u/Decent_Editor3570

Hi everyone! I'm thinking of applying to grad school for a PhD program in psychology. I'm currently an undergrad, but I'll graduate in December 2026. Based on my stats, should I apply this cycle, or should I take some time off school and work to get more research experience? I don't mind taking time off from school, but if I have a good chance, then I'd just like to go for it (because job market :/). Here are my stats:

• current cumulative GPA: 3.86 (I do have another semester to make it higher)
• research assistant in two different labs; by the time I graduate, I'll have 2.5 years of experience
  • lab #1 = 1 year
  • lab #2 = 1.5 years
• independent faculty mentored research project: started this in August, and it is still ongoing. I basically designed an experiment from scratch and did everything for it (IRB, hypotheses, preregistrations, data analysis in R, data interpretation).
  • did two poster presentations for it
  • also got a scholarship from my university to fund data collection
• my three letters of rec would be the PI who is supervising me for my research, the PI of lab #2, and potentially a past internship employer/graduate student who has worked with me

I'm also considering programs in Europe so if anyone who is currently studying there has any insight, please let me know! Also, unsure about GRE (although I think I have time in the summer to study for it). Any advice is appreciated!