gasmasque

the whole point of doing a master's would be to get research experience. If you can get research experience and get posters or potentially publications, that might be better financially than investing in a master's program. nothing about the master's itself makes you stand out more; however, a strong background in research will.

Where are you headed to school? Depends HIGHLY on the neighborhood. You can get down to $700 depending on area and with roommates, yes for $700. I live with 2 other roommates in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Chicago (lincoln park) and I pay $663 but I also live in a room the size of a closet and I share a bathroom with my other two roommates. There are other houses in my neighbohood though that go for $850-$950 for a one bedroom in a three bedroom. I would suggest looking up fair market rent for the neighborhood you want to live in.

If you have an ALDI or Trader Joes near you, you may be able to get your groceries for $50 or less per week if you are a good spender. Jewel Osco and Whole Foods tend to be on the higher end of the spectrum. Whenever I go do shopping there, I spend over $100. Depends on where you go and what's available.

I'm obviously not a developmental app, but if if you haven't yet heard from them, I would say that emailing the grad coordinator would be your best bet. If you interviewed there and spoke directly to your POI, I would email that person and ask if anything has come out yet in terms of decisions, especially if it's been over a few weeks.

Live in Hyde park or a surrounding neighborhood. When you look for places to live, if you are living away from hyde park, do NOT google how far away that place is from the university by car. Google how far away it is by public transit. A lot of people in the city do not have a car, and for good reason. There are safe areas of Chicago, and then areas that are not safe. Generally, parts of Hyde Park and the south side can be safe, but other parts are extremely dangerous (i.e. Englewood, Auburn-Gresham, etc.) and have high gang activity and homicide rates. Parts of the West Side can be extremely dangerous too (like near Garfield Park), but then other parts are totally fine like near Wicker Park and Logan Square, etc. I won't go into safe neighborhoods on the north side since you probably won't be living there since you're going to UChicago. A car Reasons I was told to not bring my car up here in the city: 1) public transportation is more than adequate 2) parking tickets are expensive, and can be A MESS (hundreds of dollars a year for many of my friends who do have cars) 3) parking is often pricey, especially if you are trying to park in areas like the Loop (the downtown area) 4) the city forces you to pay a fee, and you also have to pay for a sticker to put on your car to park it in your neighborhood depending on what zone you're in and whether you have parking attached to your apartment or home. When I was moving here I was considering bringing my car up here. Now that I'm here, I understand why nearly every person (i.e. 29/30 or so of the people I asked) recommended against bringing a car. I don't need it, the people who usually bring a car usually sell their car because they don't use it and it is expensive Transit When you get to the city, get yourself a Ventra Pass (the reloadable blue pass) so you can ride the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Unless you plan to Uber everywhere or you live right next to school and don't need to get around in the city, you will be taking the CTA. You may get one for free as a UChicago student. If you do, don't worry about getting one on your own. If you want access to other parts of the city easily, I highly suggest living anywhere from 1-6 minute walk from a bus or train stop. A train stop is ideal, but idk if there are many in Hyde Park. Maybe look for a spot right off a 6 bus stop (the express bus that goes into the Loop/Downtown). My biggest regret for picking the place I live is that I didn't pick a place closer to a train stop (the nearest train stop is 10 min walk for me, and that sucks in the winter). The winter Idk if you are from the north or cold climes, but get yourself a puffy winter jacket that's temperature rated and nice boots. You will need those in the winter. Real gloves that don't have wind bleed-through are also recommended. As people in this area say: there's no such thing as cold weather, just cold clothes. If you're dressed well, you won't feel the wind (unless it's the polar vortex and it's -55*F wind chill like it was earlier this year LOL). Any more questions, message me. I live in Chi-town right now, and on the north side, but I can give general tips and pointers.

Thanks for the comments, you all! I did end up reaching out to contact people, and it has given me peace of mind indeed

augh, I got 1 offer from a school whose advisor was described as "abrasive" and "blunt" and has reportedly made students cry in class. Then I'm waiting to hear back from one school. Needless to say, I'm really hoping the second school pulls through...

Hello GradCafe! There is one final school I'm waiting to hear from -- SUNY Albany -- and we had our interviews for that program on 2/8, nearly a month ago! Has anyone heard anything? I've emailed both my POI (on 2/26, he said he was in a "holding pattern" and I was still being considered, but is unable to make an offer at the time) and the DCT. The DCT has not responded. I've had someone I also know email out her POI and she has not gotten an answer either. I've also seen other people in the results section mentioned they haven't heard anything either... Does anyone have any info about the situation? 1) if you have an offer, please let us know! 2) anyone who currently is in the psych department at that university or works there have any insight into where PIs are in terms of extending offers or what the situation might be? Thanks so much!

If it's been several weeks after your interview, you've already seen other applicants receive offers as per the Results section on GradCafe, and you've also received offer(s) from other programs, could or should you *not* contact POIs you've applied to work with? Why or why not? I've heard both things -- but I'm especially curious why a big consensus seems to be to *not* reach out to these POIs. Some more information: I applied to Clinical Psychology PhD programs exclusively, have received an offer and two waitlists, and am waiting to hear back from two schools. One had their interview weekend on 2/2 (PSU) and the other on 2/8 (Albany). I have not heard anything from these programs except for the first one extended initial offers and waitlists around 2/8 and the second one did so around 2/11. This makes me feel that I have potentially been declined admission for both. Thanks, everyone!

Hey -- this is what I ended up doing! I'll see if the second school is willing to move things around. Thank you so much!

The first school does not have an alternative interview day and the second I already said yes to.

Good point. I think I’m also afraid that because it’s one of the last flights of the day, that the flight might be cancelled altogether and I’d miss that second interview completely. But you’d take the chance and hope for the best?

got into 3 schools last year (out of 3 interviews) and here is my advice. -get good sleep the night before. I missed one of the mini interviews the following day after a horrible night with only a few hours of sleep because I misread the interview schedule. I felt that I had destroyed my chance at ever making it into that school. Fortunately the POI wanted me enough that he gave me a spot. -bring that dam black folio and make sure you're wearing a black suit jacket. -write up a list of questions -rehearse your answers beforehand with multiple people That's about it!

hey everyone, I've gotten Clinical invites from: UNT - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from POI Rochester - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/12 by phone call from POI Penn State - PhD in clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI U Kentucky - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/19 by email from grad office coordinator (mass email) SUNY Albany - PhD in Clinical - invited 12/20 by email from POI message me if you need POI details.

Hi GradCafe, I need your advice on something. I got invited to two interviews on the same weekend: one is on Friday and one is on Saturday -- however, in order to make the Saturday interview the only flight available would afford me 4-5 hours of sleep tops. The first interview is for a backup school, and the second interview is for a top-choice school. Would you go to both and risk loss of sleep for a bad interview performance Saturday, or would you just go to the second interview? The first school will not let me reschedule the interview, does not have any alternative interview days, and does not do Skype interviews. So it's either me going to the first + second interview, or the second interview by itself and decline the first. If it helps any, my GPA is in the admitted-candidate range, my GRE scores (general & subject) are all in the low to high 90th percentile, and I have two years of research experience outside of undergrad (work as lab manager), one second-author publication submitted and five first author posters. Thanks so much! -gasmasque