cognitiveDecline

Yes! It's heartbreaking :(. It is kind of a mixed bag about assuming the rejection. I usually like to be pretty pessimistic and assume that I didn't get an interview so I am prepared when I get a rejection. That being said, in December I saw interviews go out for a school I was hoping for and figured it was a lost cause and then a few days later I got one so it is definitely not unheard of. Unfortunately schools are pretty inconsistent about how they go about inviting people.

For the most part I agree with the previous comment I would disagree with their difference between social and cognitive psychology as you can definitely do decision-making in both. I studied psych/econ in undergrad and I study cognitive decision making now. I typically find the distinction between the two to be closer to whether you adopt the view that all people are to be treated the same (cognitive) or if you care more about the individual themselves (social). So in my opinion, cog would be more about the mechanism like how do people place value on things and how do previous experiences interfere with decisions and social would cover areas closer to how do people's beliefs and situation affect their choices. But to be honest there is a lot of decision research in both fields so it's going to depend on your interests. It is true that a lot of social psychologist are kinda moving into marketing departments and cognitive is starting to move more toward computational modeling and neuroimaging so just be aware of the direction of the fields. To echo the sentiments of the previous responder, what is really important is going to be research experience which you don't really elaborate on. What I would recommend is finding a researcher you want to work in and then just applying to whatever their department because in psych programs fit is frequently the most important things. Often you get accepted into a specific lab so even if you have great credentials if the person you want to work with isn't accepting, it is not going to happen. Also, it is not required to get a masters before applying to a PhD. I doubt any non-clinical program would require a psych degree before a PhD, especially if you can prove you have done related work but consider take the psych GRE if its something you are worried about. I would also agree that a research PhD isn't going to necessarily make you a better consultant unless it is particularly relevant to your topic. A masters with relevant experience will get you further. Psych PhDs, for better or worse, are targeted towards keeping their grad students in academia forever so they may not really set up you with applied skills. As for your schools, I unfortunately don't have any experience on whether they are good schools but it sounds like you are on the right track!