pataka

Cool! Sounds like you did everything you could to give your application a good shot, then. Best of luck!

Your GRE is low, but your Master's GPA might be enough to counteract that. Your publications/research experience are really good for your application. I'd say it comes down to your research fit with the programs you applied to. Did you apply to programs that don't have a minimum GRE cutoff/specifically state they look at the whole application? Did you reach out to faculty/potential PoIs so that they might recognize your name when they see your application?

For psych for the most part I've only seen really informal/informational type interviews so far. The professor I talked with told me he had just gotten the list of applicants who put him down as a PoI, and he was going through it and reaching out for preliminary chats with people he *might* be interested in working with. Formal interview invites won't be sent for a few weeks still, maybe longer. Don't freak out yet!

I don't know of any programs admitting after April, at least for PhDs. But you're not wrong, and I'm right there with you! This initial wave of interviews (and phone screenings) might not mean a WHOLE lot in the long run. And I think a lot of the programs I applied to don't start sending out invites until at least the end of December, if not weeks/months later. I did have a PoI reach out to me for a really informal/informational skype audio chat, and to me it was validation that my application wasn't just lost in the void, you know? But I know it's not everything when it comes to the admissions process.

For clinical psychology PhD programs, there's a database of universities and their acceptance rates from 2006-2011. I found it through Google, haha.

Enjoying research and being a good, functional lab member are both really important attributes for acceptance! One thing I might suggest is trying to get some volunteer experience closer to your field of interest. Also, since your degree isn't in psychology - have you taken enough psychology courses to qualify to apply? Many clinical psych programs have specific course requirements for applicants with degrees outside of the field.

I'm in a similar boat, but with fewer years of experience. May I ask which field your Bachelor's degree is in? I've been told that overall, it's the fact that you have research experience at all (and therefore, have research skills) that matters; it matters less that it's not clinical psych-specific. As long as you're able to explain why you want to pursue clinical psych, and you have a good SoP and good LoRs, you should be fine.

I looked up the acceptance rates for my programs (which are obnoxiously low) and that made me feel a little better, honestly. Knowing how much of a crap shoot it is will lessen the blow if/when I get rejections. Until then, I'm going to try my hardest to be prepared to give great interviews and stay positive about the process - if I do everything I can do to reach the goal, then I know I'm an excellent candidate and if I get rejected, it's not because I didn't try hard enough.

I think a lot of programs are still right in the middle of sending preliminary invites, so don't get discouraged yet! I've heard the process can take weeks.

Could you call the admissions offices to find out?

Heyyy, Minneapolis! *high five* Congrats on your consortium invite! I'd say from my experience around here, you should shoot for right between practical and professional. Do you have a blazer you could wear with a decent top and dark wash jeans? I wouldn't wear snow boots, but I don't think you necessarily need heels either - do you have ankle boots or something relatively practical and not bulky that you could pair with thick socks? I don't know how much more it's supposed to snow before Wednesday, but there's only like an inch on the ground right now so that's what I would opt for.

Well this is my first year applying, but I've been binge-watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix (it's what got me through application season too so I didn't explode with stress). I go to dance once a week, and I've been prepping to bake holiday cookies this weekend! Also going to see a ballet show, and other random things to spend time with friends. Planning to see my fam for the holiday. Do things that don't involve sitting in front of your computer and staring at your email. We can do this

Congratulations!!! That's got to be a relief. Rooting for you to get into plan A though!

Mine was Friday as well. I'm taking @Tigla's advice and not freaking out (too much) yet; forums I've read from previous years suggest people applying for Fall cycles don't generally hear back about interviews until late December/early January at the earliest. For a lot of the universities I applied to, interview dates are in February.

Ah! As in not a forum. I hadn't been to the results page yet. Still trying to figure out gradcafe, haha.

Is there a results page already??

Since I've got time on my hands, and I haven't done this introduction thing yet: Programs: Counseling Psychology PhD (except for UWashington, where I applied to Psychology PhD: Clinical Science) Schools: 6 schools listed in my signature. Worried about: - GRE scores: 154Q/157V/4.0W - No graduate school experience - No first-author papers, not even a thesis - Relatively low number of applications, I see a lot of people with 10+ schools! Not worried about: - GPA: 3.83 cumulative, around 3.9 for the major - Statement of Purpose - I think my statement is pretty kickass - Research experience - 2.5+ years experience as a research coordinator at a R1 university, third author on 3 published papers and second author on 2 papers under review, third author for 3 abstracts + presentations at conferences - Letters of recommendation EEEEEEeeeeee wish me luck! Good luck to all of you!

This is freaking me out too - not that I wasn't already watching my email like a hawk, but now I'll be extra worried if I don't see something soon. This is my first year applying so I'm not even seasoned yet; all of this anxiety is brand-spanking-new! P.S. what's your plan b? Congrats on getting that figured out!

You've gotta do what @Becks_Psych did and stash them all in a separate folder so you won't/can't look at them! I'm also finding that focusing on work isn't helping... I'm a research coordinator and literally all I did yesterday was browse gradcafe and SDN, and look up recipes on my favorite baking blogs we're all going crazy.

Same! If I don't look at them, I can pretend they're perfect

I'm pretty much just trying to focus on my job, catching up on things like laundry and dishes (I've been terrible at basic adulting lately), and making an effort to go to things my friends plan. Sometimes if I'm feeling ambitious, I read papers about my topic of interest, but that can backfire and add to the anxiety Find a hobby! I'm probably going to make an effort to get back into baking, especially now that it's holiday season again

Me!!! Seriously, applications were submitted on Friday, I'm just supposed to sit and wait now, and my brain cannot calm down no matter what I do. Waiting is the worst! What are you doing to occupy your time?

Thinking about my skills and their applicability to my proposed area of study, instead of my specific research experience (because that doesn't exactly transfer); thanks! I'll definitely be looking up papers in my field of interest, so I'll keep this in mind when I'm reading.

I agree! This is what gave me the courage to apply to my field of interest anyway, despite the mismatch between experience and field of interest, and it's what I wrote in my statement of purpose. This is an excellent idea, and gives me a lot to think about. Thank you and good luck to you as well!

Hey all, I know it's too early to stress about interviews since I just submitted applications, but here I am anyway - I'm sure you all know how it is. I've been lurking this forum, and a topic I've seen come up quite often is that it's common for an applicant to be asked about their own research during an interview. Even though I've gained valuable research skills through my work over the last few years, and I'm passionate about my work for the time-being and think it's really exciting and innovative, it isn't related to my proposed topic of study at all. So now I'm freaking out about what I'll say if/when I'm asked to talk about my work during an interview. Any advice? I'm happy to provide more detail if it's needed.