Am I in good shape for graduate school?
Question:
I'm planning to see an advisor, but I'm just interested in what you guys all think :-) Graduate school is scaring the crap out of me.
Answer:
The best course for you is to geek out on this. Eat, sleep, and breathe graduate school applications.
You may or may not be able to do undergrad research, especially if you haven't talked to your advisor about it yet. A potentially more useful course of action *for the admission* would be to buy a study book for the GRE and for the Subject Test and study it until you know it cold. (When I took the English GRE, I basically read the Norton's English and American Lit anthologies. Took about three months, and boy did it pay off.)
You see, the GRE is horribly important for a number of reasons. It's a better predictor of grad school success than the SATs. But the real value of a high GRE score is that GREs give the university a way to rank all applicants across all programs--which is almost always how the choice university-wide fellowships and assistantships get awarded. You shouldn't just shoot to get in, but to get in and get paid for attending. This will save you money, but it will also get you the attention and networking connections you need for your first job. "Full-pays," or unsupported candidates, are usually considered second-class citizens in most departments.
Basically, trying to ace the GREs offers more payoff for less work than most other tactics. Keep up your other efforts, but make sure you nail the tests. (Take the subject test even though it's often not required! This is a HUGE benefit to your application. ) Get started on this effort now. You have about a year, and doing it well will probably take you that long.
Go to the best school in ind/org that you possibly can. It's worth it, in fact, to work a year and try again if you don't get a top admission the first time you try. The best school will be ranked accordingly in something like the Gorman report (better than US News). Don't go based on location, sports teams, "spirit," or any other reason a kid picks a college, since those are irrelevant. Note too that for various reasons a private school is more likely to offer you funding--but check this. Public schools are "cheaper," but at the very least you should get tuition remission so don't worry about the sticker price.
so just try internet and see
You can get in!
Stop being afraid and worrying! I scrambled to get through college and was able to get two Masters degrees & am working on a Doctorate.
In fact I found Grad School easier than undergraduate due to the fact I love the stuff I was studying.
If you really want it, DO IT. BE NOT AFRAID! GO FOR IT~
The worst that can happen is that you will fail. The best is you have found your life's path.
Take care! :-)
I used to work in the academia -- psych is kind of tough. ask someone in your department about writing an udergrad thesis and doing undergrad research. they speak louder about your activity than your gpa -- people spend too much time worry about gpas.
Well put it this way. I am getting my bachelors in Criminal Justice Forensic Psychology right now. All of those things that you mentioned I wouldn't have even thought to do. So, by my standards I guess you would be a shoe-in. I don't think the 3.19 GPA is going to hurt you. That GPA is still well above average and paired with the recommendations I don't see why you would be able to achieve this. It sounds to me like you have things well in order to succeed. I would wish you luck but we both know luck has nothing to do with it. Instead I will take a page from Opera's book -lol- "Luck is where preparedness meets opportunity." So, I wish you the best of preparedness.
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