Psyhopeful

For me, funding is huge. I’m a single mom so I need to think about cost of living in the location and the amount of time I would spend teaching in addition to my own classes and research. I also think it’s important that you feel like you’re going to be able to study what you want to study both in terms of mentorship and resources.

If anyone is waiting on Michigan State, I just got my prospective students weekend invite, it’s March 14-15, so I guess they’ve sent out all of their acceptances.

Same, I was accepted without interviews to these two and so I haven’t visited or met any of the faculty yet.

Two of my admitted students weekends aren’t until mid March and I still have one interview to go on next week, so I won’t be making any decision until close to April. It’s kind of annoying really that they’re so late. If one of my top choices waitlisted me though, I could see waiting to hear before declining my other admits. It’s tough. I hope you hear soon!

That was me last week! Good luck on your exam!

Has anyone heard from UMass Amherst? I saw a waitlist show up last week but nothing else and my application still says "under review".

It sounds to me like your decision is practically made when you say SMU is more research focused and that’s a priority for you. Plus the warm feeling you got and the full funding. I’m not clinical, but 4 years including an internship sounds really intense, and like there’s an opportunity to get less out of it in the sense hat you’re trying to cram so much into such a short time. It’s hard to commit when there are options still out there, but I think you have to ask yourself if you were admitted to all three right now, which would you pick and go from there if it’s SMU.

I got rejected from what was supposed to be my dream program, but that after visiting and having many conversations with my POI, I actually felt really conflicted about. I loved everyone I met in the department, but did not feel so comfortable with my POI and their style of working and just some other hints that raised tiny red flags. So in a weird way, I’m relieved? I think I would’ve felt that the strength of the program would’ve made me feel like I had to choose it and just endure. Some of the other professors and grad students told me point blank that I might be better off elsewhere and I really appreciated that honesty. One even told me flat out that one of my other offers is the better choice! So, I’m not sad like I thought I would be. And my POi actually wrote me a very kind email with some very helpful tips about my thesis project and wished me well. Plus another professor emailed to say they’d still like to work with me wherever I end up. So all in all, it was a great rejection all around, go figure! This just goes to show you that it’s a really good idea to be as candid as you feel comfortable being, and to ask good questions, because finding out your dream school isn’t actually your dream school can be a good thing, and still work out in the end. I am much less stressed now!

That’s weird, but now you have me wondering. One of my programs is a fellowship and it fully funds for five years, but the other funds with assistantships for 3 with their expectation that the phd takes 4 years, so it sounds like possibly they would end the insurance then too. Got to look into that!

I don’t know a lot about HDFS, but there are definitely schools with strong programs and research labs, like Michigan State. I think it’s possible to do your own research, it really depends one what your focus area is and what the schools who are hiring are looking for. I am torn similarly between two choices that include exact research match vs close but better stuff overall. I am wondering if an exact research match is actually a benefit or if maybe being close would allow you a little more autonomy. I had planned to ask this myself when I get closer to decision time. (My visits are all in March.)

This forum is for people applying to grad school. You should try someplace that’s a help forum, or other psychology forum.

No one here knows what it’s like to be a psychologist. We’re all trying to get into grad school so that we can get a degree in psychology and become one.

I did this and I got accepted so it must work! Hopefully it’ll work for you too!

Wow, congrats! So does this mean you are switching PhD programs? Can I ask why (in broad strokes) and what that process of applying is like? I hope this program is a great fit for you! My current mentor got their PhD there and they are awesome!

I think funding is probably most important unless money is no issue for you. If you haven’t received funding info from everyone yet, I would hold off on deciding until you do. Also if you have visits scheduled that’s important too. You need to know how you feel about the location and people you’d be working with.

Do you think it’d be possible to work with the LSE professor even if you went to Madison? Like could they collaborate on your project, and/or could they be on your dissertation committee? Maybe there’s a way you could have the best of both worlds. When you hit the research portion of you phd program you could always travel to London to do additional research. I’m in a vaguely similar situation in that I got into one program in my top choice location, a fairly prestigious school, although not so much the comm department, with tons of funding, and faculty that is excited about me, but no one is doing exactly what I’m interested in, and another program that is highly ranked, has two people doing exactly what I’m interested in, but that I might not be able to work with as much because they’re technically in another department, and they are offering much less funding. I’m leaning toward the funding and looking into ways I can possibly still work with the professor(s) at another school. So tough. I think you can’t really go wrong either way - I don’t think you’d have a problem getting into a program after LSE, but debt is no joke, and London is VERY expensive. I think right now the pound is like what, double the dollar? If there’s a way you could get the best of both worlds, I would try that!

I think their interview weekend was either last weekend or this weekend, so they will probably send everything out soon.

Well, Colorado Boulder put me out of my misery.

The people accepted have until April 15th to decide, so reasonably, you could wait until April.

Got my Penn rejection too! Now I’ve just got my interview weekend at UCSB and to hear from one more school that I interviewed at and it will be decision time. I really didn’t expect to have choices, so I’m happy despite the 8 or so more rejections that will soon be making their way to me!

Congratulations! LSE has the most amazing programs. I didn’t think I could get in or manage it as a single mom if I did, but I like to dream about it. Even if you do have to apply for a PhD again in a year, coming out of LSE, I bet you will have so many options!

I got into the Communication Ph.D at Michigan State! They actually sent me the formal letter on the 8th, but they made a typo in my email address so I only found out today.

So I did get into the program! The admissions office made a typo in my email address. They actually sent the formal offer LAST FRIDAY and cc’d my professor on it and I only found out to day when the director of the program forwarded it to my school account wondering if I’d gotten it! Woohoo!

Me too! I heard that the program is trying to secure funding before sending out the decisions, which means I still don't know for sure if I'm in or not. On the plus side, I'm about to go to another class with the professor, so that will be nice and awkward! I think I'll just sit in the back.

I would email the people who are coordinating the arrangements immediately. Your host let you know she was sick for a reason, (which was really great of her!) I'm sure she would understand and probably also be relieved if you stayed elsewhere. Your health is important. It is perfectly acceptable for you to explain this and ask for alternate arrangements, just be prepared to offer to take care of it yourself. A good program will likely make new arrangements for you anyway, though.