Psychoplasmics

Best of luck to you both! Its not easy applying to something as competitive as graduate school multiple times so hopefully your POIs see your dedication to the field.

School Name: Jackson State University
Date Interview Invite Received: 2/5/2017
Degree: PhD
Type: Clinical Psychology
Track:
Notified via: Email
From: DCT
Interview Date: 3/2/2017
Additional Info: N/A

There's certainly a few things you can ask non-POI faculty members! You can ask them about the culture of their program, for one thing. Hearing it from more than one source is a good way of checking to see what the strengths and possible weaknesses are, and to get an idea of what to expect. They will probably draw from their own grad students' experiences, so you'll get a sense of the dynamics of the other labs and see how comparable students are doing (i.e., what kind of resources are available, how the other faculty members treat their grad students, what opportunities do they get that you can think about when you're in the lab of choice). Also, ask them about the opportunities for collaboration! What kind of research roles can you find yourself being involved in outside of your own lab? Does your POI work alongside the other ones and publish regularly? (fact check: you may also want to take a look and see if they do!)
All the best!

So unnecessary. And so potentially damaging--the internet is not as anonymous as you think. 

Congratulations! That's awesome.

Trying to figure that out right now. I'll be driving home from another interview, but if I can make it in time I want to do the in-person interview.

You said it.

I wouldn't get too discouraged. I was just talking to a friend who's currently in her second year in a clinical program, and she said a lot of her interview invites didn't come until later in January and even into February. She said she had started to panic when she saw other people getting interviews but not her, but it worked out in the end. And she said her program hasn't even finished offering invitations to interview yet. I know it's anecdotal, but it really helped me put the brakes on my own anxiety and hopefully it's at least somewhat comforting for you as well.
But it also never hurts to be proactive if it will help take your mind off of things. I kind of went into the process with my plan B hashed out and it's made the process a lot less stressful for me personally. So you may find it helpful to start thinking of one as a "just in case". But don't let it be one extra stressor on your plate, you know? You've got this. Things don't always work out the way we want or expect, but the fact that you've made it this far in the process means you've got the skills to make it work out in the end.

You said it.

I hope my comment didn't upset you; I just know that after I was unsuccessful after my first round, I wanted people to be honest rather than give false hope. It's frustrating for everyone to tell you that your application is perfect and they don't know why you didn't get in when you feel like you must be missing something. I hoped to help you avoid going through this again in a year with the same limitations and the same outcome.

I would encourage you to browse Student Doctor Network; they come up against this issue a lot and people much more eloquent than me have explained the problem. Unfortunately,  clinical psychology PhD programs generally require a degree of flexibility when it comes to location. Even if you were accepted to a school in Boston, you would likely have to move again for internship year, and possibly even again for a postdoc. 

The bottom line is that applying to a small number of clinical psych programs in a highly competitive geographic area is like a high-school student only applying to a single school - Harvard. As impressive as the student might be, no college counselor is going to advise that course of action, because the odds are just not in their favor. The college counselor could look at the student's application and tell them that there are no obvious reasons why Harvard wouldn't accept them, just as there seem to be no obvious reasons you wouldn't be accepted, but there is no guaranteed formula for admission to Harvard, or a clinical psychology PhD program. 

All of this only applies to clinical PhD programs, though. I have no experience with counseling programs and do not know anyone with experience with them, so I really can't speak to them.  

You said it.

Are you aware that you can search results at this site? http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

Are you aware that you can search results at this site? http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

Are you aware that you can search results at this site? http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

New to this format. Wasn't sure I was actually posting in the right place and whether people actually split by specialization. Not trying to be a smartass, just a newbie.

It is also my first round applying too, but I would saying getting an invite from a professor who is accepting students (and does research relating to your interests) is a good thing. From what I've heard from grad students in my lab, profs will often "compete" for top students between one another, or where appropriate co-mentorship is possible. For example, for one program I am interviewing at for clinical psych (don't want to publish name for anonymity), my POI reached out to me to invite me to interview back in December. However, there's also a lot of experimental profs who do similar research as my interests, so I've also been randomly contacted by two experimental profs who want to meet and talk with me. 
 
I think someone talking to you is a good thing, especially if your interests match! You may or may not meet the other profs (they may or may not be taking students). I'd ask the grad coordinator or other professors directly about their taking status since you now have an interview. Say something along the lines of "Dear Prof X, I see prof Y has invited me to interview at university and I am honored. Since our interests match, I am wondering if I can also meet with you in addition to prof y on grad student day."
 
Hope this helps and congrats on the interview!

Like @byn I don't think it's going to make or break your application, but emailing POIs prior to applying can be helpful. First, you can make sure they are even taking students. If they aren't, then there's no need to waste time and money in applying to that program. Some schools post this info on their websites, but a lot don't, and it's good to check with the the POI because they may be waiting on grant funding, etc. Second, if you've contacted the POI and had a positive interaction or they were impressed by your CV, they may keep an eye out for your application. 
I contacted all the POIs I was applying to work with. All eventually got back to me. Some sent a form email, but some were more personal and started a dialog with them,which I'm hoping will help. 

1) I don't know about everyone else, but my current PI asked me when I was interviewing–"What would you want to work on for your first year project?". I was not really expecting this and so it caught me off guard. I would recommend thinking about specific real-world projects/interests that you would want to work on with your POI; when they ask WHY you want to work on this project, don't just say "to help people". Give them a real reason for the importance of your topic of interest. 
2) If they are having you interview with multiple faculty members, make sure to get some understanding of what they work on. This can help a lot when interviewing. Also, other faculty members are oftentimes interested in hearing you defend why your research interests are important, so be prepared (like in #1 above) to talk about this. 

1. Don't BS, don't name drop, don't rehearse answers. All these things are easily spotted and a quick way to give away a potential spot. Be yourself!
2. Don't be intimidated by people you are interviewing against. Don't get caught up in discussing accomplishments and pissing contests (if this is observed you can probably count yourself out). Be friendly and kind to all.
3.Make sure the program also fits for you and you believe you could work well with your advisor.  Pay attention to current graduate students, their attitudes, their accomplishments, etc. Interview weekend is a two way street. You should leave the interview feeling impressed with the program and wanting to be there. If not, look elsewhere. 

Have a great holiday weekend everyone! Hope we can all stop stressing for a few days and enjoy the break

School Name: University of Oregon
Date Interview Invite Received: 12/13/16
Degree: PhD
Type: Counseling Psychology
Notified via: Email
From: DCT
Interview Date: 
Friday, January 27th
Additional Info: Dinner January 26th, Student Social to follow interviews
 
School Name: University of Houston
Date Interview Invite Received: 12/13/16
Degree: PhD
Type: Counseling Psychology
Notified via: Email
From: Assistant to DCT
Interview Date: February 10
Additional Info: Student Social February 9