steveotron

Anyone have any apartment suggestions for someone on a 13.5k, 9 month stipend? I've been in contact with the tenant union and they've been very helpful with apartment suggestions in terms of cost and complaint issues. They said they discourage finding roommates (I don't know anyone at UIUC yet), so I guess I'll be looking for a 1bed/1bath apartment. I'm not sure how much my stipend will be taxed, and I've never lived on my own, so I'm not sure what else to calculate in addition to the base rate for apartments.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for Human and Community Development Ph.D.

What letter does your last name start with? Mine is T, so I didn't get the official notification until the 30th of March.

I finally got that e-mail to check my status; it tells me i'll have a decision on the 30th. at least i now know they didn't just forget about me.

To the UC Davis people who received and didn't receive the e-mail: Did your status change? I didn't get the e-mail, haven't been interviewed, and my status hasn't changed.

Thanks for the reply. That's good to hear about the GREs. I have a score in the 1200s, so I was just worrying that the GREs for the PSE program were in the 1300s+. I'll be at UCLA during the summer doing a research internship (in the Psych dept.), but I'll probably try to contact some of the professors in the Education department (Drs. Graham and Mistry). Unfortunately, I'll have to make a decision on my current acceptances before I get down there. I think my research matches are good and I've always liked UCLA, but I just didn't apply to the program this year. Do you happen to know how many students they accept (even better, how many out of how many applicants) and how well they're funded?

If people don't mind answering, I'm wondering what your GRE scores were if you applied to the PSE program. USNEWS reports that the average GRE scores for UCLA's PhD programs are 551V/591Q, but I'm wondering if scores for the PSE department may be higher than that? I didn't apply to the PSE program this year (foolishly applied to UCLA's Psychology Department after they waived the Subject GRE), but I'm considering the possibility of applying next year because I like the research being done there although the thought of delaying graduate school for one more year when I have an offer somewhere else this year is not ideal.

Haha. That's also what I was wondering. I'm sure it's sent out to all applicants.

1. did you apply to safety schools or just top tier/highly ranked programs? 2. if there's something that's particularly weak about your application (e.g, GRE), are you willing to take it again if you believe it's possible to improve your score. 3. i guess there's mixed opinions regarding masters degrees. yes, i've also read about potential advisers that prefer students who have had no masters training in order to "mold" their prospective students. although i can see that as a possibility, i don't think most potential advisers would look negatively on students who have sought prior training by earning a masters; these students, if successful in their masters programs, demonstrate that they can handle graduate level coursework (content, and, more important in my eyes, graduate level statistics and research methods) as well an ability to write (i.e., their masters thesis). what do i know though? i'm not even an official grad student yet. however, if you do decide to get a masters and continue to a PhD, you'll most likely be unfunded during your masters degree and you will probably not be able to transfer most of your coursework to your doctoral program (this can vary). that means 2 years as masters student (hopefully) and anywhere from 4 (let's say you get 1 year of coursework reduced) to 5/6 (the average for PhD programs) additional years to get your PhD. 4. as for different career opportunities, you are interested in social psych, so have you considered a terminal masters program such as i-o psychology that could possibly fit your research interests? from my experience of working with i-o psychologists (my undergrad mentor is one) and having taken some coursework in it, a lot of i-o psychology is simply social psychology applied to the workplace. i don't want to step on anyone's toes, but, IN GENERAL, a terminal i-o degree (applied work) is going to be a better investment than a research masters if the masters degree is your final stop. i considered i-o once, but i don't think it's my thing. but if you're looking for a masters that can offer a good financial prospect and if you're really adamant on getting a graduate degree, it's a great option--"get money, get paid."

Anyone applied to UC Irvine? If so, any news?

I had three rejections before my first acceptance. It's not easy to do, but don't give up hope.

First generation student here. I feel a little guilty leaving my family for graduate school. Our financial situation is not the best, and I'm not sure how things will be for my parents and younger sister when I leave. For the past 3 years of my undergraduate education, I worked about 30 hours a week in addition to being a full-time student (15-18 unit semesters + work as a research assistant), and I helped pay the bills and rent. However, with me leaving for graduate school, I'll no longer be able to give any financial support. I've been accepted to UIUC, and I have a complete tuition waver (worth 27k a year) and funding (13.5k every 9 months, and possible support during the summer) for four years, and, although not guaranteed, I'll most likely receive funding my fifth and final year as well. I'll have financial security for the next 5 years of my life, but there isn't anything I can do to help my family. We've already taken steps to help with the cost of living with me gone, but I still can't escape that feeling of guilt. Before hearing anything back from schools, I did apply to 7-8 jobs as a backup in case I wasn't accepted anywhere and would have stayed home and worked to help, but there's no chance of that anymore. I guess I'm just waiting to hear from all the schools in California to see if I can stay nearby, but it's not like I'd be able to help anyways. Gah.

I liked that song a few others off the album, but I get a little bored with the rest. The album cover is also really creepy.

If I don't get in anywhere, there's going to be a lot of "Let Down" played.

Nice! BSS is my favorite band ever. Charles Spearin (one of the many members) released (whoops. WILL release--it leaked) an album call The Happiness Project. It's a pretty interesting concept: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happiness_Project. I have a kind of funny and pathetic story about meeting them. After a show of theirs in SF, we headed to the parking garage to get my car, but the lot was closed. So we headed back to the venue to wait for a ride, and a few members came out to hang out with us for an hour or two. Brendan Canning asked us to come and join them at a club/bar, but my stupid ass was worried about my car and getting home, so I opted not to. Let's just say it's one of my biggest regrets in life. Hah. side note: does anyone here have a last.fm? here's mine: http://www.last.fm/user/steveotron

Wilco, The National, Animal Collective (released what is and will remain the best album of 2009!), Fleet Foxes, Pavement, and the Dark Was the Night Compilation (has some great stuff by Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, Feist, Dirty Projectors, etc.).

Has anyone heard anything yet? Specifically, I was wondering if anyone has been interviewed/accepted at WashU or UC Santa Cruz?

I applied to 10. Luckily, I have a scholarship that covers my GRE, applications, additional score reports, and visits to schools. Still, that didn't make the process seem any less stressful. The only thing I'm finding more stressful is waiting for decisions and that one LoR a professor has yet to submit. Now if only I could get accepted to just 1 program...

Got my first rejection-- WashU. It was a huge reach for me since their program is so highly ranked overall in social psych. Congrats to anyone else who has received better news though. I never thought I'd get in, but it still sucks. Since I haven't heard anything from UCLA or UCR, I'm prepared for the worst.

so far, I'm perusing thegradcafe.com, livejournal, and college confidential. anywhere else you recommend for us obsessives to check? here's the link: http://community.livejournal.com/applyingtograd/

It looks like someone on livejournal (applying to grad group) has already had their phone interview hours after receiving an e-mail. I can't say for all schools, but at UCLA for example, the professors I contacted with said that their decisions are made separately. That may be more expected from a school like UCLA though, because their program has different deadlines for different sub-specialties.

Yeah! 2 people applying to UC Riverside have already been interviewed, and their deadlines were just on 01/02/09. I almost applied to the Developmental Program, but I applied to the Social-Personality program instead, although I did list a Developmental faculty member as a person I'd like to collaborate with. I had forgotten at first that I had applied to S-P instead of Development, and I panicked for a second that I had not been contacted yet. I was at work for 6 hours today, and I just paced around the sales floor dreading decisions, checking my e-mail and grad school forums, and daydreaming about acceptances. I want your stats, people. I'm also curious about what was asked during your interviews, although I can understand not revealing too much if you're worried about other applicants getting an upper hand.

I guess it makes me feel a little better knowing I'm not the only person who made mistakes, although I wish we could have all been error-free and not have to ruminate on such things for the next couple of months. I swore I read each of my SoPs 3-4 times before submitting them, and I hope admissions committees don't think I'm a careless person. I was rushing to send one of my applications in the mail, and I then had to rush to school to take a final exam in my ANOVA course. I then had to hurry home after finishing the exam at 8PM and finish 4 separate online applications. What's done is done, I suppose. However, I was wondering how appropriate it might be to ask someone in a graduate program who you've had discussions with to send your corrected version of the SoP? It sounds a little unfair to other applicants, however, so I'm afraid to ask.

It probably doesn't look too good that I messed up typing in the original post too.

:x So yeah, I found typos on some of my applications yesterday. I was making some last minute revisions, and I made a minor error on a few on my SoPs. I was using a computer in my house that I don't ever use because my internet connection was not working properly on our network (on the day of deadlines, of course!), and apparently the word processor program on that computer didn't have spellchecker on. I read my SoP's multiple times for each school, but it's hard to notice your own errors, especially on a computer screen instead of a piece of paper. On one application, I accidentally spelled the word ESPECIALLY "epecilly." And on another, instead of "of," I had the word "or" typed in. The close keys are pretty close, I guess. Hah. Am I doomed?