PokePsych

Green tea

I'd love to come over and complain together about this - but I'm on the other side of the world atm. My main way to deal with the stress now is just to go hardcore on my other research projects (the publications wouldn't do any harm if I don't get accepted in the end for the next cycle, nor if I get accepted lol). Quote from 3 weeks ago: 'Things should be moving fast now' - but it should take no more than 'a couple of weeks'. (one week after the moving fast I got the other invite to chat - it seems to be like a weekly thing, so if they follow this trend (every wed - I should get news today lol)).

I realized my body got so tense, I actually got problems in my arm. Then I realized I got so tense for waiting for my result (today it's a MONTH since my first interview - a week since my last with the same school. Skype all the way). I'm sorta doing a lot of yoga exercises now so it's working out, but I actually NEED this to be over soon. It's controlling my life for real.

You can if you want - it's a legitimate reason to say you have another program wanting an answer (and you don't want to hold on to a spot if you get into the other program). Just ask when you could expect an answer - if any.

The waiting game is the worst FOR REAL.

There's a big difference between marginal fit and big differences in fit. I've been in contact with a POI who does EXACTLY what I want to do and people who I can see myself work with but not necessarily on a topic I'm as passionate about as the other. That said, don't forget to take the bigger picture into account in terms of also which line of research may be most fruitful to build a career on (this may also differ). I'd personally investigate placement of graduates if possible - this may tell you more about actual prestige/value. Also POIs within a department may differ in this (some people are just better connected/have a better reputation).

Big foot

Not sure if it would be the best for a PhD in the US (although people often do their M thesis there), there are quite some terminal research masters degrees in Europe (eg Netherlands). Most grads end up in PhDs although predominantly across Europe (partly because the system works differently). they will give you a lot of research experience and tend to be cheaper than American ones (I paid 5000 USD for a 2yr degree). I know my home uni (Vrije Universiteit) has one in clinical/developmental psych. Maybe too crazy idea haha

I read this as: Hi thank you for getting back to me (and reinstating your interest and acknowledging I took the time for you). I have not made a decision yet, but if I come up with anything I want to ask you that will help my decision I will let you know. Thanking someone for their time is never a bad idea. It just personally reads to me as if he didn't make a decision yet - which is why he didn't tell you anything. Furthermore, even if he was 100% sure he still may not have told you as he may want to make sure there is funding first (i.e., maybe other profs have priority etc.).

blown up

Coupons for a good coffee is generally a good idea I'm under the impression (academics love coffee lol). Another good one is to add a handwritten thank you note.

I'm the same. Don't worry. It's hard to keep yourself in check. I'm literally waiting for my dream school to get back to me (not waitlisted, just after the interview)

I didn't mind the applying that much, but the waiting is THE WORST. Let's share some tips and tricks to get through this together. What I do: - Meet friends and talk with them. This doesn't seem to work that well as all my friends are constantly like did you hear anything yet? But at least I can spill my worries for a little bit. So I generally try to meet people who have zero interest in academics so I'm forced to talk about other things. - Netflix. For real. - Do research. Yeah... No joke. But writing and data-analysis at least keep me focused so I don't think about it. Plus I'm usually quite absorbed in this. - Read a good book - again, it keeps me focused and distracts my mind from the horror of waiting for the results. Does anyone have other things that work?

Or they were super busy, maybe did not see the need to reply (unless you asked a question), etc. I know the waiting game is horrible, but just I don't know.. try to distract yourself. I'm also horrible at this.

If you know them well - a personal gift was nice. I had one professor who's a tea fanatic, so I got him some special tea. I gave a supernice bookstamp for another person because I knew he'd really appreciate it (which he did). The third one I just bought him some coupons for good coffee nearby his faculty since he's always complaining the coffeemachines are the worst. All were very happy with their personalized gifts.

I got one offer so far, but I'm still waiting to hear back from my dream school. Come on. Let me know plz.

keeping score

lose track

I've had one e-mail sunday afternoon from a POI.. Another one was indeed an early bird it seemed. Other ones more regular working hours. It can be any time it seems.

*virtual hug*

Join the club :') This is how I felt after my PhD interview.

I can't even normally open my e-mail anymore. That and whenever my phone indicates I got an e-mail I go in partly panic mode and it turns out to be random garbage from LinkedIn or H&M or something.

@DippinDot thank you For me, having a broad idea of what I wanted to study when already entering my Master's had been incredibly helpful in choosing what to learn and achieve. Plus if you got a good story on why you did something - I always built upon my experience and relate it to my interest in macropsychology. It's been so helpful. That being said - another addition - I believe it's important to really know what you like and how you want to approach it during your PhD. Although this works a bit different in Europe (you sign up for a specific project and RQ really), I've seen a bunch of my classmates end up on projects that do not actually have their true interest and passion and they're just doing the PhD for the sake of the PhD. For me, I want to build a line of research I'm passionate about! If that means I will get my degree a lot later, so be it. In the long run I'd see myself in a happier place. BUT - if someone has a fairly good idea where they want to head and where they want to be directly after undergrad, that's of course also fine! If I had stumbled upon a project in the last phase of my Master's that I'd really like I may also be pursuing a PhD now.

I'm not in clinical, but I can tell you about my experiences. After undergrad I took a year off. I've always had a strong interest in cultural psych so I ended up moving to Asia. At the same time I wanted to be sure I wanted to pursue research, so I took some classes at a local university in terms of applied psych (advertising, UX design, etc.). It made me even more convinced I wanted to do research and certainly helped me through difficult times in my Master's when I wanted to give up. It also certainly helped me develop my research interests a lot more (rather than cross-cultural psych, I'm now doing more 'socio-ecology'). So after this year, I went back home to pursue a Research Masters in Social Psych. It was a great experience, and I learned a lot. My experiences abroad have also helped me in developing research questions and so on. I felt my experience abroad at least made me a lot more focused on what I wanted to pursue in terms of topics and the time I used to read also had given me a bit more depth. I'm currently on a gap year again (maybe even 2 depending on whether I get in now), partly because my thesis expanded way to big in size (finishing it this week) and I got involved in too many things during my Master's. Yet, I expect 2-3 papers up for publication by the summer, so regardless, I feel even this year is not wasted. I may even set up a cross-cultural project and work with some people here sometime soon, which I personally view as a big achievement (Yep, I'm back in Asia). So again, I don't feel like I'm wasting time. I'm learning so much - both about my research interests, and am getting valuable experience and knowledge (both about the topics I'm interested in as well as about myself). I'm also using this year to profile myself more, which I believe will help me regardless of which point I am in my career.

I'd personally contact him/her about research interests again and at least ask whether he/she is open to some things you want to explore. I've been pushing for some ideas that are partly (but certainly not fully) overlapping with my current supervisor and showed how it relates to his stuff. Also you can ask this person about their future plans (both in terms of research and careerwise) to maybe not make it too obvious/awkward? And also maybe what she expects of a grad student? This may be informative as well to learn more about their mentoring style (like how independent, how much you're expected to do yourself, etc.)