Mastering Scientific Writing Skills Can Help You Get Into Graduate School in Psychology

Mastering Scientific Writing Skills Can Help You Get Into Graduate School in Psychology

By Pamela Whitehead

Whether you would like to further your studies by getting a masters degree or Ph.D. in psychology, you need a solid background in scientific writing. Most students come in as psychology majors writing as they did in high school or exactly as they were taught in English class. However, excelling in graduate school in psychology (and maybe getting into graduate school in psychology as well) requires changing your writing style to be concise, less "flowery," and using data or credible sources of information, such as academic journal articles, to provide evidence for your major claims.

Undergraduate Writing In Psychology: Learning To Tell The Story

Written by psychologist R. Eric Landrum, Ph.D., Undergraduate Writing In Psychology: Learning To Tell The Story teaches you that as a future psychologist you need to orient yourself to thinking like a scientist. Mastering scientific writing will be especially important if you plan to go on to pursue a doctorate degree in psychology, no mater what the area of specialization, because these graduate programs emphasize research rather than clinical skills.

Some of the skills you can expect to learn is how to think like a scientist of human behavior. You will be walked through the process of how to conduct a literature review, how to conduct original research, and even how to analyze social policies. Regardless of the style of paper you have to write you will learn how to coherently tell a scientific study from planning and organization to how to use raw data to analyze results.

This is not to say that those skills you learned in English class won't come in handy. If you're interested in going to graduate school, you will need both writing and critical thinking skills which are learned and reinforced through humanities-based courses. You will need to master the fine line between masterful writing and "proving" your point through analyzing data rather than excerpts from essays or poems. One of the most helpful resources that students might find is a full-length student paper which can provide a tangible example of how to write according to scientific writing conventions.

All of these are skills that your psychology instructors will expect for you but are not necessarily explicitly taught in classrooms. And ultimately these are skills that will help you write a great personal statement for your graduate school application package as well.

Did you know that less than 10% of applicants get into the graduate school of their choice? Personal statement writing is your chance to stand out from other applicants! Visit Doctorate Degree Psychology for more tips and strategies on how to get into grad school!

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Aiming to Get Into a Psychology Doctoral Program? 3 Factors You Need to Consider!

Aiming to Get Into a Psychology Doctoral Program? 3 Factors You Need to Consider!

By Pamela Whitehead

One of the biggest mistakes that students make when applying to psychology doctoral programs is to rely on their GPA and GRE scores as a compass measuring their chances of getting in. What you may not have learned from your classes or even your participation in the Psychology Club is that psychology doctoral programs tend to admit "holy grail" students straight out of undergrad - those students who have those objective criteria at a minimum. You will need much more to get into graduate school. What other factors should you consider when preparing for advanced study in doctoral programs?

Research Experience

Psychology doctoral programs run on an apprenticeship model, meaning that you will likely be admitted with a faculty mentor that shares your research interests. However, more and more graduate programs are expecting that you will walk into the door with prior research experience. How do you get this research experience? Check for flyers around your Psychology Department on campus advertising for research assistants. If you cannot find any, ask a graduate student or even volunteer to work with one of your professors. Chances are that they will be happy to have you work with them on data entry and simple analyses, provided that you understand statistics, and that you are reliable and trustworthy! Does your university offer the option of enrolling in a Senior Thesis or Honors Thesis course? Ask an undergraduate advisor and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Scientific Writing Skills

Do you know the ins and outs of APA style? What about the specific conventions of scientific writing? Lots of people tend to think of the counseling, human practice side of psychology, but one commonality of Ph.D. level doctoral programs is an emphasis on research. You will spend many years as a doctoral student working to develop your own research projects, piloting data, and even submitting manuscripts over to academic journals. As a result, it pays to come into a doctoral degree program with a great understanding on scientific writing skills.

Consider Joining Psi Chi

Psi Chi is an international honor society for psychology. Not only will membership in this organization look good on your resume, but you will be able to network with like-minded students. Think about it: Where are you most likely to interact with other students who are serious about getting into graduate school? Getting involved may give you an insider edge to hearing about promising summer programs designed to give you the tools to develop a competitive edge through the graduate admissions process. And another plus to add to your resume may be leadership skills gained through volunteering and working with such a prestigious organization.

Did you know that less than 10% of applicants get into the graduate school of their choice? Personal statement writing is your chance to stand out from other applicants! Visit Doctorate Degree Psychology for more tips and strategies on how to get into grad school!

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