thing right if
40:50you can't manage that you're not going
40:51to be able to manage graduate school
40:53um especially on the sort of phd level
40:55so make sure you're setting goals for
40:57yourself to stay on track with this
40:59because the last thing you want to do
41:01is thanksgiving break be scrambling to
41:04try and get all your application
41:05materials
41:06together and get everything ready to go
41:07because again it's a lot of work
41:10um and that's not an ideal situation to
41:12be in so give yourself plenty of time
41:14and then build in a lot of extra time
41:15for unforeseen circumstances
41:18we've learned nothing in the last six
41:19months it's that there's a lot of
41:21unforeseen circumstances that can happen
41:23um that can really mess with people's
41:25schedules and planning and all of that
41:27kind of stuff
41:28so again don't sort of have everything
41:31and be like i'm just gonna push it off
41:32until october november and then deal
41:34with it
41:35you never know what's going to happen on
41:36october november especially in the
41:38current situation we're in so
41:40um build in lots of extra time
41:43so again i always get asked like can you
41:45give me an actual schedule
41:47here is a potential schedule this is not
41:49the end-all be-all schedule
41:51this is not what i'm saying every single
41:52person needs to do this is just a
41:55suggested ex suggested example schedule
41:58for you
41:58so again we're going to kind of go
42:00backwards here um december
42:02january those are when applications are
42:03due right so let's go a little bit
42:05backwards to november
42:06make sure we have all those online
42:08applications completed um you can sort
42:10of fill them all out
42:11and then not hit submit yet so that you
42:13can go back and you can double triple
42:14quadruple check them which i recommend
42:16that you do
42:17right so start filling out those those
42:19online applications
42:20make sure you're sending your scores and
42:21your transcripts because sometimes they
42:23have to go by snail mail
42:25and that can take a little while right
42:26give yourself plenty of time to make
42:28sure that they get there especially for
42:29those december 1st deadlines
42:31um back up to october maybe in october
42:34you need to have
42:35finished you want to have a goal for
42:36yourself to finish your personal
42:38statement
42:38have updated your cv resume right get
42:42all that stuff ready so that you can
42:43then from then on focus really
42:45on the applications um so then if you
42:47want to back up you can take you know do
42:49your letters of recommendation in like
42:51september
42:52um i know that dr schwartz has probably
42:54said this but like every
42:55pretty much every year i get somebody
42:57that comes into my office
42:59mid-november and says i'm thinking about
43:01applying to graduate school where you
43:02write me a letter of recommendation
43:03that's due in a week and a half and i
43:04say
43:05no i can't do it i'm sorry give your
43:08letters or your recommenders plenty of
43:11time to write their letters of
43:12recommendation
43:13um because some people have specific
43:14requirements for example i always make
43:16people that i'm
43:17writing a letter for come in and meet
43:19with me or meet with me virtually if
43:21situations are weird right um because i
43:24want to talk to you
43:24directly and i want to know specifically
43:26what you want to do i want to know
43:28why you want to do it i want to know
43:30what other things that you've done to
43:31get yourself
43:32to to be in this place to apply for this
43:34um because i feel like it can help me
43:36write a stronger letter of
43:37recommendation
43:38so but that's again something that if
43:40you come to me a week before it's due
43:42i'm not going to have time to do that so
43:44um make sure that you are
43:46giving yourself plenty of time to ask
43:47those recommenders and then if we go
43:49backwards into the summer right
43:50making sure you're taking time to take
43:53those gres to research schools
43:55to email advisors we're going to talk
43:56about that one in a second um
43:58retaking your gres if you need to you
44:00need to wait about a month in between if
44:02you're going to retake your gres
44:04um and then gre scores typically take
44:06about six to eight weeks to be sent to
44:07schools
44:08um so again something you need to
44:10consider
44:11um if don't wait until the last second
44:14to take those gres because you won't
44:15have enough time to redo them
44:17um gres are also good for five years so
44:20um
44:21so again those of you who are like
44:22considering a gap year or something like
44:24that you know you could take your gres
44:26a year plus in advance and then have
44:27them still be good by the time that you
44:29are applying to graduate school
44:31um if that fits better into your
44:33schedule or whatever it is so just
44:34wanted to throw that out there is
44:35another
44:36option so this is a suggested schedule
44:39if you are applying for master's
44:40programs sometimes those deadlines are
44:42later
44:42right sometimes they're not until march
44:44for example so then you might want to
44:45adjust this timeline
44:47take in this consideration what your
44:48school schedule looks like do you have
44:49more free time in the summer
44:51in the summer do you have more free time
44:52during winter break like play around
44:54with this to make it work for you
44:55but do not put everything to the last
44:58second it's never gonna
44:59it's never gonna work well so um this is
45:01what i mean by setting reasonable goals
45:03and working backwards from those
45:04application deadlines
45:07so i mentioned contacting potential
45:09advisors this is particularly important
45:11for those of you who are applying to phd
45:13programs
45:14less so if you're applying to master's
45:15level programs um
45:18it is super super important it is not
45:20required
45:21but it is arguably expected
45:24um and definitely have some has some
45:27benefits
45:27so this is really something that you
45:29should do the benefit of contacting
45:31those potential advisors is that it gets
45:33your name out there
45:34right if you've sent some emails and
45:37contact you know
45:37shouted with them via email or via phone
45:40or even in person depending on
45:42you know where that location is um then
45:44by the time your application comes
45:45around
45:46they're going to have this potentially
45:47this giant stack of applications and
45:48they can look at it and say like oh yeah
45:50i've talked to this person before i
45:51recognize this name
45:53right that's always a good thing um it
45:56also allows you to make sure their
45:57research interests are a good fit
45:59this actually happened to me directly is
46:01i had done that backwards that bottoms
46:03up planning right and i had found
46:04somebody who had been doing a bunch of
46:05work in the area that i was interested
46:07in
46:08and i sent her an email and you know
46:10kind of in a second i'll show you what
46:11that actually looks like but i sent her
46:13this email and she actually wrote back
46:14that was
46:15and said like thank you so much actually
46:16i just recently received a grant and my
46:19research is sort of going in a different
46:20direction here's
46:21you know where i'm going for the next
46:23five years or so um
46:25is that interesting to you you know i
46:27just wanted to sort of let you know that
46:28my work is going to look a little bit
46:30different and it was in a direction that
46:31i wasn't necessarily interested
46:32in going personally um so that was
46:36really good to know because if i hadn't
46:37done that i would have wasted all that
46:38time
46:38money all of that applying to that
46:40school just to find out that it wasn't
46:42going to be a good fit for me
46:43right so this is a great opportunity to
46:45do that it also can be good this also
46:47happened to me where i reached out to
46:49somebody who said actually i'm going to
46:50be retiring in about a year
46:52um and remember phd programs are five to
46:54seven years so uh
46:56going with an advisor who's retiring in
46:58a year that means you're gonna have to
46:59switch advisors or potentially change
47:01schools or all of those sorts of things
47:03so had i not known that had i not
47:05emailed her and gotten a response back i
47:07would not have known that she was going
47:08to be retiring
47:09so again these are some benefits
47:12so when you do make sure that you
47:15briefly introduce yourself
47:17right tell them who you are why you know
47:19why you're emailing them
47:20um remember that these are people who
47:22are also teaching classes so they're
47:23getting a bazillion emails a day
47:25um so you want to make sure that you're
47:26clear about why you are interested
47:28or why you're uh emailing them and why
47:31you're interested in their work
47:32right um ask them if they're taking new
47:35students
47:36this is also an important tip right
47:38check their website first
47:40sometimes uh they will say on their
47:42website i you know
47:43accepting students or phd students for
47:46the 2021 2022 school year
47:48right or not accepting students
47:51sometimes it'll be housed on the
47:52department's website
47:53make sure you do your research first
47:55because the last thing you want to do is
47:57ask if they're taking these students if
47:59it is right there on their website
48:00because to them that says you haven't
48:02even looked at my website yet
48:04why am i going to be interested in you
48:05if you haven't even taken the time to
48:06like
48:07google me right so don't make that
48:09mistake only ask them if it is
48:12not clear whether they're taking new
48:13students or not um and then also ask if
48:16you can speak with them
48:17or a current graduate student sometimes
48:19they might
48:20not respond at all sometimes they might
48:22say like you know not now or what or
48:24whatever
48:25but a lot of times they'll either take
48:27the time to
48:28connect with you directly um or they'll
48:31connect you with some of their current
48:32graduate students that you can ask
48:33questions to which is always really good
48:35but i mean i had this where i had phone
48:37conversations with people i had email
48:39conversations i had a zoom call with
48:40people all before i even submitted
48:42applications
48:43so you have to believe that by the time
48:45those applications actually went in
48:47um i already had this sort of good
48:48working relationship with this person
48:51that really helped by the time i got to
48:53the interview phase and
48:54pretty much all of them pointed it out
48:56when i got to the interview phase
48:58um of saying like i know we've already
48:59talked about this or i know we've
49:01already had this conversation
49:02um so those are hugely important things
49:04right
49:05so what does an email look like this is
49:08literally a copy
49:10of my exact email that i sent to my now
49:12advisor here at gsu
49:14um this is not a form email right i did
49:17not send out the exact same one to every
49:19single person
49:20i tailored it to each potential advisor
49:22um so you can kind of see
49:24this first paragraph i will admit i'm a
49:27little bit wordy
49:28you can't tell already i like to talk um
49:30so this is probably like as long as you
49:32would possibly want it
49:34arguably you can make it a little bit
49:35shorter but i have a hard time with that
49:37sometimes
49:38um but this at least gives you an idea
49:40right so that first
49:42part i introduced myself and briefly
49:44talked about my research interests right
49:46my this
49:46this is my name i'm a prospective
49:48student um
49:50and here's what i'm really interested in
49:52that second part i was talking about why
49:54i was interested in their work and how
49:56it connects to what i'm interested in
49:57right
49:58i'm extremely interested interested in
50:00the phd program at georgia state and i'm
50:02especially interested on your particular
50:04research
50:04i find this really interesting and i
50:06would love to learn more and figure out
50:07how it works with my you know that kind
50:09of thing right
50:10so tell them why you're interested in
50:11how it connects to what you do
50:14and then you can ask whether again
50:15they're taking new graduate students in
50:16her case
50:17she did not have it listed on the
50:18website so i did ask
50:20um and you can also ask again about
50:23speaking with them further
50:24or contacting other graduate students
50:27things like that
50:28again sometimes they will never email
50:30you back and that is fine
50:33they're very busy people um but a lot of
50:36times i won't say all the time
50:37um a lot of times they will at least
50:39send you a short email back or something
50:41um
50:42and again take the time to sort of
50:43connect with them as much as they
50:45are sort of engaging in that
50:47conversation um
50:49but even just sending out an email
50:50certainly can't hurt so
50:53that's what this looks like so now we
50:56are actually at the application
50:57process right this was all before we
50:59even got there
51:00um now we're actually at the application
51:03process
51:04so in general these are the kinds of
51:06things that you're going to need you're
51:08going to need the actual application
51:09you're going to need a cv or a resume
51:13some sort of personal statement
51:14statement of purpose people call it
51:16different things sometimes there was
51:17multiple
51:18i actually had to write a letter for
51:19somebody who their master's program
51:21required six
51:22separate statements of purpose for
51:24different things so again this is going
51:26to totally vary by school
51:28um you're going to need your gre scores
51:30those recommendation letters in those
51:31transcripts
51:32those are pretty much going to be the
51:34same for every i mean like those are
51:35going to be requirements for every
51:36single school
51:37um some programs might also request a
51:40writing sample so if you have a
51:42paper or something that you wrote for a
51:43class that you think is a really good
51:45example of your writing style
51:46um they might ask for that and they
51:49might potentially ask for additional
51:50scores
51:51like subject gre scores um like the
51:53psychology gre
51:55um this is the kind of thing that again
51:56you can find on their websites usually
51:57about whether they're going to require
51:59anything else
52:01so i won't go into a lot of these
52:03different things because i know you talk
52:04about
52:05a lot of these in this class
52:08um but the one that i want to just spend
52:09a few minutes on is that personal
52:11statement
52:12even though again i know you guys
52:13practice it but i want to give you some
52:14actual examples of
52:16personal statements briefs that i was
52:18given
52:19so again this personal statement like
52:22again you guys have probably already
52:23talked about or we'll talk about
52:25is a chance to tell your story it's a
52:26chance to talk about the research and
52:28other relevant
52:29experiences jobs internships volunteer
52:32stuff that you've had
52:33what are your plans and goals for the
52:34future and then how does
52:36how does your interest how do your
52:38interest fit with the advisor or the
52:40program
52:41um you know in a very sort of short way
52:44um but these these can look really
52:46different so these are two
52:47actual examples from schools i've
52:50applied to so sometimes these questions
52:51are super broad
52:53right so students should indicate their
52:54research interests describe any relevant
52:56research experience they've had prior to
52:58applying
52:59and how their experience and interest
53:01interest can be met by the department
53:02right super broad versus
53:05a very specific one right four to six
53:08page double space personal statement
53:10just state your professional goals and
53:11reasons for desiring to enroll
53:13describe your strengths describe in
53:15detail your research experience
53:17describe responsibilities indicate your
53:18personal research interests identify two
53:20or three faculty
53:21explain why they'd be good matches
53:23include any addition like do you see
53:24this one is much more specific
53:26and while broadly they're asking the
53:28same things
53:30this is where again you need to be very
53:32clear on
53:34writing an individual statement for each
53:36school and making sure that you are
53:39triple quadruple checking that you are
53:40including everything that they require
53:42because some schools are going to again
53:44this one is technically going to require
53:45more information
53:46than maybe the previous one would um or
53:49you want to be very clear that you
53:51have hit all of the checked you know
53:52checked out all of those boxes
53:54um so again this is just sort of an
53:56example of how and why you shouldn't
53:58just have one personal statement that
53:59you just send out to everybody
54:01you do need to take time so when you're
54:03planning your schedule right take
54:05time to personalize each of these
54:07personal statements for each school
54:10um just a tiny bit about the gre again i
54:12know you guys talk about this i do
54:14um have a um a resource there for
54:16magoosh
54:17um which is a really great resource and
54:19they've got a free section and a paid
54:21section so
54:22that's a great material um and again
54:24make sure that you're paying attention
54:26to
54:26the cost that you have to take 20 wait
54:2821 days to retake it
54:30the official scores can take a couple
54:31weeks to send those are all important
54:33things in your planning process
54:35right um and again know which four
54:38schools that you want to apply to
54:40so the other question that i probably
54:42get asked more than any other question
54:44is how do you keep track of everything
54:46right this seems really overwhelming
54:48this is a lot of information
54:49how how do you stay organized how do i
54:51keep on track of all of this stuff
54:53i'm gonna be really blunt with you right
54:56i really want
54:58this is part of the weed out process
55:00right graduate school especially phd
55:03programs
55:04they're very self-driven it's there's
55:07nobody holding your hand
55:09and you are juggling a lot of stuff as a
55:11graduate student
55:12you're juggling research you're juggling
55:14classes you're potentially juggling
55:15teaching
55:16or supporting you know ta and supporting
55:18other teachers um
55:20you're potentially doing internships or
55:22of externships or other things right
55:24there's a lot of stuff that you're
55:25juggling and they're expecting you to be
55:27able to stay organized and on track of
55:28everything
55:29so this is one way that they can sort of
55:31weed that out right
55:32so you need to have a have a way that
55:34you've already thought of
55:36to keep yourself organized so that was a
55:38little
55:39harsh talk there but um but i truly mean
55:42that so you need to come up with a
55:43system that works for
55:44you some people they are you know paper
55:47and pencil kind of people and they're
55:48gonna
55:49you you can get a notebook and you can
55:51you know have a page for each school or
55:53what
55:53you know a list of the deadlines or
55:55whatever it is right maybe that
55:57maybe that is what works for you um
55:59maybe you are a spreadsheet person
56:01that's what i am i'm more of a
56:02spreadsheet kind of gal
56:04um so come up with some kind of
56:05spreadsheet or something that works for
56:07you
56:08um this is an example of mine this is a
56:10like
56:11screen capture small part of it this is
56:13much larger and much wider than you that
56:15i could even fit on the screen
56:17to put it in perspective for you but
56:19this is a very tiny version
56:21of what my spreadsheet looks like right
56:23my actual spreadsheet from schools i was
56:25applying to
56:26it is color coded it is i have different
56:29categories i
56:30started tracking everything right um
56:33because also it saves you time right if
56:35you are looking up a school
56:37and you like everything looks great on
56:39paper or
56:40online right everything looks great um
56:42and then you go on to do something else
56:44and a couple days later you're like oh
56:45shoot what was the
56:46average gre score that they were looking
56:48for or
56:49what what was the financial aid
56:51information how much was the stipend
56:53there right those sorts of questions
56:54you have to go back up and look it all
56:56over again versus if you can sort of
56:58input it into a spreadsheet or a list or
57:00again whatever works for you
57:02is a great way to keep track of things
57:04you also start keeping track of whether
57:05you've emailed it at advisors whether
57:06you've sent transcripts whether you've
57:08sent gre scores have you submitted the
57:10application yet
57:11et cetera et cetera et cetera right um
57:14so
57:14this is what mine looked like a tiny bit
57:17of what might look like
57:18um but this is really a really really
57:21important
57:22thing for you to come up with a system
57:23that works for you to track all this
57:26so things to do before the deadline
57:28double triple quadruple check that
57:31you've submitted
57:31a completed application most time once
57:34you hit that submit button there is no
57:35going back
57:37um so you want to make sure that you
57:38have all the information correct
57:40um make sure that your letter writers
57:42have submitted their letters
57:43right that you've given them plenty of
57:44time but that you've also checked in
57:46with them
57:46because people do get busy even forget
57:48and especially those phd deadlines right
57:50that's like right during finals winter
57:52break
57:52time frame i'm just really easy for
57:55people to forget so make sure that you
57:56very politely and respectfully stay on
57:59top of them to make sure that those
58:00letters get submitted
58:02so okay we've submitted like we've hit
58:05submit we've paid all that money we've
58:06done all that we submitted the
58:07application
58:08now what right you wait and you wait
58:13anyways and it's the most agonizing
58:15thing because you just put all this time
58:17and effort and stress
58:19and worry into submitting these
58:20applications and then you just
58:22don't hear anything for a while right
58:24pretty typical
58:26um for phd programs in particular you
58:28can sort of expect to hear about
58:30interviews
58:30sometime in like february um for those
58:33december january deadlines so usually
58:35sometime like mid-february-ish
58:36early early mid-february um they'll let
58:39you know if you've received an
58:40interview they're often scheduled for
58:43february to march time frame
58:45um then after those interviews usually
58:48offers are extended
58:50in like march or april and the apa
58:52deadline to decide so that you don't
58:54like there's no pressure just for
58:56wednesday to school one school to say
58:58like if you pick me first you get more
58:59money or whatever
59:00um the general apa deadline to decide is
59:03april 15th
59:04so again you could potentially have a
59:06december 1st deadline
59:07and not have a decision until april 15th
59:09right there's a big chunk of time there
59:12um and also again these interviews
59:15um are that february march time frame
59:18more and more they're being moved online
59:20especially obviously
59:21lots of things are being moved online
59:23but um sometimes they are online
59:25sometimes they're via phone sometimes
59:27they're in person
59:28so these are all sorts of things that
59:29you have to consider so we're going to
59:31talk a little bit
59:32tiny bit more about interviews here um i
59:34just sort of said this
59:36right sometimes interviews are expensive
59:37especially if you have to go there
59:39right um you can very much plan to have
59:42to pay for your own transportation
59:43lodging food
59:45sometimes schools will pay for some of
59:46it sometimes they'll have a stipend or a
59:48little bit of funding that they can give
59:50you
59:50it varies widely by school but don't
59:52expect any of it
59:53um sometimes you may stay with a
59:55graduate student while you're there
59:56that's what we do here at gsu for
59:58example
59:59um but again don't don't plan on it
1:00:03um plan to be paying for all of this so
1:00:05again you think
1:00:06okay now i have applied to 10 schools
1:00:08maybe i've gotten two to three
1:00:09interviews
1:00:10um you know but those two to three
1:00:13interviews might have you flying across
1:00:14the country
1:00:14staying in hotels all of that kind of
1:00:16stuff so those are some things to
1:00:17consider
1:00:19dress up and be professional even if it
1:00:22is on a
1:00:23skype or a zoom interview right dress up
1:00:25and be professional and i literally
1:00:27can't star this enough times about what
1:00:29it means to be
1:00:31professional right every from
1:00:34every second that you walk on that
1:00:36campus
1:00:37that you start that zoom call that
1:00:39whatever until
1:00:40you leave that campus or end that zoom
1:00:42call it is
1:00:43all part of that interview right every
1:00:46tiny little bit of it is part of that
1:00:47interview even if it doesn't feel like
1:00:49it it is
1:00:50so be professional the entire time so
1:00:53any interaction that you have with a
1:00:54graduate student or a faculty member
1:00:57is going to be judged right a lot of
1:00:59times these phd interviews are like one
1:01:00to three days long i did have a three
1:01:02day long one
1:01:03um and again from the second you step
1:01:06onto campus the second you leave that is
1:01:08all part of the interview
1:01:09walking in the halls with a graduate
1:01:11student from one room to another
1:01:13uh a luncheon a dinner a picnic
1:01:16literally all of that is part of the
1:01:18interview and it is all part of sort of
1:01:20the judgment process
1:01:21um for whatever reason sometimes people
1:01:24feel like only if they're sitting down
1:01:25with that advisor in that room in an
1:01:27official interview
1:01:28um is that part of it it's not every
1:01:30single bit is part of it and
1:01:32as a graduate student now i can tell you
1:01:33that we for sure we will
1:01:35we will go back and report to our
1:01:36advisors about what people have said or
1:01:39not said or done or not done
1:01:41um and those sometimes do away really
1:01:44heavily in the decisions especially if
1:01:45it's competitive
1:01:47stay off your phone i like if i could
1:01:51scream this i would scream this at you
1:01:52i was lucky enough to go on six
1:01:55different interviews
1:01:56and every single time i saw somebody
1:01:58probably ruin their chances
1:02:00because they were on their phone right
1:02:02because if you're sitting there
1:02:04on your phone and you're meeting with
1:02:05graduate students right
1:02:07this says i'm not really interested in
1:02:09what you're doing right now
1:02:10where i don't really care that much
1:02:11about being here i care more about
1:02:13scrolling through my phone
1:02:14um even if you're doing arguably doing
1:02:16something important they don't know that
1:02:17all they see is you on your phone
1:02:19and that leaves a very bad impression so
1:02:22i get that i mean i have small kids
1:02:24right i always have my phone with me i
1:02:26totally get that
1:02:27i also get that some people are more
1:02:29introverted right and they need that
1:02:31like time to
1:02:32like step away for a second go to the
1:02:34bathroom like i'm not even kidding go to
1:02:36the bathroom take
1:02:38four or five minutes scroll through your
1:02:40phone if you need to
1:02:41right do not do it in front of other
1:02:43people i don't even care if you're
1:02:44sitting in the lobby waiting
1:02:46do not do it keep that phone in your
1:02:48pocket or in your bag
1:02:49um because again every single second you
1:02:52are potentially being judged and the
1:02:53last thing you want
1:02:54is for somebody to think they don't
1:02:57really want to be here
1:02:58right um have some kind of elevator
1:03:01speech ready
1:03:02right talk about your research interest
1:03:04um
1:03:05you're gonna get asked over and over and
1:03:06over again and it's totally fine to say
1:03:08it over and over and over again
1:03:10um the same thing but like have a like
1:03:13one to two minute elevator speech ready
1:03:15to go um about your research interests
1:03:20and then be prepared to
1:03:25hold on sorry i've got somebody knocking
1:03:26on my door here
1:03:32they've run away sorry that's a that's
1:03:34real life there for you for a second
1:03:39there we go here we are um be prepared
1:03:42to
1:03:43speak with lots of different people
1:03:44right you're gonna be talking with
1:03:45graduate students you're gonna be
1:03:46talking with
1:03:47faculty members that you applied to and
1:03:49that you didn't apply to
1:03:51um and have lots of questions ready to
1:03:53ask them it's totally fine to ask people
1:03:55the same questions over and over again
1:03:57um but be thoughtful about your
1:03:59questions right if you're asking really
1:04:00basic
1:04:01questions that you could google about
1:04:03the school or about the program
1:04:04it's probably not going to look great um
1:04:07but you know ask
1:04:08thoughtful questions about um you know
1:04:10the the broadly the kind of
1:04:12you know how they feel about the
1:04:14graduate program and um you can ask
1:04:16graduate students about
1:04:17cost of living and advisors and what
1:04:19that you know
1:04:20how do advisors support their students
1:04:22and things like that right there's lots
1:04:23of ways that you can ask questions um
1:04:26but make sure that you have questions
1:04:27ready to go
1:04:30um and last year so um i have some
1:04:32resources for applying
1:04:33and arguably the most quote unquote
1:04:36important one
1:04:36is this very top one up here i don't
1:04:38know if you can see
1:04:40it shows you what i'm pointing at but
1:04:41this planning spreadsheets
1:04:43um i showed you my sort of template
1:04:45right for
1:04:46how i kept track of everything this is a
1:04:50version that i made just for you guys a
1:04:52blank version
1:04:54um i'm not saying that you have to use
1:04:56it exactly as it is but it might give
1:04:57you a place to start
1:04:59um or you know again something you can
1:05:02think about i also have other ways that
1:05:03you can track how much you've spent on
1:05:05applications
1:05:07have a timeline those sorts of things
1:05:08it's all up there that you can copy and
1:05:10paste it's there for you to use
1:05:12if that's helpful to you um and here are
1:05:15again some other resources for you
1:05:17so that is all that i have i know that
1:05:20i've gone a really long time
1:05:22um but um please
1:05:25feel free to reach out to me with any
1:05:26questions that you have again normally
1:05:28if we were in person this would be an
1:05:29opportunity for you all to ask questions
1:05:31um but i am happy to answer any
1:05:33questions
1:05:34um i'm happy to have dr swordout send me
1:05:37questions um any of that is totally fine
1:05:40so um again here's my information
1:05:43i'm also going to send this presentation
1:05:44to dr sword out so that you all can
1:05:46access it again
1:05:47um but um i wish you all the best of
1:05:50luck thank you so much for listening if
1:05:51you've listened to this entire thing i
1:05:53appreciate it
1:05:54um and again i wish you all the best of
1:05:56luck in
1:05:57applying graduate school

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