ihatechoosingusernames

Haha solid . The POI looked at my LinkedIn but I have yet to be contacted. I hope he didn't "next" me! 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has cried in the testing center after seeing some good news! 
@beyondnervous You can do it! That stupid test has bested many of us on our first round of applications, and the second time you apply you'll be applying with better scores and a strong knowledge of how the entire application system works. Stay strong! 

School: University of Connecticut
Area: Psychology (Language & Cognition)
Rationalization: The professor already has 3 students and doesn't have enough funding for a fourth.
Comment: Even though it is the first official rejection, it was a happy one with a really nice email from the POI commending the application. So it's all good
Coping tactics: Looking forward to interviews!

Thank goodness for technology, indeed! I just got off a phone interview where I was told that if I declined an in person interview they wouldn't hold it against me at all. They know we have limited funding as students, so it's no big deal to turn it down.
I see they want to discuss interview arrangements. Do you know if they're offering to pay for part of your trip at all? If they are, and if that weekend isn't already taken up with another interview, you might consider giving it a shot. I don't think turning down an interview would automatically disqualify you, but it's important for both you and the school to get to know each other. They don't want to pick someone who has obvious character flaws that are only apparent once they meet someone in person, and they don't want to invest time/money into someone who may hate the city and leave a year down the road. It's a gamble for them to extend an offer of admission, and I'm sure it calms them somewhat to meet prospective students in person.
But don't sweat it too much! If you really don't have the time/money/whatever, just tell them you're broke and take the Skype interview  

Going out on a limb...it means you're probably going to be receiving an invitation to come for an interview

Going out on a limb...it means you're probably going to be receiving an invitation to come for an interview

Going out on a limb...it means you're probably going to be receiving an invitation to come for an interview

Going out on a limb...it means you're probably going to be receiving an invitation to come for an interview

I live in Louisiana, and it's Mardi Gras season...so thankful for king cake right now.

Thanks! Today was a great day. Got my offer letter from Michigan. As a first-year grad student, I'd be making more than either of my parents 

Great idea!  Here's a Google Sheets link for a list of the running list of interview date just in case anyone wants to use that avenue to search/update. 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nr3EjkYFVFQVh-_iCUwI2yDi0IFijurVdU2LyGHRMdI/edit?usp=sharing

That's interesting. I've never seen anything like that. I don't see how it's any different than having a mentor help you on your essay. And believe me, I couldn't afford it like it was just a regular day, either.
Really? Grossly proportionate advantage? Hardly. It's prepping for academia. These people are cutthroat and we're crazy enough to want to be their colleagues. It would be naive to assume that the thousands of applicants just submit their application without having friends/family/professors read over our writing and listen to our elevator pitches about our research interests.
 

Having your master's definitely puts you and I in a minority group, but I don't think it's the degree itself that makes/breaks you, it's what you do during your time getting your master's. When I graduated from undergrad I had virtually no research experience and 1 conference presentation. That's it. Nothing. By the time I was done with my master's I had 9 conference presentations, 3 semesters of graduate teaching experience, 1 semester as an adjunct, and 3 years of serious lab work. AND, more importantly, I was just as surprised as anyone that I ended up choosing Social as the direction I wanted to make a career out of. It took me having all those years of experience to know for sure what I wanted to do, and that makes me a more mature applicant and realistic investment from the school's perspective. I'm not going to enroll and drop out, mess up their funding, or harm the school's reputation in an any way. They want to be able to say that we offered x number of students acceptance, and that same number of students finished the program 5 (or 7 depending on the area) years later.

It's the way you present yourself, also. You can have a master's in clinical and previous practicum experience and blah blah blah and still manage to say, "I have developed ideas of my own, but I am certainly open to the methodology and approach that your program can teach me." 
One of the best decisions I have made was hiring a consultant to help me on my essay/cv/interview prep. It was pricey but the company is legit. The founder of the company has held 2 tenure position at top tiered universities (U of Oregon and U of Illinois - Urbana Champaign) and left academia because of all the politics. She tells you straight up, sentence by sentence, how to not sound like a poor applicant who desperately wants to go to grad school, even if that is the case. I knew I was a strong applicant but it wasn't coming across in my application packets. And now it has and I am much better for it. I've been surprised that I haven't heard others talk about doing this? The services are infinitely better than anything I've ever seen offered at a university career services center, or even previous professors of mine that have offered to help.

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."

It seems when I mention feelings around here, it gets blown up a bit out of proportion lol I am not taking this personally and am definitely open to criticism @rising_star. If not, I wouldn't be where I am in this field. Please don't take things out of context. I was implying that I was nervous to begin with and didn't know what was happening or if I should do more to get in touch with him. 
Either way, it worked out. He did end up getting in touch with me later and all is well. 

Maybe a spreadsheet in Google docs would be better (like the funding spreadsheet)?

"your application is pending review. please be patient"
 
No. I shan't.

Interview Invite #3! 
School Name: Wayne State University
Interview Invite Received: 01/14/2016
Degree: PhD
Type: Clinical Psychology (Health Psychology track)
Notified via: Email from POI
Interview Dates: Primary interview day is Feb. 26, with an alternate interview date on Feb. 29
Additional Info: According to the email, 235 people applied for the program this year, with only 37 applicants chosen for interviews. The program expects 9 or 10 new students out of this applicant pool. A formal invitation with more information will be sent soon.

my LinkedIn has had 2 anonymous viewers this week and I think it's safe to say I'm freaked ...

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."

School: Northwestern (neuropsych track)
Rationalization: 97% rejected, second largest applicant pool to date 
Comment: not surprised (invites went out last week). I think I'm more upset that Bowie and Alan Rickman passed away this week. 
Coping: Expecting the rejection helped me cope with being bummed out about a week ago. On to the next one.

Also, if the other joint women's programs are any indication...http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=michigan+women%27s&t=a&o=
 
Edited to add: I just noticed that if you search "ann arbor psychology" the results for UM come up a little better. From what I see there, in 2012 they let those rejected know at the end of January via email, and in 2011 they were notified by letter at the end of January/beginning of February. 

I applied to that program too! I haven't heard a thing yet, but I'm still crossing my fingers! Also, when you say you applied to the regular social psych program too, did you apply to the actual social program or personality and social contexts?

I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL. REPEAT. I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. ANGELS ARE SINGING. PARDON ME WHILE I GO DANCE NAKED IN THE STREETS!!!!!!!!! 

School Name: Western Michigan University
Degree: M.A.
Type: I/O
Notified via: Phone call followed by email
Interview Date: Feb 6th