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RD

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  • Location
    Sacramento
  • Application Season
    2016 Fall
  • Program
    Social Psychology Ph.D.

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  1. I hadn't seen those Facebook groups before, thank you! And good luck
  2. Me too! I'm starting to work on finding housing. It's still early, but affordable housing that allows dogs (especially pit bulls, of which I have two) is tough to find! I think my husband and I will probably also need to rent with roommates, ideally another couple, but I'm not sure the best way to go about finding them. Have you guys started looking for housing yet?
  3. This is a totally normal way to feel going into grad school! I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people experience it at some point, but there's a lot of pressure to look like you have everything under control, so you feel like you're the only one. I normally feel very confident in an academic setting, but my first semester in a clinical Ph.D. program, I was a mess. During lab meetings, people talked about research I wasn't familiar with and used acronyms I didn't know, and I just tried to look like I understood what they were talking about while praying that nobody would ask me for my opinion. I was too afraid to ask questions because I didn't want anyone to know how lost I was. Overall, I felt totally in over my head - nobody had ever expected so much of me before. I would regularly get so overwhelmed that I would go cry in the bathroom. It was really rough! But, once I got over the initial shock, I learned how to just throw myself in and do my best, even when I had no idea what I was doing. I also learned how to ask for help when I needed it. I was astonished to see how fast I could learn and how well I could perform when I had to. By the end of my first year, I was feeling pretty great! At least in my program, it was kind of a trial by fire, but honestly, my first semester of grad school was the most valuable experience of my entire professional/academic life so far. At least in my program, the expectations for aptitude were high, but expectations for actual knowledge were low. I never saw anybody get shamed for asking a question or not knowing something, even something fairly basic. They will teach you what you need to know, but they will expect you to be smart and learn fast. It will probably take a little while to learn to trust yourself, but if they've admitted you to the program, then you can rest assured that you've got what it takes.
  4. I just got an email this morning from my POI at UCSC saying he's recommending me for admission! It was such a shock because I had no contact whatsoever from him or the program since I submitted my application. I'm so excited!! PM me if you want to know my POI or have any other questions!
  5. Glad to hear it. Good luck at the in-person interview!
  6. I totally agree. Rejection hurts! It's OK to be sad about it. But, try to avoid engaging in behavior that leads you to fixate more on it or on the admissions process in general - this is not the time to figure out what you did wrong, or to worry about your other apps. Don't be like me - my first time applying for grad school I basically spent 3-4 months refreshing gradcafe constantly and nearly lost my mind. Go outside, spend time with friends and family, do what makes you happy. Rejection is an unavoidable part of this process. Literally just about every single applicant gets rejected from somewhere (in most cases, most of the programs they apply to). Comfort yourself with the fact that you are far from alone in this, and go do something fun.
  7. One question that might help: is this a preliminary interview that will be followed up by an in-person interview, or is this the only interview they'll be conducting? If it's only preliminary, you don't have to make sure you say *every single thing* you would ever want them to know about you, you just need to do well enough that they invite you back. I can speak to this as a former clinical Ph.D. student who has been on the other side of admissions. Clinical programs may have different priorities than cognitive programs, but this is how it was for us. At the interviews, here are the main things we were looking for: 1) Research fit. This is probably the most important thing. If you're getting interviewed, your stats are good enough, but so are everyone else's. Fit is one of the most important aspects in deciding who to accept. So, familiarize yourself with your POI's research and be ready to talk about why your interests are a good fit. That doesn't mean you have to have prepared talking points to show off how well you know their work, but it's helpful if you can draw parallels between their work and your interests. Ask about the projects that are currently ongoing in their lab and/or coming up in the future. Keep in mind that one of the things they're also trying to assess is how likely you are to accept an offer if they make one. 2) Thoughtfulness/potential. None of us expected applicants to wow us with their knowledge and experience - to paraphrase one of my old professors, "I don't expect graduate students to have any ideas worth listening to until after their first year." The whole point of the program is to teach you, so they don't expect you to know much right now. What they DO want to see is your potential for learning and for doing good work. So, tell them a clear story about why what you want to study interests you. Tell them about what and how you've learned from the experiences you've had. Think about any unique capacities/experiences you've had that make you different from other applicants. Focus more on the kind of research you want to do in the future and why than on trying to impress them with what you've already done. Overpreparing can actually hurt you here - engaging thoughtfully with a question is more likely to impress them than having a canned answer at the ready, and if you rely heavily on prepared answers, you are more likely to be thrown when they ask you something unexpected or difficult (which WILL happen at some point). 3) Interpersonal skills/personality fit. You are going to be their colleague for the next five to seven years, so they want to pick someone they like! Everyone understands that interviews are nervewracking, so they'll understand if you seem nervous, but try to let as much of your personality shine through as possible. Put your best interpersonal skills forward. I do want to note, though, that this category is likely weighted more heavily in clinical programs than other programs, since interpersonal skills are essential for clinical work. I hope that helps! I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have any. Interviews are always stressful for everyone, but you'll get through it. Good luck!
  8. I have never heard of it being frowned upon to have a masters from one program and a Ph.D. from another. The reason why you don't typically see it is because for the vast majority of programs, most of their students enter with only a B.A. and earn their M.A. on the way to the Ph.D. What is frowned upon is entering a Ph.D. program with the intent to leave after getting your M.A. - if that's your plan and they know that, no Ph.D. program will take you. But entering a masters program and then applying for a Ph.D. program after is a perfectly acceptable option, and it sounds like a smart choice given that you're not sure about your focus.
  9. This might be too late to help the original poster, but I know Allison Harvey at UC Berkeley researches sleep.
  10. Ok, thank you for the info! I have my heart set on going there next year, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed
  11. Thanks for the info! Do you have any idea how common it is for professors to conduct informal interviews? I'm just wondering if I should be waiting to hear about an interview or if I might actually get accepted without one.
  12. Is it standard practice for social programs to do admissions interviews? I've been through the application process once before for clinical psych programs, and I've never heard of a clinical program that didn't interview. But I applied to the social psych program at UC Santa Cruz, and past results on gradcafe are all accepted/rejected with the exception of a few "informal interviews." I tried contacting the program about a week ago to ask about it, but all I have is an email address and I haven't heard back. Does it make sense that they wouldn't interview at all?
  13. I'm applying to UC Santa Cruz too! It's actually the only program I'm applying to (!!!) I also went there for undergrad. I graduated 5 years ago but could tell you a lot about the town and the campus, and at least what their undergrad psychology program is like. Obviously I loved it, since I want to go back! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you'd just like someone to wait out UCSC decisions with.
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