justacigar

Yo - programs aren't supposed to pressure applicants to make a decision before April 15th, so we shouldn't be pressuring people to make decisions, either. I keep seeing a lot of posts in the results section telling people to hurry up and accept/decline which isn't cool. Of course I'd love to have closure, but I would never pressure another applicant to make a decision. Hopefully it's no one from these threads but just in case, I wanted to reiterate this point. 

Yo - programs aren't supposed to pressure applicants to make a decision before April 15th, so we shouldn't be pressuring people to make decisions, either. I keep seeing a lot of posts in the results section telling people to hurry up and accept/decline which isn't cool. Of course I'd love to have closure, but I would never pressure another applicant to make a decision. Hopefully it's no one from these threads but just in case, I wanted to reiterate this point. 

Yo - programs aren't supposed to pressure applicants to make a decision before April 15th, so we shouldn't be pressuring people to make decisions, either. I keep seeing a lot of posts in the results section telling people to hurry up and accept/decline which isn't cool. Of course I'd love to have closure, but I would never pressure another applicant to make a decision. Hopefully it's no one from these threads but just in case, I wanted to reiterate this point. 

Yo - programs aren't supposed to pressure applicants to make a decision before April 15th, so we shouldn't be pressuring people to make decisions, either. I keep seeing a lot of posts in the results section telling people to hurry up and accept/decline which isn't cool. Of course I'd love to have closure, but I would never pressure another applicant to make a decision. Hopefully it's no one from these threads but just in case, I wanted to reiterate this point. 

Totally. This has been a huge factor for me. My plan was to apply to clinical master’s programs if I didn’t get in anywhere this cycle. The program I liked the best was at Boston University and would’ve required me to take out over $100,000 in loans. The idea of taking on that much debt was slightly horrifying... I think it would have caused me years of financial stress. I now have one offer from a PhD program that isn’t a perfect research fit by any stretch (it wasn’t my top choice), but it’s fully-funded and a lot of its graduates have gone on to clinical careers (even though it’s a research-heavy clinical science program). It’s really no question for me now...I could not fathom paying for a master’s instead even if I already knew I were more interested in clinical work than in research. Anyway, if it were easier to become a therapist (social worker, mental health counselor) without owing thousands of dollars in tuition, I’m sure more people would go that route.

I've been able to spice this up with looking for vaccination appointments as well!

It sucks and it's a crappy feeling to have to deal with. Being evaluated at what feels like a very impersonal and surface level is awful and a little ironic. This is one of the most competitive fields and people are often victims of the numbers game. GPA, GRE, short blurbs about ourselves - it's all a microscopic piece of information about ourselves that determines so. much. Psychology is the field full of experts in assessments, evaluations, and measurement of ability and achievement. Yet they are basically forced into partaking in a process that does none of this expertise justice. I'm sure it KILLS the faculty in having to make such difficult decisions regarding an applicant just because of academic politics in making programs, departments, schools, etc. look good. I honestly think this is more of a reflection of the system and how broken and difficult it is to manage rather than how good of a student/clinician we are and would be. 
That's just my two cents. You're obviously dedicated and I'm sure you CRUSHED IT in this horrific application cycle. 

I have come to the conclusion that the worst part of applying to graduate programs isn’t all the personal statements and essays that need to be written, isn’t studying or taking the GRE, isn’t researching specific programs, but is the waiting period after an interview. 

I’m irriationally checking my junk email inbox  *just in case* so much so that I’m now getting lovely ads in my normal inbox. And of course my heart bungee jumps each time it sees a new email come in only to be asked if I want to invest in an ED pill. 

Oh friend, I have 4,000+ unread emails, another one doesn't surprise me anymore. At least these are from people that know I exist, as opposed to the donation department of my undergrad which just sends me mass emails asking for money.
 
Plus I'm praying for a phone call more than an email at this point. I feel like phone calls are more likely to be an acceptance.

Guys thanks for reacting to my post because now when I refresh my email, I at least have new emails to look at ❤️

80% of my life is cycling between grad café, my email, r/gradadmissions and discord. ?

I am holding on to one offer (while waiting to hear back from my first choice program, where I am waitlisted). I was told by a DCT at a program where I interviewed that you should never hold on to more than one offer at a time. If you have two, decide which one you'd prefer as soon as you can and reject the other. I hope most people follow that advice! 
I don't plan to accept or release the offer I have until I get a definite rejection or acceptance from my top choice. That depends when the other applicant who got the first offer accepts or releases it. Since most schools' interviews are wrapping up in the next week or so, I am guessing that within 2-3 weeks waitlists will start moving pretty quickly...

I'm right there with you - I was waitlisted at a program that seemed absolutely perfect for me and my interests, and it made me second guess my whole applicant package. I keep thinking if I couldn't get into that lab and that program, how the heck do I have a chance anywhere else? Perseverance is really the name of the game, but it's so hard to be persistent after being let down so many times. Crossing my fingers for you; acceptances off the waitlist are common, but I know it's disappointing to be rejected from our dream program. ❤️ 

I've had great luck asking for feedback from PIs! The worst that can happen is they say no/don't reply. I'd been reaching out fairly soon either after interviews went out or soon after acceptances went out. I've gotten fabulous direction from PIs and it made me feel much more competent as an applicant. 

Just adding to the growing group to say change it back! While I recognize clinical psych is a large focus of the forum, there are LOTS of other sub-disciplines that use threads. If I was new to GC and wasn't clinical, I wouldn't know that this space was for me, too. 

School: University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Type: Clinical Psychology PhD
Acceptance/Waitlist/Rejection: Accepted
Type of Notification: Phone call from PI
Date Notified: 2/22
DM for POI: Yes

I have accepted the offer ;v;

I'm right there with you - I was waitlisted at a program that seemed absolutely perfect for me and my interests, and it made me second guess my whole applicant package. I keep thinking if I couldn't get into that lab and that program, how the heck do I have a chance anywhere else? Perseverance is really the name of the game, but it's so hard to be persistent after being let down so many times. Crossing my fingers for you; acceptances off the waitlist are common, but I know it's disappointing to be rejected from our dream program. ❤️ 

I'm right there with you - I was waitlisted at a program that seemed absolutely perfect for me and my interests, and it made me second guess my whole applicant package. I keep thinking if I couldn't get into that lab and that program, how the heck do I have a chance anywhere else? Perseverance is really the name of the game, but it's so hard to be persistent after being let down so many times. Crossing my fingers for you; acceptances off the waitlist are common, but I know it's disappointing to be rejected from our dream program. ❤️ 

I'm right there with you - I was waitlisted at a program that seemed absolutely perfect for me and my interests, and it made me second guess my whole applicant package. I keep thinking if I couldn't get into that lab and that program, how the heck do I have a chance anywhere else? Perseverance is really the name of the game, but it's so hard to be persistent after being let down so many times. Crossing my fingers for you; acceptances off the waitlist are common, but I know it's disappointing to be rejected from our dream program. ❤️ 

I'm right there with you - I was waitlisted at a program that seemed absolutely perfect for me and my interests, and it made me second guess my whole applicant package. I keep thinking if I couldn't get into that lab and that program, how the heck do I have a chance anywhere else? Perseverance is really the name of the game, but it's so hard to be persistent after being let down so many times. Crossing my fingers for you; acceptances off the waitlist are common, but I know it's disappointing to be rejected from our dream program. ❤️ 

Just want to say that I totally feel you, was in this exact position last year (10 apps, 7 interviews, and nothing in the end but a few waitlists and a semi-offer from a PI I had nothing in common with) and it looks like the same might happen this year (applied to 5 this year, 3 interviews, 1 rejection post-interview and still waiting on the other 2 but it feels bleak lol). I also have a really niche research area of interest and it has been a huge hindrance for me (a lot of the feedback I've gotten post-interviews has been related to that), but I'm still determined to do it. But I do feel very hopeless, discouraged, and lost most of the time. If you ever want to vent, feel free to DM

I'm in almost the exact same situation. 6 interviews, 2 waitlists, and I don't feel confident about getting into any of them. I'm feeling really sad about this cycle and my abilities rn. This process sucks  I hope things start looking up for us all soon

I'm right there with you - I was waitlisted at a program that seemed absolutely perfect for me and my interests, and it made me second guess my whole applicant package. I keep thinking if I couldn't get into that lab and that program, how the heck do I have a chance anywhere else? Perseverance is really the name of the game, but it's so hard to be persistent after being let down so many times. Crossing my fingers for you; acceptances off the waitlist are common, but I know it's disappointing to be rejected from our dream program. ❤️ 

I'm right there with you - I was waitlisted at a program that seemed absolutely perfect for me and my interests, and it made me second guess my whole applicant package. I keep thinking if I couldn't get into that lab and that program, how the heck do I have a chance anywhere else? Perseverance is really the name of the game, but it's so hard to be persistent after being let down so many times. Crossing my fingers for you; acceptances off the waitlist are common, but I know it's disappointing to be rejected from our dream program. ❤️