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I told my office mates about the 2 double spaced pages requirement and they were like "what??? how is that even possible?" I mean, I assume I can try to pack some background information into the research background statement, but I'm so lost as to how to write anything of substance in basically 500 words. If you find any thing useful, please share here! I'll do the same (if I miraculously find something).

I am planning to apply for the 2016 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. I am trying to find examples of statements for the application but am not having much success (compared to the NSF GRFP where there are tons of examples to be found). I feel I really need an example for the research proposal statement, because they ask you to cover a lot of points in only two, double-spaced (!) pages. I feel like there's no way I could successfully address everything in so little space, unless I do an extremely superficial job. Can anyone point me to some example essays, or any other application assistance? P.S. I searched the forums and couldn't find anything about this fellowship except a thread from last year with people waiting to hear back, so if I missed a thread that's already out there, my apologies.

Thanks for the additional info! I will check out the other software/programs mentioned too. Too bad that Mendeley turns out to have been bought by Elsevier (I also didn't know the extent of Elsevier's bad behavior... funny since I used to work for McGraw-Hill, but they're not in the academic journal business.) I checked it out last night and it seemed really great. For those of you that read on a tablet, what tablet do you use? Do you prefer a larger or smaller tablet? I am considering an iPad or iPad mini, not sure if I would prefer a heavier device with a bigger screen or a lighter device with a smaller screen... the bigger screen of an iPad might be better for reading and writing (by hand or typing, even with a keyboard), but the portability of the mini is appealing. Though I hear academic papers on PDF don't always come out quite as well on the smaller mini. I guess I should give reading on my laptop a shot too. I just have never done it that way, and it seems weird to me... but since finishing undergrad until now I've worked at jobs that were almost entirely at a computer, so staring at a screen for long periods should be something I'm comfortable with at this point!

I will have to check out Mendeley! Is there an app or iPad version available too? I don't have an iPad currently but am thinking about getting one so I don't always have to be tethered to my laptop. It's a Macbook air, so not exactly heavy, but I often like to get reading done outside or in places where a laptop would be less than ideal. EDIT: I just went to their website and they do have an app. Should have just checked myself in the first place!

I'm just about to start my grad program and one thing I'm not sure about is the best way to do readings - electronically or on paper? As an undergrad 7 years ago, I read everything on paper (undergrads got a certain number of pages to print free per week and it was always enough to print what I needed). Now, I'm not sure. I have a Kindle (Paperwhite) and have been using that to do some prepatory reading this summer, and it's kind of a pain. The PDFs are rarely converted well, so you have to jump around the page to skip over annotations, fonts are randomly different sizes, italics are lost, symbols are not converted properly (this has made reading theoretical/philosophical linguistics papers a HUGE pain), highlighting is clunky, and I can't imagine it would be easy to quickly skim through later to find what you need. I don't want to be buried in paper as a grad student, and paper copies are limiting. But I can't think of a good way to do a LOT of reading electronically. On my laptop would be weird, I can't imagine highlighting with a mouse and having the same retention. I also know I need to start thinking about using Endnote or similar for tracking citations, which is for some reason overwhelming to me, maybe since I can't even think of a good system for reading and storing the papers in the first place! How have other people dealt with this?

Thanks everyone! You're right that I was overthinking this. I won't worry about it and I'm sure it'll come up in conversation at some point. I will have to ask my advisor about taking time off, but I don't think they have grad students in my department TA over the summer, and our summer funding is guaranteed by the department, so I can't imagine taking time will be an issue. We're not going on our honeymoon right away anyway - probably waiting until next year.

I'm just about to start my first year of my PhD program. Since I was accepted into the program, my now-fiance and I got engaged. We're older than most students in my program (29 - most new grads are 22-25) and we've been together forever so don't want to wait too long to actually get married. We are planning on early June of next year. So in addition to moving (twice - first by myself, then again in a few months when my fiance joins me) and starting a grad program, I will also be wedding planning this year. I'm aware I may be crazy. Luckily my mom will be playing a big part in the planning (she is retired) and funding, so it's not like I have to do it all myself. But it is something on my plate this year that will require my attention. Also, I think it would be super weird to not mention it to people I'm working with closely, especially since I might end up wanting to invite some of them. But I also don't want to start out my grad program by telling everyone right away and risk them thinking I'm not serious, I'm not going to be properly focused, etc. Not like marriage and a wedding is some ridiculous folly but still... perceptions can be weird in academia and I don't think any other students in the program are married. Heck, my secondary advisor (who I'll be working with this year while my primary advisor is on sabbatical) isn't even married himself. When should I mention this to my advisors or others in my program, and what's the best way to do it? I will be dealing with some wedding stuff pretty early in the semester (visiting venues on one weekend, and then trying to secure vendors that must be booked far ahead) and I don't want to seem like I'm hiding things, but at the same time I don't want that to be my first impression.

lunarem - If it wasn't a relief (of a sort - I wouldn't wish the stress on anyone!) that you're in the same position as me, I'd find it eerie! lol. But yes it seems we are definitely not alone. Are you moving far for your program? How are you dealing with this? I am just about to get started on some reading so I can catch up on stuff I've missed in my field since undergrad and get a little bit of a head start for the fall... but I'm also hoping that digging into the material will help remind me why I wanted to do grad school in the first place. Whenever I've immersed myself in academics (attending a conference, dept visits) I get excited and I'm hoping this will be the case again.

I'm glad I'm not alone here. I am getting more nervous and worried about making the right choice as I get closer to going. I know (or at least am pretty darn sure) that once I get to grad school, it'll all fall into place and feel right and I'll be excited, and love the environment like I did when I visited the department. But for now I just keep thinking about everything I have to do to get ready, all the HUGE changes that will happen in nearly every aspect of my life, and everything that I'll be leaving behind. I think that since I'm older (finished undergrad 7 years ago, so I'm nearly 30) it's especially hard. I worry about the steep pay cut, losing my free time, being unsure if I can ever again take a nice vacation any time of the year when I want to, wondering how I'll be able to start a family with my fiance... And actually things in my life now are going really great, so it seems weird to ditch that in favor of a huge unknown. Especially since I'll have to spend at least the first semester on my own, without my fiance or my cat (lol), and without enough money to go visit him more than about 2 times during that period (it's too far for a train or driving to be a reasonable option), until my fiance wraps up his job, finds a new one in our new location, and can move. But, I also know that people live just fine (if frugally) on grad stipends, people start families in grad school, people are nervous, etc etc. And my mom keeps reminding me that it's "better to leave the party while you're still having fun" and it may be better to move on now then wait until I'm miserable. There are a lot of good things coming and I will be okay once I start! But now as I have to make decisions and everything is becoming "real" I'm freaking out a little. Or a lot...

This is an encouraging thread. I just (as in yesterday!) got accepted to my top choice PhD program. I am older than the average applicant and will be 29 when I start the program. Meaning I will be 35 or older when I finish (most finish the program in about 5.5-6 years). I don't want to wait until then, or even until my dissertation year, to have children, but I'm very nervous about the prospect of balancing a baby and grad work. The program I will attend requires a 1st year and 2nd year project with different faculty, and you TA all semesters except your first and your last two. But my partner is not in graduate school/academia, and will be able to contribute more financially towards child care and everything. I was thinking maybe I could swing having a baby in the summer after my second or third year (assuming I can actually manage to time it that wel!). It sounds like it's definitely do-able even if no one in my program has done it before!

julietmercredi - Sorry for the delay, I have been off grad cafe for a while since I posted. Thank you for your response, it was super helpful! Everything you said sounds like great advice that I will keep in mind when choosing a program (should I get accepted to more than one) and when I start.

I am interested in language - primarily the role language plays in the understanding of abstract concepts. So I'd like to explore questions like when is language needed for us to be able to understand certain types of concepts, or is necessary to understand it in particular ways, and if so, why and how.

I am curious about employment and career options outside of academia for someone with a PhD in cognitive psychology. I am not a graduate student, I am just a potential applicant. I am trying to determine if grad school is truly the right choice for me, especially since I am older than most applicants (if I start a PhD program in Fall 2014, I would turn 30 in the spring of my first year). This is just one of the many factors I'm considering. While currently I am interested in remaining in academia (i.e. being a professor) if I get into a PhD program, I am also realistic. I know that the academic job market is tough and I also know that my goals might change part way through the program. If I am going to make this commitment, especially during such a critical time in my life career- and family-wise, I want to know what other options are out there after the degree. Unfortunately, many schools do not share placements outside of academia, and this isn't really a question you can ask during an interview or any other part of the application process - they want students who plan to stay in academia. Is anyone here looking into or know of someone with a cog psych (or similar) PhD currently in a field outside of academia? Something related to the field and with good long-term prospects?

I am applying to graduate school (cog/dev psych PhD programs) for my second time this year. Last year I interviewed at 3 schools, got wait listed at 2, but wasn't accepted anywhere. I finished undergrad in 2007 and since then I have not really had any academic/research experience. The professor whose lab I worked in as an undergrad (who is one of my recommendation letter writers) suggested I try to get a poster at a conference based on my senior thesis research - her recommendation was the BUCLD conference. Somewhat to my surprise my poster was accepted (with only a 34% acceptance rate too). Now, the conference is next weekend. I am planning to attend all 3 days as I figure this is a good way to get exposure to people, ideas, realities of academic life. There will be profs there from most if not all of the programs I am planning to apply to, including the professors who I'd want to work with. I know it's probably really late to be doing this, but should I email these professors and ask to meet them? I figure I could at least mention that I am presenting during one of the poster sessions and would appreciate the opportunity to discuss my past research and interests with them. I am also planning to attend the presentations of as many POIs as I can, and hopefully I can come up to them at the end and introduce myself and ask a few questions. Also, if anyone has any other helpful suggestions for networking at the conference, I would truly appreciate it. I don't really know anyone there and will be alone pretty much the whole time. I will probably see the prof I mentioned above but we have not been in touch much recently as she's been really busy, and I doubt she will have too much time to spend with me.

My scores from last year (when I only had about 2 weeks to study after deciding to apply to grad school) are 166 verbal, 153 quantitative, 4.5 AW. I completed my undergrad in 2007 so I was (and still have been) out of the academic game for a while. I am happy with my verbal, not too concerned with my AW, but worried about my quantitative score. Should I retake the GRE? And if I do can I just re-use my study books from last year? I have a strong GPA, some research experience in a lab and a undergrad research paper, and last year I interviewed at 3 schools, waitlisted at 2, but ultimately wasn't accepted anywhere. I am planning to apply to schools like JHU, Harvard, UPenn, Delaware for cognitive or developmental psych (it varies by school). I am presenting a poster on my undergrad reseach at a conference next weekend.