GingerbreadLatte

Given your math minor, are you open to PhD programs in quantitative psychology with a clinical focus? Such programs would require far less research experience than a clinical-only program. You can look into UCLA and USC if you'd like to stay in California.

I received an unsolicited email from an obscure open access journal seeking applications for graduate student peer reviewers. Is this opportunity worthwhile, or am I better off concentrating on my own courses, TAship, and research with my advisor?

If you paid an application fee by credit card, file a chargeback.

Listen to your adviser. You will have plenty of chances to attend conferences later on, at more appropriate times, in your PhD program.

sdt13, I did a one-man post-acceptance visit earlier this month. Dressy made sense. (found by google image searching "short sleeve business casual") That said, for official recruitment weekends when you're not the only attendee, check your invitation for a dress code. One of mine specified casual, so I showed up in jeans and my college hoodie. In retrospect, looking at what others wore, this may have been too casual - if I could do it over, I'd at least pick a collared shirt, like a polo.

Just signed on for psychology! Can't wait for August

Presented without comment. Released just hours ago, it's the first update in four years.

2. Concerning rent: $800 will get you a private bedroom in a modest apartment within walking distance to campus. My (undergrad) friends, all of whom walk to campus, pay anywhere from $350 to $1600. The low end requires cramming three people into a "vintage" one-bedroom apartment. The high end is a private studio at the luxury Park Evanston. 3. Students congregate near intercampus shuttle stops.

I just got a UPS Delivery Alert on a package shipped from UNIV PENNSYLVANIA-OUTBOUND scheduled for delivery this Wednesday. Hmmmm...

Go quantitative and minor in clinical. Apply to UNC and UCLA.

Nope, quantitative. I don't pay much attention what ApplyYourself shows. I was told in January to expect an acceptance letter, which I received last week by email.

Mine still looks like this:

Yeah, I did two at UNC. The vibe was conversational. The grad students knew very little about me, so I had to go into a lot more detail about my background than I did in interviews with professors who had read my application. Expect the question "What do you do for fun?" and say something other than "psychology /is/ my fun."

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Thanks everyone for the input. I've chosen to cancel. I don't have a top choice at the moment but as the school in question is not really in the same league, I opted to pass. I hope the information in this thread may be helpful to anyone else in my situation.

Thanks for the advice. I'll ponder everything overnight and make a decision tomorrow.

I'm almost sure. Side note: my fondest memory of intro statistics was learning that 0% does not mean impossible. Funding wise, they'd have to offer millions to overcome the chasm in prestige and locale. Research wise, nothing stands out from faculty profiles - is there any secret and profoundly exciting government contracted work they could reveal only at interviews? Financially, I would prefer not to go. They barely offered to reimburse travel costs. I'd have to pay out of pocket for a hotel. Obviously the cost is worthwhile if it means I'll fall in love with the program. I just can't see myself falling in love with the program. Then again, two years ago I couldn't see myself majoring in psychology. Yet here we are.

I'm on the verge of canceling one of my interviews because I've had the good fortune of being accepted, with funding, to a considerably better school (in terms of research fit, US News rank, and geographic location). At the same time I'm open to the possibility there may be something amazing about this lesser school that I would discover only by interviewing. Should I hold out for this possibility? Is there even anything to consider aside from fit, rank, and location?

Interview Weekends ASU (Quant) : Feb 20-23 Davis (Quant): Feb 25ish (see update) Duke (Social): Jan 24-26 KU (Quant) : Jan 25 Lehigh University: February 15 Notre Dame (All): February 7-9, 2013 Stanford University (Social): February 14-16 UCLA (Social): January 10-12 
UNC (Quant): Feb 15
 UT Austin (Social): Feb 22-23 
UT Austin (HDFS): Jan 24-26
 UBC (Social): Feb 7-10 
USC (Social): January 24-25
 UC Irvine (Social): January 28-29 
UC San Diego (Social): February 7-8 Vanderbilt (Quant): Feb 14-16
 WUSTL (Social): Feb 21-23 Yale (Social): January 27-28 University of North Carolina (Social): February 7-9 University of Rochester (Social): February 1-3 UCSB Feb 22-23 Univ of Oregon February 1 - 3 University of Toledo (Exp-Social): Jan 25th or Feb 11th UC Berkeley (Social): February 11-12 American University (Social): February 11 IU-Bloomington (Social): Feb 15-16 Florida State (Social): Feb 21-24 Rutgers-Newark: February 15 OSU (Quant): February 15 Penn State: February 14-17 University of Alabama: January 27-20 Texas A & M University: February 28 - March 2 University of Michigan (unofficial): February 21-24 University of Chicago: February 16-18 University of Minnesota: March 1-2 University of California, Davis (All): Feb 25

^ http://www.psych.umn.edu/grad/faq.html#faq19 It's a department-wide visit weekend for admitted students

Interview Weekends ASU (Quant) : Feb 20-23 Davis (Quant): Feb 25ish Duke (Social): Jan 24-26 KU (Quant) : Jan 25 Lehigh University: February 15 Notre Dame (All): February 7-9, 2013 Stanford University (Social): February 14-16 UCLA (Social): January 10-12 
UNC (Quant): Feb 15
 UT Austin (Social): Feb 22-23 
UT Austin (HDFS): Jan 24-26
 UBC (Social): Feb 7-10 
USC (Social): January 24-25
 UC Irvine (Social): January 28-29 
UC San Diego (Social): February 7-8 Vanderbilt (Quant): Feb 14-16
 WUSTL (Social): Feb 21-23 Yale (Social): January 27-28 University of North Carolina (Social): February 7-9 University of Rochester (Social): February 1-3 UCSB Feb 22-23 Univ of Oregon February 1 - 3 University of Toledo (Exp-Social): Jan 25th or Feb 11th UC Berkeley (Social): February 11-12 American University (Social): February 11 IU-Bloomington (Social): Feb 15-16 Florida State (Social): Feb 21-24 Rutgers-Newark: February 15 OSU (Quant): February 15 Penn State: February 14-17 University of Alabama: January 27-20 Texas A & M University: February 28 - March 2 University of Michigan (unofficial): February 21-24 University of Chicago: February 16-18 University of Minnesota: March 1-2 yhat, congratulations on your successful visit!

^ Some data from recent years: http://web.psych.washington.edu/graduate/files/Brochure12.pdf [Warning: PDF] 37 accepted, 21 enrolled (57% yield) http://www.virginia.edu/psychology/graduate/faq.html#ad12 32 accepted, 17 enrolled (53%) http://www.psych.ucla.edu/graduate/prospective-students/clinical-student-data 17 accepted, 12 enrolled (71%) http://gradschool.unc.edu/admissions/stats.html 31 accepted, 18 enrolled (58%) These are just a few schools that I knew published their yield statistics. I don't know if these numbers are representative, but it seems your intuition is at least in the ballpark.