TheEternalGrad

Hey, I ended up doing this and the PI said I seemed composed and not nervous at all, lol. I'm definitely self-critical but that's because I had a good sense of my baseline. In any event, I appreciate your response
 
 
I'm finally done with interviews and one thing I'm starting to believe is that, it doesn't matter how well you think an interview went. For clinical psych, at least, the PIs are trained to become active listeners and nodding or smiling doesn't necessarily mean that they agree. Could just mean for you to go on. And, honestly, once you're at the interview stage, you're probably with equally qualified candidates. Everyone's interview, or at least their conversations, will go very well.
Thus, I think it's better to think of it as 'not terrible,' or 'not bad.' That way, you don't get your hopes up. 
I thought I absolutely nailed an interview, to learn that I interviewed for a spot that was already taken months in advance. I'm seeing this trend more and more, hearing it through other candidates' experiences, so I'm done thinking I can predict the admissions process. Just do your best, and hope your personality 'FiTs WiTh tHeiR LaB'. 

The application process is very competitive and the probability of getting accepted is so low so try not to get discouraged. Many of the post docs I have spoken to applied two or three years in a row before finally getting accepted. I, too, have received two rejections so far and am not so optimistic this cycle but it is super important to not let these rejections affect our self worth. I am happy you have been getting positive feedback about lab manager positions. A post doc I know said doing a year as a lab manager really helped him get accepted the second time around. Good luck ? 

I second this 100%. This could be a great opportunity to make an even stronger impression on the faculty and students (and your POI if she goes!) that could really help you stand out. You can plan an even better romantic night with your boyfriend in the future, hopefully celebrating an acceptance to the program. ?

My dude with the 4 offers who posted in the results section (particularly for Duke).I had two and let go of one in a day. One of the programs I REALLY loved and still had to say no. 
Don’t be a dick. There are people waiting to hear back, potentially from the same places. 
Also if you’re trolling, stop being an a**hole. 
I hope you’re not trying to be a therapist cause the lack of empathy is frightening. 
 

Probably won't reflect poorly but it's definitely a missed opportunity if you decline. You can reschedule a dinner with your boyfriend; you can't reschedule the dinner at the professor's house.

Um, can the person who just got the acceptance to Columbia's clinical psych program (TC?) please post their lab? The interview literally just ended tonight. Wtf. Faculty are meeting next week. Can do it anonymously if you're uncomfortable

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!

I have not re-interviewed, so I can't speak to that. However, I lived in ideal and not-so-ideal places before and found that university/workplace/people have a great influence on how I feel. So yes, I would attend a good program regardless. If it is a good program but there are factors that cause concern, I would carefully consider if it is really something I can grow into or if it would make me unhappy in the long run. Turning down a program would include letting them know that I truly appreciate their offer because I would not want to burn bridges.

Regarding the Yale post...if you have 3+ offers it is important to narrow those down! It is etiquette to not hold on to more than two offers at once.

OMG could you imagine just having to fill out 1 standard application, in a single portal, and only sending your transcripts to 1 place.... We all deserve a medal for enduring the ridiculous amount of processes to complete in order to just submit a single app! Kudos to us all hahaha

#waitist LOL I don’t even know wtf I’m typing anymore.
I kind of feel a certain way about faculty ?.... in my last interview, my PI was interviewing 7+ applicants for 1 position.
The (broken) system in place doesn’t favor the applicants whatsoever, it favors the institutions/departments, which is awful. I’ve said this before, but the field needs to move more towards a system that mirrors the internship application process!!!!!!!

I just got a schedule with SEVEN faculty interviews and a grad student one-on-one. What in tarnation. I'm exhausted in advance

I've had 2 interviews so far.
4 solo with faculty, 0 solo with grad students, 0 group interviews 2 solo with faculty, 1 solo with grad student, 1 group interview Just received another schedule with
      3. 6 solo with faculty, 4 solo with grad student, 0 group interviews. Excluding 2 socials day of, and night before. IS THIS NORMAL??????? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

I so hear you, but I told my SO that if I DON’T get in, then we get dog #3 bc that way win/win?/less terrible loss/I can drown my sorrows in dog fur. 
He didn’t agree, but I feel like I get an A for effort. 

Update, in case anyone is having similar anxieties:
They pretty much just said "We've already talked about research, so do you have any questions for me?" and I pulled out my notebook list of questions like a fuckin dweeb (hopefully having a list didn't hurt me...I just knew I would forget to ask something important) and the first question I asked turned into a free-flowing, actually enjoyable conversation. I *hate* interviews and it was a genuine pleasure. Have fun and good luck yall!!

Once I get into that window of waiting on offers, I’ll probably be an absolute pleasure to be around ?

I'm not sure how typical it is but it happened to me too. I applied two years ago, this would have been fall of my senior year, but only to 5 clinical programs. I got an interview from one school, but ultimately didn't get an offer. I attributed it to having less experience as an undergrad (since most people don't go straight to grad school after getting their Bachelor's), not having any experience with clinical populations, and only applying to a small number of highly competitive schools.
This round, I applied to 13 total, and included a few non-Tier I schools as long as they still funded fully. There's no such thing as "safeties" when it comes to grad school, but there are obviously programs like UCLA that are much more difficult to get into than others. I also had 1.5 years of intense clinical experience this time, more focused recommendation letters (3 clinical psych PhD faculty vs 1 clinical and 2 non-psych profs when I first applied), and two second-author posters (when I first applied I had nothing). I still only got one interview lol.
I think it's a matter of 1) the applicant pool getting larger and more competitive each year and 2) if you take gap years, programs really want to see productivity e.g. abstracts or manuscripts come out of it. Not having publications straight out of undergrad is more acceptable than not having them after 2 years of working as a full-time RA--which is the situation I'm in, may be different for you.

I would have to agree with a few other posters: a masters probably won't make you more competitive. A masters is good when you have a low undergrad GPA and need to show you can hack it in grad school, or if you need more research experience and can't get into a lab otherwise. If I were you, I would maybe re-examine my LORs and SOP and research fit with POIs because your hard stats seems fine/great. Were you in contact with any POIs previously? If so, you could potentially reach out and ask how you can improve your apps for next year. Also, if you only applied to 4 programs, that can also be an issue. Given the low probability of being accepted into any 1 program, you have a higher likelihood of gaining an acceptance when applying to about 10 programs or so, statistically speaking. I know it's expensive and sometimes there are issues with research fit, but that is something else to potentially consider. 

Congratulations to those with acceptances and sending good vibes to those with rejections!
I was just waitlisted at my top choice school after interviews. Going to think positive but can't help feeling like I'm in waiting purgatory again like when I was waiting for interview invites..

Me too! Sat in my car and sobbed. Called my mom, still crying, she thought I’d been in an accident. Congratulations! It’s such a relief isn’t it!
i hope everyone in this thread get some good news soon!

Honestly it really depends on the program, it's so variable. One program I'm waitlisted on literally waitlisted everyone that interviewed except for the few that were offered the first round of acceptances. Others had a waitlist started after phone interviews, even before in person interviews were conducted. As for your question, grad students told me that it is perfectly fine to ask about how many people are waitlisted, what your position on that waitlist is, and the chance of being accepted off of the waitlist. They said that it is mandatory for professors to answer these questions because they are bound by the APA (don't know how much truth there is to that because I have never heard about it). However, I myself am still reluctant to ask any questions like that, however I did ask one of my POIs about whether waitlisted applicants have been accepted historically and received an answer and was told that I am more than welcome to ask any other questions about it. 

School: St. John’s University 
Type: Phd Clinical Psychology 
Date of invite: 2/8
Type of invite: email
Interview date(s): 2/28

School: Drexel University 
Type: JD/Phd Clinical Forensic Psychology 
Date of invite: 1/2, 1/10
Type of invite: Initially received a phone call from my POI extending an interview, then later got a call from a graduate student confirming. Then finally a formal email from the program 
Interview date(s): Formal interview 2/11, informal mixer with students 2/10
I have applied to the combined JD/ Clinical Phd program, so can't be positive what is going on with the Phd only students. But I believe we all received invitations around the same time and everyone Is interviewing on Feb 8th and Feb 11th. Hope this helps some people! 

Sigh....I'm sorry but...how hard is it to send a rejection email....

I haven't heard anything from TC either, but their interview date is very soon (at least according to what people posted on here). So close to losing hope. :(
I'm just going to go with "no news is good news" for now. Please let us know if you hear back! How long ago did you reach out to them?