dragonage

Thanks rising star, this is very helpful information indeed!

Thanks fuzzy, I did see these threads, but they don't really relate to my situation. I've already been a "graduate student" for two years, and I would imagine my situation to be quite different from a first year PhD student coming straight out of undergrad, or even someone with a Bachelors that spent time away from academia and did not earn a masters. I should probably add that I am an "older" student, so I would be interested in hearing from those who have had experience with that, too. Also, most of my graduate units are being transferred. I will be starting the program as an "almost a third-year" PhD student (if that's what I should call it). I will be in the program for 3-3.5 years.

Hello, I'm looking to hear from people who earned a master's degree before attending a Ph.D. program. I am currently finishing up my master's, and will be moving on to a PhD program (within the same field, but at a different uni) this fall. Other than obvious differences between these types of programs, I'm interested in hearing about any unexpected or surprising encounters upon entering your PhD program. Is there anything you didn't think about that you wished you had? Thank you, and best of luck to everyone out there!

Thanks for the input, I will probably not accept the offer. There would be another downside to accepting the offer, which is having to move very far to a place where everything costs more. It looks like it's back to the drawing board for me. I do wonder how many people end up funding their own PhDs in research, though (and end up being successful)? Those replying to this thread seem to have been successful at finding good funding packages? Anyone out there that was never successful at that, and ended up funding their own way? I have heard bad stories of people running out of funds and having to leave programs early, but I'm sure there are a few out there that were successful....? Best of luck to everyone else out there!

Sorry, let me clarify. They will pay only 50% of the tuition, with no stipend at all. I would need to take out loans for the tuition, and then either teach outside for a small income, or take out more loans for living expenses.

I'm curious to see what others have to say about this conundrum... Since it is so late in the cycle, I think it's safe to say this will be my only offer this year. I have a very difficult decision to make. I can either take the offer of 50% funding, or re-apply next year and hope to get an offer that is fully funded from another school. -The pros: the school is very good, and I would be working with a well-known, respected professor in my field of interest. -The cons: the school is private (very expensive), so I would have to take out loans to essentially fund my PhD. Although I got a fellowship for 50% funding, I have been told countless times by faculty at my current university that nobody should have to pay for a PhD in research. Thoughts?

Hi all, I still have not heard anything from the Ph.D. programs I applied to. Someone at my university said that this is called a "soft rejection," as my application was probably not bad enough to be rejected immediately ("hard" rejection), but it just means I will be notified of rejection later on. Has anyone else heard of this "soft rejection" term? I think it makes sense, and I guess it is easier for me to move on if I think about it this way. Wishing the best of luck to everyone else out there!

Yes, but she is known for being very blunt and in a time like this, I actually appreciate it. I am keeping hope for now anyway. That's great, I think my advisor was referring specifically to Ph.D programs in psychology (research-based). I'm sure other fields tend to follow their own deadlines. I think for master's programs, it is still VERY early. I didn't hear back from my master's programs until March two years ago when I applied. I think most would agree that PhD programs notify applicants much earlier than masters programs (on average).

I completely agree. We all understand how busy faculty members are, but I think the admissions process should rank higher on their to-do lists. If the university must send out all acceptances first, then it simply seems (to the applicant that has not heard a peep) like they are waitlisted. After all, why would the university need to send out the acceptances first, unless they are gauging how many of the accepted applicants will be enrolling? One of my advisors told me to "give up hope" if I had not heard anything by mid-Feb. Well, looks like the time has come. The problem is, I think I might be waitlisted because I haven't actually been rejected yet! I want to give up hope so I can move on, but it's impossible while in limbo.

I'm not sure about their neuroscience program, but I personally have not heard anything from their brain and cognitive science program (within the psych dept.) At this point I'm thinking I might be waitlisted (best scenario) or I will be notified of rejection later on.

Hi all, I haven't heard anything at all from the PhD programs I applied to, the app systems all say under review or being reviewed. I really need some advice. 1. If I wasn't invited to interview for a program, am I automatically rejected? If this is the case, then why don't they send my rejection now? 2. At what date would you recommend I "move on" if I have still not heard anything? They all say on their websites that decisions will be made by April 15th, but come on, real acceptances happen much earlier than that, right? 3. What is your opinion on contacting the department and/or the POI about the status of my application? At what point should I go ahead and do this (if you think it is a good idea)? Thank you!

I'm interested in this topic as well. Yesterday my advisor strongly suggested that I "wait patiently" (as if that was possible...ahhh!) rather than contacting my POI or the grad admissions people. I'm not sure why there is such a stigma against contacting POIs during the waiting period, but it seems like most of the professors in my dept. advise against it. ^THIS sounds like the best way to go, especially if you can get some info in a semi-anonymous way. I also keep seeing people post that they were notified of rejection when they called, which is kind of making me scared to call at all.... I guess I'm just a big chicken.

I am relieved I am not the only one going through this. However, I'd sure like to see more "success stories" on this thread... In any case, things aren't looking great for me at the moment. While I have no official rejections yet, I have not heard ANYTHING from ANYBODY. My advisor told me not to contact my POIs (so as not to bother them during this busy time), and I am also hesitant to contact admissions/administration, although it probably wouldn't be a problem to do that, right? I am really hoping to be waitlisted (anywhere) at this point. I had no idea how seriously these folks take the GRE. I have also taken several graduate-level statistics courses (all As), and I teach an upper-division statistics class to undergrads! I thought there would be no way they would hold that score (from 4 years ago) against me. Hopefully I won't have to drop some research/teaching to study for this test and reapply.... I'm not sure if anyone has posted this article yet, but it's from Nature last year. Check it out: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7504-303a

Yes, I have heard this happens quite a lot. It's definitely unfortunate, but I think the big timey schools receive too many applications, so they use it as a cutoff anyway.

Hello there, new to the site and wondering if we could discuss how having a low quantitative gre score will affect our chances of being admitted to Psychology (research-based) PhD programs. This is my first time applying to PhD programs. Although I am finishing up a master's right now and have a great application otherwise, my quantitative gre score is lower than the 50th percentile. I did not apply to any seriously high-ranked schools (I only applied based on research fit, but am still hoping for funding from some of the public ones), however, I have not heard any news from any of the schools I applied to (the last deadline was Jan. 15th, with most others having Dec. deadlines). I understand the gre is used extensively in the admissions process, but I'm also hoping that some programs may view it as more of a formality (especially if the application is outstanding otherwise)? I would love to hear from those with low quant scores who are already attending or admitted to programs, but I'm also interested in hearing from those that have been rejected from programs due only to their low quant score. Thank you all, and best of luck to those applying this year!