mylifeinshambles

To all of you with inconsistent reviews: 
It sucks, but it's perfect preparation for every paper you will submit and every grant you will write in the future. 
You learn that most review processes have reviewers that spend very little time on a proposal (or paper) skim it, and then give feedback that is completely contrary to the actual proposal. It sucks, but it's something you just end up playing the odds on. 
My last two papers have had that one reviewer that says "This paper is horribly written and doesn't discuss X, Y or Z" when there are literally sections (towards the end of the paper) titled "Discussion of X, Y and Z". 
For the GRFP, the reality is that reviewers spend around 5-7 minutes looking at your entire package, and take notes while they do so. The "comments" you get are the notes the reviewers took while reading your packet, rather than substantive comments to help you improve for next year. All of my comments literally just summarized what I'd done and what I was proposing. 
It's also one of the reasons that NSF (and other) grant writing workshops focus so much on making the key points accessible- using underlined phrases, using language that exactly mirrors the call for proposals, and structuring your proposal such that someone skimming through it fast still takes away what you want them to take away.

FYI: for those of you concerned about your gpa, I found several awardees on past forums who had 3.3 gpa or lower, so don't fret!
On a side note, I wish I could sleep!

Mood^
I just want to know!!!!

Yeah, it sucks, and this happens far more often than it should. I know it's hard not to get jaded and think of everyone as jerks, but the jerks are really the minority. They are loud and take up more than their fair share of your time, but they are still the minority. Most students are decent and are there to learn, and it helps to remember that. If it's any consolation, with time you won't look as young and you will learn to sound more authoritative. You'll also stop being the TA and start being the instructor of record, and eventually the jerks will back off because the power differential will be large enough that even they can see it. 
Will the lead instructor back you up? When I am lead instructor I make it clear to my TAs that they do not have to deal with any crap. If someone is giving them trouble, they should immediately direct them to me and I will take care of it. Will your professor do the same for you? If so, your best policy is to send complainers to the professor. Since you're doing a good job grading and you know you're not wrong, if he constantly gets unsubstantiated reports about you, at least someone will know about it, and hopefully he will protect you from the guys who are stirring up the shit. I don't even think you need to "warn" him ahead of time except perhaps before the first time you do it. I would bet that will take care of at least some of the complaints right there, because they might feel like they can bully you, but they won't want to take it any further than that. And those who think they can get you in trouble will hopefully be very wrong about that and will be put in their place. If you don't have your professor's support then it's much harder to deal with, and my own (unfortunate) experience is that it's then not worth the fight. Give them what they want and minimize the damage, and hope that you never have to work with that professor again. (And I say this as someone who didn't follow this advice (well, wasn't given this advice and didn't know any better) and did fight, and lost in a way that still upsets me now, nearly a decade later.)

Could have sworn earlier you were claiming it was "infinitely better". Now it's comparable to the help you can get from a mentor or friends, even? Sheesh. 
Nobody imagines the playing field is level. Some people have parents who are themselves professors, some people were raised by a single mom waitressing, and it's crazy to imagine there's some way to make up for that relative advantage at the 'applying to grad school' phase of the game. Some people can take the GREs 5 times a year, some can only afford to do it once. Etc. But we draw lines somewhere, and *buying* the help of someone who otherwise has no connection to you to massage every line of your application is clearly over the line. In my mind. 

If you like the research being done by the professors, it's worth opting for. All of the psych programs at Rutgers have a very solid reputation. They are also very competitive programs to get into. But if you think it would be a good research fit, apply. Phd admissions are a crapshoot. Very qualified people get rejected from these programs. So apply and get offers before you rule out decent programs based on prestige...apply to both mid and top tier programs (and honestly I think Rutgers is almost, if not already, a top tier program). If I had to rate, I would give it a 9. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

I really hate that females are told to avoid dresses and skirts because it's "distracting". No offense but I think that's bullshit and I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a tasteful dress or skirt. 

If you don't have any questions, then don't waste anyone's time by setting up additional Skype interviews. But, I'm honestly surprised that you've found a website which answers all the questions one could have about the program and specific labs. Typically, there's a lot of hidden information about how a problem actually works, how difficult coursework is, which supervisors are most demanding, etc. 

Both campuses have social, developmental, cog, etc. The main difference I think is the clinical at NB and the differences between the neuroscience depts. 

I contacted them through the website form, and they told me that people who have been disqualified for formatting or late submission have already been notified. People who are disqualified for eligibility reasons will be notified in the future, maybe in February. I assume if they missed a formatting issue and a reviewer notes it, you might still get disqualified, but hopefully then at least you'd get comments. 
People on here are sometimes really unpleasant about disqualifications (e.g. "if you can't follow basic formatting instructions, you don't deserve it"). If I were disqualified, I might not want to deal with that on top of rejection, so I bet that's one reason why it's hard to find out when people received notice! 

I don't know if you're applying to masters or phd programs but at least for phd programs, there is no such thing as a safety school. Even the "lower tiered" schools are highly competitive and it's less about the school name but about who you work with and what you do while you're there. So much of it is about fit and I'm seeing this now. Before this process I was so sure I wouldn't even get a single interview because of my mediocre GREs and sub 3.5 cumulative gpa. A lot of it is networking, finding the PI who you click well with (both personality and research), and your own research experience and the ability to show them you can do great research. I found a typo in my INTRO paragraph of some of my personal statements but still got interviews.( And interviews also don't guarantee acceptance.) At this level, EVERYONE is pretty well stacked and qualified so they really evaluate you based on the whole package. If you don't get in this cycle, you can always try again and make your application much stronger and better. I wish you the best of luck and hopefully you have something positive to look forward to soon! 

This info is from thecoralgirl and rehab-robitcs on a previous post.
2015: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 @~3:00AM
2014: Tuesday, April 1, 2014 @ ~2:00AM
2013 :Friday, March 29, 2013 @ ~2:00AM
2012: Friday, April 1, 2012 @ ~2:00AM
2011: Tuesday, April 5, 2011 @ ~12:50AM
2010: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 @ ~1:00AM
2009: Friday, April 10, 2009 @ ~1:00AM
2008: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 @ ~2:00AM
2007: Monday, March 23. 2007 @ ~11:20 PM

In addition (and repeating a bit) to what was said above, a good type of question to ask is questions that will let you know what the actual experience is like. For example, the offer letter might say things like "You are funded on a fellowship for year one, and then students must find TA/RA for years 2 and beyond". You might want to ask the grad students what that process is like. For example, how many get TAs? how many RAs? Is it competitive or is everyone basically guaranteed one? Similarly, you could ask about quals and candidacy exams. What are they like? Is it a "weed out" process or are they just a milestone/checkpoint? Of course, you should ask these questions to the faculty as well, but it's good to get the student perspective. Faculty often think things work one way or that their students experience things one way, but the reality could be a little different. Or faculty might leave out details that they thought were unimportant but are actually really important to a student!
You can and definitely should ask similar questions to faculty and students, especially about their impressions. Don't be afraid to repeat questions because you want to see how different groups view things. In particular, it could be a telling sign if it seems like the faculty are really out of touch with the students!
You should also ask about resources available to students that might be outside of a faculty member's purview. For example, I'd ask about students experience with getting funds to travel to conferences. You'll find out if the labs (and which ones) have resources for this. Maybe the department has a fund that students can apply for (is it competitive? or does everyone get one per year? how much?) or the school has as university-wide fund you can apply for etc. You might want to ask about other things you're interested in---family support? insurance costs? insurance for spouses? etc. Also other student-only facing things like what are the courses like? what are the TA assignments like? what are the housing options like? etc. 
You might also want to ask about "climate" issues. Not the weather, but in terms of discrimination/harassment etc. This could be hard to do on email with someone you don't know well though, and I don't really have any tips on how to do it. But maybe try to pay attention to how they respond to other questions and/or keep this in mind to ask when you're visiting in person.
Another type of question to ask are things along the lines of "What made you pick this school over other ones when you were deciding?" (maybe best after asking what schools they visited etc.) and "What made you pick your advisor over other ones?" etc.
And finally, for an email encounter, keep in mind that people will tend to be more positive than negative. When I email prospective students, I am always honest, but I tend to lean on the positive details more than the negative ones. For example, if I thought the classes at my program were really crappy, I probably won't go right out and say it unless you asked some specific questions. And even then, I might indicate that they could be better or that they need improvement, but you won't hear me rant about them. Similarly, if you asked about an advisor's style, I'll stick to some basic facts and be really neutral. But if you ask me in person, I can tell you a lot more.
So on that note, I think it's good to list some questions to NOT ask grad students on this first email (based on things I've received!):
1. Questions that seem to fish for negative things only: e.g. "What is your least favourite thing about this school/advisor/program?" etc. These are good things to know, but to me, I feel like I'm walking into a trap when I get asked this via email by a stranger. Also, I think these questions are too "leading" and may not be super useful. Instead, I would ask things like "What is it like to have Prof X as your advisor?" or "What are the classes in the department like?" etc.
2. Overly general questions with answers that may end up being too specific to help you. I get these a lot with respect to personal/social life. I hate the question "So, what do you all do for fun around here?". I mean, sure, I can tell you but I'm not sure how useful it is unless you happen to be interested in the same things. Instead, I would ask questions specific to your interests. For example, if you like playing sports, you might ask "Are there intramural leagues?" etc. or if you are interested in nightlife, you can ask about that directly etc. Also, when you ask specific questions about your own interests, then if the grad student doesn't share the same interest but knows someone who does, they can connect you to another person. But if you are just asking that question, in an email, in general, it's going to be hard to answer. 
3. Overly specific questions that rely on information we don't have. For example, "Do you think Prof X will accept me into their lab?" or "Do you think Prof X will do project Y with me?" We're not the faculty, we can't mind-read! 
Overall, I think the best rule of thumb is to ask questions about the student's own experiences. Try to avoid leading questions that specifically ask for positive or negative things, just listen to their experience/story. And don't ask the questions above

This is some general advice on picking PIs based on research interest: Start with a recently published paper on the topic you're interested in. Look at who cites it, who they've cited. This is one of the easier ways to see who's currently doing this line of work. Check out their lab pages, check their google scholar page. 

Hey congrats! Me too! Who is your pi?

Hey congrats on your invites! Would you mind sharing who your POIs are?