eucalyptus

I think emailing the graduate secretary or DGS or someone similar to ask for those figures is a great idea. It's important information that a department should be happy to give to a prospective student - it shows you're asking some of the right questions. I wouldn't mention the NRC rankings - just say you're very interested in applying to the program and ask if they have any recent information on those topics.

Not sure how relevant this will be (I applied for Psychology PhDs), but about my first interview experience last year. This interview was after I'd applied, but before I'd been admitted (they interviewed a shortlist of applicants). I went to four interviews last year, each of which felt like it was at a different point on the interview spectrum; some were closer to classic interviews where they're trying to decide if they want you, some felt more like they were trying to impress you/convince you go there, but all truly fell somewhere in between. Three of them involved crashing with a current grad student, while the other was more hard-science-like in that they put me up at a nice hotel. All of them had portions where you had to dress nice and talk intelligently about your research, and all involved some amount of wining and dining. Hope this helps!

You know, I think you're definitely better off getting an answer from someone in English on this! I don't actually know anything about English PhD programs - I would have assumed that only academic/literature-ish stuff would be considered relevant, but I can see how other writing/editorial stuff would be too (the title "community internships in English" really works on me!)... I think it depends on your focus within English, and also the focus of the program (do they want to churn out only academics or are they cool with people going into other fields?). Anyway, like I said, I don't really know anything about your field so hopefully someone else will chime in!

DGS = director of graduate studies (generally the title of the person in charge of graduate student stuff within a department).

I also got asked this question before I applied. In fact, of all the times I was asked (which was a lot, both pre- and post-application), very few of them sounded like they were trying to find out if I'd accept an offer. Generally, they just sounded curious who else I was considering working with - partly to see if my applications sounded focused, and partly to suggest other people (or ask why I hadn't applied with other people). I did have one prof whose response was "oh crap, if you apply to Harvard they're going to accept you, and then you'll go there instead of here", but he admitted me anyway (he was right).

That stuff doesn't qualify as "recent publications", unfortunately. They're really just looking for academic publications. Sorry! Don't list this stuff on your CV, unless you're including those internships on your CV (which you might if they were relevant to your academic focus - doesn't sound like they are though).

I think it's up to you. I had Dean's List and a couple of small awards on my CV. I also had tutoring and other science education stuff under "teaching experience". I didn't include any information about classes or GPA since that seems like padding to me, but this is all really subjective. Some people might consider my just-over-2-page CV to be "padded"; however, I think of a CV as being the place to list all your relevant experience, and all this stuff seemed very relevant. If your CV is well-organized, it's easy for people to skip to the parts they're interested in anyway (research experience, presentations, whatever), and they'll just skim over everything else. They don't actually toss applications just for things like "CV is slightly too long" (or at least, not often)!

I'm in my first semester, and am taking three classes (10 hours of class + 2 hour lab + 1 hour section). I'm being co-advised, so I also have two lab meetings (3 hours), two advisor meetings (1.5 hours), and three "recommended"-but-pretty-much-required seminars (4.5 hours). So that adds up to 22 scheduled hours per week. With reading and research it adds up to a lot, but it's handle-able. I'm just glad I'm not teaching!

Exactly. Although, if you have more questions or ideas you want to discuss later, don't be afraid to bug them. Good luck!

I got a variety of responses as well. My current advisor initially said "It's unclear how many students we'll be able to take this year, but please apply anyway". I think I got responses (eventually...) from everyone I emailed, but a few of them said they'd changed focuses and redirected me to other people. I got a couple of those very curt "yes"es, and I don't think I ended up applying to any of those places, simply because it eventually became clear that the fit wasn't perfect. And I had one incredibly enthusiastic response ("That sounds perfect, we definitely have space, read these papers and let's set up a time to talk about them" etc). In most cases (except for the last one), I let the conversation die off if they hadn't asked any questions and I didn't have any more questions for them. There were a couple of cases where I came up with questions a few weeks later and re-emailed, and that seemed fine. I'm not particularly good at keeping up small talk, and I don't think profs really have the time for it anyway!

Depending on what your work experience is, it's possible to find a way to include it on your CV. If your (at least quasi-related) work experience is more impressive than your list of presentations/publications, go for a sort of hybrid CV/resume that flatters your best points. For example, my CV has a section on teaching experience even though I've never TAed or taught at the university level; instead, it includes things like my tutoring/teaching job and my summer job in science outreach (with a couple bullet points under each one to explain what they are). If I'd been applying to do a project involving fieldwork, I probably would have included my tree-planting summer job as evidence that I could live in a tent for many weeks and tramp through the woods all day (not sure what heading I would have put it under, but you can always make something up that sounds good). As for extra-curriculars, you can list obviously related things (polisci society, or whatever) under a heading like "relevant activities" (with no details or anything, but just to show that you're actively involved in the field). There aren't really any hard and fast rules for a CV - you pretty much just want to include things that are relevant, unique, and/or flattering.

You are definitely freaking out over nothing. There's no such thing as a 750V cutoff. It's conceivable that some science/math programs have a 750Q cutoff, since 750 is around 80th percentile in Quant. However, your 730 is 98-99th percentile in Verbal, and there's no way that'll be less than a cutoff score. They use GRE cutoffs to get rid of SOME of the giant stack of applications, not 99% of it! Here's your much-needed perspective: Don't retake. It is very respectable. Nobody cares about your Quant score, but if they did, they would like your 740. Your GRE score would matter if it was poor (it's not, so it doesn't matter). There's no such thing as a 750V cutoff.

My list last year started around 10 schools. Then I started emailing profs at all those schools, and things changed around a lot. Some profs were interested in me and my ideas, and some were not. Some had moved on to new lines of research, and some gave me suggestions of other people to contact. One prof even gave me some papers to read and set up phone calls to talk about them, and in the course of that reading I discovered another person who did really cool related work. In the end I applied to 6 programs, 4 of which had been on my original list. Your experience might not be quite as tumultuous - I'm studying something fairly unusual/new - but you'll definitely learn things from talking to profs!

If all the programs you're really really interested in are top 30, just apply there. That's exactly what happened to me last year when I was applying - I intended to apply to a variety of programs, but all the labs I really liked were ranked high (my stats were vaguely similar to yours, if that helps). I did end up applying to one school that was ranked lower just because I felt like I should, and that was one of the two schools that didn't accept me - they can tell! One other thing is that your list of schools will likely change somewhat as you email profs in the labs that you're interested in (which you should definitely do). I suggest that you contact profs somewhat broadly. Some profs might not be working on the stuff you like anymore, some profs might be really excited by your research ideas, some might suggest other labs where you'd be a better fit. When I started contacting profs, it became incredibly clear which schools would make good fits and which wouldn't. Good luck!

I'm not a Fulbright grantee but I've visited India a bunch of times, almost always including trips to rural areas. I've never gotten the vaccines for encephalitis or rabies, just Hep A & Typhoid. I don't know much about the encephalitis vaccine, but I do know that even if you have the rabies shots ahead of time, you'll have to get prophylactic shots anyway if you get a dog bite. What I mean is that if you get into a rabies scare situation, you still have to be treated with shots and stuff even if you have the vaccine (the vaccine just provides you with an additional level of safety). So, it's up to you of course, but I wouldn't bother with it. If you do decide later that you need the shots, you can definitely get them safely in India, and they'll probably cost a lot less too. Just ask someone to recommend a reliable doctor/clinic and you should be good to go. As for the anti-malarials, in the past I've sometimes had them and sometimes not. It really depends on where exactly you're going and in what season. If you can get them reasonably inexpensively, I'd probably do it.

I'm considering doing that with Canadian student loans... I was thinking about investing it somewhere really really safe (like a Canada savings bond or similar). I figure this will be useful in case something really unexpected happens and I need some cash, since it's better than taking out a non-student loan. Otherwise, I plan to just pay it all back the day I finish school.

I didn't have my final list of schools until early December, and most of my applications were due December 15th. In fact, I even made a change in early January (decided not to apply to a January 15th deadline school since I was already hearing good responses from my December applications). I don't really advocate my extremely-last-minute method, but I should mention that the school I added on December 4th ended up being my second choice program so I'm glad I gave them a chance! I think it's a good idea to have some kind of list in mind fairly early so you can read through prof's research and stuff, but that reading itself will almost certainly cause changes to your list - you might discover that a prof that sounded awesome actually writes really lame papers, or your own research ideas might change a little from reading. Another thing that will almost certainly impact your list of schools is the responses you get when you email professors in fall (which you should DEFINITELY do). I had email conversations with a number of profs that didn't end up on my shortlist, because I discovered through talking to them that our research interests were not the best fit. I also had some names added to my list by professors who recommended their colleagues as great people to work with on a specific topic. And, once again, conversations with profs made me rethink my research ideas a little, which led to me adding a couple of names. I actually found developing my list of schools to be the most time-consuming part of the application process - much longer than writing the applications themselves. Making the list required emailing professors, refining my research idea, reading a ton, updating my CV, keeping up email correspondence with numerous profs at one time, articulating my larger research focus, drawing out the relationships between my prior research and my proposed research... basically, all the groundwork for writing my applications. SOP-writing was easy after all that!

Cool, thanks for the info! I'll try to get my hands on that chart... my boyfriend lived in similar university-owned off-campus housing during undergrad and it was pretty awesome (great location, really responsive landlord), so I'm hoping for something similar from this.

I was about to reply saying I haven't had any communication with the department (and therefore only know the two other incoming students I met at my interview), but I just got an email from the department adding me to an incoming-psych-students mailing list. This is especially good because I was starting to (totally irrationally) freak out that I'd forgotten to mail in my admission response letter... so them acknowledging that they know I'm coming in September is a relief!

I don't think all is lost! You'll have to apply to new grad programs, but I don't think your prior experience will necessarily be a bad thing. Just list it on your CV as having taken some grad-level courses (you didn't actually get a degree from that school, so this is essentially what you did). If you did some good work while you were there, try getting in touch with some of your old professors. Explain the situation and how you've grown since then. See if one of them is willing to write you a LOR. You don't really need a LOR from your one year of grad school, but it would definitely be helpful to have someone vouch for your ability to tackle grad classes. On the other hand, if you did poorly in all your classes during that one year, you're going to have to address it (either directly or indirectly) somewhere in your application. You can do this in your SOP or in a separate statement - say that you rushed into grad studies prematurely but have since grown up a little (but say it a lot nicer than that!). Another way to address bad grades, if you have some time before you're hoping to apply, would be to take a couple grad classes at a local university and do well at them. This will show you're serious and will provide proof that you've changed. Good luck!

Has anyone used the Harvard Housing Office's lottery service (through the real estate office) to find a place to live? I sent in my application and have a view-and-select window near the beginning of June. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this or knows someone who lives in one of these places. I'm curious about the quality/condition of the apartments, as well as the atmosphere in the buildings. Some of the places look quite nice (and are in fantastic locations), but they seem a tiny bit pricey compared to what I'm finding on craigslist. In addition, does anyone know the names of good rental agents in Cambridge? I'm planning to visit for a few days in early June and would love to line up a bunch of apartment viewings, and I think a good agent would make that a lot easier. Thanks a bunch!!

I did my undergrad at Queen's (graduated in '07) and I have to agree on the overwhelming whiteness, although only in specific fields. I took half my classes in psych (probably 90% white) and the other half in computing (closer to 60-70%). I'm not white, but I did go to a private school; however, I'm the only one in my large circle of Queen's friends who did. Did you by any chance TA a Commerce class??

At the program I'm going to next September, there seem to be numerous opportunities to make extra money if you want it: extra TA-ing, advising undergrads, office paperwork, etc. It sounds like most students end up making more than the (generous) stipend at least one of their five years. Not sure if this is the case at other programs, but it's certainly worth checking out (these opportunities weren't advertised in any way, I just happened to ask about them).

This is slightly different, but if you're just looking for full-time RA work during the summer, a lot of big labs (at least in developmental psych) seem to do these summer internship programs. They don't tend to pay (which is one of the reasons I never did one) but they seem like a really great experience in terms of doing substantial work, learning methods, getting a great reference, etc. It's also the chance to get yourself into one of the top labs in the country if you so desire, which would probably be useful come application time...

I'm heading to Harvard for Developmental Psych in September. Not sure what I'm doing about housing yet - if my boyfriend gets a job in the area I'll be looking for a 1-bedroom with him, but otherwise I'll probably try to get in on a shared house. It sounds like emailing current grads about housing is a good plan, especially if you want in on a shared house. That's what I plan to do, and I'll probably see what the two other incoming students I met at interviews are planning to do as well.