Applemiu

Hi Vulpes, I completely agree with you. I think that your schedule sounds very reasonable and it is what we should all strive for, with proper organization and focus, considering maybe a couple of late evenings every week and a few weekends here and there when necessary (before exams, before grades are due, etc.).
I did my undergrad at an elite program (top 15) and I can tell you that basically nobody puts in that kind of non-stop hours (like 9AM-10PM every day), unless maybe they all work from home? I doubt it.
About half of the students get good TT jobs.
My advice: get up early in the morning and dedicate a few hours every day to work/study/research only; no email, messages, browsing the internet etc. This will boost your productivity.
 

Hi Vulpes, I completely agree with you. I think that your schedule sounds very reasonable and it is what we should all strive for, with proper organization and focus, considering maybe a couple of late evenings every week and a few weekends here and there when necessary (before exams, before grades are due, etc.).
I did my undergrad at an elite program (top 15) and I can tell you that basically nobody puts in that kind of non-stop hours (like 9AM-10PM every day), unless maybe they all work from home? I doubt it.
About half of the students get good TT jobs.
My advice: get up early in the morning and dedicate a few hours every day to work/study/research only; no email, messages, browsing the internet etc. This will boost your productivity.
 

This is such an obscene statement, it's a little absurd.  Get off your high horse, Christ.

I agree with the posts so far with regard to publications, collaborations, networking, and funding. One thing that hasn't been emphasized is communication skills. Write well and then write better. Present well and then present better. These are ways you get remembered, get papers accepted, and get funded. These signal to departments that you will continue to do those things and departments are looking for people who do those things.
 
Another thing you should so is start reading about academic job searches now. That will give you a better idea of what you're up against while hiring and really drive home what really matters. Your field, Computer Science, has a ton of advice on the web:
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~weimer/grad-job-guide/guide/index.html
http://33bits.org/2012/10/01/five-surprises-from-the-computer-science-academic-job-search/
http://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/academic-job.html
http://www.pgbovine.net/guo-faculty-job-search.pdf
 
Note many talk about how much easier it is to get to the interview if you already know someone at the school (or if one of your recommenders do). Networking and collaborations.
 
I've heard from multiple people that the NSF GRFP is good if have if you want to be a professor, even more so than harder to get fellowship. Personally I don't think it would be a deal breaker. However, anything that differentiates your CV can help especially where you don't have connections.

We know that some professors know about the grad cafe. We get occasional visits from them. It's possible that they also read the relevant forums sometimes. 
 
The chances that anyone will go to the trouble of trying to identify an anonymous poster on the board and enact "sanctions" on them are probably fairly low. You would have to post something pretty outrageous on the one hand, and revealing on the other, for someone to go out of their way to identify you and to do something about it. If it were me, I'd be wary of misidentifying a student based on anonymous posts and accidentally punishing someone wrong.
 
However, it's a good time to remind everyone that everything you post on the internet is there to stay, and with enough time and effort, you could be identified even if you think you're anonymous. Think about how much personal information you post and how you behave online.

Yeah, I agree with rising_star and ian. You definitely don't want to go into six-figure debt for an MA if your goal is academia, because you won't make enough to comfortably repay it. (The Ivy MA will not matter when applying for academic jobs - where you got your PhD from is what matters.) However, a low-ranked PhD program with poor funding isn't a good idea, either.
 
Personally, I would decline them both and work on improving your application for the next cycle. Next time you might also apply to some inexpensive MA programs, perhaps at public universities in your state; that way, even if you decide to take on an MA, you can take on minimal debt.

I applied to NYU, which is my first choice because I want to do clinical practice, and to Columbia's online program.
 
I like NYU's program itself, the curriculum and their reputation for being an excellent psychodynamic/biopsychosocial program. But they have also been really, really nice, available, they email back, they have answered numerous questions for me, I got an appt with a faculty member who spent considerable time with me and seemed to love the school and made me feel like they wanted me there and were interested in my goals, etc. It is also $20,000 cheaper and they offered a great scholarship.
 
Columbia is attractive to me because of the online option and the name. I love taking classes online. I am sure that the program is very good, though maybe their reputation is better in policy than in clinical practice. However, they have been SO unresponsive in my experience, v aloof, not answering emails, not really willing to talk abt the program; the staff I met with or talked to have all been kind of blase. I feel like they are counting on their Ivy league laurels a little bit. I am also disappointed that it is taking them months to send out decisions when we were supposed to receive them within weeks.
 
I gave NYU my deposit months ago. I am still waiting to see what Columbia offers (if anything!) but even though they started as the frontrunner for me, they fell waaaaay behind NYU.
 
What are your thoughts?

Thank you all so much for the input. I think based on what all of you have logically stated, my decision is pretty clear here. Looks like I'll likely be attending UC Davis, I just might need a few days to wrap my head around it before actually hitting the accept button. I really appreciate all of your help!

I disagree. 

I disagree. 

Maybe "Cookie" is the professor's online alias!!! 

I disagree. 

I used to love my weekends.  Now I find myself waiting for Monday and the possibility of some news... any news.  

I know it's hard to wait but IMHO is better not to email POIs at this stage.

I know it's hard to wait but IMHO is better not to email POIs at this stage.

Nobody can answer a question formulated this way. You are asking people to predict your future. How can I know whether the U of Chicago "brand" will help you finding a job assuming that you do "decent" work? If you have the impression that graduates of the "Big Three" can get jobs no matter what, then it's the wrong impression.
 
You should just look for a place where you have a good fit and that you are happy to attend. Then do your best work, and see what happens.

Nobody can answer a question formulated this way. You are asking people to predict your future. How can I know whether the U of Chicago "brand" will help you finding a job assuming that you do "decent" work? If you have the impression that graduates of the "Big Three" can get jobs no matter what, then it's the wrong impression.
 
You should just look for a place where you have a good fit and that you are happy to attend. Then do your best work, and see what happens.

A short pause from the gifs to say, this thread is what is helping me keep it somewhat together. 

When my friends/family/co-workers tell me, "Oh, you're going to get in. Don't worry."

 
Me thinking about my future if I get rejected by every school:

 
2am when my confidence hits an all-time low:

 
Each time I see that there is a new email in my inbox:

About the extent of my self-talk right now...
 

So I just called the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign  graduate coordinator five minutes ago. She said that the Social-Personality area hasn't made any decisions yet. I asked if we are supposed to get phone or Skype interviews first and she said that yes there will and the emails for these will be sent before any official invites for the graduate in-person interview. I asked if she knew when the Skype/phone interviews will be happening, but she said that they will occur probably around mid February, but she wasn't sure because she hasn't heard anything yet from the Social-Personality area.
TXInstrument11-- you were right! the grad coordinator is super nice! 
 

In my email response I said something along the lines of "I look forward to visiting during the open house weekend."

^The sarcasm is strong with this one.

I disagree. 

I'm convinced! For my next birthday I want a quantitative party!