STAR Scholars Fall 2025 Seminar Series

Just as being a graduate student is very different from being an undergraduate so are the ways in which you figure out which programs are the best fit for you, and successfully apply for them. This session will be especially relevant to juniors and seniors in the process of researching and applying to graduate school: How to find the right programs, how to structure your personal statement and get strong recommendation letters, do you have to take the GRE – and what if you don’t score as well as you’d like? However, we’ll also talk about what you should be doing to prepare as early as your sophomore or even freshman year. Participants will also get a list of faculty who are accepting applications this year and additional resources to assist with applications and personal statements.

NOTE: The live session will be recorded and posted on the STAR Scholars website if you are unable to attend.

What is involved in psychology research? Is it all white rats or investigating psychiatric disorders? How do we use it in “real life”? You might be surprised! We will talk about some of the many different topics and research methods used in psychology, as well as how it is applied in the real world to topics ranging from addiction to education to social injustice.

NOTE: The live session will be recorded and posted on the STAR Scholars website if you are unable to attend.

Getting involved in research can seem exciting but a little intimidating, too. But you don’t have to be an expert to start! We’ll talk about what to expect, and what will (and won’t) be expected from you when you first get involved with a lab. We’ll also have several students who have completed the STAR Scholars program and who are now working in labs describe their experiences and answer your questions.

NOTE: The live session will be recorded and posted on the STAR Scholars website if you are unable to attend.

The deadlines for many summer research opportunities are coming up soon! While our earlier session more generally covered the process of finding and applying for positions, here we’ll go into more detail on finding summer positions, including those NOT at your home institution, and how to maximize the chances that your application will be a successful one.

NOTE: The live session will be recorded and posted on the STAR Scholars website if you are unable to attend.

What kinds of careers open up to you with research experience in psychology besides being a professor – and what is being a professor really like, anyways? In addition to universities and hospitals, UM Psychology graduates have gone on to a wide variety of successful careers, including business, marketing, law, pharmaceuticals and journalism, and at companies like SpaceX, Facebook, Google, Amazon – even the Ministry of Defense in Singapore! We’ll talk with some recent graduates who have gone down the academic and nonacademic career paths about their journey and how being involved in psychological research contributed to their success.

NOTE: The live session will be recorded and posted on the STAR Scholars website if you are unable to attend.