eucalyptus

Thanks!! I got another email at noon today asking for a good time to phone me!

Hey there, I'm applying to mostly Developmental programs (a couple of Cognitive ones also). I'm interested in language evolution (& acquisition) so it can fall in either field, and there aren't a ton of profs working on it. The only program I've heard from so far is a request for a phone interview from Johns Hopkins - just got an email today from my prof-of-interest asking to talk tomorrow.

Yeah, I've definitely heard from a number of profs that significant external funding is a huge boost to your chances. When you bring your own funding, the department is taking a much smaller risk on you (only spending their time, not their money).

I got an email from a prof there who mentioned that they're having a meeting to discuss applicants on January 4th. He also asked where I'm currently living, which makes me think that interview invitations will be sent out pretty soon. Just thought I'd pass the info along!

You could also try checking out labs/departments at other schools you're interested in to see if they'll take you on as a summer research student. Lots of labs (in psych, at least) do official summer research programs, and many others might take you on without an official program for it. You might even get a chance to work in a lab you'd like to join as a grad student!

Generally, I would say that you can always get two people into a hotel room that's been booked for one person, but at interviews sometimes they'll have you share a room with another interviewee. So definitely check with the department and it will probably be alright, but if they want you to share, offer to pay for the other half of the hotel room.

Well, I did make substantial changes to the entire second half of my SOP for each school. I proposed slightly different research (or phrased it in a different way) at each place, and had a couple of paragraphs about prior experiences that I added/removed based on what I was proposing. I also made a few tweaks in wording. But there was still a distinct fit paragraph where I stopped talking solely about myself for once and wrote about the school I was applying to!

You almost certainly won't get both stipends. Usually you get just the stipend from the external source, and the department uses the money they're not spending on you on someone else. A lot of places will give you a "top-up" to your external stipend though (maybe $5000/year), as an added incentive for students to apply for external money.

1) My fit paragraphs range from 137 - 201 words (the latter is actually two paragraphs). 2) I think it sounds somewhat out of place and unnecessary. It's not related to your research plans and is not really a compelling reason to attend that school, so I'd leave it out.

Great, that's what I was leaning towards. Thanks for the super-quick replies!

How many profs is too many to mention your SOP? At one of my programs, I'm mentioning all 6 members of the Developmental Psychology program. Two of them are potential advisors (I'd really love a co-advising arrangement), and I'd like to do a project with either of another two. The final two profs teach and research on areas that are clearly related and would be the "broadening of my foundational knowledge". Is this total overkill? Should I cut the mention of the final two profs so they don't think I'm just trying to name everyone in the program?

I just emailed profs at JHU two days ago and Harvard yesterday and they have both written back to me favourably. They don't appear to be offended by the late notice and both indicated that they're interested in my research. My experience suggests it's better to contact late than not at all!!

Take a look at the SOP coyabean posted on her gradcafe blog - I believe she had a somewhat similar situation and worked it into her SOP quite nicely. That might give you some ideas on how to address this.

When you go to an interview, are you told ahead of time which 4-6 professors you'll be speaking with? I imagine that this would be useful information so that you've read up enough about them. Also, I know there is generally a lot of socializing with current grad students. Do they actually have any bearing upon admission decisions? Or is it just a case of... if you do something truly horrendous in front of them (getting hammered, being a jerk, etc) then it will get back to the admissions committee informally?

I really don't think it's too late - I emailed the bulk of my profs about a month before the deadlines and every one of them wrote back. None of them seemed affronted at the short notice.

My undergrad school's fee for transcripts is $20 each! It really sucks. Luckily my grad school gives them out free, but you have to wait ages while they send them across the pond.

I just had an awesome prof-contact experience, which I would like to share: This afternoon, I made some panicky last-minute changes to my list of schools (whose applications are generally due December 15) based on research fit - removed two schools, added one. For the school I added, I emailed a couple of professors there for the first time (yes, less than a week before the deadline) and within 30 minutes received the most enthusiastic reply ever! It was long, detailed, and mentioned over and over just how much he wants a student with my interests and experience. Plus, I'd asked about the opportunity to work with animals even though I was pretty sure he wouldn't have any; turns out he really wants to collaborate on animal research but didn't have a student to do it, and he could easily send me to the monkey labs at Yale or Duke. I'm soooo unbelievably excited about this!!!

In general you want to make sure that the person writing your letter has the credential you're going for. In this case, if the grad student in question has a Masters degree or is past the first 2-3 years of their PhD program, they pretty much have the Masters you're going for, so it's fair game.

That's true, I didn't consider that the paper might make it out of the adcom. I'll definitely check with my supervisor before sending it.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense!

When I applied out of undergrad, I got into 2/6 of the PhD programs I applied to. Then I went to one of those, and a year and a half in my supervisor moved to another country. So now I'm reapplying, with an almost-finished Masters thesis. Hopefully I can get into some of the programs that rejected me three years ago! My predictions: There are 2 that I feel pretty confident about (including one top choice). And 2 that I really don't think I have a chance at (the other two top choices *sigh*). Of the 5 in the middle, I'm guessing I'll get into 2. I'd really love to get into more than one program, just so I get to agonize over the choice!

None of the programs I'm applying for (Psych) require a writing sample, but many suggest that you can attach a paper or other material if you would like to. I've written a research paper covering a bunch of my Masters work that is currently under review for publication. Is it okay to attach this to my applications? I ask because it hasn't yet been accepted, and if/when it is, it'll probably have to be edited. So, the current form is not the "official" form that it will (hopefully) one day be appearing in. Is this something to be concerned about? Also, my mom (who used to be a researcher) is neurotic about idea-stealing - do I really have to be worried about that when sending my paper with my applications?

I was thinking about Ann Senghas and Herb Terrace, but I actually decided to drop Columbia from my list a few weeks ago. I think their work is great but it is a little too tangential to what I want to do... which I realized as I was trying to write emails to the profs. *sigh*

Hey Palindrome, would it be possible to tell me who this prof is that you're talking about? I'm a psych major (cog sci in undergrad) with an interest in both language and primates, so I'm highly curious (and don't worry, my app list is finalized already so I won't try to steal him way from you!). You can PM me if you like.

I think this is a fairly common response to starting grad school. In my case (a PhD program in the UK), I'd moved across the ocean from all my friends, family, and boyfriend to a tiny isolated town. I definitely spent the first semester feeling isolated and overworked, but things changed sometime during my 2nd semester. Finding a new social life wasn't an easy task and kind of happened by accident - I moved desks from one communal grad student office to another, and magically found myself with people I enjoyed hanging out with. The workload also became more manageable and interesting as time went on, partly just because I got used to it and was able to finish stuff faster. And research definitely got better once I was past the reading/planning stage and into the doing/getting-results stage. I think moving straight from undergrad to a PhD is a really big jump and one that takes some getting used to. It takes a while to forge a new identity as a researcher rather than a student and you can feel incompetent at the beginning. But in my case it was worth giving it some time, as things definitely got better!