Volume 22: No. 7, July 2008

Getting a Head Start for Graduate School
by Amy Pitta

APA undergraduate summer programs are designed to give promising undergraduate students an opportunity to experience cutting-edge psychological methods through seminars and hands-on laboratory activities. These programs are a fun way for students to equip themselves with the skills essential to enter and succeed in graduate school, while meeting students from across the country with the same interests.

Summer Science Fellowships

The APA Summer Science Fellowships (SSF) program is well underway in its first year of operation. This year’s 12 talented fellows are currently placed in psychology laboratories of some outstanding researchers in the Washington, DC area. The 6-week SSF program gives students an opportunity to explore the intellectual, personal, and social processes of scientific inquiry and to experience cutting-edge psychological research through hands-on laboratory activities. SSF offers promising students the opportunity to equip themselves with the skills essential to success in graduate school, and gives students who plan to pursue advanced degrees in psychological science the opportunity to be mentored by nationally-known faculty.

The program began June 22 and will run through August 1. This year’s 12 outstanding fellows were chosen from a pool of 500 applicants. Their names and SSF placements (in italics) are listed below.

Kimberly Alexander
Stony Brook University
George Washington University

Joel Chan
University of the Ozarks
George Mason University

Shelby Cooley
Scripps College
University of Maryland

Adam Emfield
Idaho State University
George Mason University

Laura Flynn
Skidmore College
George Washington University

Stefanie Holman
University of Alabama, Montgomery
University of Maryland

Jessica Kang
University of Washington
University of Maryland

Benjamin Majors
Washington College
Johns Hopkins University

Drew Solyst
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
George Mason University

Oth Tran
University of Virginia
Johns Hopkins University

Kathleen Vieira
University of Florida
University of Maryland

Vincent Woolfolk
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
George Mason University

Visit www.apa.org/science/ssf.html for complete details about the program.

2008 Summer Science Fellows. Front row: Joel Chan, Oth Tran, Vincent Woolfolk, Stefanie Holman, Laura Flynn, Shelby Cooley, Adam Emfield, Kathleen Vieira, and Jessica Kang. Back row: Kimberly Alexander, Benjamin Majors, and Drew Solyst.

Advanced Statistical Training in Psychology

Advanced Statistical Training in Psychology (ASTP) is an intensive, 9-day, hands-on seminar on statistics and research methods in a dynamic setting that emphasizes hands-on computer skills. This summer, 17 talented students who plan to pursue a graduate degree in psychology were selected to participate in the program, running from July 12-20 on the campus of the University of Maryland. Students are mentally stimulated with lectures, SPSS activities, hands-on activities, and discussions of graduate school. After a full day of t-tests, multiple regression, linear correlation, ANOVA, and repeated measures design, students have the opportunity to participate in blackjack workshops, juggling workshops, Charades, and other fun.

Here are this year’s ASTP students, along with their home universities:

Arnold Bae
California State University, Northridge

Jose Cantt
Barry University

Kit Cho
The City College of New York

Lawrence Cho
University of California, Riverside

Collin Christensen
Southwest Baptist University

Sohee Kim
Lehigh University

Rita Ludwig
New York University

Felicia Mualim
University of California, Los Angeles

Martina Michlickova
Baruch College

Olamide Oduyingbo
Quinnipiac University

DeMarcus Pegues
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Harlee Pratt
SUNY Cortland

Andrew Stewart
Colorado State University

Tanisha Stewart
American International College

Jennifer Stoltzfus
Millersville University

Roy Taggueg
University of California, Irvine

Naomi (Rachel) Walker
Texas Women’s University

For more information, please visit www.apa.org/science/astp.html.

The 2008 ASTP program attracted an excellent pool of candidates. The students chosen, shown above, engaged in a rigorous exploration of statistics over an intense week.