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I just answered honestly. I mean, I made sure to say that I was really excited about the school, but that I was visiting other places as well. I was very honest if they asked any further questions as well. People always pointed out this one school that sticks out like a sore thumb because it's so different from everywhere else I applied, and I just said that I wanted to apply to a variety of departments. It seems to be fine...

Yes, but it still feels like stealing someone else's chances. For example, if I decline at the last minute they might not get in. For this reason I've decided to try to make my decision very shortly after my last visit so that other people can have a chance for the places where I got in but didn't want to go.... :/

Mechanical Turk is actually restricted to either just US or just North America now (can't remember which), so you could totally do mturk. But it will be more expensive - generally the accepted rate is $6/hr, so depending on how much data you need this could get expensive quickly. Talk to your PI though, they may not care. (My PI lets me spend hundreds of dollars on mturk and it's fine).

I've been to three "interview" visits, and I'm going to a post-acceptance one on Tuesday so I can update more then! But I will say that the interview visits didn't really feel like interviews. Yes, there were tons of other prospective students but it didn't feel competitive or anything. And when I met with professors we just chatted about research for half an hour and it was totally laid-back and fun. So I can only imagine that post-acceptance visits are even more laid back.

I love Computer Modern, LaTeX's default font.

21 currently, will turn 22 a couple months into starting a program.

Generally the funding offer comes separate from the acceptance email. They are probably still figuring out funding. Don't worry, they will give you a funding offer before you need to make your decision.

I think generally it'll be acceptances, then waitlists, then rejections. But some schools will send them all out at once.

Ok, that seems like a normal PhD program. If you fail quals more than a couple times you're kicked out (sometimes with a Master's, sometimes not), but if you pass you just continue in the program

I met with 8 people at Brown, 4 people at NYU, and 5 people at Maryland so it's sort of been all over the place. I don't know how many 2/3 of the Yale faculty is, but don't be intimidated

Me too. I've found myself way too exhausted and busy to send thank you emails consistently...

I'm also waiting for an official offer from Berkeley, for Linguistics. My friend who also got accepted to the same department already got one, so I'm sort of worried :/

Thanks! I just mentioned it because it shows that even though they had basically made their decision when I was there, it still took them awhile after the interview to send official notice. Good luck!!!

Don't be worried! At my first interview my POI explicitly told me I was probably going to be admitted, but I didn't get the acceptance email until 2 weeks later. I think this varies widely across departments!

Why does every place I visit have to be so awesome????? This is going to be such a hard decision!!!!

Haha I know that feel!! The only school I was rejected from for undergrad was Stanford, and it's the exact same deal for grad school as well

Seriously!!!! Sometimes on weekends I'll get to the library right when it opens and will be the only person on the whole floor, and then 10 minutes later someone shows up and sits right next to me. This shouldn't be a big deal but every time I'm like OMG GET AWAY FROM ME in my mind...

I've had 2 interviews in the Northeast so far. On the actual interview day, I wore a pink blouse tucked into a gray pencil skirt, a camel-colored cardigan, fleece-lined tights, and boots. They weren't the most attractive boots ever since I needed to walk around outside, but I think approximately 0 people cared. I was comfy and warm! To answer your question about California, it depends on where you're going. Here in Southern California it's ridiculously hot right now, so I would suggest wearing a blouse + cardigan and you can take the cardigan off if you go outside. If you'll be in Northern California long sleeves would be fine since it's a bit cooler. As for handbags, I hate large purses so I just brought my regular teeny purse. I just had my wallet, keys, phone, and a small notebook and pen in there. I do think a larger bag would be a bit more convenient though, because they give you a folder with a bunch of stuff in it and so I had to carry that around in my hands which was sort of annoying. I ended up accidentally leaving one of my folders behind in fact -__-

I'm supposed to visit Maryland tomorrow but I'm starting to get worried....I'm flying from San Diego to Boston to DC, I hope neither of my flights get canceled because of the crazy weather in Boston!!!

Yay I'll see you there!! I don't know about MIT specifically, but I've been to 2 other interviews and I was only asked questions about my past research. I'd just know that stuff and have some idea about the kind of studies you'd like to do if you went there in case they ask. I haven't found I needed to know more about the non-POI professors I interviewed with than what was on their website.

I love that idea! After all, that's what you do when you analyze data... Identify goals, and determine what analysis is best to do given your data and goals.

I was originally going to go, but I'm visiting 7 places this month and I think I'll just be too dead to travel even a little bit

Yeah that just sounds like a normal PhD program...weird way to say it though! Maybe you should ask them about that?

So convenient for CUNY this year!!! I'm jealous

I agree, I think it's dependent on field. But even if you are in a field where it's common to make contact with POIs beforehand I don't think it makes a gigantic difference. I contacted someone at 6 of 8 schools and I still got interviews at the 2 places I didn't contact beforehand.