Anita

Thanks everyone! I think I'm not going, and I'm going to find an RA job and apply again. In response to some recurring questions, no, I don't have a bat's chance in hell of being the rare student who gets along with this person. It has happened before, only a handful of times in their 30-year advising career. Those students always 1. were extremely smooth interpersonally, and 2. shared the advisor's sports obsession. I'm neither (in fact, arguably the opposite) of both of those. Their less fortunate students have tried absolutely everything to get this person to 1. publish more with them 2. treat them less shittily. Needless to say, no one succeeded. Also, this program is extremely small (3 profs, all of whom have well-defined and sharply different interests) so I'm pretty sure switching isn't a practical option (though it is in theory). PsychPhD, I'm honored to have your first post be in my thread So the verdict, I think, is that outside of R1 programs, I have a pretty good chance of avoiding sadistic advisors? I seem to sense a trend for public unis to be more depressing than private - am I wrong? Does anyone know which departments are known for happy, productive students and low attrition rates? I heard Stanford has a zero attrition rate, for example. Anyway, thanks everyone

So I got into the *perfect* program. Top 10, perfect advisor interest match, great city, etc. Needless to say, I was psyched...until I visited. Turns out this advisor has a history of being a nightmare (apologies for the weird unisex pronouns - can't risk being identified here). Their lab had a 75% attrition rate, their former students graduated with no pubs because they didn't bother to read their papers and refused to let the students submit papers themselves (many have left academia because they couldn't find jobs), they seem to enjoy overworking and verbally abusing their students, and various other horror stories. After spending a total of around 30 hours interviewing 7 of their current and former students, with various backgrounds and degrees of academic success, who all testified to their advisor's sadism, I've been reduced to a nervous wreck. By April 15, I have to say yes or no. I'm seriously considering forgoing the acceptance, getting an RA job (or just taking the year off if I can't find any) and applying again next year. Now, my dear GC'ers, my question is, how common is this type of advisor? Will I have a better chance of avoiding them by applying again? What are the signs I should look for before applying? All I want is someone who doesn't hold up my publishing productivity, and doesn't terrify their students. Before suggestions crop up for essentially making the best of a bad situation, no, I can't switch advisors without abandoning my research interest; and no, no conclusive strategy has ever been found for making this person more productive/agreeable. The only advice that her students agreed on was "have thick skin". Thanks GC; I trust y'all

Sooo...I'm going to Wisc this fall and looking to move in over the summer. I'm wondering if I should check out apartments when I visit campus in 1.5 weeks. Apparently most leases end in August, so IDK if moving in in summer puts me at an advantage or a disadvantage. Does anyone have thoughts on when/how to find apts in my case? Much appreciated

I was invited to interview weekend at Mizzou but ultimately didn't get in because of funding (my POI didn't take anyone). I imagine things don't look good for you either if you weren't at interview weekend

Ha! I knew it! They do so much brilliant intellectuallizing together, it's only fitting that they should be married. Kind of like the Pierre and Marie Curie of American psychology, however corny that might be

Hate to be adding insult to injury, but I emailed Tice last year and she said she isn't taking students. Hey, at least this is a less painful way to find out than getting a rejection letter out of the blue. At least you now know it has nothing to do with you or your credentials. Or so I hope...

Sweet! Did you see Baumeister and Ericsson? I'm a fan of both!

Yup, that was me. The department accepted me, but they have yet to recommend my admission to the graduate school. My app status is still "Pending" too. I guess it'll stay that way until I'm accepted by the grad school itself. Funny how these things work.

I noticed two of you applied to two of *my* schools that I was under the impression nobody else applied to! Who did you applied to at Mizzou (I assume it's Mizzou, not UMO St Louis or whatever their other campuses are)? I went to interview weekend there. I applied to Ken Sheldon, who emailed me a week ago saying he doesn't have any funding this year and therefore isn't taking anyone. Not sure about the others. Who did you applied to at Wisc? I believe their results are out, at least for me.

Wheeeeee! I just saw the latest result and immediately knew it's you! CONGRATS

I wrote a looooong post describing my strategy for finding POIs Yes, it's every bit as painstaking as it sounds, but on the plus side, I'm now familiar with the work of many, many people and has an idea of what's going on in the field right now. Whenever someone tells me their interest and their school list, I can be like, "Oh, did you apply to work with so-and-so?" That said, I now think it was still not as good a strategy as it could have been. I think a much, much better way to go about things is to become really, really familiar with past research in your topic of interest and figure out what you want to explore that isn't already explored. You're going to immerse yourself in it for at least 5 years anyway, so you might as well do the reading now. It'll only help. What I'm trying to get at is that, after you become very conversant in your research interests, you'll be able to name lots of important researchers in your field. Now your job is just to look them up, see where they are, decide if you want to go there, and email them to see if they're taking students. There's also a shortcut, which is to get a scholarly book (with a References section) on your research interest and look up everyone who's cited 3x or more. Honestly though (and I have no idea why I'm getting on a soapbox here; I'm just an applicant like everybody else), I do think if you can't name at least a few names whose research you're really passionate about, then maybe, just maybe, you're not ready to apply yet. I was the same way while I was filling out applications, and to be perfectly honest, I think I deserved to be rejected from some of the schools I applied to - I just wasn't knowledgeable and committed enough to my POIs' research. Just my 2c - hope that helped somewhat

Uh-uh. Just came back from my Mizzou interview (sitting in KCI right now). They call it "recruitment weekend" on all of their handouts and name badges. They also made it clear that the interview weekend is a chance for us to check them out as well as for them to check us out.

OK, I'm in Missouri for an interview weekend right now, literally, so here's what I saw. Business casual is definitely the way to go. If you're a guy, a shirt and dark jeans/slacks; if you're a girl, nice top and slacks/skirt. You'll probably walk a lot, and I don't think anyone really care about your footwear, so wear something comfortable. In fact, one of the girls here wore really nice heels, and had a miserable time walking around because it's been raining/snowing all day and there's slush everywhere (on that note, bring an umbrella). Everyone here is really friendly and laid-back, both grad students and profs, and I feel quite at ease here. I don't think you should sweat the clothing part. Good luck!

Darn, the idea of a gift never even crossed my mind until now...and I'm literally on my way to my first interview! (am sitting in Charlotte Douglas waiting to board in 5') As someone who has hosted and been hosted by strangers through couchsurfing.com, I can tell you that I personally don't expect anything from my guest, nor does anyone expect anything from me, much less if it's at the recommendation of some authority (i.e. my advisor). So relax and focus on what you're going to say on the interview itself

UMich apparently knew who they're admitting before my app ever hit the mail. UMass and Stony Brook POIs are not taking students, but didn't know that when I asked them. Oh well.

Thus far I've dropped at least $300 for 3 schools that took my app fee and my GRE report without even looking at my app. What sort of economic transaction is this? If somebody, anybody at all, spent an hour reviewing my app and then threw it in the trash, they would at least have rendered me an intellectual service that justifies the money I gave them. Here they just take the money and trash my app. This is only one of many things that don't make any sense to me about the workings of academia. It's like you have to sign an implicit agreement to forgo your entitlement to common-sense fairness when you volunteer to join academe, in exchange for the slim chance of one day being on the benefiting side of said lack of fairness.

Back from SPSP. Finally, a stable internet connection! The UMass situation is very interesting because at least one person is not telling the truth, knowingly or not. All I have to tell you is Dr. P. walked up to me after the Close Relationships preconference at SPSP and volunteered said info without me asking (or daring to ask). She also gave me a hug :| My friend also met the postdoc who's working with her next year in the poster session. Apparently the way the economy has worked is is such that it's cheaper to keep a postdoc than a new grad student. WTF. @ jordy: I think you're good, unless you applied to Sandra Murray, because she's not taking students. I had an interview at Buffalo and my status on the app is still "Not Reviewed - 12/04".

To all UMass hopefuls: I write with bad news. I met the aforementioned prof today at SPSP and she confirmed that the dept isn't taking anyone. Her lab took on a postdoc, which means the money that would have gone to a new grad student now goes to him. Plus, she only just found out she's going on sabbatical. So, if anyone had been worrying that it was just a way to shake them off her back (*cough* jlloyd87 *cough*), you now have the dubious pleasure of knowing it had nothing to do with your credentials. Woohoo! Let's all switch to economics and bring this economy around, and then we'll talk about social psyc.

Oohhh! Story of my life!

REFUND! I DEMAND MY REFUND! Seriously, if they can't take anyone that's one thing, and I can live with that, but if they'd promised to take someone, resulting in me investing $100 and lots of effort in them, and then go back on their own word, that's extremely inconsiderate. I can live with not being accepted, but I'd appreciate being offered a refund or some sort of compensation. Even an apology will do. But then, that's just the naive, idealistic, wishful, fairness-obsessed child in me who's still in denial that the world is a rotten place.

I was going to ask, but figured I'd let someone else do it

"Eww, C+ in stats. Eww, 3.5 GPA. Eww, did she just mention her BREAKUP?" I actually mentally rehearse this a lot. FML.

So UNC-CH is out. Mich State is out. WUSTL, it seems, is out too. Northwestern seems to have put me on a waiting list. UMich is, of course, out. FML. Not necessarily. I know a guy who got into Stanford but not some lower-ranked schools.

Why embarrassed? I'm just proud. Lolcats r awsum!!1 Seriously though, this dude is badass. His story is a source of inspiration to smart slackers worldwide (like me ). Thanks for sharing - I bookmarked his blog!

I could never tell that you're neurotic from your screenname