JustHopefulMe

In addition to the great advice above senior students have told me to learn to say no and don't feel bad about saying it as often as you need to.  There are always more things you can be doing in grad school, but there aren't enough hours in the day.  Once you decide what your priority is then decide if its worth your time to take an extra elective class, be part of an academic committee, add a community service project, or insert whatever other field specific thing comes your way.  All of those are great experiences that could look good on your CV and lead to networking opportunities, but if you don't really have the time for those things and whatever your priority is then you have to start saying no.  Sometimes this will mean telling your advisor no, but with solid reasoning they should be willing to support you.

If you're looking at the on-campus housing, I'd put in your request ASAP. I put mine in right after I got accepted in March and just got an offer this week (and it wasn't my top choice location). Personally, the options look nice (compared to the graduate housing options at my undergrad) so I went for them, especially since it'll be my first time in the area and I don't know the area well.

@Cowherdingjoe just withdrew my Vanderbilt app. They said I was currently on the waitlist, and even though I highly doubt I was going to get off of it maybe there's a small chance this helps someone else - and I could use the good waitlist karma lol. 
 

It's a great relief to hear that! I might still get rejected at the end, of course, but it is wonderful to know that I can still hope to be admitted! I am also happy for you. I hope you'll have a great interview with MUSC!

I just got an interview invitation from MUSC! And they have accepted people before at it seems from the results page. So never lose hope!
As for Michigan, I have seen both interviews and rejections on the results page, so it's pretty much the same situation as yours and Maryland. They sent out their interview invitations around Dec. 15 and rejections around January 22. I have nothing but to stay hopeful!

Thank you for your support! The really weird thing about Maryland NACS is that they have also already sent out several rejections. They did this quite early, in fact: around January 22 or so. I cannot realistically expect a positive outcome, as I know it would be very awkward to get a "first" interview request this late. At the same time, I cannot help but wonder why it should take them a month (and this at the very least) to notify me of a rejection.
Weird.

I've been informally accepted to a program!  I won't say which one just to spare anyone anxiety since this program advertised that formal acceptances will not come out until later.  Just wanted to participate in the acceptance party, and... YAY I am PhD bound!

A week isn't too bad. I forgot to as well and did it like a week and a half later. Only email those with whom you felt you had a great conversation or who you really liked.

Hey! Congrats on your interviews - I don't know much about FSU, but Cinci is a fantastic school and I know a current neuro grad there (formerly in the neuro dept with me at my undergrad institution) and she is very happy!
Per your questions about UMich, I am fairly confident that their interview weekend is in March according to my PI, but do not know if they've sent out invites yet - pretty sure it's only one weekend though. Sometimes on the results page I can't tell if people who selected "4-year Neuroscience" mean the NGP, or PIBS, because there's also a "4-year Neuroscience (PIBS)" one. It looks like a few people received rejections - so maybe they're still deliberating? On the other hand, I can't find a straight NGP interview reported, they all say PIBS as far as I can tell. I know they only just notified accepted students who applied through PIBS, because I just found out yesterday. I would say maybe reach out to the department and ask what's up?

Idk if this helps at all but I got an interview offer on December 14 to University of Michigan NGP direct and the interview weekend is Thurs March 8 - Sun March 11

I think it comes down to the content of the letters (assuming that at least one, preferably both, of the other letters is from your current institution). What can each write? For the older one, since your MA was presumably in another field, will the content be relevant? Are there transferrable skills? Did you do meaningful research? All things being equal, I would lean toward the one who can write about your research skills over the one that is basically a 'did well in class'. 

Sorry if I misunderstood, but do you have to contact them? As far as I know there is no such an obligation. 

Apply to the school and mention the professor you are interested in working with in your SOP. Don't email professor at this point.

Yes, I think you should apply to the school.
I don't know if you need to contact the person ahead of submitting your application though. Unless you are in a field that absolutely requires prior contact, I would just submit the application if you're interested in the school. If you do need to establish contact, just say something like "I am submitting an application to your program in 3 days and I am interested in working with you" or something like that (i.e. no need to say that you just stumbled on their program last minute!!)

If you can swing it, you could submit an application and see what happens. Unless this program has rolling admissions, it doesn't matter when you submit as long as it's before the deadline. I wouldn't contact professors at this point, though. It's hard to imagine it could make a good impression. If you do this, you had better decide soon. You should also give your LOR writers a heads up. 

I wouldn't by now. 

I think sharing your what you feel on this forum helps a lot
I also used to read blogs by other students applying to grad school.
I believe that online interaction with people in the same boat as you is very comforting because it makes you feel you're not alone. You will be surprised to know that most people have the exact same feelings/worries/hopes, even regardless of their academic field. You can also learn from their experiences and strategies not just regarding stress management during this period of time but also about the application process and beyond. This is especially helpful if you don't have "real life" friends who are also applying to grad school and therefore will not exactly understand what you're going through.
I'm not saying that the support of friends and family is not important. It is very helpful to have them by your side and spend some time with them because that takes your mind off the application process for sometime, since thinking and worrying about it 24/7 won't help. You did your best and now it's time to sit back and wait. Also, if they are close enough, they will be more than happy to listen to you just vent, even if they can't exactly relate.
Take care of your self, exercise, read, or practice your hobbies (music, painting, coloring, cooking, baking, knitting/crocheting, etc). Just have fun during this time, and hopefully everything will turn out to be just fine.
Hope that helps  

Yikes what a pickle and I'm sorry your program wasn't more supportive while you dealt with an illness you didn't ask for.  Hopefully your health has improved and that won't be an issue in the future.  While I haven't been in your shoes I struggled to gain research experience before getting into a PhD program because I was a nontraditional student.  My undergrad wasn't research heavy and I opted for a completely different path after graduation.  I later went into a non-research focused Masters and surprised myself by becoming interested in research then.  
Even though I had my own interests I had to let go of wanting to jump right into them because any professor I found with a research lab didn't have to take me on as a volunteer.  Sure unpaid labor is great, but their first priority is to their own graduate students and then to create opportunities for undergrads in their department.  I opted to be honest about my goal being to gain basic experience, regardless of topic, because those skills would be transferable.  I made it clear that their work was interesting, just not specifically what I wanted to make a career of.  I also focused on the fact that I was there because I truly wanted to be, not because of a class requirement or extra credit.  I had a full time job with solid advancement options and plenty of things to occupy my spare time, yet I was choosing to learn more about research.  
I also took any possible concerns about my being older off the table by reiterating that I wanted to learn everything I could even if it was grunt work.  I could relate to the undergrads in terms of inexperience and had no problem being supervised by grad students who were younger than me.   I also didn't mention the possibility of asking for an LOR.  I figured I would wait until things were going well and I officially decided to apply before asking.  I went through several professors (at my institution, nearby institutions, in my field, out of my field) before finding one that was in an interdisciplinary lab that was willing to let me volunteer.  Once I was in then I did what was necessary so no one regretted taking me on and I learned quite a bit.
So in your case I would say be honest, but don't downplay or complain about their work.  Think of all of the things about you they might consider red flags......getting booted from your program.....possibly applying to and being accepted at another program.......your health problems returning......etc......and find a way to reduce that concern.  Also don't feel limited to your former department at your former institution because research skills are transferable and the willingness to forge your own path when the traditional one is closed to you will make you stand out.  Be flexible and willing to meet their needs and be grateful for whatever opportunity you're given. 

Thanks!
Although my dad has a PhD (in a completely different field), I find talking to him very frustrating sometimes. He keeps comparing the process now with what it was like about 30 years ago, and just doesn't get why I am so nervous

Good luck everyone!

Thanks for the kind words.  My parents have no idea about the process/how stressful it is (I'm first-gen) and I unfortunately don't have many friends and the ones I have don't really say anything beyond "you'll get in, don't worry" which doesn't mean much considering they're not in my field, though the sentiment is nice. 
Going to play video games tonight and stop checking program's websites.
Good luck in your application season, as well!

Just thought I would pass this link on to everyone. Great to read while you're working on applications just to make sure that you're not inadvertently conveying the wrong impression.

http://www.unl.edu/psypage/psichi/Graduate_School_Application_Kisses_of_Death.pdf

I think sharing your what you feel on this forum helps a lot
I also used to read blogs by other students applying to grad school.
I believe that online interaction with people in the same boat as you is very comforting because it makes you feel you're not alone. You will be surprised to know that most people have the exact same feelings/worries/hopes, even regardless of their academic field. You can also learn from their experiences and strategies not just regarding stress management during this period of time but also about the application process and beyond. This is especially helpful if you don't have "real life" friends who are also applying to grad school and therefore will not exactly understand what you're going through.
I'm not saying that the support of friends and family is not important. It is very helpful to have them by your side and spend some time with them because that takes your mind off the application process for sometime, since thinking and worrying about it 24/7 won't help. You did your best and now it's time to sit back and wait. Also, if they are close enough, they will be more than happy to listen to you just vent, even if they can't exactly relate.
Take care of your self, exercise, read, or practice your hobbies (music, painting, coloring, cooking, baking, knitting/crocheting, etc). Just have fun during this time, and hopefully everything will turn out to be just fine.
Hope that helps  

Anyone have advice on how best to handle addressing a low GPA semester due to mental illness? I have chronic depression and ADHD, and one specific semester I had some bad side effects to an ADHD medicine I started taking, had to stop taking it fairly abruptly, lost it a bit and didn't finish my final assignments for most classes, and wound up with a 1.8. Since I got at least a D in all classes and that was considered passing at my school and I didn't want to take out loans for an extra semester in the midst of an economic crash, I just cut my losses and accepted those grades rather than trying to get an incomplete or retaking them. All other semesters my GPA was above 3.0. I took a semester off and did some traveling, Spanish classes, and volunteering, because I still felt a bit shaken and wanted to make sure I was confident and focused when I returned, and my grades were very good for the next year (my last year).

I know that a semester with a GPA that bad needs to be addressed. My question is, how much am I obligated to disclose? I really don't want it to be a large or distracting paragraph on my SOP and would prefer to address it in 2 sentences max - during X semester, I experienced some health issues resulting in me not finishing all final assignments and took a semester off to recover fully (reflected in my transcript). Is this adequate or would more detail be expected? I don't want to mention mental illness without following with details about how I've developed better coping and time management skills to keep it from being an issue in the future, and I'd rather spend my 400-600 words on things that are relevant to the program than a story of my depression and ADHD.

The reality is that no one knows the situation better than you yourself do. But I have to say... if it seems dysfunctional from the outside, imagine how much worse it is from the inside. The fact that two students left is a big red flag - students leaving the group is not something that should be taken lightly.

You couldn't find more red flags at a May Day parade. Flee.