CagedBird

I think I'm intimidated by the whole loan process. I didn't have to take out any loans for undergrad because I was on a full scholarship. If the worse happens and I do not receive an assistantship for this first year, does anyone have advice about which loans are good and when to apply? I apologize if I seem naive. Like I said, I have no experience with loans lol.

Thanks for the advice! I was thinking that too, especially since the semester isn't over yet and I'm sure they are busy right now.

That's what I thought to! I think what's worrying me is that the assistantships I have applied for have yet to get back to me (I'm a very impatient person lol). While talking to the grad students, even the PsyD ones didn't seem to worried about the money. I know I will qualify for federal aid and probably also receive aid from the school itself (I come from a low family income background)....also, the school I'm applying for has a PhD program as well, and students are allowed to switch programs, either from PsyD to PhD, with just some paperwork and it just has to be done early enough

Yes and no, from what I've heard. Looking back at my notes from the interview, it says about 70% of the cohort are fully funded and a lot of them work on the side.

Hey guys! I have accepted an offer at a private university for a PsyD program and I'm freaking out about funding! I have applied for multiple assistantships and I have yet to hear back from any. My program cannot guarantee funding...and it's making me question my decision to attend I have no debt coming out of undergrad, which is good. I know that I would accumulate some possible debt in grad schol...but still, I'm very overwhelmed! Does anyone have any advice? lol

Almost all of the programs I looked at for my field of study didn't gurantee funding...They told me about 65% of the cohort are funded, or are offered jobs through some certification programs that are offered on the side during the duration of the program. I really want to accept this offer, since the program is exactly what I want. The funding part just scares me a lot lol.

Hey guys! I was accepted into a doctorate program, my top choice. I was delighted about the offer. I was given the usual deadline of April 15th to decide if I want to attend or not. However, this program stated that if I was to accept their offer sooner, I would be considered for assistantships for the coming fall semester. Other than that, there is no funding available. I'm hesitate about accepting without concrete funding information. This school is pretty prestigious and also very expensive to attend. Should I go ahead, fingers crossed, and accept by the deadline indicated in order to considered for assistantships for the first year? Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning towards the Ed.S program, because I could also switch to the Ph.D. program in my second year there since they have one if I desire. Also, they told me all my credits would transfer if I chose to switch programs. I like that I have that choice.

Oh wow! That's awful! It makes my roommate seem like a saint lol. And I am counting down the months until living with her is over about 4 months left! And I'm realizing she's doing herself a great disservice by distancing all of us, so it will bite her in the butt in the end. Cheers to you and thanks!

Ok, I didn't know about the extra year of post-doctoral hours for private practice. Thank you! And as far as I know, everywhere I've researched has said EdS is primarily for working in schools. Have you heard otherwise?

I think I like the wide range of options I could choose from with a Psy.D. over a Ed.S. I'm not entirely sure if I want to work primarily in schools. I've thought about working in hospitals, and who knows, maybe even starting my own private practice one day.

Lol it does seem like an obvious choice. However, the Psy.D would give me a wider range of opportunities. I'm not entirely sure I just want to work in schools my entire career, a job placement that would come about with just an Ed.S. degree. However, if I get a Psy.D., I could work in hospitals or even start my own private practice. I do not yet know if I would choose those routes, but I like to know that I have those open to me, especially a hospital setting.

I have a friend that attends the city college and she loves it there. I think I'm more worried about being taken out of my comfort zone the most. However, do you know if the pay difference is really that much between an Ed.S and a Psy.D?

Thanks for the advice! Would you be able to tell me any specific apartment complexes to go to or avoid? I'm worried about living stipends, as I'm not sure how much I'll receive as a grad student. How much would I be able to live comfortably off of?

So, I have a dilemma. I've applied to two programs that are almost polar opposites of each other. I really like both of them, but they are so dissimilar that I'm having a hard time making a decision. The one program is an Ed.S degree in school psychology. The college is located in a suburban like setting and it's a pretty big campus. I've visited friends there before so I'm very comfortable on the campus (comfort and fit is a huge priority for me). The college is also closer to my hometown than the other college. The program itself isn't funded but almost all the students have GA positions that cover almost all or part of tuition, plus stipends. The program itself is 3 years, 2 full years of coursework and a 1 year internship. The program is nationally accredited, well known in the area, and has a 100% job placement rating after graduation. This college is also located in my state, and tuition overall would be significantly lower, as well as living costs. There are on-campus living arrangements that are available but there are also plenty of off-campus options. The other program is a Psy.D degree in school psychology. This college is located in a big city and the campus itself is very small and found right in downtown. My only visit to the college is when I went to my interview. It's only a little further away from my hometown, about 20 minutes. This program also isn't funded and I've heard that GA's here are very competitive and I will most likely not have a chance to get one until my 2nd year. The program is 4 years, 3 full years of coursework and a 1 year internship. This program is currently going through review processes to be accredited (it's a young program), but they will most likely pass because the Ph.D. program has been accredited for a number of years. This college is not located in my state, but tuition costs would not be higher since it's a private institution. However, living close to a big city is costly, and there is very little to no on-campus living arrangements for grad students. The city college itself is a very prestigious university and I would have so many opportunities for practicum and internships in the area. The suburban college is between two major cities a distance away, so I would not have as many opportunities for diversity in my internships as much as the city college. Also, the city college is a doctorate degree, and I would have a wide range of options for employment upon graduation, with higher pay, than the Ed.S. degree. However, attending the suburban college would cost significantly less money and the program itself is overall a year shorter. I'm at such a crossroads. What would you do? Does anyone have any way to go about deciding between the two? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

So, I have a dilemma. I've applied to two programs that are almost polar opposites of each other. I really like both of them, but they are so dissimilar that I'm having a hard time making a decision. The one program is an Ed.S degree in school psychology. The college is located in a suburban like setting and it's a pretty big campus. I've visited friends there before so I'm very comfortable on the campus (comfort and fit is a huge priority for me). The college is also closer to my hometown than the other college. The program itself isn't funded but almost all the students have GA positions that cover almost all or part of tuition, plus stipends. The program itself is 3 years, 2 full years of coursework and a 1 year internship. The program is nationally accredited, well known in the area, and has a 100% job placement rating after graduation. This college is also located in my state, and tuition overall would be significantly lower, as well as living costs. There are on-campus living arrangements that are available but there are also plenty of off-campus options. The other program is a Psy.D degree in school psychology. This college is located in a big city and the campus itself is very small and found right in downtown. My only visit to the college is when I went to my interview. It's only a little further away from my hometown, about 20 minutes. This program also isn't funded and I've heard that GA's here are very competitive and I will most likely not have a chance to get one until my 2nd year. The program is 4 years, 3 full years of coursework and a 1 year internship. This program is currently going through review processes to be accredited (it's a young program), but they will most likely pass because the Ph.D. program has been accredited for a number of years. This college is not located in my state, but tuition costs would not be higher since it's a private institution. However, living close to a big city is costly, and there is very little to no on-campus living arrangements for grad students. The city college itself is a very prestigious university and I would have so many opportunities for practicum and internships in the area. The suburban college is between two major cities a distance away, so I would not have as many opportunities for diversity in my internships as much as the city college. Also, the city college is a doctorate degree, and I would have a wide range of options for employment upon graduation, with higher pay, than the Ed.S. degree. However, attending the suburban college would cost significantly less money and the program itself is overall a year shorter. I'm at such a crossroads. What would you do? Does anyone have any way to go about deciding between the two? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

I found out today that it would cost quite a bit of money for me to just transfer rooms, and that it may not even occur due to the roommate that had left because of some legal issues surrounding her leave of absence. On a good note, the girl I was going to room with has offered for me to stay with her as much as I want, and other good friends of mine that I've been with staying with occasionally love it when I come over and stay the night with them. The situation with my current roommate has gotten progressively worse since I've confronted her, for we are no longer on speaking terms anymore. It looks like I might have to just stick out the situation and make the best of it. Any advice of how to deal with this gracefully and learn to just keep to myself fron now on? By the way, you have been very helpful, overworkedta, and I greatly appreciate all your help through this situation.

Our apartments are owned by the university, and we each actually pay our own individual leases, so we don't share the apartment lease. And I've heard from other people that it is really easy to move apartments during the middle of the semester. She just wouldn't have a roommate anymore, without any effect on her lease.

It's good to hear that your situation has improved! It gives me slight hope that mine might improve as well. I just found out today that a good friend of mine has a vacancy in her 2-bedroom apartment and has asked me to move in....would moving in with my friend be a cope out though? We have these apartments until July, so would it be worth it to go through the whole moving process again? Part of me wants to stay and stick it out, maybe repairing the friendship at some point. But part of me wants to just leave now and be happy with a new living arrangement. I also know that if I move now, the chances of my previous roommate and I ever speaking again are slim to none

gradschools.com...helped me out a lot when I was choosing programs

To danieleWrites and overworkedta: It's so hard to be warming to them when they completely ignore me. But I guess you're right. I hate that my senior year is turning out like this, especially with this roommate that I've had the whole time as an undergraduate. I want to make a change though; I can't keep coming home completely miserable all the time. And I can't let her dictate anymore how I feel. I think I've already invested too much time and energy into this situation. I also think she has no interest in repairing our friendship, after her comments that she doesn't want to spend time with anyone else and that she hoped that I didn't have any hard feelings about it, or that she couldn't hang out with someone that didn't like her boyfriend anyway. If she's willing to drop our friendship of almost 4 years (and all her other friendships in fact) for a boyfriend that she has only had for 6 months, I don't think I would want to be friends anymore with someone like that anyway.

She'll probably throw it back in my face that my boyfriend still comes over, so why shouldn't hers? Mine never stays the night though, and he isn't over anywhere near as much as hers. I wouldn't have such a problem with the situation if they didn't ignore me completely while they're here. They'll say hi to me, but then talk amongst themselves when they're in the living room, and then they just go to her room and shut the door for the rest of the night. If I enter the living room or kitchen when they're in there, they just stop talking and only resume once I've left the room. It's almost like I'm the unwanted third roommate here, even though it's my name on the lease!

Hey guys. I really appreciate all your responses. I found out today that apparently this boyfriend had been abusive in his previous relationship and his ex-girlfriend left him because of the abuse, which I heard was just psychological. According to what I heard, he's controlling and manipulative. I guess it makes the picture a little clearer for why she's acting this way now

Lol my sentiments exactly. After only about 3 months, when we actually still at least talked to each other, she told me that they were going to get married. Umm ok, whatever you say. Her reasoning, at least some of it, was that she was ready to live without her parents, that they were getting annoying. Yeah, that's a great reason to get married....not I think I might just ride this whole thing out for the new few months. I stay out of the apartment as much as possible for classes and going to workout. Some nights I stay with my friends at their apartment. And the nights I do spend here now I try to bring my boyfriend if he's not working so I have at least someone to hang out with so I don't have to deal with them.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurt, but I'm trying my best not to take it too personally. One of her best friends from last year that I'm friends with as well just messaged me asking if I knew what was up with her and her sudden hiatus from everyone's lives. I think I've decided that she is no longer a friend and just a roommate now. When you spend 24/7 with someone (which she literally does, I kid you not), and you don't make time for other people....it's sad, and quite frankly, I think it shows her insecurities as a person who just doesn't want their significant other out of their sight. I know I could be generalizing though, so I apologize (I like to spend a lot of time with my boyfriend, but I make the effort to spend time with friends, and he also encourages me to spend time with them).