PsychWill

I have been SERIOUSLY struggling with my decision this past month. Now everyone is emailing me asking what I have decided and it's freaking me out because I don't know yet! I go back and forth on a daily basis. I can see really good things about each (and some cons as well) so it makes it very hard. They are also very different in terms of research subject so that makes it challenging as well. Here's what I'm struggling with. USC: It's a top 30-40 school. Good but not "top tier." The topic I'd be studying is very interesting to me and I would be doing neuroimaging, which is what I planned to do in grad school and is more in line with my previous experiences. The advisor seems very nice and a good mentor. The other grad students in the department and my undergrad advisor had positive impressions of him. His own grad student did express some reservations as to his ability to generate new ideas and said that you can tell he is a tenured professor as there isn't a sense of urgency with him. The other lab members seems good but not extremely cohesive as a lab. LA would be fun but challenging to live in. I'm a big city person but I also don't like driving a lot and that's what you need to do in LA. The stipend is $29.5K which I feel is very nice and should be enough to live on, even though LA is pretty expensive. Michigan: It's a top 3-4 school--it has a stellar reputation for psychology. The lab is very different than the one at USC. They use hormonal, behavioral, survey, and qualitative methods. Most of those I have very little experience with. However, the topic they are studying is very exciting to me. They take a feminist and diverse perspective which I love. The advisor seems like a rockstar. She's young, newly tenured, and very productive. I can tell she would push me in ways that the USC advisor might not. The other grad students are great and I meshed with them so well when I visited. They seem to have a very cohesive lab culture. Ann Arbor would be different than I'm used to because it's a smallish college town, but that might be a nice change of pace and have less distractions than a big city. The stipend is pretty bad at $20-24K (depending on if you're teaching). But Ann Arbor isn't quite as expensive as LA. Michigan also really invests in grad students as teachers so I would get a lot of experience with teaching which I think I would love. So in short, I'm struggling between going with researching something that fits with my past experience and something that is exciting but I am not as experienced in. I am also wondering how much stake to put into the differences between the advisors and the lab culture. And I'm struggling with how much I want to do neuroimaging and whether that will affect my hireability down the line. I know that's a lot and ultimately is up to me, but any input would be much appreciated!!

Unless you have sent in an official letter of acceptance, you are not enrolled. They may just not be good at wording things. Even if for some weird reason they think you're enrolled, you didn't pay anything so it's no sweat off your back! Emailing the program coordinator is a good idea and I think that's all you can do. I agree that it's very strange!

Can't comment on the grad program, but I went to Loyola for undergrad (in psychology) and had some amazing English profs for my gen eds, particularly Verna Foster. And I had an overall great experience at Loyola for what it's worth! They have really great faculty and the campus is gorgeous.

Yes, all USC Psych programs had their interviews this past weekend.

Personality and Social Contexts.

Will anyone else be in LA this weekend for the USC interview? Going to the Admitted Student Day at UMichigan on Feb 19. Will I see any of you at any of those?? Research Interests: Social Neuroscience, Decision-Making, Gender and Sexuality, Stereotype Formation Applied (8) : UCLA, UC Davis, Stanford, USC (Southern California), IU Bloomington, Columbia, U Chicago, U Michigan Interview Invitations (3/8) : UC Davis, USC, IU Rejected (0/8) : Admitted (1/8) : U Michigan (admitted without interview)

School Name: USC (Southern California)Degree: PhDType: Social PsychologyNotified via: Email from POIInterview Date: Jan 15 School Name: UC DavisDegree: PhDType: Social PsychologyNotified via: Email from programInterview Date: Feb 1 Research Interests: Social Neuroscience, Decision-Making, Gender and Sexuality, Stereotype Formation Applied (8) : UCLA, UC Davis, Stanford, USC (Southern California), IU Bloomington, Columbia, U Chicago, U Michigan Interview Invitations (3/8) : UC Davis, USC, IU Rejected (0/8) : Admitted (1/8) : U Michigan (admitted without interview)

Thanks!! Personality and Social Contexts.

I applied to mostly social programs with a neuro/cognitive focus. Got accepted into UMich without an interview! Truly wasn't expecting that. And they called on Christmas Eve... Also have an interview for USC that will be on Jan 15th.

Got my first admission to U Mich!!! I was SHOCKED how quickly they did admissions, and without an interview!! Anyone else know of schools doing acceptances this early??

Lieberman and Eisenberger? Applied to them too and haven't heard yet either.

I'm going to guess you applied to Purdie-Vaughns?? I did as well and still waiting to hear anything!

Anyone else want to say where they applied? Here are my programs: Indiana University Bloomington UCLA UC Davis University of Southern California University of Michigan Columbia University U of Chicago Also anyone else doing social cognition/social neuroscience?? Would love to talk about who you want to work with and your interests.