I did think about this too. At one school I was more of a priority waitlist and at two others I was towards the middle of the list. It does sting the pride a bit not being the top choice but a good offer is a good offer at the end of the day.
I did think about this too. At one school I was more of a priority waitlist and at two others I was towards the middle of the list. It does sting the pride a bit not being the top choice but a good offer is a good offer at the end of the day.
Sorry for the double post but this is an interesting article ranking I/O programs in a different way. Maybe it can help you guys/gals out either this year or next year.
http://my.siop.org/tip/jan18/editor/ArtMID/13745/ArticleID/332/The-Results-Are-In-Updated-Alternative-I-O-Graduate-Program-Rankings
Sorry for the double post but this is an interesting article ranking I/O programs in a different way. Maybe it can help you guys/gals out either this year or next year.
http://my.siop.org/tip/jan18/editor/ArtMID/13745/ArticleID/332/The-Results-Are-In-Updated-Alternative-I-O-Graduate-Program-Rankings
It should be very doable. You can find a bedroom in a 3 bed apartment for around ~$500 per month in Rogers Park, which is not too long of a commute from Lincoln Park. Also, since you’d be attending a university in the city proper, you’d be able to get a discounted pass for the L train system and CTA (called a U-Pass) that allows for unlimited rides for college students. Groceries wouldn’t be too bad either, I live in one of the most expensive cities in the country right now and can manage on $25 per week in groceries (just groceries - I budget another $30ish for eating out for myself each week) so Chicago should be around the same if not a little bit cheaper. Your money will run you a lot further in Chicago than it would in NYC, in my opinion.
I have a stipend slight smaller than yours (18,000) and live in the northern part of the city. I've always been frugal, but I've been extra careful since starting my PhD with budgeting. I have been able to save money--one, because I set it in my budget and, two, because I don't feel the need to spend every cent in my monthly budget if at the end I have money left over. Next year I'm going to find a studio which will make my housing more expensive and I doubt I can save as much (if any), but it was a decision I had to make for my own happiness.
2 years ago I was waitlisted and never made it off the list. This year I was in the same position again and didn't think the outcome would be any different, which was slightly disheartening. But today I got a phone call that I was accepted off the waitlist, and it made all the agony and waiting worth it. Sometimes you'll make it off the waitlist, sometimes you won't. But you just have to keep trying. Life is short and there's only so much time to do what you want to do. So if this is your passion and what you see yourself doing, don't give up! Keep fighting and pushing forward with the confidence that you are good enough!
I realize the application season is far from over for many of you, but I felt it's a good time to be retrospective. I wanted to share some of my anecdotes and qualitative data in hopes that it will help those in the future.
Before I begin: this is based on my subjective experience and is not meant to be interpreted as prescriptive. I applied to a combination of I/O Psych and Measurement programs, thus this may be less relevant to some of you- I don't think that will be the case.
Here are some thoughts looking back:
Grad Cafe
The beauty of Grad Cafe (though cliché) is the journey. Many applicants will not visit this place, many will avoid it like the plague, many will lurk. The exceptions provide invaluable information, they empathize, and even sympathize. This process is one that validates and demeans, it's not clean, knowing that you're not alone does so much. You learn about your "competition"- that they are just as smart and accomplished as you; they also are kind and helpful, I found solace in the fact that a deserving person was accepted when I was not. You start building your network here. These people may be in your cohort, may see you at a conference, or may score you a job in the future, so make it count.
Clean the Results Survey...
I did a project a while back trying to crowd-source some data to help those applying. I quickly realized that the results survey is a garbage-fire. All of the open-ended text boxes (i.e., program, school) are very unclean. It does have a predictive component but if someone types something incorrectly others will start getting that as a predictive option. It is also hard to find particular hybrid programs, so I think a tagging taxonomy would bode well. I've emailed the admins about this. The benefit of Grad Cafe can be improved by cleaning the user-experience. This would be a good place for sourcing how grad students deal with rejection or giving particular programs a profile in terms of when they respond to students. You'd need to control for self-selection, but I see this providing a huge benefit to society. Admins clean up the response strings and make the tag structure more defined....constructive feedback, don't delete this post.
Initial Email
-The most underestimated part of the application process
Most of us are highly conscientious so bugging a person we don't know may be excruciating. Funding is the name of the game for many programs. If you apply to the wrong lab it doesn't matter how strong of an applicant you are. Take the time to send an email to figure out who is planning on taking students. I also find that emailing the current students is both less intimidating and more insightful so do not shy away from this. Another thing this will help is your personal statement. I spent so much time specifying advisers just to find out that some of the programs don't want you working with just one person. The program websites are always filled with obsolete information, get current information from those living it.
GRE/GPA
- A perfect GRE/GPA score will not guarantee your acceptance
If this was the case no program would have an interview portion nor would you have to submit CVs and Personal Statements. Obviously, programs will use the quantitative metrics (GPA and GRE) when convenient, so in the beginning when the pool is large. Programs may get 300 applicants so selecting 30 to interview would be tedious without a common scale. The first filter will be a quantitative metric and if you aren't above average...none of your other qualifications is going to fix that. You can't change your GPA but you can improve your GRE. I've heard all sorts of metrics: (Quant + Verbal) * GPA, sometimes programs will weigh verbal more or quant more, you never know. You want to make the first cut, so don't think you need the highest score because chances are you won't have it. Shoot for that 75th-80th percentile. Some of you may think that it is impossible but it's not, this is coming from someone that increased their GRE score by 20 points in a short amount of time. If you're struggling go here. The GRE is based upon adaptive Item Response Theory (IRT) so focus on increasing your mastery of the more difficult questions.
Personal Statement
- Don't overthink it
I spent most of my time doing these. I'm a terrible writer. There is no special sauce, no formula. Just don't tell a 2-page story about your grandma dying. I do suggest demonstrating that you know how to craft a research idea relevant to your person of interest. Also if you see research that they've done where the findings relate to an experience you've had....golden. I asked over 20 professors (from different programs) if they had to choose just one: GPA/GRE, Personal Statement & Recommendations, or CV and Research experience to select a candidate, which would they choose? No one said personal statement. Once again I'm in the area of I/O, so other areas may differ but none of us are in Creative Writing.
Research/CV
-You do research in a PhD program, so research experience is critical
This is the area I lack. My estimation is that it is why I got rejected from places, and is what sets apart the candidates after the GRE/GPA hurdle. I would really love to see the stats for applicants that got 75th percentile on the GRE with publications versus an applicant that is in the 99th percentile without research experience. A vast majority of the professors I spoke to said if they had to select a candidate based on 1 metric that they would choose CV and Research experience. It makes sense because students will be doing research. Don't underestimate how you layout your research experience on your CV. If you can get on MTurk and code someone's data or if you can present to a small clinic or non-profit, do it.
Interviews & Recruitment Days
- It's all about the questions. Don't be vanilla.
I didn't dress the best. I'm sure I creeped out all the current students and applicants, but they remembered me. Ask good questions, I can't emphasize this enough. 100% of the interview/recruitment days I went to accepted me afterwards. I definitely wasn't the smartest person there, but I asked good questions. Don't ask things you can learn from a follow-up email or on the website. Act like you're about to marry them, or that you're on a Tinder date 4 glasses of wine in.
Some examples (all of which I've used):
For students: What would you improve about your program? What class was a waste of time? What are 3 things your adviser can do better? If you had to punish someone deeply, what professor would you handcuff them to? How much time have you spend off-campus with those in your cohort? How much of your weekend is spent doing work? My favorite: If all of the faculty participated in the Amazing Race with a clone of a generic student, who would you put your money on? Who would drop out?
For faculty: What are three adjectives your students would use to describe you? What is a unique skill you offer that the other faculty do not? If you could add a course from the core-curriculum, which would you pick? In your opinion what proportion of a PhD student's time should be spent in the following areas: Assistantship, Coursework, Research, Personal Life? From your perspective what is the biggest social challenge? emotional challenge? and financial challenge? a student faces in grad school.
I decided to roll with George Mason. Good news for me, bad news for all those at George Mason.
Those of you that got offers congrats!
Those of you that didn't get an offer your app is stronger from the process. As an older applicant time was on my side, I didn't transition straight out of school (undergrad and masters) into a PhD. I worked for a little bit to develop personally, salient research ideas. This will provide with a valuable perspective going in. Every cohort needs an OG, every Fellowship needs a Gandalf.
It's almost over....
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