Psygeek

Contact your international office. Some embassies have emergency appointments - contact your embassy for the specific rules and requirements to be able to make such an appointment. You are allowed to apply in a third country if you can prove strong ties to that country (e.g., your spouse is from there + you have things like a bank account, phonenr, etc. there - always worked for me (note, I also lived in that third country prior to the US)) or you have some other reason why you are there (e.g., studying, working, some other reason other than convenience/travel). You are generally not allowed to apply at another embassy for the sake of convenience.

I think this can also be pretty field specific. There are for example quite some well-known physics schools in Europe; and some of the programs you mentioned are not well-known in all fields (or are necessary famous even within their respective countries; Tilburg would be considered far less prestigious than University of Amsterdam or Leiden respectively). I do notice that my American degree (I'm from Europe) allows me to develop certain (valuable) skills that are less of an emphasis in a European PhD. I also have access to certain resources that I would not have to the same extent in Europe (RA's; $$). This may also be field specific. So you do see that there are quite some Europeans who tend to get a European degree and then go back home, which certainly does not harm job opportunities for them (or in Europe in general, with regard to work permits and the like).

My experience with social psych is that they do not necessarily care the most about GPA/GRE (GRE is usually be above the cutoff), bu rather about research experience. It really depends on the school (and the size of their applicant pool) and individual PIs the extent to which they value GPA. This really varies tbh.

take your year off as long as it s relevant. It may help your chances too. PhD is a long ride, so you want to end up somewhere that you really like.

Being an RA is quite broad and RA duties vary. You want to think of RA experience as relevant experience in some sort of training. Not all RA experiences are equal; simple coding vs. being highly involved in a study are very different experiences. In a similar vein, what counts as 'relevant' experience also varies. Obviously the closer the topic is to what you'd like to pursue, the more things you learn that are potentially relevant for your PhD career.

I had people in my cohort who came straight out of undergrad (I was at an R1), but I do not know that much about their backgrouds

Ah yeah, having a Master's helps. You'd be surprised how many people from the US without a Master's apply each time to my university back in Europe. Not a chance. I guess you could just apply then and motivate based on point 2 & 3 + your interest in the project fields (note however that a lot of people from my social psych cohort ended up in different departments though, so I don't know if that's really 'enough' reason, since it's pretty common) Do note that often US PhDs are regarded as better/prefered over European PhDs.

Majority of schools would want you to live there at least at the beginning of your study. Often you have other duties (other than research) that include teaching, departmental duties, etc. UK may be an exception to this.

> You'd generally need a Master's to do a PhD at most European schools (except UK I believe, but you really want to check this). Bachelor (undergrad), Master's and PhD generally tend to be separate in (mainland) Europe (i.e., you enroll in a Master's before you do a PhD). Note that most places do require you to do teaching (the amount varies, but again, it also varies per university in the US). However, some of my friends in for example the Netherlands teach way more than I do in their PhD. > A lot of places (especially in Psych) do not have an annual application (like the US), but rather have an opening when a PI gets funding. This is because most universities don't treat PhDs as students, but rather as employees (i.e., researchers). Some schools have an annual grant you can compete for; you usually need to write a grant proposal for this. > Do you think you have a fair shot in getting into your university of choice? You may/may not be able to apply for permanent residence based on the country upon your PhD - some countries require 5 yrs of continuous residence (PhDs tend to be 4), income, or other requirements. However, doing a PhD somewhere does not automatically qualify you for permanent residence. Furthermore, although cost of living may be lower; did you check the stipened amount/paycheck (note that taxes are a lot higher in a lot of European countries). > What makes you think your advisor would be better at the other school? Note that you usually work only with the PI at most European schools (since you are tied to a specific grant - which is where the money comes from - this was actually a reason why I left), so whether or not you like other research in the department may be less of a concern. In terms of feasibility. Sure, it would be possible. There are tons of US PhD students in Europe. I don't think it is necessarily a deal-breaker to be enrolled in a PhD before, but you certainly want to come up with better reasons (e.g., you really like a certain project) than research-teaching balance (unless you do more than 2+ days teaching at this point, I don't think you'll get a better balance), cost of living, or an unavailable supervisor (my experience in Europe varied per person with how much they prioritized their students).

I don't think its aggressive given how the university is making a mess of things (I don't know if you have an Ombudsperson Adelaide, otherwise get them involved too..)

The shorter the better! I didn't include my CV but wrote one sentence about my background (completed my MSc... blahblah) Do ask 1) whether they plan on taking new students, 2) state your interests (and confirm they align with the direction the PI is moving), 3) potentially ask for other recommendations of people to work with if you feel comfortable (they understand you're not gonna apply to one university)

There's still a lot of time left until it is the end of the month! I know this probably won't help a lot, but try to stay positive (and otherwise, you have every right to throw a massive fit at your university since they're breaking policy, not you. I had a similar situation and ended up getting $$$ through the ombudsperson, since obviously the uni was at mistake (in my situation))

This.

contact each school - wouldn't expect people to know specific admission policies here (and still better confirmed by the school).

You could try, they won't move the interview weekends for you, but some people may make time to meet up with you. I think you can only do it after you receive some sort of 'invite' though (i.e., you made it to the 'next round'). Although it's better to visit, I ended up doing everything over Skype. Don't think it harmed my chances in any way.