ko29

I had the same question last year before I started a clinical program. The advice my advisor gave me was to enjoy my summer and read a book unrelated to psychology, because that will be hard to do once you start. I think that is the best advice I can give looking back. Spend time getting your affairs in order too (esp if you have to move for school), but dont forget to enjoy summer! I spent my summer having fun with friends and family, prepping to move, getting any last doctor & dentist appointments in, and wrapping up the research I was working on at the time. I understand you are excited and I remember feeling the same way! But trust me, there will be plenty of time to study and think about your research program once you start school. In fact, that's what you'll spend a large portion of your time on. So enjoy your summer and read a book unrelated to psych!

If you find out this violates University policies (or APA policies), I would suggest talking to members of your cohort or more advanced students about taking action as a group. I would imagine your peers in your position and other students who have been the "instructor" without any of the benefits (as TakeruK mentioned) would be willing to support actions to remedy this. If not, I would decide next steps carefully; academic climates can be very political and complaints rarely end up being anonymous. Depending on your relationship with your advisor, you might choose to bring your concerns up with them again and express them in a way that will prompt him or her to give more than a nonchalant response. Another option is to wait and see what the courses are like before making any decisions. You could always give feedback in your course eval about this issue.

I thought of it a lot like taking the GREs. Be hydrated, bring a snack, get good rest the week before (melatonin is great if you're having difficulty sleeping), and don't stress yourself out trying to cram last minute (night before/morning of) because it likely will not make a difference. One thing that really helped me on my last interview was getting to know the graduate students at the dinner before. It made the actual interview day much less stressful, and we all know that interviewing is mentally exhausting enough without being extremely anxious/stressed all day. So just prep before and once you're there, focus your energy on getting to know the program, students, and faculty! You're trying to assess their fit with you as much as they're assessing your fit with them, which is hard to do if you're trying to memorize questions or facts for your interview. If you need to take a personal day or two off of work/school, DO IT! Self-care during this process is important. Plus, think of how much time and effort you've put into this. The interview is for your potential future career, and I'd hope your professors/boss would get the importance... but if they don't I'd still say take off a day (just try to make sure it's not a crazy day at the office/in your class if possible, maybe a day where there's not a whole lot going on and you can easily make up the work if needed). As far as avoiding illness, I have been drinking Emergen-C every other day (if not every day) to avoid catching a bug going around my office... so far I'm the only one who hasn't gotten sick! *fingers crossed* I think exhaustion by the end of the interview day is unavoidable though unless you're literally a robot. On the bright side, it's a long day for everyone so you definitely won't be the only one who's tired. Good luck!

Does anyone know if the University of Virginia's (Curry School) Clinical and School Psychology Ph.D. program has sent out all of their invites? I've seen some postings on the results page, but the website also says they'll notify applicants by "late January"... so I guess technically I have a couple more days *fingers crossed* Also if you have heard from UVA and would be willing to PM me your POI it would be much appreciated!

Congrats on the interview, @S J! Would you mind PMing me who your POI is?