TXInstrument11

Take this implied upvote since I reached the stupid quota. I'm totally stealing the superwoman pic too, while I'm at it.

I love Old Economy Steve! Favorites:

Hm. Yes, this is the only way this will work. When thinking about this before, I've always come to the conclusion that this is something I will have to dedicate 100% to, no compromises. Some days I am more willing to accept that eventual reality than others. I am the kind of person who is helped (not mentally or emotionally, mind you) by a focus on the risks and the negatives. A kind of chronically-successful pessimist if there ever was one, I remain happy by setting my expectations rather low. Unfortunately, even after all the bitter truth I read online before applying, I think I set that bar a bit higher than was warranted this time.

Yes, thank you. Those are my concerns. Every day, I give up a little more hope on the prospect of being able to raise a family, have a normal life, AND have a highly successful career in academia. If push comes to shove, I will always choose the latter, but any remaining doubt/regret over this is dying a very slow death, it seems.

Yeah, there is some hope the Baby Boomers will be retiring soon. Ultimately, I think more gov funding for research will be the kicker though, so I am definitely crossing my fingers for that. And lol, maybe I could find an academic "sugar daddy" of sorts to keep me going. I apologize for getting testy with you. I tend to skew negative when trying to interpret people's intentions online.

I'm not making a comparison with welfare. <$20K is less than unemployment benefits if it were actually possible to stretch out the maximum benefit for 52 weeks. I too did not grow up in the lap of luxury. Neither of my parents graduated college and my father has been unemployed for more than five years. He's going blind, but is too stubborn to seek disability. The only thing keeping my parents afloat are my dad's social security checks. My mom works retail.

Maybe that's the case. Perhaps they made a beeline to post before reading the description, but I assumed that they were speaking to me because of their first sentence - in which they said that I was "looking at this the wrong way". I also think the "look good on the office wall" motive would be a better fit for Ivies, even though Oregon is very good in psychology.

Spare me. I would not have even considered an academic career in psychology if I were after "money" or "prestige". Living comfortably and actually being able to do a job that I'm trained for (not endlessly adjuncting) is a perfectly reasonable thing to desire. I also paid very little heed to rank. I did not even check the NRC rankings until after I applied this cycle and joined this site.

You think I'd put myself through this if I didn't love the field or, even more doubtful, because I'm after the $$$? But at a certain point you have to be realistic with yourself. Making less than you would on unemployment all for eventually adjuncting at a community college is a crapshoot.

Yikes! You actually know someone who committed suicide from the stress of a PhD? I also really regret not looking into data science. I'm not even sure how I would go about grooming myself for it now though.

Just got my official "note" from Oregon today. I'm not exactly surprised since I didn't interview, but the 2% admissions rate simply blew me away. It's not like I didn't know acceptance rates were low going in approx 5% being the most common number I'd seen out of the social programs I picked based on research fit, but it's just the regularity of seeing these numbers across all kinds of institutions that scares me. Simply too many people are running after the same jobs in this field. These numbers are unhealthy and I doubt the situation improves much post-grad in the academic job market. Going four more years making <$20K per year only to end up in a community college adjunct job at the end just doesn't seem worth it to me. I'm not even excited about my acceptance to Illinois anymore. This whole process seems like one long joke on how big an idiot I am for majoring in psychology. I'm honestly considering just walking away right now - better make it 4 years of undergrad down the drain than 8-10. DISCLAIMER: (because apparently, it's needed). I am not after the lifestyle of the rich and famous! And I did not apply to schools based on rank.

I really hate Skype, so I personally would not offer that up as an alternative unless they ask. Not being able to make eye contact while talking to somebody (virtually) face-to-face creeped me the hell out. In contrast, I totally owned my phone interview and was immediately offered an on-site interview on the school's dime. With video feed delay over the net, I ended up talking over my POI and vice versa just as often as I did on the phone. No advantage whatsoever unless your POI prefers that (then they may think you're being weird by pushing for phone). In retrospect, I wish I had simply said my webcam or mic was acting up - partly true anyway if talking about my desktop computer. But that's just my two cents. If you like Skype and are comfortable talking on it then go right on ahead. Them being able to put a face to your name is better than being applicant # 00 from such and such state/country.

Yeah... Oregon is one of the best programs in the country. Social also seems to be 2nd most popular behind clinical and then funding for social psychology is low..... It's a recipe for disaster, as illustrated here with U Oregon.

Person of Interest is my vote.

I'm wondering the same thing.

Did this come in the mail? Neither of us heard a peep on interviews, so I assume mine is on its way. They could also be going alphabetically, which would explain why I haven't heard back yet. My mind is still melting at the 2% acceptance rate.

I agree. I would advise against this as well. Look up the "two-body problem" in academia. Schools are barely forgiving even after both members of a couple have their PhDs. If I were an adviser, I would not be bothered by this question, especially if there were kids in the picture, but you can't reasonably anticipate how your POI would respond. Also, are you female? Not only might this effect your chances in the short term, but you would run a greater chance of not being taken seriously in the long term for supposedly "valuing your partner over career" and all that BS - which is not only a double-standard, but very unfair and unreasonable. However, it's a practical reality nonetheless. Likewise, if your partner is female, this advice would apply as well.

These forums are definitely what you would call a "biased" sample. There are probably plenty of applicants like you out there, but all you see here are us anxious worriers, lol.

Also, I just remembered, some schools actually send out their "maybes" and 2nd choices out before they contact their 1st choices. This happened to me with UPenn. I was going around telling everyone they should have heard something from them after I was rejected for the PhD and accepted for the master's. 2-3 weeks later, folks on here are saying they just received emails that they were accepted into the PhD program.

Guys, I just realized that this might be House of Card's Claire Underwood talking about her Season 2 interview...... (not from said interview, but this is what came up on Google and it fit, folks)

Awww. I'm not that bad. You'll get through this soon enough! Yeah. No. Who the fuck am I kidding? We're all hopeless addicts until the end of this application season. "relapsed", LOL. Yep, I'm right there with you!

Hm. Be honest with yourself when you think back on what he said. Was he implying that he should be contacted before the deadline to assess fit before the student wastes time and money or did he leave that detail very much up in the air? I contacted a POI after the deadline, but it was because they continue to review applications until May and I was jerked out of complacency when I heard about folks getting invited out for interviews not a day after I submitted my late app. 90% of the time, you should simply call or email the admissions staff. With calling, you don't always have to leave your name, a bonus if you're paranoid about being seen as "annoying" somehow. For profs, I only ever email if I have a direct yes/no question for them........but you can always invent one.

I'm in the exact same boat. Maybe there is an unofficial waitlist hiding around there somewhere? Or maybe Oregon is just cruel. For now, I'm going to still consider it to be a rejection.

Gosh, it's hard to count. I check my email every time the ping for a new message sounds on my phone. Since I have three email accounts total, two of which are spammed often with a lot of adverts, I'd say around 10 times today. Usually, it is much worse. If I add in gradcafe results searching, my total is more like 15. These two spammy accounts annoy the hell out of me for this reason. The only thing that makes up for it is the email header, "Harry Potter and the Meth" whenever ff.net sends me an alert for HP and the Methods of Rationality. At least then, I can get a chuckle instead of rolling my eyes at yet another Coldstone ice cream deal [those folks don't take "no" for an answer].