neuropsych76

Thank you for the reply. I did flip a coin (tails = don't go, it was tails, and i felt relieved. ) I think it's more of how this all happened which makes it hard to decide. I was invited to school A (which is one of my top choices) but i still have not heard back from them (i would be receiving funding from them though if accepted) while i'm waiting to hear back from A, schools B and C offer me interview invites (these were my safety schools, literally 11th and 12th on my list out of 12). So i'm like I should go since I don't know about A yet. Then out of no where I get a strait up admit from school X. Who I like significantly more than B and C but not quite as much as A. If I had an admit from A it would be an easy choice to decline B and C. But since X is not quite as much of a no-brainier it makes me hesitate a bit. I know its a good problem to have but I have a terrible time with decisions!

All I have to say is ¿╨ΣÑ╧. Sometimes actions speak louder than words.

From what I've heard (i'm wondering this also) is that if schools are relatively equal you should go with the better mentor. So if mentor A has tenure and publishes a lot it is better than assistant professor mentor B. I'm also curious on responses too!

I'm also in the awful process of making decisions, waiting from schools, being unsure if i want to go to a school ect. It is fine to send a short but polite email stating your interest in the program but you are still waiting to hear back from some other schools before making a decision. You have until April 15th and schools will be understanding

Well I do have an official admit now (yay!!) and I feel like the school I was admitted to (School A) would provide much better training than school's B and C who just offered my interview invites. I feel conflicted because on the one hand I think I should go just to see what the school is like. But on the other hand it will be a bit of a pain (the schools are far away but travel would be paid for) and I feel like it wouldn't be all that ethical to go to schools that I'm not that interested in when other students could have gone instead... I'm mostly just venting, I know I need to make a decision about going (like by tomorrow lol). But any more encouraging words are welcome I did talk to two of my profs about this and one said to go to the interviews and the other said don't. ugh

Just be smart about your posts and you should be fine. While it's possible someone could potentially identify you (though I'm guessing they would have to be looking for you in the first place) as long as you don't say anything terrible there isn't much harm posting things on here. If anything adcoms would see you're really dedicated to graduate school (hopefully!)

I'm pretty torn on some visiting schools (for me, i haven't got accepted to them yet, just interview invites) because they were my safeties and I wouldn't really consider going there since I was accepted elsewere. But on the other hand it would be nice to see what the school is like and as the other poster pointed out, you spend so much money during this process you should be rewarded with a free trip to see some of campuses you applied to at least. I have to let them know soon... but i really don't know what to do!

Thanks for the information! It does seem like a nice school but I don't think I'm going to take their offer because of funding issues, fit, and such. My school is so small I don't like telling

ice circle

Thank you all for the replies! To follow up, my gf did learn more about quant psych (in fact she got accepted into quant psych phd programs so far ). It seems to be a quickly growing field. Hopefully, more people learn about it and allow it to continue to grow!

So I just found out I received my first acceptance (!!!) but now I have the fun process of maybe making a decision among schools. I found this nifty website for cost of living http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ But I was wondering how exactly do I factor in the stipend and cost of living.. For example, If school A has a stipend of 15,000 but the cost of living is much below the national average, and school B has a stipend of 20,000 but cost of living is much higher than the national average, how do I really know which is the better place (financial wise)? Any insight would be great Thanks!

I'm pretty sure there are 5 schools I applied to that I haven't heard anything but others have... probably not good news coming for those...

unknown future

Congratulations on your acceptance! Yeah, it's a tough call. Right now I only official have one admit but I have 3 interviews that could lead to future admits so it's just a lot to process. Of the 4 schools in my mix, 3 are kind of on the same level and one is slightly above (the one I have not heard back from). But I think I'm going to try and visit all of them to see what they are like!

Yes, I think I will definitely try to visit all the schools in the mix before deciding. Even if a school is slightly lower on my list I figure I should at least go and see what it's like first. I don't want to be at a place I hate for 5 years, thanks for the advice

I think affect vs effect annoys me the most. I sometimes mess up their/they're/there even though it bugs me too lol

I received my first acceptance today. To put it mildly, I am absolutely ecstatic (!!!!!) and somewhat less stressed out about this whole process. However, I'm still waiting to hear back from the school I interviewed at and I have another two interviews coming up soon. All of these schools except for one are all pretty close personal rankings wise (except one that is slightly ahead). My question is how exactly do you pick a school over another that isn't clearly a better choice? I know this is a good problem to have and I am incredibly fortunate but I feel a little overwhelmed. Especially, if a school accepted you without an interview...should you try to visit before deciding? Any tips for intangibles or deal breakers? If its super close academically, should I just go for the better location/funding? I feel bad making the schools wait and potentially other applicants, but decisions are tough for me because I always over analyze everything. I feel like I should attend each interview to help me make my decision though even if I can only attend one school. I know this is going to be an awfully tough decision with tons of counter factual thinking... Thanks for any input and good luck to all!!

Aw, that's a bummer. Yeah, I know tons of people had Young as a POI. There were a lot of super qualified people at the interview though. It does help a little when you know you were beaten by someone highly qualified. I haven't heard anything so I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news...

I had trouble with Boston College as well. A lot of my materials were late (even though I sent them on time). They never got one of my letters either until my prof had to email it to them 3 weeks past the deadline. I'm sorry to hear you didn't get in BC, hopefully you'll hear back from somewhere else soon! Do you know if BC's psych program made all of their decisions or just social psych? I haven't heard anything...

warm weather (i wish)

brain science

I haven't been able to find much information about this school/program and I was wondering if anyone here has any insight. I know rankings don't mean much, but I can't even find a ranking for it. I'd be applying to their cognitive neuroscience concentration of their biosciences degree. Thank you for any advice on this school or schools which are unranked in general!

Well, you would be making money and gaining research experience as a research assistant. Taking out loans to get a similar experience doesn't seem like a good choice to me.