Tag Archives: Convention

Present Your Work at APA Convention in Toronto!

IMG_2105Psychology graduate students: Now is the time to start thinking about presenting your work at the prestigious 2015 APA Convention in Toronto, Ontario!  The deadline to submit a proposal is December 1, 2014. APA Convention is August 6-9, 2015.

Why submit a proposal directly to APAGS?

  • Gain valuable knowledge and experience for professional development.
  • Have access to a national audience for sharing your ideas and insights, and gain professional contacts.
  • Earn a gem for your CV!
  • Chair a session in your own right, without needing sponsorship from a full APA member.
  • As a first author on a posters or program, all APAGS members have their Convention registration fee waived.

Steps for submitting a proposal:

  1. Choose a topic that has broad appeal to many psychology graduate students. Focus on timely issues and present the most current information.
  2. Develop and refine your ideas by talking to your colleagues and advisors about topics and format. Ask reputable students and/or psychologists to present with you.
  3. Be sure to include contact information and affiliations for all presenters. Review your proposal for clarity and polish, and make sure that your proposal is complete.
  4. Submit your proposal electronically. The first question asks you to “Select the most applicable division for submission of this proposal” from a drop-down menu. Choose “GS- APAGS” to make sure your proposal gets to us.
  5. Submission deadline is December 1 but we recommend submitting early to avoid any last-minute complications.

Proposals will be reviewed and scored by the APAGS Convention Committee and selected presenters will be notified in early 2015. For more information, contact Heather Dade or visit the APA Convention website.

Applying to graduate school? Ask these 15 questions

Getting in to graduate school is hard. I know this. And like many of you, I obsessed over the “Will I be liked?” question as I waited for any offer to come in. I now see that focusing on that question obscures another equally important one: “Do I really like the programs I am applying to?”

In my role, I sometimes hear students recount how different their program is compared to the slick marketing they’ve received from schools attracting candidates. While I can offer no advice on which institutions should be on someone’s list, I do want to shift the power dynamic in your favor. Let’s get thinking about how to find the graduate programs that will help you meet your professional goals and provide you with the highest quality training experiences possible in the field of psychology. Sound good?

Last month, I co-presented (with Dr. Nabil El-Ghoroury) a workshop at APA’s Annual Convention. The workshop was centered around 15 questions that “smart shoppers” should ask of the programs on their list, but it also included some information about different types of degrees and subfields, and the cost of education.

To learn what you should be asking, view the slideshow below or download the slides directly:

[pdf]http://www.gradpsychblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Smart-Shopping-Convention-2014.pdf[/pdf]

Please also check out the resource page on our website for more tools from APAGS and our colleagues in the Education Directorate. If you want to hear a live version of this presentation, we’ll be in Los Angeles on September 20 and Berkeley on September 21. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for announcements of future webinars, live workshops, and more tutorials.

May you make this decision with eyes wide open to the objective and subjective factors that will make your future graduate school the right fit for you. Best wishes.

Untold Secrets of Navigating Convention

Cover BSo you’ve registered for the convention and booked your flights and hotels. You have tried to look at the monster programming book but are feeling overloaded and overwhelmed. What is a grad student to do? Have no fear! The APAGS Convention Committee has some untold secrets to navigating convention!

 

  • Although it seems daunting, the programming book and the APAGS How to Navigate Convention materials are your friends! Spend a few hours looking over things that are interesting. The APAGS materials are a great focus on what graduate students specifically may be interested in attending.

 

  • Interested in learning about the internal workings of the divisions? Div CoverConsider going to one of their business meetings. You can learn a lot about current topics and become more aware of potential opportunities for graduate students.

 

  • MPj04025130000[1]Free food is everywhere at convention! For example, graduate students can come to the APAGS suite for the Food for Thought breakfasts where they can enjoy breakfast while conversing with some of the field’s most influential psychologists. This year we have Dr. Robert Levine, Dr. Mitchell Prinstein, and Dr. Robert Sternberg. Students can also find free food at some of the presentations. Keep an eye out for large groups of people!

 

  • Speaking of free, if you go to the exhibit hall, you are sure to bring back many free pens, pads of paper, post-its, and other goodies.

 

  • If you only know a couple of presentations you are interested in, be sure to ask the audience members around you what other presentations they are attending. Better yet, ask the speakers of the presentation what other speakers they are looking forward to seeing. This will give you some good ideas for other presentations that might fit your interests.

 

  • Posters presentations at convention are often looked over and not attended well. Take advantage of the opportunity to talk with other graduate students and professionals at these poster sessions. The programming book lists the presentations according to topic. These presenters will be glad to talk with you and who knows, you may work in a great networking or collaborative opportunity!

 

  • If you are a presenter for a poster or paper, be sure to collect audience members’ information if they are interested in following up with you and your research. Again, do not waste this great potential for networking by not having a central location to keep people’s information.

 

  • The easiest way to relay your own information to others when networking is to bring your own business cards. This way you do not have to write down your long email and name each time; just give them your card!

 

  • Although you came to D.C. to work on your presentation sMP900441060[1]kills, networking, or just to see other professionals, make time to explore the city! This may be the only time where you can visit some of Washington D.C.’s historic sites and museums. Some of my favorites are the Lincoln Memorial, The Smithsonian, and The Crime and Punishment museum.

We hope this list helps you out in navigating convention. Please consider coming by the APAGS suite and the APAGS booth to say hi and introduce yourself while in D.C.!

Top Division Programs for Students at Convention

Although APAGS will be sure to keep you busy with our lineup of fantastic programming and events at our upcoming Convention in DC, we are also providing you a redux of other sessions out there to help you make the most of your time and make tough decisions. For the third year in a row, we have assembled and sorted a list of top student-focused programs sent to us by APA’s many Divisions as well as the Science Student Council (SSC). Sessions are sorted by the following subjects:

  •  Public Interest / Practice / Healthcare
  •  Research / Academic
  •  Diversity Focus
  •  Professional Development
  •  Social / Networking Event

Please download this PDF: Top Division Programs for Students 2014. Limited printed copies will also be available at the APAGS Booth at the Convention Center. See you in DC!

Div Cover

 

Five Reasons to Go To Convention

Going to Convention is an important graduate school experience. There are lots of benefits, and not just for the reasons your professors tell you!

1- Exposure to a wide variety of content

Yes, this is one of the reasons faculty say that Convention is important, but it’s true; Convention gives you the chance to hear perspectives of other psychologists who you don’t see every day.  You might even have the chance to hear one of your psychology idols present.  If you see a presentation you like, take the opportunity to introduce yourself to the presenter.  More than likely they will be happy to talk about their line of research and point you in the direction of additional material you will find interesting.

2- Networking

The APA Convention boasts the largest concentration of Psychologists in North America (probably).  What better place to hunt for future employment?  Whether you have your dream job in mind or you need to work out what your dream job is, Convention is the place to do it.  The phrase “network to get work” always sounded cliché to me… until I landed a job because of conference networking!

3- Get Experience Convention-ing

Do you feel like a tiny fish in a huge ocean when you go to conferences?  Are you intimidated by the sheer size of the Convention Program book? It sounds like you have Convention Anxiety Disorder (DSM VII, pending), a common condition for many Convention attendees.  You’ll spend the rest of your career attending one kind of conference or another, so what do you do?  Why not come to Convention, one of the only conferences that has programming for students, by students specifically designed to ease you into Convention?  Check out the APAGS Making the Most of Convention session (for tips and tricks about navigating Convention), or the Flying Solo Social (for students attending Convention alone to connect with each other).  You’ll be a seasoned Convention-er in no time.

4- Excuse for a vacationMP900441060[1]

For busy graduate students, the excuse to travel to another city can be a mini-vacation (without the guilt of being away from your computer; Convention attendance counts as professional development after all).  Convention is always in a big city with lots of interesting local sites to go visit, especially this year.  There will be plenty to see in DC and many of the sites are free.  Take some time before, after, or even during Convention to explore a little.  If you register for Convention you will receive the APAGS Survival Guide which will outline many recommended sites and their pricing.

APAGS 2013 Social at the Hotel Modern in Honolulu, HI

APAGS 2013 Social at the Hotel Modern in Honolulu, HI

5- The APAGS social

And now the real reason to come to Convention!  The APAGS Convention Committee and staff always work incredibly hard to throw an awesome social for graduate students- and, not to brag, but we nail it.  Hanging with old friends, meeting new ones, letting loose and having a good time is always the best part of my Convention. This year is sure to be legendary- located at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on August 7th. Be sure you don’t miss it!