DD94

Hi everyone, So I've been admitted into three Masters programs for Experimental Psychology and I need help deciding. A little background. I applied to a few programs last year while I was still in undergrad and was accepted into two programs. One was a sub-field that I ultimately decided not to go into, and another was an almost perfect offer (great school, nearby, involved faculty...) but with a 25k price tag for the education per year alone with no available funding which would have meant that I needed to take out a lot of loans. I decided not to enroll in either program and instead took a job as a research technician at a very prominent institution that promised me I would be able to continue being a researcher while I was here. I won't go into details, but this position hasn't been great, and I really need to leave. Luckily I have the problem of getting into three programs. I need to pick one before the universal April 15th deadline and I'm very nervous about the choice. Program A Pros:Very well known school and program, excellent faculty. It's in the same state that i live in, so less tuition cost Cons: Located near a major city which means life cost may be larger. No word yet on tuition remissions or stipends. High tuition costs if no remission. Fairly high cost of living. No official word on who my PI would be, which is odd. I was waitlisted at this program last year. There is a possibility for a stipend, but funding decisions have not been made known to me yet. Speaking from a strictly educational standpoint, this would be my first choice program. The faculty research is right up my alley and the program itself seems fantastic. I am going to the Admitted Students day this coming Saturday and will be inquiring about stipends and tuition remission when I go. If there aren't any form of stipend or tuition remission made available to me, I doubt that I will be able to afford this program as it would amount to being about the same cost as the program from the year before. Program B Pros: Seemingly perfect PI. Research interests align very well. Guaranteed stipend (small, but will cover housing at least) Cons: Several states away. Lesser known school. No tuition remission available, and out of state tuition would be applied. I received a personal email from my potential PI, who seems just what i'm looking for in terms of personality and research fit, but they also warned me about a few things. They haven't taken on a new grad student in a while and the ultimate student outcome is a little hit or miss. The stipend that I would receive is a little more than 5k, and the PI is the only one doing this type of research in the program, so they fear I would be isolated from the rest of my cohort if I accepted. (Not actually a concern for me. I am no stranger to being the only one in my program doing different research. My undergrad PI was one of only two neuro researchers, everything else was very clinical oriented). Program C Pros: Well matched research interests. Potential for TA/GA/RA with partial or full tuition remission and a small stipend of 4, 6, to 10k depending on which assistantship and if I can do two (20hr) instead of one (10hr). Nearby to where I am currently living. Cons: Haven't really had any contact with the PI yet. Assistantship is not guarenteed. The way I was informed of my acceptance is a little odd to me. I was emailed by a student (probably an office worker) notifying me of the acceptance and was given additional details about the program and GA/TA positions. I just received the official letter in the mail today and there is no additional information and only included the official letter and the acceptance/rejection notification form that I need to fill out and return to them. I'm a little stuck here. If cost wasn't an issue for me, then I'd probably go to program A for the rigor and reputation of the program. Personally I like the PI at program B, but there's no tuition remission and I would be taking a considerable amount of loans out to pay for it. The PI at Program B has warned me that they don't consider paying for a masters degree a good option if the applicant has any other offers, which I tend to agree with. Program C has the potential for tuition remission and a stipend, but it's not guaranteed, and I haven't had contact with the PI. That last part can and will be fixed shortly. I am going to email the PI from program C, just to introduce myself and ask a few questions about their lab, but I am still at a crossroads either way. Any comments or opposing viewpoints are welcome!

Hey, slightly off topic, but I might see you there if you're going on 4/6! I was admitted to the MS Psychology program at Villanova. I haven't accepted yet, I have other offers to consider. I was planning to be a bit more formal with a dress and sweater, but that may change depending on the weather. PA in April is temperamental at best. Bottom line: go with what you're going to be comfortable in, I'm sure it will be fine.

Check your employee handbook/HR website before you give your notice! I'm somewhat in the same boat. My contract is for a year, staring and ending in late June. I am required by the type of employee that I am classified as (research staff, not faculty or crew member) to give notice of my departure a month before I leave. Only giving two weeks notice would be a violation of my contract, so be sure to check before you do this. I'm honestly not sure what they would do at that point, but I also do not want to find out. It's honestly a little scary how you're describing your job, because I'm in almost the exact same place. I'm a little torn if I should keep trying to learn more techniques or not, but this place has treated me pretty poorly (like your situation, lots of false promises) and I don't want to be doing meaningless tasks for the next 3 months, so I'm keeping my mouth shut until I give notice in May.

A professor at my school still has debt from his PhD and its been about 15 years since he finished. The thing is he was living in New York City where the cost of living is exorbitant AND had medical issues. 1+2 = lots of debt. Its all foing to depend on you, your situation and your choices.

I got into two MA programs. I also already rejected one - too far away and no funding. The other one isnt funded either but its a great program. My decision is bite the bullet and be at least 25k more in debt for the first year ( I have 15k right now) or find a job. I've been applying to jobs but I should have started earlier because my deadline to decide on the program is on Tuesday and I cant decide. Each day I wake up with a different decision and I don't know what to do. The teachers I talk to all say get a job for a year and re apply to PhD programs only because they think Ill get in, the students all say go to the program.

My friend has a 2.6 GPA at the moment and was admitted into 2 graduate programs. They accepted the one that offered them partial funding, but was put on probationary status meaning that they have to have higher grades than a normal applicant for the first year (ie. can't get below a B+ in all of their classes rather than a B or they will be kicked out of the program). Their GPA didn't hold them back because they applied to programs that were a good fit for them and they also have a little bit of research experience that was relevant to their field. They also applied to 8 programs, which gave them a substantially better chance at getting admitted. Grad school applications are a black hole. The decision to admit someone depends upon a vast number of factors that you can't really predict, so it's best to try to get the best odds by contacting the PI and the department to ask if they're accepting as well as getting a good GPA and GRE. But all of those things only increase your chances, it doesn't guarantee you a spot. Only applying to 2 programs probably wasn't the best idea, either. Also, I totally agree with indecis's last paragraph. I'd try talking to your professors and career counseling center at your school and start applying to jobs. If you have research experience, getting into a lab as a research assistant can help you build your resume and skills so you can re apply next year.

I'm really sorry that you're in this position. I'm not sure how Canadian schools function, so I can't say if this is normal or not. I also applied to a program on February 1st (in the US as a US citizen) and they didn't get back to me for two months. They didn't tell me anything, didn't ask me any questions, no interviews, and didn't ask for any additional information other than what I sent to them in my application. Then I got an acceptance letter in my inbox. At that point I had written them off as a rejection, so that was a surprise. It probably wasn't a great idea to email them after they explicitly said that they wouldn't respond to emails soliciting information about application statuses. I also wouldn't suggest calling the department either, you may be pushing them towards a rejection with that type of behavior. I know that this is frustrating, but the best, and only, thing to do is to wait. Also, if you can, try to limit the amount of times you check the application. Tell you family and friends to stop asking you, and that you'll let them know when you know. Ruminating on this isn't doing you any good at the moment, and it isn't going to change the decision or when it's made.

I'm still waiting on one. They emailed me in the beginning of march to see if I was still interested and if I had already comitted to a different program. They also told me that they'd be making decisions the next week. I responded within the hour that I was still interested. I took that as a good thing that they contacted me, but it's now been a month since then and I'm kinda salty about it tbh. This program apparently jerked my mentor around when he interviewed with them for a job years back... So I guess this is normal for them.

I'd just try to be honest with him. Tell him thank you for his kind offer of admittance, you appreciate his enthusiasm for his work, acknowledge that he spent the time getting to know you and emphasize that this decision was not made lightly. I doubt you have to go into detail as to why you're rejecting the offer, but stating that you'd ultimately decided that you would rather not move across seas is a pretty persuasive detail. If they're anyone worth their salt, they're going to understand.

Well, a single day changed my entire career outlook? I went to an interview (my first) on Wednesday, but I didn't feel great about it. Got back home and emailed the PI a heartfelt thank you for talking with me and inviting me to see your lab. Didnt expect anything else. Got up the next day and found that she wrote me back, and then two hours after that I got official notice that i'd been accepted. Two more hours passed and then I got another notification that the program that ghosted me for two months accepted me as well. So I went from no acceptances when I woke up that morning to two acceptances when I went to sleep. It was a weird day. Neither of them are funded though so there's still the issue of "Can I actually do this?" and "How much is it going to cost me?".

I'm with PsychedSloth on this one. My friend had funding pending on their acceptance date (as in after a certain date they'll still be admitted if they wanted to be, but the TA/RA position would be forfeited). They called their other two top choices the day before the decision had to be finalized and pushed for information about their application after being pseudo-ignored over email. For one, the decision was made but not officially released yet. They were weight listed at the other school. It ultimately didn't change her decision, but it was nice to know. Bottom line is if your top choice is The Choice (which I'm assuming it is), let them know you have other offers, you still really want to be admitted to their program, and you need more information about the status of your application.

I've only applied to masters programs, all with later dates. The first two were due on Feb 1, the other 4 due on March 1. I was outright rejected from one of the Feb ones and weight-listed a week after the deadline for one of the March ones. I haven't heard anything back from the other Feb school. I'm assuming I'm rejected or maybe weight-listed at this point. I have an interview next week at my top choice with a PI that I really would love to work with. While it's a good fit and it was a very personal invitation, I'm not holding out hope that they'll like me enough to offer a position. Oddly enough I received an offer of a phone interview from my last choice from someone who I did not list as a POI. I asked my mentor and apparently PI's taking applicants that didn't specifically name them is actually a thing? He's a new lab at that institution so my mentor thinks they're just trying to pad his lab with students. I won't be accepting there if he does offer a spot. I also got an email from the director of one from March asking if I was still interested because of the late date of admission who said they'd be making decisions this week. The week passed though, no word. Overall I don't feel great about where I stand. Which is frustrating because my mentor and the other teachers keeps complementing me and saying I'll definitely get in somewhere. Doesn't feel like that's true. I know that it's still early for these dates, but it's really hard to deal with not having something by this point when others at my school are already making plans to move to their programs after graduation and people then ask me where I'm going. I just want to be done.