kara.spinney

I hate how my family doesn't understand the acceptance rates! Every time they ask me about hearing back from school, and I express my concerns, they just say "oh, don't worry! You'll definitely get in, you're a great student!" and I'm just over here like....noo....you don't understand...when 200 PLUS people apply and only a handful are accepted there are LOTS of "great students"! Oh well.

I'm just getting more nervous by the day. I haven't heard from any of the schools that I applied to.

So far only one of the schools that I applied to (Virginia Tech) have been posted on the results search. I am dying to hear something positive from at least one school that I applied to so that I can relax! At least the holidays are coming, and I have several days off from work to travel home for Christmas with my family, so that should take my mind off things for a little bit. Does anybody know if during the break between semesters schools continue to review applications, or if those few weeks will be total silence?

I'm not 100% sure about that question, but if it were me, I think that I still would.

Do professors review applications over the weekend? I've been trying to imagine about how long it will take to hear from schools, and I've been factoring out the weekends thinking that graduate committees wouldn't be reviewing applications on the weekends. Sorry to detract from the original post, I'm just curious...

I ended mine by reiterating why I am a good candidate for admittance into school x's program, and then signing... Sincerely, My Name, My current university

I also didn't expected that so many psychology programs would be sending out interview invitations so soon! I wasn't expecting to hear anything until mid-to-late January but now, like others, I'm starting to get anxious thinking that I might hear sooner.

Thanks

It's going to come down to a combination of funding, location, and program/POI fit for me. I think "fit" will be the most important thing, then funding, then location.

Hi, everyone. I've been checking the results search (probably too often) and I noticed that psychology students started posting that they've heard from schools about interview invitations. I even saw that somebody posted an invite from Virginia Tech for the clinical science program (I applied to that program as well). I was under the impression that I wouldn't hear from any schools until at least mid-to late January, but now that some people have started posting that they've already received interview invitations, I'm getting a little worried. Should I be concerned that I haven't heard anything? I'm pretty sure that it's still too early, but I'm starting to question myself now. Feedback would be appreciated. Thanks, and congrats to everyone who has heard from schools and good luck to everyone still waiting!

I'm already obsessively checking my e-mail every day, even though I know it'll still be more than a month before I have any chance of getting interview invitations!

I don't think that 10+ applications is uncommon for clinical psychology applicants.

I did have this problem. I applied to 10 schools and found that one of my recommenders seemed consistently lost regarding where he sent a reference and where he didn't. I felt like I had to chase him a lot...I wanted to apply to more schools, but decided against it after struggling just to get my references in to the 10 schools I started with.

It's best not to spend the week before the test studying; especially if you experienced test fatigue the first time you took the exam. Studying the week before will only exhaust you before the actual test day. I would recommend relaxing this week, and doing some things for yourself. You want to be in the best mental and physical condition on test day. Good luck!

So true. I used to read several books a week. I'd go through a book in a couple hours. Now, I can't even remember the last time I read a book that wasn't required for school. I should give that a try, because right now I am checking my e-mail obsessively every day even though I'm fully aware that I won't hear anything for a couple months. Waiting...ugh

That really stinks! I would be really upset, too. I wouldn't dwell on it too much, though. There's nothing that you can really do about it now, and in the end, I doubt that it will be the deciding factor in the committee's decision.

Thanks, everyone. I think I will take the advice I've been given and send the scores to schools that "strongly recommend". I'm not sure what is considered a competitive score, either.

Hi, everyone. I just got my score for the GRE Psychology Subject Test and I'm wondering if I should bother sending it to schools that label it as 'optional'. I scored a 690 (72nd percentile). Experimental subsection was 65th percentile, and social psychology subsection was 84th percentile. Input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Rest! Don't risk giving yourself test fatigue before the actual test. Use this week to relax and take care of yourself. Good luck!

If you were scoring around a 160 on your practice tests, I would definitely take the test again. You know that you can score much higher than how you performed today, and I'd say that nerves may have played a role. ETS allows you to choose your best set of scores to send to schools, so it really couldn't hurt to take the test again. Good luck!

If you can afford it, I would definitely recommend taking a prep course with Kaplan. They are awesome! When I first took a full length practice GRE I scored 142 on the quant, and after studying with Kaplan I scored a 154 (56th percentile). It's still not a great score, but it's definitely better than where I was at. I took an online program with them.

That verbal score is really awesome! The quant score is pretty rough....honestly, I would take the GRE again. A score below the 50th percentile is going to hurt you pretty bad. The verbal score is rockin', though, and that might help. Good luck!