Tolman's Rat

As I said, not clinical, so I don't have familiarity there. Most Canadian experimental programs are MA/MSc admission, then bump to PhD. Most American experimental programs are PhD programs and you receive an MA/MSc along the way. I'm not saying there aren't exceptions, but this is a general trend I've observed that distinguishes American from Canadian graduate programs.

From the sounds of it, this is a natural line of communication and doesn't seem to be forcing anything. A thank-you note is customary, and if you discussed your current work, it is natural to follow up on that.

I'm not in clinical and not familiar with the program generally, but the confusion might be coming from characteristic differences between American and Canadian programs. In Canada, you apply to MA/MSc programs even if you have the full intention of going through to get your PhD--usually your potential advisor has an idea of what you plan to do before you begin. In the states, MA/MSc and PhD are rolled into one, so you earn your Masters on the way to your PhD, but don't enroll in a separate Masters program. In the states, being accepted into a terminal Masters program is much different--this is when you don't have a POI.

I would definitely send the thank you note, at the very least. You could probably attach demos if you talked about them during the interview (e.g., "I've also attached X and Y, some of the things I've been working on as we discussed during our interview"). I'm probably the wrong person to ask, though, as I do have some boundary issues and am extremely neurotic about this stuff. I generally ask my girlfriend before I send out emails, and she will tell me if I'm being annoying or not! But definitely send the thank you!

I did send a thank you, almost immediately after the interview. It was only with my POI, so I'm unable to get in touch with anyone else. My only idea was that I've been in touch with her grad student about adding additional measures to a study I'm running, so there are natural lines of communication there, but it doesn't really help me in terms of getting an update on my status. OR WAIT! Stream of consciousness here...would it be overkill to get in touch thanking her for putting me in touch with her student, indicating that he has really helped me with obtaining the measures I needed for my research, etc.? Or does that sound entirely reasonable? Yeesh. I thought I would calm down after getting accepted. Not the case at all!

So nice to have a definite timeline! Mine went quite well, and we actually ran out of time at the end with the conversation going so well. I had a few more questions that I sent via email (as per her request) and she said that they would be best answered in a follow-up call or visitation. She then said she'd "be in touch soon." Much more ambiguous than your situation, but as good as I felt about it initially, I've started to overanalyze every part of the conversation! Given the ambiguity of the situation, I've really had to fight the urge to get in touch (or try to find a more casual way to do so).

I think the title speaks for itself here. We all get a little bit neurotic waiting for decisions, but it can be especially frustrating when you get a taste and then don't hear much for a little while. How long have you typically waited after a Skype interview before hearing anything back? Did the time that it took to hear back vary by whether it was good news or bad news? Did you reach out to gather more information, and if so, how did you go about this? Is there a way to check on your status without being annoying?

The department you applied to has to recommend your application to the graduate school for admission. This is standard procedure and it is extremely rare that the graduate school will disagree with the decision. For all intents and purposes, you are in. Congrats!!

Push notifications on your phone and Outlook (or Mail/Sparrow on Mac) on desktop--that way you don't have to check, you just get them right away.

Already in at a few programs but one of my longshots is taking forever (and by forever I mean just over a week...) to get back to me after a Skype interview. Fighting all urges to email her pestering about where the process is at. Part of me wants to say "hey, look at this! I got in at X, Y, and Z--don't you want me soooo much more now?!?"

Yep.

Could be. I know my lab director (Sid Segalowitz) has a potential candidate who couldn't make it in due to distance. So if you are coming from somewhere outside the US, it is possible that you still have a shot. Have you been in touch?

I agree with this, actually. Conference presentations can make a big difference. While updating your CV, also include your bilingualism. Just my advice--I don't see how updating could hurt you, though there are certainly downsides to not letting them have a complete picture of you, especially when what you're leaving out could make a difference in your chances.

Oh my. It's a funny feeling, because it's something I only really get when I'm ruminating (which actually happens to be quite frequent...). Think about this for a second--have you interviewed at these programs? If so, did you feel out of place talking to the people you'll be working with for the foreseeable future? For me, the conversations actually went really well, and I was unexpectedly accepted just a few days after interviewing with, as with you, a top program in my field. I'd imagine you felt the same, that once you actually got down talking to these people, you were more conversant than you expected. Also, if you got into top programs, you probably had some pretty important people writing some pretty awesome letters about you! That isn't just based on grades, but on what they see out of you on a regular basis as it relates to your skills and creativity relevant to the field. That said, I don't know if the feelings ever go away, at least until you're done. A recent PhD graduate in the lab that I'm currently working in said that her greatest feeling in defending her dissertation was "Wow, I actually know stuff!" Her feelings of inadequacy lasted for the entire duration of her PhD, and it was only while defending that she felt she was deserving of her place in the academic world.

Thanks! I'm hopeful that my situation is a bit different--there was never going to be an acceptance right after, but rather, the interview was meant to lead to a visit/interview day or follow-up interview. I think the POI was conducting something of an initial screening. That said, now that I got a taste of that program, I want in, despite being in at 4 other programs Perhaps that is her tactic.........