soccerplaya

Hey nerds, just wanted to add a random note of encouragement! I got accepted last year to two of my dream programs, and even though the other students in my area are excited for recruitment weekend because it's two days of free real food (rather than our usual peanut butter sandwiches and apples..) and hanging out with the whole area, I really feel for the interviewees - I remember how horrifically anxiety-inducing the whole thing was. But the grad students are just there trying to get to know potential new members of their family, nothing more. Anyways, I managed to make up for my 3.1 undergrad GPA with two years of volunteering in labs (post-graduation) followed by two years of being a lab manager for two awesome social psych professors. I thought I had no chance when I started out, but thankfully for social psychology, it's the grittiest people who aren't willing to let go to the dream who win in the end. So many of the current students applied multiple times (I applied three times total), so just because you maybe weren't the strongest candidate last year doesn't mean anything for this year.

Hmm just wanted to give random input, but for social psychology programs like UVA, Umich, business casual is totally great and business formal is totally great, so I'd recommend whatever you feel your best in. For programs like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, I would recommend business formal. Note I know nothing about clinical psych dress code.

The results page shows that one person reported getting a rejection, so I assume we're waitlisted.

Heh I got a personal email from UC Davis's coordinator basically telling me "just FYI you're not invited to the interview weekend. But...we will be 'making decisions' in the next few weeks regarding acceptances." I thought it was quirky that they didn't just outright say I was waitlisted, like I've heard from some programs.

Nosek et al, 2010. Cumulative and career-stage citation impact of social-personality psychology programs and their members. or https://www.socialpsychology.org/gsocial.htm (these were ranked in 1997 so a little outdated)

Don't lose hope~ I had a terrible GPA (3.0) from having an undiagnosed medical condition for my entire life, but I've gotten treatment and for the past few years have been working really hard to prove to people that my GPA is not actually reflective of 1) my intelligence/competence or 2) my work ethic (I've gotten feedback from a few professors in my program that GPA is thought to reflect mostly work ethic and sometimes intelligence). I was able to get accepted to a top 20 program (one of my very top choices in fact ), and I'm a very strong believer that at least for social psychology, grit trumps a lot of other factors. I did have one professor recommend to me that if I didn't get into a program this year, he thinks it would likely be because programs are unsure if I have the intelligence to perform well, and I should take some sort of quantitative course or get some sort of certification to demonstrate that I do, in fact, have good quantitative intelligence (I had bad grades in quantitative courses in undergrad, even though I was 90th percentile for GRE).

ASU for ev psych? I just happen to work with two people who graduated from there.

I love extrapetite's take on repurposing sheath dresses: http://www.extrapetite.com/2014/03/wardrobe-staples-series-styling-sheath.html

Mm I've failed two application cycles (in 2013 and 2014). I don't really know why but I just didn't care too much and knew if I kept working hard I'd get in eventually. Maybe read some of Duckworth's grit papers as a pick-me-up. It's normal to apply a few times before getting in; the two grad students in my lab needed to apply 3 times before they got into any of the top 20 programs.

Sometimes applicants decline interview weekends (because they got into their top choice or something) and the POI has to choose whoever was next on their list.

The good thing about psychology PhDs is that it's a war of attrition, really (maybe the exception is if someone has exceptionally low GRE scores). If you really care about it, stick with it, find good mentors, and you will get in. If not this year or in two years, then in four.

Ayy cyber high five. I'll be seeing you at the umich recruitment weekend. I also applied to NYU but I guess I didn't get an interview. I emailed my POI at umich 3 separate times and he never responded, but it worked out still. I've also gotten two skype interviews with POIs who I emailed but never received a response from, so sometimes it's because they're busy and only sometimes is it because they're not interested.

Ugh. I just got an informal acceptance into umich social psychology. Sobbing at work. I graduated with an undergrad GPA between 2.9-3.2 and have been working for five years to make up for it.

Congrats, they're an awesome group. Say hi to Emily (one of the 3rd years) for me.

I kind of wish people would actually specify which specific program they got accepted into. :| For example, UMich's social psychology area and personality/social contexts area are really distinct and send out their acceptances at different times, but then you see acceptanceresults where people put down "social/personality psychology" which isn't helpful. Joint programs are also handled differently, although they usually specify more clearly which areas they're in when they're accepted on the results page. I interviewed with someone in umich social recently and am currently dying of nerves. -sigh-

Eh I disagree. The people I know also interviewed at University of Virginia social, Cornell social, and University of Texas social, and business casual was most definitely appropriate there. So I feel business casual is the "safest" for social areas, although business formal is ok if not a little stiff. Thinking about it, maybe the one social area I might dress business formal to is Princeton. No comment on that, though.

Hi all, just wanted to say that I know several University of Michigan social psychology students, and to them, business casual is extremely appropriate (see example) and business formal, while not inappropriate, is slightly out of place. I imagine you wouldn't "lose points," but you just might feel a bit stiff compared to other people. Note that this definitely doesn't apply to the clinical or business areas, though.

I think for I/O, it's definitely possible to overcome (clinical on the other hand...maybe not). I've received one on-campus interview for UIowa's social psychology PhD program (ranked around 30-35), and I have a low GPA. It's still early in the cycle, so I expect to get at least one or two more interviews. However, I have two 1st author posters at SPSP, and two 3rd author posters at SPSP and SSM on my CV, in addition to be co-author on 3 manuscripts "in preparation." I am 1st author on one, 2nd author on another, and 3rd author on the third. My overall GPA is 3.1, although my psychology GPA is 3.7, and upper-level psychology course GPA is 3.9, which I made sure to emphasize. I also am extremely lucky to come from one of the top 3 social psych programs, so my 3 recommendations came from HUGELY influential professors. I think for GPA, you might get automatically cut if you're below 3.0 (the same way they automatically cut for GRE scores), but you can definitely make up for a 3.1 with research experience. I know someone who got into Georgia Tech I/O for a PhD, and based on presentations/papers/recommenders, she does not look as good on paper.

Correct me if there is a better place to post this, but I've been invited to one interview on campus! School Name: University of Iowa Date Interview Invite Received: 1/7/2015 Degree: PhD Type: Social psychology Notified via:Email From:POI Interview Date: 2/7/2015-2/9/2015 Additional Info:e.g., apparently I only spend about an hour with my POI one-on-one I'm pleasantly surprised since my overall GPA is so low (between 2.9 and 3.2). The people in the labs I currently work in were rather surprised I received an invitation so early, so I guess it's still pretty early in the game. I'm quite excited and nervous. Last year for apps, I only emailed 2 POI's, and I applied to 9 schools, and got one phone call from one only. I botched it completely - I was so paralyzed with nerves that I only answered the prof's questions directly and did not ask him any questions about his research at all, only generic questions like "Where are you heading in the next few years?" "How many graduate students do you have right now?" *crossed fingers* If I made it to interview weekend for UIowa, I think I should also make it to the penultimate rounds of cuts in other schools, which are all ranked top 30 and above.