sdt13

I was in New Orleans for a conference and stopped by one of the famous local candy shops. I bought each a box of chocolates and pralines to go with a note in a card. This was pre-interviews, but I plan on getting each a mug and/or tshirt from the school I choose.

I have a question regarding an American applying to Canadian schools. I applied to 3 Canadian Universities (UVic, Saskatchewan, and McGill). All of them tell me there is a funding issue since I am not Canadian and therefore cannot apply for Canadian funding. However, one POI recently asked me if I was willing to become a Canadian permanent resident. Is something like this possible? Would it allow me to apply for Canadian funding? I applied to these universities keeping in mind that if I were to go to any, I would most likely just stay if I could so this is something I am more than willing to do.

I may be joining the Educational Psychology PhD program. I will be visiting in about a week to get a feel for the culture, as I will be moving from upstate NY. So far I've looked into the Hyde Park area as well, and it looks really nice. I'll definitely be asking aroud and checking out different housing options when I visit.

About 2 years ago I attended an international conference that I found to be one of the most beneficial since it was really aligned with my research interests. My undergrad advisor and I have been talking about attending this conference for the past year, but we recently found out it will be held in Singapore in September. I will be starting a PhD program in the fall and so I was wondering how my absence would be viewed if I were to attend (the trip would be a week)? My undergrad advisor thinks I shouldn't go so that I don't miss out on important lab/professor/student bonding opportunities. However, I also do not want to miss out on a chance to meet up with international colleagues that I only see at conferences (and this particular conference is bi-annual). Thoughts?

Hey everyone! So right now I am contemplating take an offer from UT Austin, however, I am nervous about the vast difference in culture/location. Does anyone have any advice or willing to share their experience with a similar move? As a brief background, I've grown up in the NJ suburbs of NYC, currently live in NYC, and attend university in upstate NY.

One of my professors suggested that if you're going to get a masters before re-applying, then you are better off going with prestige. In my experience, one of my advisors told me that going somewhere like NYU or Columbia for a masters would be better than going to the University of Essex (I chose this program because the program focuses on research and the POI and I have very similar interests...she also works closely with my advisor, as she got her PhD at my undergrad school). Despite that research match, he still recommended places like NYU or Columbia for my situation.

FYI - U Victoria is also trying to figure out funding. My POI asked if I was willing to become a Canadian permanent resident. Does anyone know about this process? I've always said that if I went to Canada for grad school that I would try to stay there, but I thought I wasn't able to apply for residency (with benefits) until after graduating.

I was wondering what you guys would consider appropriate for a post-acceptance visit? I'll be visiting a program in about a week to check it out before making my decision (they didnt hold interviews) and so it's just going to be me, as I am the one who requested the visit. I guess my biggest concern is the drastic weather difference since the program is in Texas and I am currently in upstate NY, and typically in that type of weather I wear shorts and a polo/nice t-shirt (this only happens during the summer, but even my department was relaxed enough to not care when I was an intern).

I emailed my POI in Saskatchewan (applied social) to inquire about the application process. He said that things should wrap up by the end of March or the first couple of days in April, as right now they are working on funding. He said that since I dont have external funding I am competing for the scholarship and so I should be patient.

Hey everyone! So I was accepted into a program that didn't hold interviews. I just responded to my POI asking if I could do down and visit during the first week in April (that's when the tickets were completely outrageous). I am interested in this program, but it happens to be the one I know least about (I applied to mostly social and this is ed psych) so I am hesitant to accept without knowing more. It would also be a big transition moving from NY to the south and so I want to experience that as well. My question is whether or not the first week of April (2nd-ish) would be too late? I know the deadline to accept is April 15th, but I feel like it's cutting it really close. Thanks!

I don't know if this is on the android system, but I use iAnnotate on my iPad for reading articles, ppt slides, etc. and it's amazing! You can import the documents straight from the internet, highlight, add notes via text or hand, etc. However, when I bought it last year it was $10.

Has anyone heard from Saskatchewan or Victoria yet? Specifically social?

I just heard back from the Human Development, Culture, & Learning Sciences program this afternoon (I was surprised because the website noted that acceptances/rejections would go out in April). I received an acceptance email from my POI, but my status online has yet to change.

That's actually not too surprising. I actually only applied for a specific POI that my current advisor suggested since her research matched with my NSF proposal. I was hesitant to begin with since I don't really want to be tied to an Ed-Psych degree (I'm more interested in social) but after speaking with my advisor about it more he thought it might not be the best choice. I was kind of bummed that the program doesnt hold interviews since this is the one I am most concerned about. Thanks for the added info! I will definitely take that into consideration.

The earliest I contacted a POI was in July (although she was in the UK). This actually led to an unofficial skype interview and so that was pretty cool. For another program, the POI was very open to discussing his research and the program, but he told me to wait and contact him again in late September-early October so that he had a chance to settle in with the new semester. I did that and we have maintained a steady flow of communication until this day (although now it's mostly just periodic updates about finding funding). Thus, there can be a benefit of contacting someone earlier than later. Everyone else I waited until about mid-September but even then POIs didn't really seem to have a great grasp on things yet and wanted to talk later. It seems to vary based on the POI.

Has anyone heard back from here? Apparently this program doesn't hold interviews so I was wondering if some people have been in contact with their POI. I am specifically interested in the Human Development, Culture, & Learning Sciences PhD track.

If you were worried, why didnt you just submit a brief writing sample with your applications (formally or casually)? While only one of my schools actually requested it as part of their application, so far the POIs that have the most common research interests with mine actually asked to read it (and it's 30+ pages). So far I have gotten a favorable response and no one even mentions my AW score (which was only 4.0, as I screwed up the first topic).

For those who have expressed interest in McGill, I was just told by my POI that there will be another faculty meeting regarding graduate applications this Friday (note: I applied to social). I'm not sure what that means in terms of when decisions will be sent out, but it seems as though unless you are in contact with your POI there hasn't been any information yet so I thought I would pass this along.

When is it appropriate, if at all, to inquire about your status? To whom do you inquire (secretary or POI)? I don't know anything about the Canadian system so I'm not sure if I should consider the schools I have yet to hear from (at all) as rejections. The only reason why I'm still hanging on is because my POI at McGill suggested that Canada takes much longer or starts later with the decision process than the US...but now it's starting to drive me crazy.

I applied to social and I am currently wait-listed. I had a phone interview with my POI back in the beginning of February to see whether or not I would be invited to the interview, but (presumably) due to lack of fit I was notified (at the end of February) that I was wait-listed. I do know they held interviews mid-February.

Victoria (social). I also haven't heard anything from Saskatchewan (applied social), but I know their final deadline was January 15th so I'm not as anxious about it.

So I understand that the Canadian schools typically take longer to evaluate applications, but does anyone have a rough idea as to when we should hear back in general? One of my applications was due December 1st, but I haven't heard a peep other than the POI requesting my GRE scores over a month ago because they got lost.

McGill already had a meeting where the professors presented which students they were interested in for departmental approval (at least this is the case for Social/Personality). Apparently this is one of many steps in the process and they are currently waiting to hear about funding before making any official offers (which I was told is expected to take place mid-March). Oh, and I don't know if that means those who didn't hear back yet should necessarily expect a rejection. I never had an interview but had several e-mail conversations and one phone conversation (which was explicitly mentioned as not being an interview) with my POI. Everything is completely unofficial.

You may also want to look into the work of Tim Kasser at Knox College. He studies materialism is a wide variety of contexts. Unfortunately his school doesn't have a PhD program, otherwise he would have been my top choice. Ken Sheldon (Missouri-Columbia) has done some similar work, but he focuses more on positive psychology in general but from a goal/motivation perspective.

It seems like you can do either social or I/O depending on the program. I dont know much about this area, but it seems like there are business schools that have programs for this as well. One of the recent graduate students at my school took a job at a business school near NYC. Vaguely speaking, he studied the role of money in interpersonal relationships as a social student. You should look into the work of Kathleen Vohs (I believe she is at a business school in Minnesota) and her colleagues to where they are at/where they come from.