juror#1

First of all, Good luck at the interview!! I will agree that this whole process is a crapshoot, last year I got accepted to the two top places in my area, and rejected (the day I returned from interviewing at this school) by the lowest tier school I applied to where I had exceptional research fit. But I also want to stress to make sure you not only impress the faculty (which I have no doubt you will), but also the graduate students in their lab. Make sure to send a thank you email to your host as well as the professors that interviewed you . It may seem like a small thing to have to remember, but I can tell you from experience that it actually helped me get into a school.

I agree with everything that Socialpsych said. I was also wondering if they are the exact same day that weekend? This is only a question because I had a similar problem last year with 3 interviews all on the same weekend, except they only shared one overlapping day a piece. If that is the case, say one is Thurs-Sat and the other is Fri-Sun, then you can ask if it is okay to arrive a bit late to the interview/leave a bit early. I know there are some differing opinions on this, but from my experience it was okay and they understood. If they are on the exact same days then, again, go with the advice you have already gotten. Good luck and congrats on the interviews!!

I will have to agree with most here. From my experiences interviewing last year, pretty much everyone wore a suit. If you don't, it really will not be the end of the world. But remember, you can always take the jacket off if you feel overdressed...but if you feel under-dressed there is no remedy for that. Good luck!

Would you be able to arrange to take your midterm at an earlier/later date? As Lib(eration) said, if you can't go you can't. They will understand. However, visiting the school is a really great experience that can help you determine if the school is a good fit for you.

I would say it is a tiny bit different, but that is mainly because I am still getting oriented with all the research and procedures in my lab. Though, since I was brought on to also be a research assistant in a new organization I will be starting the research I wrote about in my SOP and talked about at the interview shortly. Luckily my advisor is very open and willing to allow me to dictate the topics I research. Regardless of any differences in what was expected, I can say that I love my program and my advisor is incredible.

I would suggest just being ready to talk about your own research, at least know what is going on in the POI's lab so if he asks what you are interested in you can articulate it , and have a few questions ready to ask about the lab/program/school/department. This sounds like an informal phone interview, but just remember to breathe and be confident and it should go well. Good luck!

I interviewed at John Jay last year for their experimental forensic psychology PhD, so I know a little bit about their department. PM me if you have questions about it.

Last year I heard from most of my programs (Social and law) around late January-early February with interviews in mid-Feb. I know the person planning our interview weekend this year and, as far as I know, this is still the plan of when people will know. But the floodgates are going to start slowing opening and then it will get chaotic! Best of luck to everyone!!!

I am in my first year of my Ph.D. and came straight out of undergraduate. I would say (of my entire cohort--so every area of psych here) 5 of us our straight out of undergrad while the others are from masters programs or time off. I am not sure how common it is, but all of us straight out of undergrad had multiple offers. Basically, given a strong application, especially research, you shouldn't be too worried because it does happen. Best of Luck!!

I am sure this topic has been brought up before but I just need some advice. I just finished my undergraduate degree and will be starting in a PhD program this August. I am also getting married in less than a month and still have no idea what to do with my name. My fiancé is pretty adamant about me taking his last name for everything (including publications). No matter what, I will take his last name legally for social stuff, bank accounts, etc. The problem lies in the fact that I have published a decent amount (1 article, 2 columns, 1 encyclopedia entry, and 2 book chapters, along with paper talks and several posters) under my current name, and I would really like to keep using that for publications to avoid confusion or losing my work. I never thought this would be a problem, but I just don't know what to do. Is it too confusing to have one name professionally and another for everything else, as my fiancé thinks? Will it be hard to transition from publishing under one name to another? Can I legally publish under my maiden name if it is not part of my legal name anymore (I have considered making it my middle name, but my current middle name is after my grandmother who is so supportive of me and looked crushed when my mother told her I might replace it)? I know no one can tell me what I should do (as it is my choice) but advice or your own experiences with this would be helpful:) . It also does not help that every woman in my life is telling me to keep my maiden name, while every man is telling me I should just go with convention and give it up.

This was my first time applying and I think it went pretty well. I heard (eventually) from all of my schools and got accepted into my top 2 schools as well as another school, all with full funding. I am going to my top choice with a fellowship on top of everything else. My only regret is in applying to a couple of the schools that just were not great fits for me and so I could have saved the time, energy, and money. Regardless, I enjoyed it for the most part, despite how stressful the whole process was--it did let me visit 4 states I had never set foot in before Now I just have to find an apartment and figure out when to make the trek west!

The only school I sent a thank you note to was the one that I had actually interviewed at and kept in touch with the faculty. I figured that it was a small field and that I would be in contact with them again, and hey, they did pay for my flights and hotel. And I did see my poi from that school two weeks later at a conference, where she ended up being the awkward one in our brief conversation. If I did not have consistent or meaningful contact, then I sent back nothing.

I know I did not receive my fellowship (the highest my school offers) because of my GRE scores haha. I had a combined of 1280, but I think it was everything else that got it for me. Tons of research, publications, great fit, good LORs, a decent SoP. Anything is possible!

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Social Psychology Ph.D. and a Masters of Legal Studies

I would ask for it in writing as well. You can even ask, when you email them, for a pdf of the offer that way you at least have a copy of it before it arrives in the mail. I know all of the schools sent me the letter via email before they sent it in the mail. If they are not able to do that, I don't think it would hurt to try asking for an extension from the other school. Good luck!