Please help! Grad school advice

Hey everyone,
After much painful deliberation and confusion and hand-wringing, I have settled on a choice; I want to go for the Ph.D in Psychology. This was originally what I wanted to do. Anyways, now that I'm actually doing research on what I need to do to get into graduate school, I'm worried that I came a little late to the party (I'm a junior undergrad right now). The school I want to get into asks that you have research experience and letters of recommendation. The problem is, I have no idea how to get research experience! The school asks that you get letters of rec from people familiar with your "work". What work? I do homework and my job and that's about it! I'm not super familiar with my professors; I go to a huge university and my classes are massive. It seems that I need to get a "faculty mentor" in order to participate in research at my school (there's no program for undergraduate research in the psychology department unless you have a faculty mentor). I don't know how to do this. I've tried getting to know my teachers and everything, but how do I say, "hey, will you pick me out of thousands of students to be your undergraduate person?" I'm confused and stressed. Anyone who has navigated this path in the past and has advice would be very much appreciated

I'm not sure how the course works at your university, but here in the U.K. we have to carry out our own supervised research project at undergraduate level in order to graduate. And also, going from undergrad to doing a phD is a HUGE step (I've been a psychology student at university for the past 4 years and I only know one person who did that). Could you perhaps consider doing a Master's course once you graduate which is not as difficult to get onto compared to doing a phD course? Once you complete your Master's, you could then go on to do a phD (you'll be much more experienced with conducting research when you have a Master's).
What I'm basically trying to say is; little steps might be a better way to go. You don't have to go straight from undergrad to phD. Plus with a Master's, you get to work closely with members of staff so they get to know you more on an individual level. Hence getting a letter of recommendation becomes much easier.

Hi! What I did was ask a professor if I could do an independent study with her. And I carried out research for a topic and wrote up the "article." The grad schools liked that.

I would talk to the assistant dean of your program or the office secretary, whoever coordinates the program at your university. That person would know what steps you should take next. The chair of the department is another important contact. The more professors you get to know now, the easier it will be to get into the grad program of your choice.

Hi!
I should have been more clear. The program at my University only goes to Ph.D from undergrad; the master's is included along the way. We don't do a supervised research project...it seems like anything I do has to be self-initiated, and I have no idea where to start with something like that. I have an appointment with an advisor next week, I'm hoping they can tell me something. Thank you for your advice!

Sorry if I sound stupid. How do I go about getting to know my professors? Everyone says to go to their office hours...but then I thought office hours were for questions...and I understand the material. I'm extremely socially awkward and I don't know what to say to my professors.

You could go up to one or two of the professors that you can relate with the most and tell them that you're loving Psychology and want to get your PhD, do they have any tips to share with you? {In my experience, professors were always happy to talk about my next steps in reaching my goal.}

Good question! I am currently finishing my Ph.D. in psychology.
1. Talk to your professors! Go to their office hours or send them an email asking if there is a time you could meet together to talk about grad school. I am a visiting professor and talk to students about this a lot. Ask them if they have any research projects you could assist with, or if they know of any opportunities to do so. If/when you find research opportunities, ALWAYS show up on time to meetings, let the professor know in advance if you'll be late/can't attend, be polite and respectful, and demonstrate superior responsibility. Make sure your emails are grammatically correct and spelling error free (no text-lingo lol ;-) thx). The more your professors know you, the more willing/able they are to write you letters of rec. Later, ask if they can write a positive one. Although it hasn't happened to me yet, if a non-impressive student (most likely one that has pissed me off, too) asks for a letter of rec and doesn't specify a positive one, professors can and will write a negative one. Generally you will need 3 letters of rec. Depending on the specifications from the school you're applying to, 2 could be from profs and 1 could be from your boss. Also make sure these people get them sent by the deadline. If they are to be mailed in, provide the prof/boss with a preaddressed and stamped envelope. They should seal the envelope, put their signature across the seal, and put clear tape over that. The letter should also be on university letterhead/stationary, but you'll never see that part. Most should be familiar with the process.

2. Take the GRE. Also see if your program requires the Psych subject GRE. In that case you'd take both.

Hope this helps!

You can ask your professors questions that aren't related to that specific class. You can ask them for guidance re: next steps you should take to pursue this course of study. Howdoyoufeelmeow has some good suggestions. Even just saying hello and chit chatting after class about some point someone made, perhaps walking with them to their next class.

I got to know mine by speaking up during class, going to extracurricular events and mingling, asking questions related to their field of expertise. I helped one professor clean her office in exchange for her supervising 6 credits worth of independent study Is there a lounge space for your program? I am not sure what you would call it, but my university had areas set aside for different programs where people could get together to study or talk or whatever.

Another idea is to get a small group together to work on a research project with the professor's guidance. That can be a fun way to get published and get to know your classmates and professor at the same time.

Great advice everyone Thank you so much! I know these things seem like common sense to some people, but I've never watched anyone go through college and I have no example of how it's done. I appreciate all the responses