"This class helped alleviate a lot of stress that I had about my future."
Most students seriously underuse their advisor. They only go to them when they 'have' to. You are really missing out. Your advisor can be very helpful to you in planning and making decisions about your major, getting advice about graduate school and jobs, helping ease stress through providing you information and other resources, and gasp! sometimes become a great professional contact, or even, friend.
I would like you to find out who your advisor is (if you don't know) and meet with him or her. You can talk about course scheduling, scheduling to make a particular graduation date, research or teaching assistant opportunities, or whatever you feel comfortable with. The point is to make this contact for a reason *other than* just getting a signature for something. Your advisor can be an important source of information for you, and ultimately, can be a possibility for a letter of reference. But not if they don't know who you are :) If you don't like your advisor or connect better with someone else, you can ask Jan in the department office to switch you to someone else.
Please write up a reflection of your meeting with your advisor and bring to class.
All Week 2 materials are due by Thursday class time.
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I thought that this chapter, like all the previous chapters, was extremely interesting and helpful when thinking about grad school. Since I started my undergraduate course work in psychology I knew I was one that was interested in going further in studies and hopefully getting my PhD.
This chapter really helped me realized all that goes into applying for graduate school and the work that you have to put into it. It is something I am passionate about so I am really excited to start putting together my application and applying to different programs. The interview process was a new addition for me to the application. From what the book described it seemed pretty tedious and stress-provoking but it really helped reading all those questions that the panel was likely to ask of you and what kinds of questions you should be asking of them. The specific type of program offered is a big factor in deciding which grad school to go to and it helps to know what kinds of things should go into our thinking when looking at a specific school.
This chapter was very useful to me, especially since I am graduating this May and am working on applying to grad schools. I always knew that I should attend grad school but I wasn’t sure if it was really meant for me, and this chapter confirmed that I want to attend grad school and that it is probably meant for me. The section that helped me out the most in this chapter was the section about letters of recommendation. I am having trouble choosing my third person to write me a letter of recommendation and this gave me a lot of information on how to choose the best person to write you a letter of recommendation. The person you are asking to write a letter should know you well and have known you for a long time, have a high opinion of you, and be able to write you a good letter. I also learned that you should give your recommenders 3-4 weeks minimum to write your letter and provide them with several things, for example your resume or vita, GRE scores, awards you have won, professional goals and more.
This chapter in the book was very helpful for me since I am currently starting on the process to apply for grad school. I graduate in May and would like to go to grad school part time while working hopefully a full time job that relates to psychology or family services. I didnt realize how much was put into applying for grad school until reading this chapter. It is almost like another class in itself. Making cover letters, resumes, the application process, getting references, contacting the schools, and the interviews. Although I would like to be done with school I now know that graduate school is in my best interest. I would find a job easier with a master's degree and I would get better pay in the end. I always thought it would be a waste of money, but there are many ways to get scholarships and grants once in the program. I never knew that you should apply to multiple schools until reading the book. That makes perfect since though, if you dont get accepted into one school you have other options. I never knew that there were interviews when going to grad school. This is something that I would particularly like because I am better with communicating face to face. I also think it helps to put a face to the resume. This chapter helped me with organizing what I need to do here in the near future to prepare myself.
This chapter was very applicable to me, again as someone who is going through this process right now. I have already written my CV and Personal statements for this class and for another class, but am having to revise them for some of the programs I am applying to. So this chapter, the section on admissions essays and personal statements was a good reference in revising my statement. Also the section on the interview was interesting, becuas that will hopefully be the next step in my journey to graduate school.
Ch. 14 was very helpful for me to understand the entire process of applying for graduate school. More importantly, it helped me decide if grad school was the place for me. To be honest, it was a bit scary to read this chapter because the process seems a bit intimidating. It seems like their is so much to do, such as preparing for the GRE, then taking the GRE, applying to grad school, the personal statement, letters of recommendation... it just seems overwhelming right now but I definitely know it'll pay off in the end. This chapter has helped me decide that the masters program would be best for me for grad school.
The section titled "Sorting out the Letters: MA, Ph.D, and Psy.D" was so far the most useful section in the book to me, I had been assuming I needed a Ph.D but this section has shed light on what I could simply do with a masters. I had an unclear understanding of what a Psy.D was and this was well explained and clarified the difference for me.
The section over the GRE was also very applicable and clarified some misinformation I had acquired. Learning more about its format has made me curious about the type of questions asked so I am looking forward to the practice GRE we will be taking next week.
Table 14.1 forced me to stop and really think about my own answers to these questions. While they are common questions, I personally need to spend time to intelligently answer some of these questions.
Table 14.2 has made me go back and look at some of the programs I chose last week to see in further detail how they compare and what they each have to offer.
I thought this chapter was very useful in explaining graduate school.
I really liked the section "Sorting out the Letters: MA, PhD, and PsyD." It definitely gave me a better understanding of masters and doctorate programs. I enjoy reading this textbook, because each time I am given something to think about regarding my future. After reading the section about masters and doctorate programs, I am beginning to reconsider which program is best for me.
I also thought this chapter was nice because it outlines everything that goes into applying and preparing for graduate school, which will be a great reference when I start applying.
I found this chapter to be really helpful. I'm currently in the process of my graduate school applications, so I always love extra advice.
I found the section on writing a personal statement to be really useful. It was nice to get a better understanding of what should and should not be included in the letter. It was really helpful to read that each school asks different questions of each applicant, so letters should be tailored to the school.
I also found the section on interviews to be interesting. At this point I have only thought about the applications and letters of recommendation, I had not given full thought to the interview process. This section gave me and idea of what to expect as well as questions that I may be asked, as well as some I should ask.