homonculus

So would you phrase it that you are just wondering if you can get a timeline for when you might hear back? I'm in the same (2+ week wait) position and it's been killing me. I know I was one of the top two or three applicants, so I'm getting really worried.

Along this line, do people ever specify whether or not they were the presenter? I was the third author on a paper presentation, and I was one of two presenters at the actual conference.

Hope everyone is well. Waiting to hear back after interviews is killing me! I was certain I'd hear back last week after an interview the week before, but nothing. What all is in an offer? I assume there is a lot more red tape than just choosing who they want to work with, but getting funding approved, etc. Is that why it takes so long, or do they just take their time because they are busy?

That really depends on the programs you applied to. You can check the admissions results for the schools you applied to. That should give you an idea of which schools have extended interviews/offers, and if there aren't data for this year, perhaps it will show you about when to anticipate hearing back. Link: http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php I know how much the waiting game sucks, and I went without interviews last year. Hang in there.

Yeah, I did well on the other two sections, so I think the GRE has benefited me. I feel I'm a pretty good writer, and my UG professors have told me so, but I didn't do well on AW. I know a lot of people who are competent at math, yet get really low scores on the quant section. This showed me a glimpse of how those people feel about being judged by their scores.

UBC was the only place that ever brought up my AW score. My POI contacted a letter writer to ask if my "low" AW score was representative of my writing (I got a 4, or 56th percentile). On practice tests, I fluctuated between 4 and 4.5, which I consider ridiculous because there is no middle ground between 56th and 80th percentiles.

UBC sent out invites at the end of December/start of January, their interview weekend is (I think) the second week in February. I didn't get an invite, and I'm not expecting one anymore. Good to hear, I never saw anything about Toronto on the results page. I'm guessing I can expect a rejection from them as well.

You are in as good a position as any of the people who actually make it. Since you know what you want, you can start participating in research as an undergrad and do all the things most of us wish we had known would help us. As for the 5 years after your undergrad being harder--yes. But if you do well as an undergrad--well enough that your professors recommend you highly and a graduate program is interested in you--you will be fine. It seems intimidating right now because it is far off. You get there slowly without realizing how far you've come, and one day you will be in a PhD program enjoying your research, and it will hit you. My advice for now is to look at what type of psychology program you want to get into eventually (you can even ask questions here or do some Google searching), and find what a competitive applicant looks like. Get involved in research as soon as you can, do an honours program if you can, etc. But most of all, don't stress about grad school yet! You have some of the best years of your life coming up, and enjoy them. Preparing for grad school is great, but leave the obsessing for when you apply (and constantly refresh the results page).

Maybe a spreadsheet in Google docs would be better (like the funding spreadsheet)?

If someone who got an interview at British Columbia sees this, please PM me! I'd love to know who your POI is!

Anyone who got an interview at the University of British Columbia (social psych) please PM me! I'd like to know who your POI is and if I still have a shot at an interview!

Related question: Since submitting my applications I was invited to revise and resubmit a paper to an undergrad journal, and I've completed the revisions and resubmitted. I had it on my CV as submitted for initial review, but would it be appropriate to send my update to the admissions office? I also had a couple presentations accepted (they were also on as submitted), if that makes a difference.

Others are right that your chance is 1 divided by the number of students interviewing, and that everyone interviewing is well qualified for the position. Obviously that assumes all the interviewees are seen as equally deserving and there is a lot of variation between schools. However, remember that top students often get multiple interviews. So if there are, say, 4 students interviewing for a similar POI across institutions, that doesn't mean 4 unique students at each institution--there will be some overlap. One of the books I read about grad admissions basically said you shouldn't freak out if you get an interview, because even if you aren't offered the position, most people who get an interview end up getting another interview and an offer somewhere. I know you should just do your best regardless, but I'm like you and like to think about my chances in one of the most important decisions of my life. Good luck!

That was a very interesting read! Assuming the departments I applied to are anything like this, there are some good signs and some bad signs. I had a suspicion that the GRE is used more than they let on; a textbook I had on social cognition mentioned a study where admissions decisions seemed much more based on GRE than the professors were willing to admit, but I'm surprised how openly they talk about it in this article.

First, it's good she already knows you plan on leaving for grad school at the end of the summer. Really, the only thing you can do is tell her you have interview dates and need time off. You can ask her if you can arrange work other hours outside of the interviews or make some other arrangement, but let her know you have to have those days for interviews. It would be a pretty drastic move by her if she fired you for something like that, especially if you ask as soon as possible and are as tactful as you can be about it. Also, congrats on getting three interviews and good luck!

Anyone want to claim the British Columbia interview? Just wondering when the interview weekend is and who your POI is (if you don't mind sharing!).

Who got a Skype interview at Kentucky? I'd love to know who your POI is!

Congrats on whoever got the Skype interview at Kentucky. Mind sharing who your POI is (on here or PM)?

Submitted my final application today! Time to relax and worry for the coming months. Now that I'm thinking about my chances, I'm wondering if anyone around here who has experience with admissions could give us some insight. What portion of applications are really taken seriously? Last year I'm fairly certain my application wasn't considered too seriously, even though I had good stats (my SoP was terrible, looking back, and my interests weren't at all focused). Basically, I'm wondering, out of 100 applicants, are the majority usually serious contenders? I'm sure it varies widely between schools, and prestigious schools might get a lot more people who don't have a shot, but I'd like to hear anyone's experience.

In my case, I emailed saying I'm planning to apply to their program, and that I wanted to see if I seem like a good fit for their lab. I did a short paragraph (maybe two sentences) about my interests, then a short paragraph about my research experiences, then closed asking if I seem like a good fit for their lab and asking what they look for in a prospective student. I also attached my CV every time, and from their responses it seems like they looked over it. When I applied last year I basically just said I was going to apply and asked if they were taking students, and this year I got much more encouraging responses. I think including some of your interests is key. If you have any legitimate questions about their research to ask, that also might get you in the door.

I have a question for those who have been accepted. I notice on here some people talk about how they emailed their POI and they started engaging in long conversations before they even submitted their application. What level of interaction did you have with your POI before applying/being accepted? I feel like my POI's have given me good responses (e.g., that I seem like a great fit for their lab), but I'm wondering what responses you guys got.

I'm assuming you are not applying this fall, but waiting a year? Your scores are not bad. While I'm not going into developmental psych, I doubt any universities would throw your application out because of your GRE scores. I'm only an applicant right now, so I'm not an authority or anything, but I think you will be best served by focusing on the rest of your application, such as letters of recommendation, research (sounds like you are on that already), and finding programs that are a good fit for your interests. These are more likely to be deciding factors. Good luck!

The fact that (I'm assuming) you have chosen social psychology projects whenever you can (i.e., your undergrad poster and the internship) shows your interest. If you are able to carry on a good conversation about your interests, you should be fine. No one can blame you for not having tons of social psychology opportunities thrown at you, and you have a lot of experience showing you know the process. I'm in the same boat, but with much less than five years of experience. Good luck!

Thank you both for the responses, I'll look into those scholarships. I am American and I only have a couple applications going to Canadian schools. When you apply for external funding (whether in Canada or the US), is the funding necessarily related to projects you plan to carry out? You mentioned applying through the schools, does that mean you apply separately for each program? Also, does anyone know what funding opportunities are available in the US? I had seen mention of applying to external funding when I applied last year, but I feel like I'm somewhat out of the loop on this.

I haven't been able to find a good source on this, but I've read that applying for external funding is important for grad school applications. In Donald Asher's "Graduate Admissions Essays" book, he basically says it doesn't matter if you receive external funding, but they want you to be savvy enough to know to apply for it. This seems especially important for the Canadian programs I'm applying to. Does anyone have an idea of what type of funding we should be looking for? I don't want my application to be weak simply because I don't know where to apply for external funding and I don't have a funding plan outside the university. Any advice is appreciated!