QASP

This and CrossFit. Two bad tastes that taste bad together!

Extreme heat. 90+ degree days? Yes, please, as many as possible.

Yep, that is totally correct, for undergraduate it's actually a fairly reasonable option; if I were in your shoes I might look at an online program for undergraduate from a respected school. A lot of state schools have these programs now, even. For graduate school in clinical/counseling psychology, however, it's just not realistic. Which is why a degree from Fielding is not taken very seriously (not to mention, there is very little money to be made in this field, so going into debt for this degree is a serious mistake). What I am trying to warn you about here is investing in a degree that is going to be more damaging than helpful in the long term for you (and you and your fiancee's finances). Unfortunately, this is a field where you have to make the sacrifice of being in the same place for several years in order to receive the proper training, much like medical school; if that is just not possible for you, you may have to consider other career options. In many ways it's unfortunate, but in a lot of relationships people have to decide which spouse's career to prioritize.

Well, hey, if you got interviews, that in itself is better than many applicants do! Some get none at all. I am friends with a very talented PhD student who applied twice; 1 interview the first time, 1 interview the second time. Many people apply 2 or 3 times, especially if they are traditional students applying right after college.

There are no reputable online programs in clinical and/or counseling psychology offered online (for good reason). There are many reputable (brick and mortar) schools that offer online undergraduate degrees which would be doable for you, but there is no way to achieve a PhD worth having in this field without staying in the same place for a long period of time.

"Cosmos"

These things are field dependent. While what bluegrass502 describes above does happen, within my social science field it would be considered unethical to do this. Unfortunately there are unethical PI's out there. But the general standard in the social sciences (and definitely in my field) is that the order of authorship is determined by the amount of work done, and one should be significantly involved at most/all stages in order to gain authorship on a paper at all. I wish a better job could be done of monitoring this and making sure it's so, but alas. Some of those questions, Lottie, are also dependent on your school. Some programs expect that you will essentially take a project that your advisor is already working on, handle most of the hard work, be published as first/second author on the paper, and create your thesis out of that no problem. Others would absolutely frown on co-authored work on a thesis. If there isn't a handbook for your program with clear standards for this, maybe ask an advanced student who has been through the process? Of course from what you're describing you should probably be sole author on the paper anyway, but academia doesn't always work that way.

I think people are overstating the challenge of having pets in the Boston area. I have lived in multiple spaces where multiple pets were completely allowed (don't own any myself, so it was never an issue). In terms of finding a space that is pet friendly, you're probably going to want to look in more residential sections where there are small houses and three-flats and the like as opposed to apartment complexes/buildings. There's a lot of this more "traditional" housing available without even leaving Cambridge; some in walking distance to Harvard Square, and then a lot also around the two red line stops before and after Harvard Square, plus Kendall Square. You may even be able to find a place with a small fenced in yard in some of these places! Whatever you do, don't live in Allston. Unless you don't mind never sleeping again due to the constant loud parties.

I had an interview at Penn State. You don't want to know how many times I told people about it and they said "Wow, that's great, the Ivy League!"

I appreciate the advice; I am definitely looking casually, but prices on rent seem to vary so much I guess I feel like I won't really know until I visit to find a place. I've never owned a vehicle before, but for this I do need a car; I have lived in the place where the grad program is in the past, and while it is technically possible to live there without a vehicle it's a pretty miserable existence. I spent a lot of time begging for rides back then and it was all sorts of unpleasant, not to mention there are zero grocery stores in walking/biking distance of the campus. Also, as a part of my particular grad program I am going to need to travel to sites that are not accessible by public transit, several towns away. I had not thought of auctions for cars, though! Thank you, I will definitely be looking into that!

Yeah, this is me. I cannot live with other people. Whenever I am told that an area is really affordable if you live with somebody, I make a face and usually add "Yes, anywhere is affordable with roommates," and probably also roll my eyes. Some people probably think I am a jerk, now that I reflect on it. But I can't do it, and I become a bit frustrated when people suggest this, because it is not an option for me (and also, seriously, it's true of all places on the planet earth). I've got an acceptance now, and I'm starting to worry about this; a private apartment, a car payment, and car insurance all on a stipend? I know how to cook so I can keep those expenses pretty low, but I am afraid I am going to blow all the money I am getting just on rent/car expenses every month. I should probably stop worrying at least until I am at the point of looking at apartments/cars....

It's very possible they had a different POI who contacted their top candidate and their waitlist students already, and that your POI hasn't gotten around to contacting anybody yet. That would not be unusual.