PsycUndergrad

I’ve heard of this happening to people by mistake. I would reach out to the institution to see what happened. Not sure if it’ll make a difference because rankings are probably decided by now, but still worth checking.

yeah, unfortunately I think things are pretty much wrapped up at Concordia. My friend in the program said that the admissions meeting was a while back and offers will start going out very soon (next week ish).

I wouldn’t say guaranteed since strange things happen in clinical applications, especially when you get close to the April 15 deadline. But I would guess most programs have completed interviews and extended offers or are in the process.

For those waiting on rejections, I wouldn’t expect anything too soon. A lot of programs will wait until they have a full cohort to send rejections, which usually isn’t until April after the tri-council decisions. When I applied a few years ago, I didn’t get rejections until May for Ryerson, Calgary and Dalhousie.

Why not reach out to the program director or DCT (if clinical)? They might be more familiar with how past students have handled parental leave.

I want to second both of these points because it sounds like location is the only real draw for program #1. Nearly everyone will move for internship and again for post doc (if needed for licensure), so it might not be as big of an advantage as it seems to live in your desired location in grad school. I would also be hesitant to weigh location super heavily because you just don’t have a lot of free time in grad school. Even if you don’t love a particular area, it probably won’t matter much because you’ll be busy most of the time. A lot of less desirable areas are cheaper too. It’s easier to have a 20k stipend in the middle of nowhere than 25k in a major city.

Congrats guys! Don’t do more work than you have to do for your job or classes. Don’t try to pre-study, don’t brush up on stats, don’t try to memorize your new advisor’s entire body of work... there’s no way to really prepare for grad school and you’ll just burn out. You have finally reached your goal and are about to be very stressed and poor for 5+ years, so now is the time to relax. I really regret not taking the time to travel or do more fun things before I started my PhD.

I wouldn’t worry about it. I think the fact that you made an effort to still visit shows that you’re interested, since you could have requested a Skype interview instead. They’re interviewing you because you’re a strong applicant and they know that strong applicants will often have multiple interviews and scheduling conflicts.

Why not try to publish your undergrad thesis now? It has only been a year and you can ask your thesis supervisor to help you rework it into publication format. At least submit it to conference. My undergrad thesis was legitimately crap and I still was able to present it at a conference.

I always asked some variation of “what is your favourite thing about the program/department?” I thought it was interesting because sometimes I got wildly different answers, while other times all the faculty gave the same answer (unintentionally). Similarly, I like asking why I should choose that program. Faculty seem to like that question and I’ve always gotten good responses.

Are you also being interviewed by the first choice professor? If not, forget about him/her and concentrate on the person who did choose you. Try to go into this interview focused and open to working with #2, instead of still fixated on #1. Even if you don’t make the same mistakes as last year, faculty can tell when you aren’t really interested. Be pleasant to #1 if you happen to meet them and maybe ask some general questions about the program or research area. They probably don’t remember speaking with you and it’ll be no different than any other interview.

If you have actual questions, that’s great, but you don’t have to force it. It’s pretty obvious when people ask questions just for the sake of asking questions. It’s more important to have questions for the individual interviews.

I agree that it’s better not to lie. I was asked about my favourite movie, but I am not a movie person and legitimately don’t have a favourite. I was warned about the question ahead of time, but didn’t have an answer. I joked that I had prepared for that question but couldn’t come up with anything, we laughed, and I asked him his favourite movie instead.

That’s definitely odd. Many faculty will do 10+ preliminary/Skype interviews to narrow down their list, but I’ve never heard of more than 5-6 invited to an in-person interview. It might be nothing, but I would evaluate this person and program carefully while you’re there. Talk to current students and find out what kind of advisor he/she is. My initial concern is that the PI has little consideration or respect for students’ time and money, or is expecting a lot of students to turn down the offer for some reason.

That sounds fine, especially since you’ll probably be wearing a coat for a lot of those activities. If you go inside and feel underdressed in the cardigan, just take it off and wear only the blouse. It depends for sweaters. I wear them all the time for my practicum, but definitely not the same type of sweater I would wear in casual settings. I would not wear an oversized or bulky sweater to an interview.

I would choose in-person unless you really can’t afford it. They won’t judge you negatively for choosing a Skype interview, but other applicants who attend in-person might be advantaged by more face time and more opportunity to show their personality and fit. It’s also helpful for you to see the lab and department before deciding where you’ll spend the next 5+ years of your life.

3-4 per POI generally, but can be as few as 2 or as many as 5. The overall number depends on how many faculty are accepting students.

I interviewed there a few years ago and have friends in the program. The first day is a typical interview day, like lab tours, individual interviews with lab members, faculty interviews, etc. The second day is the research conference where students/faculty present. For anyone else wondering about Concordia, the interview day is only for a small number of POIs (5-6?) who are affiliated with a certain research centre. The others conduct their interviews individually throughout Jan and feb and very likely haven’t reached out to applicants yet.

The clinical application process is absolutely demoralizing, but don’t forget that it’s amazing to have 3 interviews! Most applicants don’t get any, and 3/11 (so far!) is a sign that you’re a really strong applicant.

It won’t be a problem. You 100% won’t be the only one not drinking anyway. Lots of applicants turn down drinks because they’re stressed, tired, etc.

It’s not a problem to have a drink (many of these events will have free drinks). But like everyone else said, do not get drunk!! I know it seems obvious, but you would be surprised... It’s also important to be professional and respectful even if the faculty aren’t there. I’ve encountered some applicants that relax a bit too much and don’t realize that the grad students are evaluating them too. But you can still have fun and show your personality a bit.

I agree that it’s still early in the cycle. If things don’t work out this year, I would focus on making sure you apply to labs that are a good fit for your interests and past experience. You don’t necessarily need experience in your POIs’ area, it does make you a more convincing applicant if you can demonstrate why you chose that particular lab. Did you try tying your current/past research into your future interests? For example, you could propose research on speech/language deficit in dementia, or language in depression (just examples, I don’t know these fields).

Another option is to look into publicly available datasets. I don’t know what area you’re in so I don’t have any recommendations, but there are tons of datasets out there than you can access through university libraries, or by submitting an application. For example, I’m in Canada and many people use data from a population-based national survey (Canadian Community Health Survey) if they need to pump out some pubs quickly.

I second those suggesting a blazer/dress pants or suits for clinical interviews. That’s what 99% of people will be wearing. I met one person at an interview who wore cropped pants and a sweater and she really stuck out. As unfair as it is, some people do interpret this as unprofessional or not knowing the norms of the field. Another thing, wear your hair up if you tend to play with it when stressed. Speaking from experience because I apparently have a nervous habit of twirling my hair, which an interviewer kindly mentioned to my then-advisor (a colleague of hers) after my interview ?

Agree with others who said it’s better to be overdressed. That said, almost everyone at my interviews wore a blazer and dress pants rather than an actual suit. Heels probably look more professional, but flats or nice boots are fine (especially if you’ll be in snowy/icy cities).