HanClee

To folks asking about Stanford: I got an email from the PI this morning saying that she has extended invite to two candidates and I was not one of them. The other two candidates had more research experience in the areas the lab is pursuing despite a strong overlap between my and the lab’s interests. That being said, the PI said she wants to keep me as an alternate. In the email, she said folks regularly get admitted to the program without coming to the interview day, but I know she is such a nice person that she may just be being kind. Regardless, it was a great experience talking to her and her grad students, and best of luck to the folks who got the official invites!

Thank you, thank you both for your insightful and kind responses! It means a lot to me to read about your thoughts and truthfully, they helped calm me down. I have always been a somewhat anxious person with a perfectionist tendency that I am not proud of and even though it was out of my control, I felt it was my fault. You guys are right; I will stop stressing over when the PI's going to respond and focus on prepping for the interview instead. Immense gratitude and happy holidays!!!

Apologies for double-posting -- please let me know if you know how to delete a post! Here is what I need help with: I received an informal interview invite at one of my dream schools last night with a proposed date (1/3). I confirmed this interview this morning but within three hours was told that there is a family event (more like an emergency) on this date that I MUST attend. I immediately emailed the PI and asked if it’d be possible to push the interview to 3 hours (5pm local time for her) later or to chat on 1/2 instead ( I left a 12-hour window of availability so there’s a bigger likelihood this will work for her). 1/3 is a Friday so meeting later during the weekend is not an option and I’m not sure if she is back to work yet on 1/2. The thing is I feel soooooooo bad for rescheduling after having confirmed this interview and would hate if this is gonna sabotage my chance. It has been six hours and she has not gotten back to me yet; I know it’s because she is out of the office for the holidays but I’m still feeling so anxious. What do folks think? Is it ever acceptable to reschedule after having confirmed an unofficial interview? Ugh this is torture!

Happy holidays to all! I received an informal interview invite at one of my dream schools last night with a proposed date (1/3). I confirmed this interview this morning but within three hours was told that there is a family event (more like emergency) that I must attend. I immediately emailed the PI and asked if it’d be possible to push the interview to 3 hours (5pm local time for her) later or to chat on 1/2 instead ( I left a 12-hour window of availability so there’s a bigger likelihood this will work for her). 1/3 is a Friday so meeting later during the weekend is not an option and I’m not sure if she is back to work yet on 1/2. The bigger thing is I feel soooooooo bad for rescheduling after having confirmed this appointment and would hate if this is gonna sabotage my chance. It has been six hours and she has not gotten back to me yet; I know it’s because she is out of the office for the holidays but I’m still feeling so anxious. What do folks think? Is it acceptable to reschedule after having confirmed an unofficial interview? Ugh this is torture!

just messaged!

Just got an unofficial Skype interview invite from Stanford! Damn, didn't expect there to still be schools screening applicants.

Ohh congrats! I’d love to know the poi too!

YASSSSS

As we are on the topic: School: UMass Amherst Type: Social Psychology PhD Type of invite: Email from POI Date of invite: 12/18 Interview date(s): 1/31 I got a really good vibe when chatting with her and am super pumped/nervous about the interview!

Thank you for this information! And congrats on receiving an official invite!!

Congrats!!!!

I did an unofficial interview with UCLA and was told I won’t be invited to the official interview for research compatibility reasons. And yes, my understanding is that if you didn’t receive an unofficial interview, you likely would not be invited to the official interview.

Hey, don't go crazy just yet. I was talking to a friend of mine who is in her second year in a dev psych program. The program she is in now and another school that accepted her both invited her to their on-campus interviews without preliminary chats. You never know how these things turn out.

Thank you -- best of luck to you too!!

Curious if anyone has heard from: Stanford, Princeton, Washington, NYU, Yale, Northwestern, UWisc-Madison. Thanks!

I'd say so. I was told only 20-25 people got unofficial interviews and the group of final candidates that will be brought to LA was chosen from this pool.

Just heard back from UCLA that I am not invited to their on-campus interview. Not entirely surprised but the preliminary chat was still super helpful!

A little bird told me that both UCLA and UMass are wrapping up their unofficial interviews and will send out their invites to on-campus interviews by the end of this week!

Many thanks to all the folks who answered my question!! I ended up writing a note to the PI and fingers crossed I get flown out!

Hi folks, i had a preliminary phone interview last night and am wondering if it’s common practice to send thank-you note. I was very appreciative of the opportunity but also don’t want to come across as too eager if a note after the informal interview is not expected. What do folks think? Thanks!

Wow that’s awesome!! I saw that you applied to UMass Amherst — whom are you interested in working with there?

Congrats!! May I ask which schools you heard from?

Just heard from a friend at NYU. Social invites are already out.

For those who applied to WUSTL: I was in contact with my POI at the beginning of January and was told that invites would be sent out during the week of Jan 6th. I knew just from our email exchange that I didn’t get an invite but I think those who are being considered should have gotten their invites by now. On the other hand, has anyone heard back from the Social Psych PhD program at NYU or from the University of Washington (Seattle)? I was told that the apps were still under review on Jan 7th by NYU, but haven’t heard anything since.