What'sMyName

I'm curious to know if the person who withdrew their application from Portland State is on here? Were you invited to the Visitor's Day?

I haven't heard much other than it sounds informal. Is it two days? It had sounded like just one at one point. I haven't gotten enough definitive info to be able tell. If I do get an invite, I actually won't make it to the actual day/weekend but have talked to my POI about arranging an individual, alternate visiting day instead (if I get an invite, that is). All I know is that they are only inviting as many people as they can accept, and will either subsequently extend offers to those people or to someone who wasn't invited but is on the "short list".

Let me know if you hear anything and I'll do the same! I'm ready to be put out of my misery. I hope the department decides soon...

I don't know if she has notified whoever has the first slot, though. She said they are still prepping invites, and I bet they will go out all at once. She will know about the next slot within a week or so she said, and I'm guessing at that point the department will have everything more in order and they can send out invites. Very nerve wracking...

That wasn't me, but I can tell you that the department had their meeting on Friday. We talked before didn't we? Don't we have the same POI? I can say that our POI has already figured out a first slot invite, and is trying to get a second slot to invite another student but isn't sure yet if it will come through.

We all have those days! So sorry to hear about the rejection, but keep positive about your other prospects!

I didn't get anything formal myself, just an email response that said I wasn't invited to interview. I'm not sure what that means department wise...

I have ongoing contact with my POI at Portland and I am expecting an email back about the timeline for the department decision on visitor's weekend. I think depending on your POI, they will tell you themselves at some point (one person got an invite at the end of an interview) and the others will wait until the department has had its meeting. Which, as far as I know, hasn't happened. Unless they had it Friday or something. And if it indeed hasn't, I think it will happen this week in order to give ample notice for the weekend at the end of this month.

Good luck on your interview! I hope it goes well.

I have gotten contacted by someone who was not my POI, but it was someone who was actually interested in being my advisor in the program. They had seen my application and saw it as a good fit for their future research tracks. However, it really depends on the school. Did this person specify anything in the request for the interview about why they themselves would be interviewing you? I have heard of some schools interviewing as a department and in such a case anyone could interview any applicant, and I'm sure they have a system of appointing who gets to interview who. But mostly what I have heard of is that the POI will contact the student directly in order to see if they would be a good fit interpersonally and how they translate off paper, etc. and then they make the recommendation to the department who decides as a whole. I think that professors have varying levels of ability to accept students after their applications have trickled through the hierarchy of the department, though, because some just say "I'm accepting this student". Overall, after all that babble, it could really mean a few different things in terms why they are interviewing you.

I think it's important what you said, about being prepared for non-academic positions. There are actually a lot of possible jobs for PhDs in Psychology outside of just teaching at a university (although that is where I most likely see myself ending up). I also like what @ForeverJung said about making your own destiny. What I've been most concerned about is getting into a program where I don't feel like the research is the best fit and I will be forcing myself to finish it, not driven out of passion for what I am doing, but driven out of need to just get it over with. Stop the torture. The programs are so long. I mean, we are talking about spending 5 or 6 years of our lives dedicated to this. It scares me when I read about people hating their thesis and dissertation topics and crying when they look at them. I think these issues will definitely come to play when trying to weigh different programs - the preparation for certain jobs, as well as what can I do with this program and the research? I think perhaps if we work really hard and our passion for what we are doing really shows through during the process, even at a lower ranking school, we must be able to have enough successes to put us in a good position upon graduation....right???

Best of luck to you as well! If you hear something (anything at all!) Please let me know! That would be a dream program and I had already written it off thinking it was too late to hear anything. You've gotten my heart racing with nerves

Curious about how you all think of this: How important is the rank of a program to you? For instance, if a program isn't highly ranked, but the research is a really great fit for you, does that negate the fact? Is research fit more important, or the status going to a top 20 program more important? Is a PhD from a lower ranking program better than no PhD at all?

Did you interview for this program? I also applied, but I haven't heard a peep from that one.

Thank you! That surely is an accurate reference for where we are in the process