FantasticalDevPsych

Mine is taxed and I think my letter stated this. I just filed for this year and I am getting everything I paid my state back and a decent federal return compared to what I paid. Monthly, I get to keep about 90% of what my letter said my monthly stipend would be, the rest goes to taxes.

Social Sciences: (First year grad student) VG/G, G/F, E/E (Nothing) Improvement over my undergrad application for sure and generally very positive. Reviewer 3 actually said I, "was a solid candidate for the graduate research grant". Most of my critique from Reviewer 1 was to publish and present at more professional conferences (0 pubs and 1 professional conference presentation - my field is slow). But they still said that I was competitive. Reviewer 2 had all critique on my research area, a few small questions and the general include more "discussion of more theoretical and practical implications". Sucks to have not won but my advisor was happy with the comments despite not winning and we are potentially discussing things to improve on for next year. I'm a first year graduate student and from my understanding I can apply again.

Good thinking, I have a relation to previous research heading that probably addresses similar concerns but just isn't called that...

Wake up at a normal hour... which just happens to be 6am eastern due to the fact I have to be somewhere for research at 8am... (I'm a night owl though so it's going to be harder to go to bed)

That's the approach we used too... I agree, I'd feel better if I had that heading in there now too

I just happen to have one of mine open so I can turn my proposed research (now my first year project) into the introduction for that project write up... (I'm a glutton for punishment it seems) I have separate headings in both (my advisor won in grad school) but in my research plan don't have a specific one called Intellectual Merit (I addressed similar in a Relation to Previous Research), though I do have one for Broader Impacts... I don't have either in the personal statement... I'm not sure what they will do with me... Lol

I just found my password... instead of entering data, I'm now fighting my night owl tendencies and wanting to know with the fact I have to be at one of our off campus testing sites at 8am EST (so get up at around 6am)... 6am feels like such a late window. I would have forgotten about this except another one of our second years mentioned it after a seminar this morning... Can I just know now? I'd just like to get the time I want to drink when I (more than likely) don't win... At least I have one more year!

Definitely do it! I'm a graduate student because I met my advisor at a conference (and I didn't even know they were a POI when applying). I would suggest to read up on their interests, any information the conference provides on their presentation(s), and think about how those could relate to your interests. This will help you think of possible questions and maybe to lead into ways to mention you are applying and are interested in them. Obviously be professional and nice in your conversation as at least in my field many people know each other. I know that sounds scary but it's also helpful because if that person doesn't know if they could take students yet (it takes time) of can't, they can suggest other people to apply to. Feel free to message me if you want to hear more. Good luck!

Agree with this! However, a low GRE score may affect your chances to get certain types of funding. I'm ineligible for the university wide fellowship funding at my university but I was still funded through my professor's graduate student line (which coincidentally is the same finding as the fellowship).

I think it depends on the lab and field. When we have parents and children in the lab (I'm in Developmental Psychology), I wear jeans and shirts that most of the time could pass as business casual or solid color tshirts and scarves in my university colors. When I'm conducting research in schools I wear business casual (which will probably become my TA outfits when I'm no longer an RA). My favorite go to class and work in my office outfit at the moment has become a solid color tshirt and scarf which I then don't feel too bad about going to seminars or meetings with faculty wearing. I wear smart causal to things like visiting speakers talks or faculty search receptions since we are representing our university.

Update: I made it back to Sigmund Freud... not sure what to think about that...

I tried to but just like trying to figure out my own family tree I can't get very far... I know the immediate "relations" of both my undergrad and grad advisor though.

GRE scores used to be part of the application but thankfully that has changed!

No! My advisor (who won this in grad school) had set me a deadline of September 1st to come up with an idea that I'd want to write up. I gave them my idea earlier than that and we are now refining it though if I hadn't we'd have just started on that now.

Glad someone made this thread for us! I started my RAship in July and classes start Monday so I've already made my move (well more like 3 of them). Lab wise everything's been going very well. I already have an accepted conference poster presentation (my undergrad thesis) which I am going to with my lab in a few months. My advisor has already found me my first project (an excellent match to my background from undergrad but also to my research interests) and we are at work developing and revising my NSF proposal (from last year) which is also going to be my first experiment! My advisor has been great so far, had some great ideas, been supportive of me, and responsive (even while going for tenure). Very happy they found me, even if it was late. My cohort has all been here since July and we have bonded enough for our DCT to point it out at grad school orientation (in front of everyone - not just our department)... I've been working on finding a work-life balance now so I have joined MeetUp and found ways to continue some of my other hobbies. Housing search was awful. I found a place I loved but it wasn't available until August... so I had to find temporary housing. I am in my apartment now and think the wait was worth it. Unfortunately I've recently been in a car accident (no injuries and not totaled) and really banged one of my toes to where it's badly bruised and painful (but not broken)... and I had to spend the first 6 weeks in temporary housing... other than these I think everything's gone well so far!

I'm in developmental psychology (more specifically cognitive development) and working at what I hope to be an intersection between my focus in undergrad (which I found to really like) and my own other interests (which are the better fit for my advisor). I'd start by thinking about what other aspects of psychology you liked to learn about (ex: learning, language, memory, education, social psychology, culture) and start doing literature searches in those areas. Once you find a topic you like, then try posing the question of "how did x develop?" or "what effect does x have on children's development?" and see where that takes you! Good luck!

I had a low score as well and agree thoroughly with both these points. My current advisor actually pointed out my low GRE scores (on my profile) and that I actually wouldn't have been eligible for the funding I currently have (except they had a way to get it) because of them. However they took me anyway after seeing what I had done and my ideas (networking and conferences helped me a lot). My SoP focused on why I could do graduate level research, what experience I had, and what my future ideas and goals were. I thought my score and experience would have spoke for themselves and didn't need to be in my SoP! I was actually so panicked about my scores and not getting in anywhere that I approached the graduate advisor at my undergrad who knew my abilities and also my scores. They offered to try and demonstrate how my scores did not reflect my abilities and that I'm better than them.

I should be long in bed by now but this topic really speaks to me. I was this undergrad for the Fall 2015 season and everyone that knew me thought I'd get in somewhere. During the regular application season I applied to five schools and was rejected from all of them (with just one interview). However, I am now a grad student and able to look back on this. What I ended up doing was only talking about apps to people who understood the process (much more difficult than it sounds) and/or support you no matter what (I had a fantastic friend who was already a grad student). I also suggest finding a hobby you enjoy and sticking with it (for me this was Martial Arts - it let me forget about apps and release the stress)! One of the best pieces of advice/encouragement I heard from a professor was to remember that in academia even the superstars have had rejections (it's just no one sees the rejections on people's CVs), but they've done well in part because they kept trying. When I heard that from a professor I looked up to (who was actually in the country because they never gave up) it meant a lot. I am in grad school now because I never gave up. I went to a conference in my area (even after the five rejections) where I met my advisor who saw the research match and potential in me to where they made it possible for me to be admitted late (about a month after April 15th). I'm going to end with this: there are so many reasons besides you that can lead to rejection, so at that time it might not be you. If you really want it and it's meant to be, you'll get there. (PS Howdy from another Texan!)

Paul Salmon and Sandra (Sandie) Sephton at University of Louisville (in Kentucky, USA) co-direct a lab that does some mindfulness research!

I'm now also in a different state than my parents (and can stay on their insurance still). I'm funded with health insurance at a school with a very good medical campus. It has been suggested to my cohort by several people now that for those of us that can stay on our parents we can still do so and it would be our primary insurance, and our insurance as a RA or TA would become secondary. Places would then file our insurance claim with whichever insurance would cover you the most. I'd ask someone at your school's clinic or similar since I'm not in healthcare and haven't tried this yet but it was suggested to me by several sources.

From someone who fits this description (but is primarily developmental), I agree! I claimed mixed media as I work in cognitive development and because my specific specialization within my program places emphasis on both!

Me too! So far it's just me for both it seems!

Very interesting poll! I'm a more than one! I'm primarily in developmental but my actual specialization is Cognitive and Developmental Sciences!