socosci

For undergrads & prospective grad students

Get the most out of research positions, learn to apply to postgraduate positions and PhD programs, and learn more about how to join the SoCoSci lab if you’re a prospective graduate student.

Core research skills ⚡

Getting involved in undergraduate research 🔎

Applying to graduate school

Mentoring programs 🤝

  • Project SHORT
    Nonprofit mentoring program. Graduate & professional health students, residents, faculty, & postdocs offer pro bono mentoring for prospective students.

  • Graduate student mentorship initiative
    Mentoring program to help grad school applicants from minoritized bakgrouunds by pairing them with STEM professionals in their respective disciplines.

  • Application statement feedback program
    Provides feedback on research/personal statements of grad applicants in psychology, prioritizing underrepresented groups. Applicant submission portal typically opens late October; applications typically reviewed in early November.

Application prep 📄

Some individual perspectives on the grad school application process:

Interview prep 💬

FAQ for prospective students ❓

Sally is accepting graduate students for the 2024-2025 admission cycle (for programs starting in Fall 2025).

Are you taking grad students this year?Yes! I will be reviewing graduate student applications for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle.
I'm interested in learning more about your lab. Can we meet?Thank you for your interest in my lab! To ensure fairness for all applicants, I have a policy to not take meetings with prospective students before application deadlines. However, I'm excited to review your application materials if you choose to apply!

In the meantime, here is advice I would offer if we did meet in person:

Think of the PhD “personal statement” as a persuasive essay that makes a clear case for:

  1. Your research puzzle: What specific question or problem do you aim to explore in graduate school, and why does it matter?
  2. Your preparation: How have your academic, research, or professional experiences equipped you to tackle this puzzle?
  3. The fit: Why is my lab, or the psychology department at SFU, the ideal place for your research?

Regarding this last point: While I hope my students will engage with the questions I’ve been exploring, I also value collaboration with other labs in the department. Therefore, I encourage you to consider including a secondary mentor in your application: someone with complementary skills or research interests. Even if a faculty member’s profile indicates they aren’t accepting students this cycle, they might still be open to serving as a secondary mentor.

Best of luck with your application process!

What does your lab work on?Broadly, our lab studies how people learn and reason about other people, themselves, and the broader social world.

For more information, read about our research here!

What do you like about what you do?In one word: People!

I’m in this field because I’m passionate about understanding people—strengths, quirks, complexities and all—and bringing them together. What excites me most about the lab’s work is how different individuals come together united by a common goal to solve meaningful problems. I like discovering each student’s unique qualities, and facilitating their exploration of—and progress toward—paths that align with who they want to be. Bringing people together is a joy!

If this lab were a sports anime, we would be that dynamic, diverse team where everyone’s skills complement each other. :)

What are you like as a mentor?As a goal: effective!

As reality: continuously learning to be more effective.

For the lab, my values are to create a collaborative, intellectually stimulating environment where students can feel supported in: exploring interesting ideas or connections, examining questions that matter to them with rigorous methods, and pushing the frontiers of scientific methods.

I’m approachable and believe open communication is key, and will schedule regular meetings (e.g., weekly) and encourage constructive feedback (e.g., compliment sandwiches) in both directions.

My expectations for myself and mentees include research excellence and work–life balance, because my goal is to help people develop both personally and professionally.

You can expect me to ask hard questions but also to celebrate milestones big and small. :)

I’m also working on a longer and more explicit version of this answer in our lab manual (tbd)!

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For current PhD students & postdocs