school, school, school

[wispfox]

As you may or may not know, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for grad school, slightly more specifically than psychological research.

So far, I've determined that I don't feel like I have enough of a background in Psychology to _know_ what I want to do enough. Except possibly for HCI/usability, since that is a crossover between Computer Science & Psychology (or at least can be).

So my current school-related activities are trying to find places within Massachusetts (preferably Boston area) which have HCI PhDs or are something that I could convince to become such, which is not about coding (my CS undergrad degree means that I know that I do not actually _like_ coding much), and general master's programs (in case I don't get into the PhD programs, so that I can at least get a better idea of what I would like to do and how to do it).

Finding HCI graduate degree programs at _all_ has been... complex. Lots and lots and _lots_ of conversation with metahacker has helped quite a bit, both in my better understanding that I really don't have any idea what I'm doing with this search, and in pointing me at places that may be right.

I would like to be trying to apply for the 2010-11 school year, which means applying to schools this fall. And financial aid. And such.

I do at least have recent classes in psych stats and some minimal research experience, and a psych research professor at umass lowell who is utterly happy about being a reference for me.

But right now, I'm a bit (not totally) stuck on figuring out where to apply for PhD stuff relating to HCI in eastern MA. Suggestions are welcome, although much of why I feel stuck is that I was overwhelming myself by trying to figure this out in, well, February and January.

Comments

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

Possibly I'm wrong about this, but it seems to me like going into HCI because it's the only part of the field that you feel you know well enough to identify as possibly interesting! (Also, it seems like you might go into that and then realize after two terms that some other part is more interesting to you, and switching focuses in grad school is trickier than at the undergrad level.)

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

After a bit of thought, I think that is actually because I phrased things poorly, and not because I was being absurd and actually doing that.

I _do_ have interest in HCI. Indeed, my job as QA means I have a fair amount of overlap with the (recently hired! Yay!) usability people here, and that I do a rather lot of usability stuff anyway. Just because things irritate me and I want to _FIX_ them, not just add more bandaids.

It's that I also have interest in face blindness. And facial expressions. And body language. And synesthesia. (edit: and spatial awareness, and visual imagination, and visual memory, perhaps as related to face blindness, and, and, and...) But those are even more loosely defined in my head, as far as what the hell to be searching on/for, than HCI is.

Because of my job (and because of metahacker, to an extent, although it was an interest before I knew him), I actually have a decent sense of HCI, and think I would like it within reason.

I also do not expect, because of who I am, to _remain_ in any particular field long-term. I fully expect to keep modifying what my field _is_, although I do expect that field to be encompassed by psychological research. Which is just so, so loosely defined.

So as long as it is one of the things I have active interest in, I am not terribly worried.

And with masters, I can get away with being a bit more vague in my interest, because that's part of what you figure out. I think.

(this is all, of course, entirely not based in actual experience with grad school)

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

People have definitely picked what to study by far more absurd methods :) A masters has certain advantages in terms of not needing well-defined research interests, although that can also be true of a Ph.D. program. I also find a Ph.D. something it's easier to wrap my head around having already done research and significant writing my in area of interest during my master's degree, so I would also call that an advantage.

Here's an idea I've used successfully but that would never have occurred to me until someone pointed it out: find someone whose career path you admire, and then write them an email saying "hi! you don't know me, but I was really interested by your paper about X. I also really admire how you've been able to carry out important research in fields as different as foo, bar, and flub! I'm thinking about pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology and have interests in A, B, and C and wondered if you had any advice to pass on about the best preparation at the doctoral level for a far-ranging research career" or something. I am still shocked every time this works, but nurturing younger researchers is a part of the job for which many faculty have enthusiasm, especially younger ones, and it has netted me excellent advice about how to pursue the career I currently think I want :)