Love3

I'm not a good test taker at all either but my score came up about 19 points. It's still not great but I just needed it to be high enough so it would be above the cutoff. I could've studied more and took them again but it wasn't an option for me. There are plenty of resources, some are more expensive than others but some are free. This is definitely a test you have to study and strategize for. If you really don't want to take the GRE again, you could consider a program that doesn't require them. You will definitely have to take them again and try to get their average or at least cut off scores and hope the rest of your application is good enough.

You should definitely visit as many as you can. I know people that only interview/visit at their top 2 or 3 and then decline all the rest. I feel like that is such a gamble. Plus, I've visited schools that were at the top of my list and realized they weren't as good of a fit. Vice versa, I've visited schools at the bottom of my list and realized how amazing they were. I don't believe that you can make a decision about you future based on the information on a website or how good the school is perceived to be. Experiencing the environment and speaking to professors and current students in person will give you the best insight on whether it is a truly "good" fit.

Exactly and then the stress of being in grad school will start. We might as well get used to the stress now. I applied to 9 schools and only one is in PA. I'm trying to get away from my hometown area. Lehigh is the school that I applied to in PA and my interview is on Monday. How about you?

I feel your pain! I'm not in school but I work a job that doesn't give paid time off. I am very grateful for my 6 interviews especially because last time I applied I wasn't as successful! Between the money it takes to travel and the actual traveling, it is so exhausting. This is what we wanted and it'll all work out once the process is finished and we are starting a program.

Hi, I just want to ask you two questions. What do you want to get your PhD in? Besides the name, do you think you could get a good enough education at a university at home (Practicum placement, research experience and so on) Mental health field isn't really looking at prestige in my opinion. I feel like prestige pertains more to law, business and other fields that you're only chance of getting an excellent job is the prestige of your schools or the connections you have. I think whoever will be hiring you as a mental health counselor will be more concerned with the quality of training and material you learned. I asked about your end goal because some psychology careers such as academia or hospital settings may be concerned with the prestige of schools. Also I'm a firm believer of living within your means. As a mental health counselor, you'll only be making $40,000 a year, right? So basically once you graduate with this prestigious (expensive) degree, it'll take years to pay off all of your debt. A couple of years ago I applied to PhD programs, I was accepted into one school but as a master's student instead. The school was excellent but I'd have a couple hundred thousands dollars in student loans with aid. It just didn't seem worth it since I still knew I would go back to school for my PhD and school psychologist don't have very high salaries. I think it just comes down to your end goal and if you think this prestigious degree will be worth it or even make difference when it's time to start looking for jobs/applying to PhD programs. Good luck with your decision.

Congrats! I got rejected from UCSB but that is one of the harder programs that I applied to. I'm curious who actually got in. Did you figure out a strategy to help you decide which school you will attend out of the ones you were accepted to?

Slow motion

Verbal: 148 (32nd) Quantitative: 152 (48th) Writing: 4.0 (56th) I am horrible standardized test taker but I'm an excellent student. I was nervous about applying to PhD programs but I went for it anyway because I have a lot of hands-on experience and research experience. I also recieved excellent letters of recommendations and was told my statement of purpose was really good. I don't know how bad you did but I would just make sure (1) the scores are above the cut-off because even if the rest of your application is great, they will not look at it. (2) the rest of your application is amazing. The program may look past your scores if they can see that you have potential from all of your experiences and recommendations. (3) It also depends on the type of PhD program you are applying to. Some are more competitive than others. I performed horribly on the GREs. I applied to 9 schools. I received 6 interviews and 2 acceptances so far.

I started today off in a sour mood because I got two rejections: last night (UD) and this morning (USF). It kind of sucked getting them back to back especially since I thought I did so well in those interviews. My day made a turn for the better because I received an acceptance this afternoon from Texas A&M. Two acceptances & two more interviews to go! Any good news for anyone else?

I thought about that but I didn't want to come off too eager. I got rejected this morning so I don't think it matters too much at the point. I've been doing so well making sure I send thank you emails to the professors that interviewed me and the students that I stayed with. I just felt bad that I couldn't say thank you to her.

I wouldn't overthink the Skype interview. I think the school takes into account things you can't control like the connection. I had a Skype interview where I felt like you. I felt like I could've answer the questions better. To make matters worse, the connection disconnected. I was accepted into the program even though I thought it was a horrible interview. Good Luck with interview day tomorrow!

There are a list of questions on this thread on page 3&4. It pretty much covered all of the questions that most programs ask. Good Luck!

I think it's definitely normal.

I can't find the email address of one of the professors that interviewed me. She's a post-doc and new to the program so she's not on the faculty list yet. She was such an awesome person and helped me shake off the nerves on the interview. I thought about emailing someone so I can get her email address but I don't want to seem like a crazy person. What should I do?

I bet that you answered the question better than me. I had to admit that it was a weakness and how I plan to work on it. I was involved in a lot in undergrad but I never took on a leadership position. I know I'm capable of doing such but it just didn't happen. I always get nervous talking about weaknesses because the point is to impress. No one knows how people actually feel about someone's weak points but I'll find out if I impressed them enough by next week. ? I'm hoping for the best and that I'm not overthinking.

Tell me about your experience working with children. Tell me about your previous research experience. Why EdS instead of PhD or vice versa (depending on what program you are applying to)? What qualities do you feel are important for a school psychologist? One school even asked: Tell me about time that I was placed in leadership position and how I handled it.

@Jaguar21 I've experienced a group interview a few years back when I applied to grad school and I don't understand the concept. Yet, I was accepted to the program. I didn't attend because of funding. In a way, I think that schools that have group interviews already have an idea of who they want to accept or already have enough information about you from your application. They may just invite you to the interview to see how you interact, meet everyone in person and see the campus. Just my opinion. Good Luck! Hopefully you get in.

@DestinyS congrats! You were in the same interview as me!

@New Applicant 6 is good! I have 6 interviews too. Have you went on any of them yet? Having 8 interviews and no invite is devastating but I don't think that's common for school psychology programs. Maybe it is in clinical programs because they have like hundreds of applicants and only accept 2-3. Tips that I have picked up from my interviews so far: -Make sure you know why school psychology, what is school psychology, why PhD instead of EdS and why you want to attend the school you are interviewing for. All the schools I interviewed for asked me those questions. -Have LOTS of questions. Even if you feel like the information is on the website, you can still ask. Also, if you feel that you have asked all your questions, ASK them again. All of my interviews saved like 5-10 minutes for questions. Have at least 3-4 for each person you are interviewing for. It may seem a little redundant but you get various perspectives on the same question. I wrote down a list of questions. The faculty were actually impressed at my extensive list. -Most importantly, be confident and personable. Mingle with the current students. You were already invited to the interview so the schools knows you have the credentials to attend their program. At the point of the interview, they are looking for a good fit and people who they want to work with for the next 5 years. Be professional of course but be personable. They want to like you as a person as well as a potential student. Good luck to you and everyone else!

@kingslayer Hi, I am applying with just an undergraduate degree and I spent my undergraduate career in a very small rural town. It was an adjustment since I'm from a large city but you learn to create your own fun and get involved in activities and groups on campus in addition to the school work that needs to be done. It sounds like you are psyching yourself out. If the school asked you to apply AND you received an interview invite, that means that they see potential in you. Go for it if it is a good fit for you especially if they are already saying that they believe you are a good fit for them. I wouldn't worry about statistics. They teach you statistics and research methods in grad school. If you passed before, you can pass again. I also wouldn't worry about coming from a regional school. I graduated from one and I already got accepted into a well known school. Go for it. Have confidence. You will be fine!

I say go with whatever interest you most. If you know you want to work in schools as a school psychologist, get some experience in schools if you don't have any. It is nice to have a personal outlook on the environment and population you will be working with. Yet, all of those options look good to grad schools when you apply again. As long as you are doing something relevant, I don't think that one job will have more weight than the next. I took two years off and now I'm in the grad school process again. I was a 1:1 classroom assistant and now I am a behavior therapist. I also took the time to do some fun activities for myself since I had the time.

I received an email to go to the application portal which is the same place you uploaded your online application. From there, click on existing application and log in with whatever email and password you created. It should have buttons that say department communication and/or decisions. My rejection letter was under the decisions but they have sent me little notes about my application through the department communication button. Have you heard anything from the school since you submitted the application?

So I see a lot of people received rejections from UCSB but I didn't see anyone post about interview invites to this school. UCSB is my first rejection but I also have one acceptance so it doesn't hurt so bad. How is everyone making out? Any interviews, acceptances. How is everyone feeling? This thread is very quiet!

I got my first acceptance by e-mail last night. I still have 4 interviews left and other schools to hear back from. Still, I am excited to have one foot in the door. Does anyone know how long you should wait before you ask about funding packages?

Hi, I would say apply and see how it goes because you have a lot of great qualities for your application. Of course, you want everything to be as strong as possible but your experience, grades, other letter of recommendations and research experience might overshadow your GRE scores and one bad recommendation. I am applying to PhD school psychology programs. I have a 300 combined GRE score but I have been working with children with autism for a year and half, one internship with Head Start, a honor's thesis, various presentations and graduated undergrad with honors. I have 6 interview invites so far. We all know that PhD programs are harder and let fewer people in compared to EdS school psychology program. So, I think you will be fine. Just let the positives of your application speak for itself and hope that it is enough. Good Luck and be positive!