eternallyephemeral

I don't know a ton about the programs at Harvard, but I know the OB program is jointly offered with the department of sociology. Also, you can look up current students in the program on Harvard's website, which can give you an idea of what type of students they admit. Everyone in OB worked at a consulting company, if I remember correctly.

No problem! That's definitely impressive, Vancouver is very costly. I've been living in downtown Toronto for two years, and trying to just get by on summer and part time work, without going into my savings. I think youve got it figured out!

No problem! It helps to hear from other people and get some validation, I understand.

Stipends do not really fluctuate, and the minimum funding offered is often the same for all students. So waiting does not mean they will change their funding offer. It's not really like negotiation, though a lot of people take this approach to graduate school admissions. So no, there's no difference at all, there's no real trend, and getting into a dream program with money to live on is typically the most ideal situation you can have.

I completely agree. As our society gets more educated, more people will have degrees, and because education can pull people out of poverty, lead people to have fewer children later in life when they have more resources for each child, and increase their earning power and their family's subsequent educational attainment, among other things, I don't see a problem with more people getting an education. Whether high school grades are inflated is frankly another matter, which is not limited to high schools in Ontario. And yes, the University of Toronto accepts a huge fraction of their applicant pool, which is the complete opposite of the way it works in the US. In the States, it's extremely difficult to get into university (some acceptance averages are 7%, compared to U of T's 85%). However, that doesn't cheapen a degree from U of T, because it's actually damn hard to finish it. So letting more students in hasn't actually hurt anything, even though we have 30% off tuition programs, national and provincial loans, and a relatively affordable tuition rate compared to the US out of state and private school cost. I also take issue with statistics that say people aren't using the skills from their degree. Do people not use their writing skills? Their critical thinking skills? Their communication skills? Their life experience? Could someone who is 18 years old coming out of high school be able to do that job with the same level of maturity, professionalism, and responsibility? A degree isn't what it used to be, because it used to be a set of skills that one had to learn in University and you couldn't learn these skills another way. Now it's an indicator that you can work hard and complete something, and that you're investing in your future, etc. The skills and requirements you're using in your career from your university education may not be so easy to identify. Subsidising education is not just going to follow a basic supply and demand curve. There are so many limited resources, and frankly I don't think the universities care if the students or the government is paying. It won't change the way they operate their schools. There isn't unlimited space and unlimited buildings and unlimited teaching resources and unlimited TAs, so the number of students can't increase that much.

Is there any reason that the FASFA reward letter wouldn't come in? If you know that you will get accepted, I would go with that school. If the tuition is reasonable and you think you would be able to pay it off, and if you like the program/city/placement rate/school ranking/governmental politics/local diversity better than the other school, I think for your own happiness you should go to the school you want. However, I would only say that if you could keep the debt reasonable and you know you will be able to pay it off (I don't know what kind of tuition rates there are for PsyDs, but hopefully its less than medical school loans or something). Although I usually wouldn't advise someone to go to a doctoral program without funding, when you really dont want to go to the one thats funding you, and you only went because of the money, you will probably be miserable afterwards and not motivated to finish. Just my thoughts.

It's not a bad idea to have these people write your letter of recommendation, but unfortunately it does not hold as much weight as a letter from a faculty member (a professor). However, you should decide if you want a more personal letter from someone in industry that was your graduate student supervisor, or you want a (probably still well-written and nice) reference letter that might not be as personal from someone whose position and name holds more weight. I would choose the professors if you've worked for them and they know you more than just a face in one of their classes. Part of professors' jobs is to write reference letters, and they are on both ends of the application process, so they know what people want in a reference letter. That's just my opinion though, and other people might say go for the students who know you best.

I think I'm very fortunate to be able to go to graduate school, because I don't have to support my family and I have the ability to put off working so I can become more educated, for example. When I saw your title, I thought you meant that graduate school was a luxury as in it is not a necessity, which I definitely agree with. Is graduate school a luxury in the way this woman means it? Not exactly, in my opinion, because you are still contributing to society and you should be, at the very least, helped by the government through basic necessities like healthcare. But I'm from Canada, and in some situations we are more to the left of Bernie Sanders. I'm very happy for my taxes (when I will eventually make enough to pay taxes) to support people who need it, to pay for our healthcare, social services, maternity leave, investments in infrastructure, and funding for grad students and researchers. In fact, in my province, the government will be covering the average cost of undergraduate tuition for students whose families make under 50k a year, and providing partial funding for undergraduate students whose families make less than 85k a year. I think it is a great idea and it is supported by our taxes, so that students who otherwise wouldn't choose a degree due to the cost will be able to. I think this will help make education less of a luxury, though it already is much more affordable in Canada than in the US.

Congrats on your decision! Although I think you could ask for more money, and you could explain that this other school offered more, what I think is more valuable in this situation is the opportunity to get SSHRC and/or TAships. Do they have RAships? Work-study programs? Do they allow you time to find jobs outside of school? How easy is it to get a co-op position? (these are all coming from your other post, sorry for stalking) The 3,500 is absolutely extremely valuable, I wouldn't disagree with that. But on top of asking, definitely look into how easy it is to get these other funding opportunities, and think about applying for some provincial scholarships if they exist as well (in Ontario we have OGS and OGF, maybe there's something like that where you are).

Given that your Oxford PhD would be partially funded, and given the shortened timeline of European PhDs compared to North American ones, in this case I think there isn't as much of a difference between a 2-year Masters program and a 3-year PhD program, except that you want to keep your options open which means the PhD would be a better bet in this situation. I also don't agree with the '100% sure' phrase. I understand where people are coming from, but in real situations I think it just serves to make people that are nervous but well-prepared and willing to work hard more reasons to be nervous. Given the prevalence of impostor syndrome and the increased self-doubt and questioning that happens when you're more intelligent and more reflective, if you're 70-80% sure, you're not going into tons of debt or signing up for something that takes (relatively) tons of time, then I would say go for it. If you want to, of course.

I don't think it's necessary or that you should do it. Frankly, you don't need to try and improve the school's self esteem, I'm sure they're doing alright. Why would they value you more? What would that even accomplish, tangibly? I have yet to figure out a legitimate reason to go out of your way to tell them. If it comes up organically, then you don't have to shy away from it, but you won't get more money/fame/recognition and you don't need to help the school; they have been doing fine so far.

I don't think there's anything to add onto @juilletmercredi as far as recommendations go. That basically sums it up, quite perfectly in my opinion. I'll just share some of my experiences, if that helps. I've had a range of supervisors (disclaimer: in my undergraduate research). One of my supervisors was officially emeritus, but he still had many students and was constantly working on projects. This older, more established supervisor also had wonderful statistics and experimental design skills, and a lot of experience so he could recommend to us which avenues to pursue and which to avoid, without having the anxiety and stress that comes with trying to do fast turnaround work. I also worked with a full professor doing administrative work, who had a very large lab but still made time to meet with us. This prof was extremely productive and definitely not slowing down anytime soon. I've also worked with a very productive department chair, who stayed productive due to co-supervising and sharing students with other professors, and a new associate (so newly tenured) professor that was still very 'hungry' so to speak, without the career concerns of a pre-tenure professor. So it's really up to you, but definitely think about what would happen if your supervisor at school B moved because they did not get tenure.

APA accreditation does not matter for I/O; there's actually no I/O accreditation or certification that you need. I am very wary of the school (and I disagree that all you should do is talk to people that went there). They seem very for-profit and I always see them boothing/advertising at conferences, which I think is quite questionable. If a school needs to spend that much on advertising and does not seem to have adequate funding for phd programs, it seems like its a cash cow and not a reputable university. But maybe my impression is wrong. You definitely want to see where people work afterwards, maybe look up people who went to this school on LinkedIn.

I agree with @Citizen of Night Vale. Ask for an extension, and say you are waiting for other offers. Don't accept somewhere you won't go for sure.

So you accepted and right after your other school said yes? Damn! Perhaps if you are going to switch to the school you initially preferred, you should do it sooner rather than later. But make sure you decide for sure which one you'll stick with. Thanks for updating us!

Have you already graduated? Could you take another year and do lab courses/research? I would look into Masters programs, but even then it may be difficult for you. The GRE can help, if the program does take it, but often low grades stop you from other things, even if you are accepted. Those could include TA positions, external funding, or other positions within the university.

Great! Sounds like it's all figured out. Well, for now. Good luck!

Especially if the two degrees are at different schools, it's understandable that there would be some differences. You're staying in the same field (counselling psych), so you probably won't have this problem, but when I switched subfields (cognitive/perception to I/O psych and organizational behaviour), people were definitely concerned about my lack of relevant experience. I believe that if you can convince the committee that your masters would help you succeed in their PhD program, then it's fine to study two different fields. However, if you're interested in an academic career, it may help to narrow down your focus to present a cohesive set of publications in one area when you do apply for jobs. Just a thought.

You should absolutely put any posters or publications on your cv, and discuss them in your statement of purpose. No one aspect of your application gets you into graduate school, but it is much better to show that your research has been accepted to a conference, which suggests it is on its way to being published in a journal. So put it on your cv, talk about it, and write it in your statement. These things matter.

No problem at all! 1) Is it possible for you to become a permanent resident of Canada? Would that help? Are you interested in doing that at all? I would definitely talk to someone about the visa requirements. 2) Sure, PM away!

You're very welcome! It's easy to get caught up, and I don't blame you for that. Is there a deadline by which you have to decide if you're graduating? I know for my school it was back in December, if I remember correctly. They're now sending us all of this information about the date, time, hat and gown rentals, tickets, etc. Maybe in a few weeks you could just let them know about this deadline?

I know you may feel really desperate right now, but I would wait a bit longer. A lot of my applications were only looked at two months after the submission deadline. Now, I don't believe that your program will work that way, given that the deadline is in March and not December, but committees definitely haven't made their decisions yet if they only received the applications March 15th. Very often, they only look at the applications after the deadline and after they have checked that everything is complete. They might not even have finished that step yet! Are there any other things that are happening in your life where you need the deadline (for example, moving, giving notice on a lease, student loans, etc)? Because if there's something like that going on, I would wait maybe 1-2 weeks. If not, I would wait 3-4 and I expect by then, they will notify you. If not, in my opinion that's a more reasonable time to contact the school. I can understand how you feel, though. My bf was rejected from all the schools he applied to, and he applied to a masters program very late (sometime in March). It's an emotional rollercoaster, but it's important to give them at least some time.

When is the deadline? Is it a Masters program? Are you waiting for other responses or are you expecting any offers to come up soon? I would think about the answers to these questions before contacting, as it's only been two weeks since March 15th.

Even if this red flag POI is good and everything seems fine, it's still possible that being supervised by someone that other professors do not get along with can cause some problems. My supervisor has some issues with space and priority for resources because he is retired, and the department likes to throw all the retired professors together and give them very little space, even though they still have grants, labs, etc. I'm not saying this is exactly what will happen with you, but a school that has multiple people in your area might allow you to circumvent any issues. Also, when you mention the placement rate, is that for 6 months? Is it for any job at all? Or tenure-track jobs? There's a lot that the placement rate won't tell you, unless you know the stats behind it. As important as it is to know the placement rate, it's more important to see where people go after the program and if you would be interested in those positions.

I'm sorry to hear that you two will be moving apart, it can be difficult but I'm sure you will make it work out. We're only still dating (our two year anniversary is today!) so at this stage, it would be really challenging for the relationship if we were long distance, I think. Not that it's easy for anyone else! That's adorable! I'm sure they will help lessen your stress. We're thinking of getting a cat once we're settled and have moved in.