Timemachines
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Posts posted by Timemachines
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32 minutes ago, umlemaillist said:
So things are not going as I expected and I’m starting to think about plan B. Any advice on how to make my app more competitive for the next round would be appreciated (will be round 3 for me). I will also need to make some $$ to support my expensive application process.
Applied for Ph.D. Clinical Psych focus on developmental disorders, 13 schools, 2nd time applying. Ended up in a 2 year MS program that I will graduate from in May and will be ready to take the BCBA boards. Undergraduate GPA 3.42 & a psych GPA OF 3.56 with Psychology Honors, completed an Honors thesis. GRE 161/161/4. Recipient of two financial research awards, one from my undergraduate institution & the other was a national award. Two funded summer research internships at an IVY league institution mentored by an very well known professor. Two publications in prestigious journals, one was a research study where I was lead author & the other was a book review where I was the author. Masters GPA 3.96. Masters thesis in progress. Currently working as an intern at a facility for the developmentally disabled and working part time as a research assistant on a study related to my area of interest. Psi Chi & vice president of the psychology graduate program at my current university. 4 Letters of Reference, one from a very well known professor who has been my mentor, one from the director of my current program, one from an undergraduate professor and one from my current supervisor. Wasn't invited to interview last time around. What do you think my chances are and how can I improve my profile if I have to apply again? Thank you.
One method that was an especially helpful resource for me was contacting PI's with which I established contact early in the application process and requesting feedback for my full application package - i.e. was it my GRE? my undergraduate GPA? etc. It turned out that for me in particular, it was my lack of publications. I couldn't show anywhere in the time that I had been doing research (at that point ~5 years) that I could see a project through from start to finish.. I had plenty of experience with data collection and analysis, but had never published any of my work. With that in mind, I left my job and took a 10K pay cut to work in a lab that has given me invaluable opportunities in publishing and contributing scientifically. I honestly still think its early - maybe all 13 schools you applied to have shown up on the grad cafe survey for example, but come february/march, this may be a good thing to try. I would still say now that you sound like an incredibly strong applicant and should stay positive!
I've also heard from other's experience that sometimes the package is really strong, but the applicant's interests are very specific and are tough to draw parallels with, more generally. Not sure if that is the case, but I think its challenging to nail down that balance of being focused...yet not TOO focused. This is something that is typically reflected in your personal statement - perhaps considering the way you're relaying your interests may help if this applies to your circumstance.
Even one small thing that made a difference for me this time was requesting LOR's from folks who made me secure in their writing of an excellent LOR over just a good one. I had very generic LORs last time and while I know that shouldn't make a huge difference, I believe that it did for me (I had a weak undergraduate GPA and middle of the road GRE scores).
I hope that any of this may help in some way. Keep your chin up!!
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Guys please don't despair - this is my second time applying and I am honestly shocked to have heard so early from any school. As a frame of reference, I heard from the same school for two application cycles, last time they reached out early/mid January..this time they reached out yesterday. Of the 14 clinical psych programs I've applied to, I've only seen 3 pop up on the grad cafe survey and they were all due Dec 1st. Easier said than done, but it ain't over til the fat lady sings (I.e. rejection). This process is awful and I spent the first time hyperventilating from about...november to march. Dont do that to yourself! Try to focus on the holiday and getting through this month. It'll be OK! And you'll see more streamlined activity in January.
- SarahTonin, Centre2012, vallaboop and 4 others
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2 hours ago, cindyboop said:
I saw someone posted on the survey that they got an interview with UMass Amherst but the program just said psychology. Does anyone know if this was clinical or what specific track of the psychology PhD program? Just wondering if I should be worried...
Seconded...gulp
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15 minutes ago, Boronmage said:
Hey everyone,
I just got off the phone with a POI at UCLA for the developmental psychology program. We had a nice chat (if not a little scattered). However, he didnt mention anything about formal interviews, but seemed to like the conversation.
Is it typical to recieve a formal invite during this type of conversation or should I expect that during a post-email (or not at all)?
Just wanted to get thoughts/ others experiences!!
I think some PIs are confidently able to extend an invite, while other programs take the PIs feedback and make a collective decision to extend an invitation. So with that being said, its not atypical to not receive an immediate invite!
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If you heard from u of Colorado at Colorado springs, could you PM POI?? Thank you!
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Im kind of sweating about the fact that people have been waitlisted for programs and its not even January - is this common? Or is this waitlisted for an interview?
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Can anyone provide some thoughts on etiquette and advice on lodging with current student hosts? (Have you stayed with a current student? Are you expected to socialize and be with them at all times? Should you get them something as a small token of appreciation/gratitude for hosting you? etc)
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1 hour ago, umlemaillist said:
So far two of my top schools (Virginia Tech & Rochester) have sent out interview requests. I’m starting to get deja vu from last round.
Remember that its still very early - dont sweat!
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School: U of Arizona
Type: PhD clinical psych
Date of invite: 12/15
Type of invite: Email from POI + formal letter from DCT
Interview date(s): Feb 9th-10th
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2 hours ago, cindyboop said:
People are receiving interview invites already??!!
Don't sweat! Its predominantly preliminary skype interviews
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4 minutes ago, kitcassidance said:
Got it! I definitely applied to safe(r) schools and entirely avoided programs with clear cut-offs and averages far above my actual scores. I actually started first with research fit, and narrowed down schools based on accepted applicant data - but with so much anxiety and competition, nothing feels safe haha! I guess when I was reading "safety" schools, I was thinking "guaranteed" rather than "safer"
Thanks for your insight!
Im right there with you! this whole process is difficult to navigate, but it sounds like you took a great route. best of luck!
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There is a list (U.S. news) of rankings of clin psych PhD programs floating around online that helped me navigate the global competitiveness of a program. For example, I would consider something like Suffolk University (ranked 171) markedly less competitive than a top 5 like UC Berkley etc. My GRE's were really middle of the road so I applied to "reach" schools that average at a combined 320+ (which would be a bit of a reach for me due to my quant score) -but- accept a wider range of scores (some schools will explicitly say that they accept any scores above the 50th percentile, and so on). There are plenty of programs that consider the application in full regardless of scores, so that should be encouraging. I would recommend reaching out to Grad Coordinators within the department and doing your research on these factors early on so it can inform your decision to apply.
Beyond this I would imagine that what feels safe about some programs is the general research fit. If the research fit is strong and your quantitative scores (GRE, GPA, Subject Test) are within range, it'll certainly feel safer than a dicier fit and quantitative scores that are outside the average range. Hope this helps and best of luck to you this application season!
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There's no confirmation, it was an oversight on my part. Im not much for beating around the bush, and as so, was transparent in my email to the current director. Will hope for the best.
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Hi All,
I have discovered that one of my applications was not submitted successfully, with a passing due date of December 1st. Has anyone been in a similar situation before, and if so, what were the outcomes? My supporting materials were sent out earlier in the application cycle and I have all remaining components (CV, resume, LORs) ready to submit as well.
appreciate any feedback, thanks!
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ContentFaces - I first read your handle as ContentFeces, which more than anything, I think is a reflection of how Im feeling about this application process. Best of luck to you, and for my case, hopefully I stop projecting on your username
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Hi all - Im from the US and am potentially interested in applying to York (strong emphasis in clinical neuropsych). Does anyone have any feedback on how this university is regarded nationally? Im not anticipating that its the Harvard of Canada, just trying to get a better idea of the curriculum in comparison to other schools. I am aware that it is also no longer APA accredited which is worrisome for internship placement so this option is still "marinating" so to speak.
any feedback appreciated, thanks!
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I found that I really enjoy working on a Mac. I work in a clinical research heavy lab and have analyzed all my data via R on a mac (also used SPSS when I had a license, but I just prefer R...if you're just starting, would recommend using R-Studio), drafted presentations/ my manuscripts etc with no difficulty using Mac OS.
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On 4/7/2016 at 7:31 PM, emhopefulme said:
Thank you @Timemachinesfor your encouragement. I was half expecting the rejection and when it starts to sink it, it is really discouraging. I'll think about my plan B and see if I would do better next application cycle. Meantime, let me just grief over it. :|
are you still going to accept the offer if you get off to the waitlist?
I know I won't be accepted as I've been in touch with the other candidate ( she was incredibly sweet and we exchanged contact info to keep in touch). She is accepting the offer and while I'm happy for her, it definitely stung. Its tough not to make it personal - when its about fit (whether research, or even personality), those are certainly things that are a reflection of you as a person.. at least to some extent. So while I tried to separate myself from that idea, acknowledging that I myself, felt really bizarre ( those gut feelings) that something about the interview didn't go right at least has made this a bit easier for me. I want to go into a program where I'm wanted. So with that sentiment in mind, I have all the faith in you and thought that this extra time will likely put you in the right direction and with the right PI. I am hoping to transition out of my current job into one with an aging focus ( my primary background, and interest) and hoping that it'll steer me in the right direction. Keep in touch about what pans out for you with a plan B. If you're around the northeast, I'd be happy to chat about all the options out here!
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@emhopefulme, keep your chin up. I feel like my impending rejection (off the wait list) is one big cosmic joke - got an interview at a great school that was fully funded with someone that I had high overlap in research interests with, but when it came to the interview, we didn't really click. Sometimes it's just not meant to be. Keep trucking forward, its all about the drive and commitment to the idea. I have faith in you
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I think I'm mirroring a lot of feedback here but I improved both of my scores by 5 points just by going through several practice tests. With that being said, my scores aren't competitive (157v, 155q) ...or to put it better, they weren't competitive enough for the programs I applied to. As I'm anticipating not getting off the wait list at my top choice, I'm really considering retaking them. Glad to hear people giving a thumbs up to magoosh - that may be my next stop.
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2 hours ago, Brit3579 said:
Yea I spoke to someone after I submitted my application, and she said early to mid April, but really all depended on how many applications they got. It's just getting so hard to be patient!
I applied to Northridge and SDSU. I'm on the East Coast so I also applied to U Maine, Boston University and Roger Williams.
As an FYI, when I applied to BU for my masters, they got back to me incredibly late with an acceptance so if thats a top choice for you, don't despair if it takes a bit! (I accepted at another program by the time they sent me an acceptance hah)
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My roommate in undergrad graduated with a comporable (if not lower) GPA and had no issues getting into a school psych masters. You'll be fine, but if conerned, just focus on strong performance on the GREs. She had limited research experience as well.
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32 minutes ago, Applicant 1746 said:
Another reason a POI might not respond to an e-mail is because they/their department is currently caught up in bureaucratic red tape, and they're not able or allowed to give out any information just yet. After my department's post-interview faculty meeting, I asked a faculty member which prospective(s) of his -- who I met at the interview -- would be getting an offer. He said that even though the department had decided on candidates to extend offers to and had forwarded their departmental recommendations on to the graduate college, they technically weren't allowed to say who would get offers because the graduate college hadn't officially approved all the dept recommendations (even though the graduate college pretty much never blocks the dept's recommendations). He also said that faculty often don't respond to e-mails from their prospectives at this point, because even a post-interview "thank you" e-mail usually has the subtext of asking for information about decisions. Since the faculty don't feel that they're in the position to give out this information, or even to hint at it, they often don't reply to e-mails until everything goes through administratively and they can go about directly extending offers.
As hard as it is, I think we just have to wait it out. Otherwise we'll drive ourselves crazy coming up with plausible explanations when any number of things we can't imagine may be going on behind the scenes. Hang in there!
This is helpful to know as I asked for feedback from my POI today via email after finding out that all offers have been extended (I kind of blindly assumed I'm rejected) and he hasn't responded. I'm so confused about what's going on. Its been crickets for almost 3 weeks.
Fall 2018 Clinical Psych Interview Invites
in Psychology Forum
Posted
If you were contacted by Penn State - could you please PM your POI initials? Thank you!