advice for an undergrad?

advice for an undergrad?

psychstudent (guest) 20 Aug 2010 10:06

Hi,

I am a psych undergrad at a top 10 SLAC. My interests are in neuroscience and social psych. Is there hope? What should I be doing to maximize my chances?

Re: advice for an undergrad?

Psychadvice (guest) 20 Aug 2010 13:24

You are in a good position to start doing research—and a lot of it! Get involved anyway you can and build your research skills. This includes working with faculty on their research and tackling your own independent projects.

In terms of job prospects, it's only going to get more competitive if you want a faculty position. Just be aware that in those fields you will most likely need multiple years of post-doctoral experience (over the average 5 years to complete your doctoral degree) before landing a job. As with most things in life, there is a tradeoff. Not too be to be too gloom and doom, but academic career trajectories are becoming more anti-relationships and families as they become competitive. This is because you will be moving for your doctoral work, post-doctoral work (maybe multiple times), and then a faculty position. This puts a serious strain on your relationships, and if those are important to you, then you should be prepared for those difficulties.

I would highly suggest taking a wide array of psychology classes and learn about all the fields. SLACs are notorious for being heavy on the traditional psychology courses/specialties…because that’s how all the faculty were trained. This funnels all the smart/motivated people like yourself into the most competitive job markets because you are never truly exposed to anything else (bounded rationality at its worst). If you want an easier job market, look into Quantitative psychology or I-O psychology (which is close to your social interests). Most people in these positions come straight out of their Ph.D. to a full-time academic position because (a) there are less people being trained for Quantitative psychology and (b) many I-O Ph.D.s go corporate/applied, freeing up the academic job market. There are probably even more specialties to consider, but those two are the fields I’m most familiar with. You are in a good position to take some time to explore all the potential opportunities (while getting research experience—any will do). Good luck!

Re: advice for an undergrad?

vd 20 Aug 2010 13:30

If you want to maximize your chances of getting a faculty job after grad school, here are some tips:

1. Get research experience as an undergrad. This will let you know whether you like doing research and make you a more competitive applicant for grad school.

2. Apply to and get into a good grad school with a good advisor.

3. Work your butt off in grad school. Publish.

4. Get a good postdoc for 2-3 years. Continue to publish.

5. At all these stages (undergrad, grad, postdoc) try to forge connections with others in the field ("networking"). Part of this involves going to conferences and presenting your research.

6. Most importantly, only do all this if you love what you're doing and think you can see yourself doing it as an eventual career.

Also, keep in mind that the job market in 5-10 years (whenever you're done grad school and postdoc) will likely — hopefully — be better than it is now.

Regarding your interests, social/affective neuroscience is an emerging field that is attracting a lot of attention in some quarters, so it may be a specific area that you might want to explore in some depth.