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Same, I have five recommenders, 3 of which are already submitted so it’s fine if the other two don’t but I’m still anxious about it! And still trying to finish up the verification of predoc status form lol

Unfortunately, like TakeruK said, there’s no way of knowing what the phone convo you had means for your acceptance given that it took place so early in the process. However, the fact that the professor took the time out of their busy schedule to talk to you means they liked your application, and you raising questions they hadn’t even though of before is also obviously very good. So the phone call definitely isn’t hurting your chances of being invited to an in-person interview/being accepted (I don’t know if your field does in-person interviews). I will just issue one caution though (if you do have in-person interviews). There was one program I applied to last year where I had a really amazing phone interview with my POI prior to being invited to the interview weekend. I was really excited when she did invite me, but then during the formal interview we had absolutely NO chemistry. The conversation was awkward as all hell and, no surprise, I wasn’t extended an offer to the program (which was fine - things don’t always work out and I’m now a student in a different but equally amazing program). So I guess the point is that even though your phone convo went really well, it could still turn out that the program may not be for you. Of course ignore all this if you don’t do in-person interviews in your field.

Perhaps they were referring to the results section of Grad Cafe? https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/

That’s great, because nowhere did I say other folks said it was wrong of her to want to charge for talks. People were saying that they’ve never thought to charge for the talks they give/that it goes against their personal ethics, ugh is totally fine. I just wanted to chime in and explicitly say there’s nothing wrong with her considering doing so especially as someone with a marginalized identity/identities, given that members of these groups are often expected to relive their traumatic experiences for others’ personal gain. Similar to how women are expected to listen to men’s problems without batting an eye and provide a sympathetic ear yet if they try to share their troubles with companions who are men, they’re all of a sudden deemed nags and clingy and a whole host of other unsavory, stereotypical attributes.

I'm happy to take a look as well!

One person asked me where I get inspiration for my research ideas from. It wasn't that tough of a question, but definitely one that I was unprepared for! I was also asked why I applied to the kinds of programs that I applied for (basic science/very experimental), given my long-term research and career goals, which are very applied in nature. At first glance there is definitely what appears to be a total mismatch between what I eventually want to do and what I would be trained to do in my program. I luckily had a very clear idea in mind of what exactly I wanted my career trajectory to be and what skills I wanted to learn in graduate school, which allowed me to give a decent answer to the question.

No phone interview horror stories but during one of my in person interviews, I thought I would be fine so I didn't bring a water bottle into the room with me and then the entire time I was so dehydrated and my throat was so dry and I was literally struggling to get out even 2 words without coughing (not exaggerating). I was mortified and thought for sure I had ruined my chances, if my answers to the questions hadn't already done the job for me! Turns out things weren't as bad as I thought and I'm a first year in that program now All that is to say, try not to overthink things; even when it feels like you've performed as bad as you possibly could have, you have no way of knowing how the person on the other end of that interview perceived things. They may not have even given a second thought to whatever it was that you're feeling anxious about! BTW, congrats on both of your informal interviews - those are amazing schools!

re: @lpulicefarrow's comment, the final approved version of the tax bill actually maintains graduate students' current status, so our tuition will not be taxed. (Source) Some good questions to ask would be: What is your mentorship style? What has been the career trajectory of graduates from the program/your past graduate students specifically? What are your authorship policies? What qualities or experiences make a student successful in the program? In your lab? What kinds of supports are available in the program/department/university for graduate students wanting to learn how to apply for funding? Any questions about the funding package that you may have, e.g., will you be provided with summer funding Any specific research-related questions about one of their papers you have read Contact information of current graduate students in the lab Some questions that were relevant for me, that may not be for you: For my Master's thesis and/or dissertation, will I be able to collect my own data or will I primarily be doing secondary data analysis? (many POIs already had large longitudinal data sets) Are there opportunities to collaborate with other faculty members and/or graduate students? How about with faculty outside of the program/department? Keep in mind that interviews are all about information gathering. You want to get a good feel of the program and what your experience in it will be like just as much as they are wanting to get to know you and your strengths/weaknesses. It is always better to err on the side of caution and ask questions about things you may not even consider to be relevant at this point in time, because down the line you may have several programs to choose from and making the final decision will require you to look at those kinds of details. Also, if you don't get enough time to ask all the questions you have, don't worry about it. You can always email your POI to set up a phone or Skype call to ask any lingering questions.

@cashewmilk Sure thing! I was contacted about setting up an initial Skype interview during the last week of January (3 weeks before the interview weekend). I do not know if this is their standard protocol, but if so it could be a while until you hear anything, unfortunately.

Mine only includes my name, pronouns, and phone number. If I am cold-contacting someone, I will include the necessary relevant information in the body of my email (e.g., year, program, and university)

I gather you don't have a Mac, but in case anyone who comes across this thread does and isn't already aware, Command+Shift+4 allows you to screenshot a selection of your screen and Command+Shift+3 allows you to screenshot the whole screen.

I applied last year (and was invited to interview) if you have any questions!

Just a heads up- NYU typically sends invites only 2 weeks before the interview weekend date. So you may want to keep that in mind when scheduling. Last year it was the same date as UCLA and UNC. Also, this is the other thread that people were referring to:

I had this issue, here is what I did: email them both back, thanking them for the offer and mention your interest/excitement in getting to know the department and program better. Say you may have a scheduling conflict that weekend but are working your hardest to resolve it. Ask if they plan to have an alternate interview weekend (many programs do this knowing that the most in-demand applicants will have time conflicts). 3 outcomes: 1. Neither has an alternate weekend. In this case you just pick whichever one you'd rather go to the interview for and ask the other to either set up a skype interview or if you could come on a separate day in-person. 2. One has an alternate weekend and the other does not 3. Both have alternate weekends, just pick whichever one you'd rather go to the original date for

Oof, I'm sorry - my comment wasn't helpful in that case. I will add though that in my experience it really doesn't matter as much as you might expect if your undergrad wasn't prestigious in the field you're intending to go into. My undergrad wasn't and many of the undergrad institutions of other people in my graduate program aren't prestigious in our field either (psychology). What matters most is that you're able to sell your experiences, whatever they may be. An example I can give is that I was actually pre-med for most of undergrad and as a result had very little research experience in psychology, but I still got into a program in my field! Also, already having an MA under your belt will make you more attractive than candidates that may not have that, due to the experience you've already had with TAing and having completed a thesis by the time you matriculate into a doctoral program. In any case, as people above have already said, acceptance rates aren't a true reflection of your chances for a variety of reasons, including folks who haven't taken the GRE, or who have no research match, or who haven't fully completed their application due to missing LORs, etc. You've given things your best shot and that's really all you can hope for. I know it feels like the end of the world if you have to wait another year, but in the grand scheme of things, what's one more year? You can get an advanced position in a research lab, get some great work experiences, get involved in your community to show that you care about your research beyond the lab, and so on. One year isn't so bad even if right now it feels like it might be.

Just want to pitch in and say that even if other folks wouldn't think of charging, that doesn't mean you are wrong or immoral for considering it. We all need to get by and sharing your story over and over again no doubt requires a great deal of emotional labor, that none of us should be expected to give time and time a gain for free, let alone those of us with marginalized identities (e.g., women, people of color, disabled folks, etc.). If this is something you are passionate about but something that isn't feasible or desirable for you to do (for whatever reason) without being compensated then there is nothing wrong with that. You're not less than for asking your work be valued in a way that is tangible and beneficial for you.

What was the acceptance rate of your undergrad institution? I'm sure nowhere near 56%, and yet you still got in, didn't you? You did it then and you will do it now. You are capable. You've demonstrated it through getting into an undergrad institution, completing your Bachelor's degree (which is a huge accomplishment in and of itself), doing well enough on the GRE, amassing research experiences and if applying for clinical programs, completing the relevant clinical experiences. You have enough foresight to be on a forum like Grad Cafe to read about other people's experiences and shape your own. Whatever is meant to happen will happen. A lot of getting into grad school is simply having a good match in research interests with your POI. That goes a lot farther than you think! You'd be surprised at the number of folks who apply without actually having research interests that match with even a single faculty member in their desired program. P.S. - 56% admittance is great; you have over a one in two chance of getting into that program! Don't sweat!

Don't worry about it. I reread my SOP to the program I'm currently attending a few months ago, and found that I had literally the exact same sentence copy-pasted in two different spots in the essay. I'm sure this made it obvious to all the faculty who reviewed my application that I was using the same basic essay for all the schools I applied to, but it didn't hurt me since I'm here now.

For what it's worth, I wasn't asked at all about my past research experiences beyond restating what was on my CV/resume (i.e., what my role in the project(s) was)

Let each school know you have a scheduling conflict but are trying to resolve the issue promptly. Ask each if they happen to have an alternate interview day (many schools do). If neither does then pick whichever one you'd rather go to and ask to do a Skype interview for the other. If only one has an alternate then attend that and go to the originally scheduled interview for the other, and if both have alternate days then again pick whichever original interview day you'd rather go to and email the other school letting them know that you were unfortunately unable to resolve the conflict. If they ask what the conflict is be honest and say you have been invited to two interviews on the same day. PS- I was offered acceptance into a program following a Skype interview so don't lose hope! It's not the end of the world.

Are you talking about OSU specifically? I applied to their Ed Psych program last year and if I remember correctly, they sent me the acceptance offer around this time last year also. Next steps would obviously be very graciously thanking the school for the offer, perhaps setting up a phone or Skype interview to talk in more detail with your potential advisor about what your role in their lab might look like if you were to attend -- basically all the questions you would get to ask at an interview weekend, only now you're asking them post- rather than pre-offer. Also, ask if there will be an opportunity to visit/tour the program prior to the decision deadline (if OSU, they do have a recruitment weekend). Also, if you've already received an acceptance then congratulations!! Your GRE and being straight from undergrad are obviously not things to worry about

Yikes...lot of misgendering and ignorant neolib optimism going on in that previous reply. First things first, I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this. I am not trans, so I don't want to claim that I can ever truly understand your experiences, but I am queer so I do empathize. I know how scary it can be to come out and know that there are such dire consequences for simply trying to be true to yourself. It sucks. Especially with the social anxiety and self-esteem problems that you are navigating along with that (I also struggle with similar issues). I want to say that the fact you're in a social welfare program should mean that your colleagues will be at least minimally socially conscious and understanding but of course the doubt is always there Does your university have an LGBT resource center, or just a general counseling center with professionals who have experience working with LGBT populations? If so, perhaps speaking to them may help. Or do you have any student organizations on campus for queer/trans individuals (e.g., my university's law school has an org for LGBT law students, there is also an org for trans grad students)? They may be able to provide you with the support you need. Also, if you would let me and if the person I know would also be okay with it, I have a friend who is currently in grad school who is out as nonbinary, so I could potentially connect you with them. I could also try getting in touch with my school's org for trans grad students and see if there is anyone I can connect you with there? Feel free to PM me and we could talk about logistics/anonymity. In any case I hope everything works out for you <3 If you ever need a sympathetic ear I'm happy to exchange emails and you can hit me up whenever you need.

Hello! So first things first, your GPA isn't something I would worry about. I got offers from multiple programs with numbers similar to yours (cumulative 3.5, psych 3.78). I don't think any programs had doubts about my GPA, but if they did, my GRE scores definitely alleviated them. So, the fact that you're confident about your ability to do well on the GRE is a huge plus. I don't know about getting into a PhD program directly from undergrad but if you feel by the fall of your senior year that you are not confident in your application, you can always take a year off to gain even more research experience (this is what I did). If you're not trying to go into clinical psych then there is no need for any sort of clinical internship. Cognitive and Developmental programs will only be looking for research experience. So instead of devoting energy to taking that clinical class, and to applying for and finding an internship position, and then spending your whole summer doing that, nix the idea and try to get into a research lab that summer instead. My advice is to start talking to professors at your school right now to ask for advice on how to make your application stronger. If you know what your research interests are, ask them if they know of any universities that have faculty doing strong research in that area (doesn't matter if you know the answer or not, the point is to show that you are interested and this is something you are seriously considering. you can just pretend you don't know the answer. This is how you build strong relationships with faculty and potentially even get recommenders). Also, in response to what someone above said, you really shouldn't go into a terminal masters degree program unless you absolutely have to. If you feel that you're lacking in research experience and that is your motivation for doing the MA, definitely just take a gap year and work as a lab manager/research assistant instead.

Anyone started working on the Verification of pre-doc status yet? I'm confused as to exactly what it is supposed to entail. Should we just be listing out all of the courses we will be taking over the next three years (seems like a lot of courses...)? And what is the difference between "projects" and "plans"? It seems too easy to just include the study I proposed in my application under the projects I plan to complete if funded, but I'm not sure what else would be included... From the website: "one-page (maximum) statement listing the courses, projects, and plans that will be undertaken if awarded a predoctoral fellowship (for academic years 2018- 2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021)"