mb712

I received one, though it wasn't from either of those schools. It was a generic "blahblahblah thanks for applying but unfortunately..." The interesting part is that my application still states "under review" on the website.

I've been told this same thing. Non-traditional students are more focused and have a better idea of what they want, at least in the eyes of the faculty I talked to about age. I also know a graduate student at my institution who is at least 55. You have a great attitude about this, I wish you the best of luck.

I've yet to receive a funding offer from my acceptance, which is putting me on edge even though I know they fully fund students.

I was giving myself hell for not trying to study more or even retake a simple math course (the only thing I've taken in the last 10 years is a stats course) but I actually feel a little bit better now that I know my quant score is basically "normal" for my demographic(s). I'm still annoyed by it but at least I know a lot of other people experience the same thing.

Thanks!

This is all incredibly interesting. So, I wonder how long the GRE is going to have so much weight attached to it in applications.

I've had a lot of people tell me that if you have something to counter a low quant score like methods/analysis training or even a stats class, it doesn't matter as much. There are some top tier schools that don't consider applicants who have poor GRE scores, but it sounds like you are avoiding those anyway. My quant score was below 50% & I've been accepted to a very quant methods heavy polisci cognition program. I've also taken three methods classes and a stats class though, I believe that was my saving grace. I've also had a couple informal "interviews" with social psych faculty after they received my application, so my low quant score didn't automatically disqualify me at those places. There's my anecdotal contribution. Hope it was helpful in some way.

Does anybody have suggestions on living areas to look into when I visit? All I can seem to find online is "not south."

Their psychology department did that too. Always fun waking up to see you received a rejection email at 2am.

Ah yeah, that's rough. Isn't it interesting how we feel so pressured to make an instant decision (whether it's necessary or not) even though we had to wait months for schools to make theirs? Ha.

I sent you a PM

Other than a straight up acceptance and straight up rejection, I've heard absolutely nothing from any other schools. It's driving me nuts. I would really like to plan my life now please.

Yeah, not enough methods training.

This made me lol. I needed that.

Ha. I'm already a seasoned Mexican food eater, and knowing that more Mexican restaurants will actually be real Mexican food is always a good thing.

For UC Davis: This is just a guess but since it looks like in 2014 there were 10 acceptances, and two waves of acceptances, that *could* mean there's another wave coming this year since there are only 5 posted acceptances for 2015. But of course we don't know how many people don't post on the results page or how accurate last year's postings are so I also don't want to create optimism if they've already sent everything out for the year! Hopefully you can get some sort of official clarity soon.

I told someone last week I would prefer rejections from the rest of the schools I haven't heard from over having to wait around another two months not hearing anything. Obviously I would prefer acceptances but I think I still feel that way.

Are you positive she knew what program you were asking about? Seems like very conflicting information.

In my email response I said something along the lines of "I look forward to visiting during the open house weekend."

My advisor told me to think of these situations (assuming the interview was extended through the school not through the POI) as either rejections or being on their waitlist. You could be next up if one of the interviewees declines/doesn't work out, you never know!

Unless you're dying to have Ph.D. next to your name for an academic position (and believe this is your only shot to enter a doctoral program) or you're extremely confident that a Ph.D. somewhere you're more "meh, I guess this could be a good option" about is going to get you just where you want to be for your career, I can't imagine ditching a program or an awesome research fit just because it's a terminal master's program. My own personal bias, I wouldn't do it purely for money reasons because the thought of debt scares the hell out of me. But, of course if money isn't a factor that will sway you, that's irrelevant. I really liked how MyDogHasAPhD ended their comment. I can back that thought up 100%.

A bunch of places in the Midwest have already announced closures as well.

I don't think it would hurt to mention something like that in a SOP.

I have four years of in-lab experience, two of which I designed & ran studies myself, and I've already received a rejection and haven't received interview invites for two others that are happening the next two weeks. Research is obviously important but it isn't the only thing that matters. I don't think area specific research is as important as research in general, some people like yourself just flat out didn't have access to resources that gave them relevant research experience. Schools know that. Part of the reason I'm speaking confidently on this is that I've received an acceptance for a program that's outside the domain I have most experience in, so I know it's possible. Like the person said above, it's important for them to know you don't absolutely hate research and will burn out immediately.

Right behind ya! Ha. We need a political psychology thread somewhere.