psycgrad37

While I have no idea why this is found on this forum, I can't help but reply. Honestly, I don't think that the fact that he's not that interested in you makes him a douchebag. I think his reply is pretty honest. No, it's not what you want to hear but he's being thankful and honest that he can't hang out. I'm not sure what other type of reply you'd expect. He can't be too honest or it comes off as rude and he can't be too nice and tell you he can hang out because that would lead you on. From everything you said, he doesn't sound rude at all. He just sounds like he's not trying to string you along or hurt your feelings. It just sounds like you're both on different levels of interest for each other and what you are looking for. I wouldn't take that too personally. I think it's pretty obvious he's not interested in what you are looking to pursue, which seems like it's a more monogamous relationship, so just cut your losses and move on.

I can't seem to get a straight up answer from the financial aid office as to what the cost of attendance is. They say it depends on each student. From what I've gathered over speaking to several different people, the amount of student loans will be reduced by whatever amount of scholarships I receive in order to stick to the "cost of attendance" that they determined for me. So, so far I know scholarships and apparently the tuition waivers I was offered as part of the financial package as a TA/RA will reduce the loan amount. However, I still can't get an answer on whether the "stipend" (or rather a paycheck I will receive for being a TA/RA) will also reduce the loan amounts. No one in the financial aid office has been able to tell me whether it in fact will or won't. None of the grad students seem to know either because they all receive help from their parents and don't have to worry about loans.

All of the grad students I have talked to are receiving help from their parents. So, I need help from people who are on their own on how they do it. What the school is doing is capping how much money I can have. I can understand them capping the loans so that students don't end up with insurmountable amounts of debt, but that's not what they do. Even if you receive extra scholarships, they deduct your loans instead. That doesn't sound logical or reasonable to me. Basically, after accounting for tuition and books, the loans would leave me with $8,000. I don't think that is a reasonable amount. No one can live off of that without help from their parents/someone else.

This cost of attendance nonsense is such bs. Does anyone have experience on how to raise it? What they have set out for me is completely unrealistic. Surely there are other grads out there who do not receive support from their parents who live off loans and stipends that have been able to make it work. I need to hear from you! As of now, I might not even be able to attend if I can't get them to raise my expected cost of attendance.

Yes, it is a terrible situation when you're not getting help from parents or other sources. Their CoA really is a joke. They expect you to live below poverty. Shameful because it deters some people from pursuing advanced degrees.

Why do you want to get a PhD as opposed to a Master's? Have you considered a Master's in family and marriage counseling? Have you considered a Counseling Psychology PhD program instead of a Clinical? In general, counseling programs are a bit less competitive than clinical. Don't get me wrong it's a PhD program so it is still very competitive, but counseling tends to be just a tad bit less so. Since you have the luxury of time, I would re take the GRE. Study hard for it and take lots of practice tests. Also improve other areas of your application. You could contact people in the Psyc department of your previous university and see if they need research assistants. That would also give you a better chance of getting more letters. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time on a general psyc masters or even a sociology masters if that is not what you want to do. It's too much of a time and money investment for experience that you can gain by being an RA or through other ways.

Hi headandheart15, clinical programs are very competitive. I believe a Master's program might be doable but a PhD with that GPA I don't think could be possible. The min requirement is of at least a 3.0 GPA, usually 3.5 Your saving grace might be a stellar GRE score, great statement, great letters, and your experience.

Hello everyone! I have been admitted to a Psyc Ph.D. program at a state university. I was told that I would be funded via TA/RA/TF for most of my tuition and a stipend on top of that. I also received loans and grants through financial aid. I have been applying for scholarships because I thought I could have some "extra" money. However, I was informed by the financial aid office that whatever scholarships I receive, they will deduct that amount out of the loans. They're explanation was that I have to stay within their determined "cost of attendance". This seems unfair to me since their determined cost of attendance accounts for paying $600 rent a month, which is impossible. My question is, will they also lower my financial aid when I start receiving my TA/RA/TF paychecks? Has anyone experienced a similar situation in which they were told that the scholarships they receive will lower their financial aid loans? Will receiving scholarships affect next year's loan or grant amounts?