nka93

I have a bit of a dilemma. I found out that one of my schools does rolling admissions and has a 3-4 week turn around. I submitted in November for a December 1st priority deadline. The actual deadline is Feb 15th. The website says they start making decisions on Feb 1st. So is this bad news for me or do you think that it is rolling admissions starting on Feb 1st? I can't imagine why they would have a priority deadline of Dec 1st if they don't start making decisions until February. I'm confused and now I really want to email admissions and ask them what's up but I don't want to be annoying. I'm afraid this means rejection though.

My entertainment this evening consisted of two coworkers arguing on our work Facebook page until the general manager shut it down. I'd like to thank them for making the time pass a little faster tonight. Still no news on what could make or break my future though!

Same here! In a moment of desperation this afternoon I almost made a new email address so I could ask anonymously.

Guys, I am seriously so impatient that I just considered making another email account just to ask schools about their timelines without them knowing who I am, which I realize is ridiculous. One school had a priority deadline of Dec 1st, and an actual deadline of Feb 15th. According to their website they start making decisions of Feb 1st. I just want to be admitted to one school and I will be happy. I'm going crazy.

@FoxAndChicken Yes, that's exactly what I want too! It's so hard to be unsure of where you will be in 6 months and I need a reminder that even if my plans don't work out it will still be okay. @hippyscientist I have found that asking people not to talk about it so much doesn't stick for my family and friends either. And I wish I was busier because it definitely makes everything a little easier. I work a part time job and I'm looking for another. I'm also helping here and there on a research article but in general I have too much downtime. I seriously wish I was still in school right now just to make the time pass a little faster. @gingin6789 My mom is crazy supportive of my decisions to apply across the country but she very obviously wants me in Idaho. I want that too. She's my best friend. But there are some great possibilities if I get in on the east coast. Possibly better funding, better job opportunities, etc. If by some stroke of luck I have a decision to make, I don't know what I'm going to do. It almost makes it worse that she's supportive of my decision to apply across the country. I'm going to feel guilty if I move so far away.

It's frustrating that my family and friends are always asking if I've heard back, saying I will for sure be accepted, or saying "if you end up living in (insert location of a school)..." My mom would absolutely love for me to end up at a school a few hours from home rather than one of the ones on the east coast and I'm constantly reminding her that the close school may reject me. And even if they do accept me I may not be able to afford it. This is my second application season. I got shut out last year after getting the same exact comments over and over. I already have so much stress about my future and what will happen if I get shut out again. I probably don't have a third round in me emotionally or financially. I hate that I'm carrying the expectations of others on my shoulders as well. I know they mean well, but I'm barely holding it together and those comments make it way more difficult. I've said as much and they can't seem to understand that it adds so much more pressure to the situation.

Can you forward your student email to your personal one? I have two or three different university email addresses all forwarded to my main email address. They are all gmail for what it's worth.

Well the application I was complaining about was forwarded for a decision. Apparently it could take "two weeks to several months" for a decision to be made. Thanks. That narrows it down. I'm gonna go make some tea.

I'm wishing I hadn't turned my applications in early. One school had a deadline of February 1st and I submitted in early January. I got a reply that said they were processing and would notify me and send it for decision within two weeks. It's been three weeks and I just got an email saying they are busy entering submitted materials into the system and would process applications that met the deadline when they were finished. So I agonized for three weeks for no reason. The worst part of this whole process is being kept on the hook. I went through it last year and it didn't end well.

I am slowly descending into this stage. I applied to four programs and nothing yet. A few days ago I was keeping my cool. Now admissions is all I can think about. And that's saying something because I'm planning a trip to Disneyland in March. I'm hoping things will be settled by then.

I've been reading this thread on and off all day to pass the time while I wait to hear back from my own programs (which will probably not be until mid February at the earliest). I don't personally know many people going through this process right now and it is comforting for me to see that I'm not the only one going crazy. I'm more of a lurker but I wanted to thank you all for inadvertently entertaining me by allowing me to creep on you. I'm hoping that by posting here I will feel less like a stalker. I'm pulling for all of you.

Of course! I haven't been very open about my experience last year until very recently. Most of my friends and family think I just decided to wait a year to apply for grad school. It obviously wasn't a good experience at the time but things have a way of turning out well. It feels good to share with someone who gets it. Yes, I meant Industrial/Organizational Psychology. I wish you the very best of luck! Keep trying!

I don't have much to say about your chances of being accepted. But I will say that I also studied psychology and though clinical isn't my area of interest, I know something about how difficult it can be to get admitted to psychology PhD programs. Clinical is the worst from what I have heard. Last year I applied to PhD programs in I/O and was rejected from all of them. 3.84 GPA, decent but not amazing GRE, strong recommendations, and not nearly enough research experience. It was devastating at the time to watch the rejections roll in. I had never felt "not good enough" when it came to academics before. I was embarrassed to tell my professors. But the funny thing is that I cried on and off for a few days and then got over it. And shortly after that I realized that wasn't even what I wanted to do. I don't want to go the PhD route. A well respected professor of mine asked me if I wanted a recommendation on my last day of my senior year. I went to a graduation party thrown by the psychology faculty and had a ton of my professors express their support for me and encourage me to keep trying. Although it is incredibly difficult to put myself through the process again, I've now applied to masters programs in the same field (along with human factors) and I am playing the waiting game. My GPA is up to a 3.9, and I have a publication I've coauthored under review. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. I don't think you should give up. But I do suggest you be open to reevaluating what you want or looking for alternative routes to get there.