8BitJourney

I'm wondering this as well. Aside from juggernauts like UNC chapel hill, berkley, ucla, and some others how can people really tell what's prestigious vs what's not?

I'm curious about this as well

Does anyone know the post interview timeline for NYU? I forgot to ask

For me it wasn't Dr. Wolfe but not sure about the other posters. I'm pretty sure my app was just not up to snuff

I would say then to contact the program coordinator just to clarify and if they don't know then reach out to your POI. Best of luck, its such a vague stressful process.

Did you interview there or are candidates recommended for admission without interviews? If interviews are required for your evaluation and you haven't received one then I would say don't contact the POI until you have another offer. Then you'll be able to explain the situation and it looks more genuine rather than being antsy. If you have interviewed and waiting on admission results then it should be fine. If interviews are not required then it gets tricky and I'd advise contacting the department coordinator first and then POI if they aren't certain. HTH and best of luck!

So I've been told: "If you haven't heard from faculty by now, that's probably not a good sign. Final decision letters will be mailed near the end of the month." I'm pretty much tapping out for the school now.

Just finished interviewing at one of my top ranked programs and it was everything I wanted. Except one thing: we won't know admissions decisions till early March XD I wished we were notified earlier just for the fact that I don't want to hold onto interview slots that could go to other great applicants :/

Waiting on NYU so if anyone else is waiting as well feel free to pm me!

I wish I was this scientific in figuring out schools. I already ranked programs (based on fit and gut feeling) pre-interviews and unless something incredible happens I'm going with said gut feeling and my top choice will probably still be my top choice post-interview. At this point there's only one program that could mess that up (But of course it's a long shot that they'll contact me at this point).

That kind of immaturity rubs me the wrong way :/ I know many POIs who would boot someone like that very quickly to preserve the harmony in their lab. I meanfirnedly competition to bring out the best in each other sure but that sounds unpleasant and compensatory.

@PNIplz I wouldn't worry too much about your GRE score (but of course you can always retake if you have the time/funds) because I was able to get pre-interviews at schools I honestly thought were out of my league and my combined GRE is a crummy 316; multiple choice is an evil invention XD. What bumped me from in-person interviews was fit. One in particular liked my experience and where I wanted to take their research but hadn't acquired funding for that direction yet and was afraid that I'd be stuck on another project if their grant submission wasn't successful. While I thought that was minor (and emphasized that I didn't mind) it was still a strong enough concern that I couldn't make the cut. Other POIs thought we aligned well but turned to radio silence after submission. I definitely think @psych0627 is right and I wished there was a mathematical formula for each poi to know how they weighed variables and how much leeway each had in terns of fit to their lab!

Honestly I haven't had potential faculty specifically point out publications as much as 'increased productivity' which can encapsulate a lot of things. Are publications great? Of course, its the kicker, but some schools restrict undergrad contribution to articles or its just not possible at the time the applicant is in that lab. However, if you can show you've been productive in other ways (and have your Recommenders compliment this in their letters) you can still have a pretty strong case. Such as: helping with grant writing, organizing a manual or creating a fidelity checklist, changing how recruitment and retention/tracking is carried out, doing a school based research symposia or honors thesis (undergrads are generally broke and may not be able to get a travel award/funding), going from an RA to a coordinator, applying for a fellowship (just saying you applied can put you in a good light). These can all help to show maturity and growth as a future researcher.

Its probably to see how well an applicant plays with other and how they handle themselves under pressure (like when a doctoral student has to keep calm during group supervision). Its not entirely pleasant particularly when there are conversation hogs/obnoxious applicants. but most other applicants are usually civil and will be willing to play off each other to make the entire thing less awkward. And for that aggressive environment question just spin it into a positive like: "its great to meet so many other exceptional applicants who could be my future colleagues and network" or "I'm sure everyone has brought a unique mix of experiences and perspectives that I'd love to hear" etc etc. So don't cancel those schools yet, you won't know if its bad till you get there and even then remember you made it to the interview stage so you're just as qualified as other people at that table

A tote bag is fine but please wear boots. With the recent weather shift here you'll be miserable with heels or flats unless you plan to change at the site. But it'll be completely okay to wear nice boots

The cudcp guidelines say that it's common practice that applicants can wait till April 15 before accepting any offer but more than 2 offers shouldn't be held at one time. Granted I'm sure you don't want to wait that long to accept any and a kindly worded email thanking admissions/the poi but letting them know that "you're weighing another offer (But still seriously considering theirs) since is still early in the process" should be understandable If you're a competitive applicant. For the wording of this email I highly suggest you get a mentor or faculty to provide input though... Btw thanks for your concern I got a late email from the coordinator who's working hard to get me a Skype interview/rectify the situation. It's just messy because so many schools had interviews this week and I already couldn't attend the main day.

Lol I'm starting to think that Harvard only exists in the minds of men and I didn't want it enough to make it real (haven't heard a peep). But congrats! I heard UCDavis is a great program so at least you know you have somewhere reputable to go in the fall.

Ditto, the calming elevator music is doing nothing for me right now ETA: Finally got through! The automatically bumped me to the next flight. Bad news is my other interview was cancelled. FUUUUUUU-

I'm kind of concerned honestly. The last time I nterviewed there was a terrible snowstorm and the school did not offer any alternatives to in-person and very few taxi companies were willing to drive in that weather. It took $I00 and a lot of pleading to make it :/ I'm glad other programs are being accommodating but If its that bad again I'm not risking it.

It is exhausting (especially if you're an introvert!) but you definitely have the right attitude about it Its the good type of tiring and seeing other applicants/future advisors is great even if just for networking. One fellow applicant thought I should start making comics after seeing the doodles I was making in my leather folio and it kicked off a pretty calming non-academic convo before we had to meet POIs. I'll be having a tall glass of wine after this next interview and a White Russian when they're all done. Or cake, I might have cake....Anyway good luck!

I think the OP was referring to during interviews ie if you are invited to an in-person and the POI is trying to gauge how invested you are in a program vs other interviewees. Cold contacting a POI though, yeah its bad form unless its a top choice and you want to keep their interview date free.

Wait do you mean admitted without applying? Because if so that's extremely unlikely. But if they relocated and applied it could show a lot of dedication to that specific program and be looked upon favourably.

C'mon y'all that's enough. It's run its course and there are more productive things we could be discussing. Based on past years it seems like Harvard finishes up most of its business by 2/3rd week of February, till then focus on your other applications/interviews; its what I'm doing (and what those POIs/schools deserve).

This is my second time applying and I doubled the amount of interviews I got this time. Generally when I see a post like this I think of 4 things: fit, productivity, LORs, and luck. 1. Fit: Some POIs will want someone who is completely aligned with their interests while others will want someone who will take their research in a slightly new direction. Its really hard to tell from just their description on the school's webpage. Contacting the POI prior to the application cycle can give you an idea of this. 2. Productivity: I had a lot of undergrad research and some presentations but Post-bac I took on more leadership roles, did more presentations and tried to get on pubs. 3. LORs: My stats are cruddy on paper but my recommenders are willing to go to bat for me and really tried to create an impression of a hard dedicated worker. You really need strong letters to help you stand out. 4. Luck: POIs lose funding, may have had a bad day, for some reason your application wasn't properly processed, someone just wasn't feeling you, the list goes on on the 'luck' factors that applicant's can't control. 2,3, and to an extent 1 are pretty controllable and if you unfortunately have to apply next year I encourage you to work on those three. Also remember these programs are extremely competitive (I believe this year unc-chapel hill will probably have an acceptance rate of less than 2%!) This isn't to dissuade you but just to steel you for how difficult the process is. Hopefully, other people on this board who've applied 2 or 3 times can chime in as well.

There's a developmental psych thread: Probably the best place to ask