ASDadvocate

School: UC Berkeley
Concentration: School Psychology
Type: PhD
Date of acceptance: Feb 4
Notified by: Auto email that a decision had been made & to check the application website
My 1st acceptance & it’s one of my top choices too! ??

I received an acceptance to a clinical psych PhD with full funding and a generous stipend guaranteed for 5 years - they sent the details in the mail within the week of being accepted.

I don't have information about Columbia Teachers College but just wanted to say welcome! ?

Gotcha! The whole process is rough and expensive. Here's to hoping a highly unlikely situation turns around ?

Hi! Has anyone heard anything from Columbia Teachers College? I saw a post about an interview on the results page.
(also just wanted to share that I've been creeping on this thread since December and seeing this cute lil school psych community form has really kept me calm while I waited for decisions to come out! I thought it was about time I made an account and started posting)

I've been wearing a blouse and slacks. No suits for me. Most folks tend to wear suits. I'm just at a point in my life where I feel much more comfortable without, and would prefer a program that isn't going to ding me on something as silly as whether I wore a suit vs a blouse

Thank you so much!!

Congrats! Vicariously celebrating through you!! ?

Gotcha! This makes sense too. The waiting continues and intensifies!
Waiting to hear for interviews... waiting to hear back about acceptance... waiting to hear about funding... then can finally breathe a sigh of relief that you can make it to grad school! Let's not talk about all the waiting and pushing once you're actually in. We're a bunch of masochists!

From my personal experience (Canadian schools), it depends on when the committee meets. For example, one school took 1.5 weeks to get back to me since I was interviewed early, and the committee didn't meet until a week later. Whereas another school I was interviewed on Wednesday, and by Friday I was given a heads-up by my POI to look out for my offer on Monday (as that's when the committee meets).
So my piece of advice is, if you do get an interview, ask them about the selection process after the interviews (e.g., "what is the selection process like after the interviews?". If you can, see if they can give you a date for when the committee meets. It's much easier to gauge the timeline that way.  Good luck

I heard back from my first interview two weeks after via phone- unfortunately I was rejected. I spoke to someone else who also interviewed and was accepted and she heard back in 1 week. I guess rejection calls are harder to make. 

I emailed my POI from the interview I had last week at UN-Lincoln. She responded and apologized for the delay and cited the polar vortex-- but she said I am IN!! This is my first acceptance and I am over the moon!

I just had my first in-person interview this past Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a two-day interview with lunches, dinners and the actual interviews. This program is a PhD in Psychology with a specialization in intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). 
Interviews:
Because this program is very specialized in a particular research population, although I applied to two specific POIs, the candidates met with all 5 core faculty from that division. Apparently, the faculty determines which candidates should be admitted and which ones in particular would be a good match for their mentorship styles and their research interests. I had 3 interviews the first day and 1 interview the second day (I was one of the candidates who wasn't able to meet with one of the POIs because she had very limited time). I found this particular interview to be much less intense than I expected it to be! I feel that I actually over-prepared for it- which could be a good thing in the end! I got general questions about why I wanted to go to grad school for a PhD, what my research interests were, and very few specific questions about my experiences (only follow-up questions when I brought my experiences up). The HARDEST question I was asked was, "What would be your masters project? And what variables/outcomes would you look at?! Thankfully, the current students were AMAZING and they graciously gave us tips about what to expect in the interviews! This very hard question was brought up the night before interviews and I had a chance to think about it in advance ?Interviews lasted 30 minutes and overall, I felt I spent more time waiting for my turn than actually meeting with the POIs.
Socials:
The night before interviews, after all candidates had arrived from the airport, a few of the students took us to a quaint place in Columbus to have dinner. This was very informal but gave the opportunity to meet them and ask questions. We also had lunches that were catered to the conference room where we met on both interview days. All the candidates ate with a few of the current students who were available. On the first day of the interviews, all candidates went to dinner with three POIs and the majority of the current students. This was very informal but also gave me the opportunity to learn more about my POIs personalities.
Logistics:
There were a total of 6 candidates including me who were interviewed. This may actually be different from other programs. One of the students told us that they typically only invite as many people as they would have space/funding for. As opposed to other programs who may invite 30+ candidates to ultimately extend admittance to 4 people. I thought this was nice. 
They reimbursed for dinner from the night candidates arrived to the city (we all came out of state) and for flights. They also booked us and paid for hotel rooms near the university. I felt very fortunate for this as it was very unexpected. In terms of transportation, the students drove us around to the dinner location, back to the hotel when needed, and to the hospital that we visited where we would be doing clinical work at some point in the program. There was also a shuttle bus from the hotel to the university every 30 minutes.
Overall Thoughts:
I really liked this program and I'm hoping for an acceptance! What I liked the most was the very specific research clinical work being conducted with the population I'm interested in and the collaborative climate I sensed from the faculty and students. This last piece matters a lot to me since the university where I currently work is very competitive and I don't feel a sense of "friendliness" among students and faculty. The one thing that concerns me a little is the fact that this particular program is not APA accredited. This is something that both of my supervisors emphasized I should look for in a graduate program. My thoughts are that attending this program might ultimately limit the states I would be able to practice in but I would still be able to become licensed and work in states that don't require you have a doctorate from an APA accredited program- which is honestly the majority. Plus, my husband and I are actually really looking forward to move out of FL and possibly not come back. FL does require APA accredited programs for licensure. 
I'm hoping to get an acceptance and at least have this option for grad school. I'm an older applicant and I don't think I'm willing to go through this process again for many reasons more personal to my specific circumstances. I hope this information helps people! Good luck to everyone!

That is weird they are being so pushy. I would say something along the lines of "Thank you for the offer I am very excited at the opportunity. I am currently waiting to hear from other institutions in order to make the most informed decision based on a multitude of factors (funding etc). I will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible and well before the APA set deadline of April 15th. Thank you again for the offer and your patience in the process."
But again, red flag, they should know you have until April 15th and can't do anything to force you to do it sooner.

Eating my anxieties away. Happy national Nutella day! ?

Eating my anxieties away. Happy national Nutella day! ?

School: University of Virginia
Concentration: Developmental Psychology
Type: Ph.D.
Date of acceptance: 2/5/2019
Notified by: Interviewed 1/28, POI emailed today saying he wanted to recommend me to acceptance to department and school but that nothing was official until I heard from the grad school in a few days. Got an auto email to check my application status a few hours later and saw the official acceptance letter and stipend (20k/year + 4k/summer)

School: Washington State University (Pullman)
Program: Clinical Psych PhD
Method of Notification: Email from POI extending offer to interview
Interview Date: March 1st
I was honestly really surprised, I'd heard rumors that all invites were out - but maybe that just means I was waitlisted? Either way, I'm thrilled.
Feel free to DM for POI!

Congrats on  the interview, I'm sorry it didn't go as you hoped. I think you could write in your thank you that you didn't feel quite yourself and ended up being more nervous than you anticipated. Maybe you could say you thought more about x idea or question and feel like it is better articulated by saying x. But I think it's something to really think through and send a thoughtful follow-up to show the strengths that maybe you didn't get to fully display. We are all human, and hopefully your PI realizes how stressful this whole thing is! But! That being said, are you someone who doesn't  give yourself the benefit of the doubt/ is quick to be self-critical? Maybe it wasn't as awkward as you thought  and your PI didn't think twice about any of it and was actually impressed by you! I think try as hard as possible to be objective about what you said/didn't say, and what you would say to someone else in your position. Do you have a mentor or anyone like that who would be a good sounding board? Good luck!! 

School: Chestnut Hill College
Concentration: Clinical
Type: PsyD
Date of acceptance: 1/29/2019
Notified by: Call from director of admissions

School: Antioch University (New England)
Concentration: Clinical
Type: PsyD
Date of acceptance: 01/24/2019
Notified by: Email from admissions director
Yaaaaaay one of my top choices and my first acceptance 

This is a really delicate balance, but something you won't know until you try. I did this at interviews and had it backfire horribly on me, and other times it suggested I was well read and knew more intricacies about the topic than most. From what I know now, I would err on the side of caution. It's one thing to bring in new ideas, but its another thing to bring in a whole new direction to the lab which may leave PIs scratching their heads. Doesn't mean your ideas aren't relevant, good or pertinent to the lab's topic, but I think PIs would rather take a more safe and "sure" pick than to go out on a limb and choose someone with fascinating ideas and future directions which may not align as well with their work.
/rant start
I tend to be on the more daring end with my ideas and I have no regrets because it really does help both parties assess fit. I'm not going to do something I even marginally dislike, and I'm putting it out there as diplomatically as possible for my PI as well so they can get an idea of whether they'd want my ideas there or not. I could have very easily manipulated my interests in ways which would have improved my chances and fit, but I chose to stay true to my own interests. This is a hardass way of looking at things, and is likely not the best way to go by things unless you're sure you can sell your ideas (and you're egotistical and ballsy enough to give it a try--haha). The way I see it, I want to be at the place which is ideal for me. I don't mind re-applying instead of going somewhere where I'd be meh happy with, also my main interest is research so that is a very big factor I weigh. Big balancing act with this.
/rant over
Anyone else have thoughts about this? 

Generally, from what I understand, the professors are looking for the best fit for their lab in terms of interest. Your interests should closely align with the professors whose lab you're requesting to join. I think whether you bring additional interests to the table is subjective to the POI. In an interview I had last week, my POI asked me what kind of mentor I wanted-- I was honest and said I wanted someone who would teach me the skills I need to be a professional in my field, someone who has interests very close to mine, and would allow me to not only work on their research, but also encourage me to take on my own research as well. She liked the answer, and said she wasn't interested in just creating a bunch of mini-mes with the exact same research interests. I think it is totally up to the professor though.

This thread makes me happy (because I needed to read some of the things posted here) and sad at the same time. You guys got this. I am international too and went to a European school and got 4 interviews so far and waitlisted for interview at 1 school. I do not have a stellar GPA or GRE and got interviews at Ivies. We all have something that makes us special, you just have to show that in your personal statement. Everything happens for a reason, seriously!
Worries: I won't do well on my interviews and will not get anywhere, but hopefully this does not happen. I am just concerned about not being able to express myself as good as I would want to since I am European and English is not my first language (I hope they understand that). We'll see!
Excitement: I got interviews at places I thought I would never even make it to the interview! I am super excited to even have the chance to interview at all of these places honestly. If this does not work well, I got a job offer at one Ivy that I got rejected from and was my first option (cried for several days lol). So if things don't go well I will just go there and work for one year and reapply. It feels good to have a plan B for sure!

Worries: I just received an email from my top choice, which I interviewed with a few weeks ago, saying that I was not accepted. I thought the interview went amazing, and I loved the program and all the people in it. I've had two interviews since, neither of which went as well as the first one, so now I'm scared that I won't get in anywhere. I'm also really really heartbroken, because I've been dreaming about this program since my previous lab collaborated with a PI there a few years ago. I don't really know what I'm going to do if I don't get in anywhere. I don't really have a backup plan. 
Excitement: I still do have a couple more interviews, and I know I'm really lucky to have so many opportunities to showcase what I know and how much I love my subject. So I have more opportunities to (hopefully) get in somewhere. I guess just cross my fingers and do my best, and what happens will happen.