veggiez
-
Posts
87 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by veggiez
-
-
"Where did you apply?"
"all over, to like 15 schools"
"uh, why so many?" - BECAUSE IT IS COMPETITIVE!!!!
My fav- "So what programs are you applying to?" "Counseling psychology" "Oh, so you want to read minds?"
....huh?
These two things! My responses to where I am applying are always just like yours, "uh they're all over the country, even some in Canada. I applied to 11 schools and if I name them all you won't remember them anyway," and people just respond, "oh...wow...ok..."
Also I am applying to cognitive and developmental psychology programs and I still get crap like that about reading minds. Most people are like, "oh you want to be a therapist? I have a lot of problems, so you can help me." But no, I have no interest in being a therapist, that is not all psychology is. Gah
-
We have probably applied to the same programs so we may get a chance to meet each other. I have an interview at Berkeley and Michigan coming up as well as Denver in terms of affective oriented POIs.
One of the unexpected and surprising things was how easy it is to talk to some of my academic idols. I thought it would be very stressful, but it really just felt like a casual conversation about psychology and sometimes the publication process.
As far as words of wisdom, the best advice that I ever received regarding these interviews is the old adage "be yourself". One of my advisers insight-fully pointed out to me that the point of these interviews is for you and the person you want to work with to get a sense of your "fit" together (personality, working, and research fit). It is a fuzzy construct, but I think you have a better chance of getting a feel for that fit if you're not faking anything.
If you don't know something say so; if you disagree with something say so; if you like a particular thing or not like a particular thing say so. I've really taken this advice to heart, and I have just been very candid with people. I have gone as far as saying that "I wish there was more X,Y, and Z in the department", but it was well received. I have had debates on current issues in emotion, emotion regulation, and judgement and decision making. I attended a lab meeting and openly disagreed with a procedure of a person's proposed study. I have proposed different studies. I have openly admitted my ignorance of certain literature, physiological measures, and statistical knowledge. I have openly admitted the weaknesses in my application. In fact, I'm surprised that no one has asked me the "what are your weaknesses" question and that I sometimes have to volunteer information regarding the weakest parts of my application.
I have had good experiences so far. Of course, I expect that there may be programs where I would not have this positive experience in which case the "fit" would not be a good one.
This post has really calmed my nerves a bit about interviews in general. I am a pretty shy/quiet person, so interviews intimidate me, but the idea that you can admit your weaknesses and just treat the whole interview as a conversation is a good thought, especially considering you might be in their lab next year and should have no problem talking to them then.
-
lady fingers
-
I had an interview last weekend that was very casual and not a lot of pressure, and I have one this weekend. I am not loving losing my weekends because the work seems to just keep piling on (I'm still an undergrad), but I know it will all be worth it. Only having 2 interviews so far really puts the pressure on though because this might be all I get.
-
That is what I have been thinking as well. I'm glad more cog neuro people are starting to post.
Question: I had a phone interview with my POI about three weeks ago and was even emailed a paper for a potential project after the call. A week after, I sent a response with technical questions about the project as well as a desire to follow up on the interview. On the phone, the POI had made it seem that I would hear back about information for in- person interviews in just a couple days and here I am three weeks later with no response, just anxiety. Does this seem normal to any of you?
I hope this isn't the case for you, but after a skype interview with a POI that I thought went very well, she gave me the dates of the interview weekend, but then I never got an official invitation and ended up getting rejected a few days before the weekend they were holding interviews. These things are so weird and I hate that I was so positive about how the interview worked. I am really sorry if this makes you more anxious; I just couldn't resist responding to a story that seemed so similar to my own.
-
awesome sauce
-
I could tell the professors where I went did not mind about dress that much, because they themselves were in jeans haha, but it is nice to dress up a little bit more than usual.
I thought the exact same thing. The professors were not really dressed up, and the grad students definitely were not. We had a dinner at a professor's house and I was asking what I should wear and the students were like, we're all going to be in jeans, so don't get too dressed up. Everything at my interview was a lot more relaxed than I expected, and it felt nice to know that no one was judging me on the outfit that I pondered over for hours.
-
the open house is only for the Clinical and Clinical Developmental Programs only. I dont know about the other programs, they are run by a completely different acceptance committee... Sorry
good luck though!No that's totally fine! I would rather not be sure than know that I didn't get an interview for sure haha. Holding onto that little bit of hope.
-
I've gotten interviews from Pitt, LSU, and Penn (which was followed by a rejection), but those are the only ones I've heard about. Glad to see a thread started for cog though.
-
Do you know if the open house is only for the clinical developmental program or for all of the psychology programs?
I talked to my POI in the fall and she said that funding was difficult for American students, so that might be why I haven't heard back.
-
sports bar
-
Yes I have a test essay to be writing, but instead I am reading articles to prepare for my interview next weekend and sitting on gradcafe... Also I went to an interview this past weekend and was the only person still in undergrad at the interview, so it was a little weird.
-
air guitar
-
As far as I can tell, everything on Wolverine access looks exactly the same as before I was rejected. So I'm thinking you won't be able to tell from there
-
I applied to York too! But no, I haven't heard anything. They are very near the top of my list though, so I would love to hear something.
-
Oh that is good to hear. It doesn't sound very promising, but at least we will know for sure.
-
It makes me laugh that "also" and "like" are commonly used words by the worst applicants
-
My father after my first rejection from Princeton: "I thought you pay application fee and you're in"
. My dad keeps saying "well if you don't get in anywhere, you can come home and go to school here." I have explained to him a million times that the location has nothing to do with why I don't get in. Any school in my home state would be just as difficult. He seems to think that if I live at home, they will just decide not to fund me and so if it isn't a funding issue, it's no longer competitive.
Also my mom on the phone the other day, "Well I don't know why Stanford wouldn't accept you. What do they want that you don't have?"
Oh I don't know, how about 10,000 publications and conference presentations, on top of constant research experience since I was a freshman?
-
man hunt
-
This same professor asked a lot of specific concepts and theories in psychology (e.g. cognitive dissonance and other more specific things), not to test me, but to know how much he had to explain in talking about what he was researching. The more you know offhand, the better you look. Once again, I advocate honesty - if I had pretended to know about a topic that I didn't, I would not have been able to continue the conversation intelligently, because he would have assumed knowledge I didn't have.
At one of my interviews, I definitely felt like I was being quizzed on my knowledge of specific theories. For one, I was honest that I had read about it, but I didn't have a good enough grasp on it to apply it to the situation she suggested. She explained it to me very quickly and clearly, and I was able to apply it to the situation right away, but I am worried that it hurt me that I didn't know the theory well enough. I am applying to do research in a field that really interests me, but none of the psych classes at my college cover it, so I don't have a very deep theoretical background aside from the articles I have read on my own. I have studied up for my next interview, but I really hope I don't get anymore questions like that.
-
delivery service
-
School: Penn State
Area: Cognitive
Rationalization: Even though I got an interview, I think that there must have been a lot of other competitive applicants for my spot. I should have sounded more enthusiastic about my research interests and had some ideas for further research available for when she asked for that. Also needed to brush up on relevant theories that she asked me about and have more specifically read her research, as I think I misconstrued some details of one study we discussed. I still have a few more interviews lined up, and now I know what to improve. The first one just hurts the most
Word: Grrr
-
Me too please!
-
When I see that some of my schools have already made acceptance offers, I just rationalize it by saying that maybe only certain departments have, and then if I see that the acceptance is from the psychology department, I figure that maybe my POI hasn't gotten around to making any offers yet. It's not even February, so it's too early to decide that I am only getting interviews from the schools that have already contacted me. It's keeping me sane-ish for now, until I actually get a rejection.
Possible to work teaching in the States with a UK PhD?
in Psychology Forum
Posted
I am no expert at the US immigration laws, and I am sure someone who knows more can comment, but I have never known America to turn away people from other countries who want to teach, and you could definitely find a school here that really loves diverse perspectives, such as someone from the UK. This is all just based on my impression of American universities, but I think it is definitely a possibility.