MPsych19

School: Southern Methodist University (SMU)
Concentration: Clinical Psychology PhD
Date of acceptance: 2/15/19
Received a call from my POI last week. It is my first acceptance, and also my first choice!  I felt like I took my first deep breath in months.

School: Southern Methodist University (SMU)
Concentration: Clinical Psychology PhD
Date of acceptance: 2/15/19
Received a call from my POI last week. It is my first acceptance, and also my first choice!  I felt like I took my first deep breath in months.

School: University of Texas at Dallas
Concentration: Psychological Sciences (Cognitive)
Type: Ph.D.
Date of acceptance: 2/15/2019
Notified by: Automatic email with acceptance letter followed by personal email from POI. Stipend via POI's grant, 2000/month, summer dependent on funding but all students have been funded in summer in the past.

You will be.
After 6 months of time off and traveling with my wife, I took a job at a software company for a UX research position. I had taken interest in that field about 2 years prior. Several of my coworkers have a similar background in cognitive psychology, so it's a great fit. My wife and I agree that it's the happiest time in our lives. We both found good-paying jobs in the city of our choice, got a nice new home, and still have time to pursue our hobbies.
Grad school was a transformative experience for me. Made a few forever-friends and so many great memories. That period of my life shaped me into the man I was always meant to be. Seize the moment, and enjoy it!
 
Congrats to both of you (and everyone in the thread). Eight years later, I still remember my moment of acceptance vividly. I called my mom, and then my girlfriend (now wife). Tears were shed. Cheers to your present and future success!

Worries: This is my third cycle applying. It's been draining every single time. I am an international student and the acceptances for international students seem really low over the past 2 years. I did graduate from an American university, but with only a magna cum laude. There seem to be so many applying with much higher gpa than mine. Though my verbal and quant scores on the gres were pretty solid, my written score was only a 4.0. In short, I'm afraid a meh gpa, and a shitty 4.0 on written, coupled with my international student status will hurt me real bad. I have about 4yrs of research experience but only a few posters, presentations and publications to show for it. I am already 30 this year and feel like the rest of my life has been put on hold while I have focused on this. Being a first-generation college grad, my family understand the value of higher education, but don't quite get the point of pursuing a PhD instead of settling for an undergrad degree. I could really do with a win.
Excitement: There is little I can think of that would be as exciting as doing research in topics I find interesting. I contacted a number of POIs and some seemed interested in working with me. Regardless of how this plays out, I'm sure I'll eventually find myself doing research in topics that excite me so I'll just hold on to that hahaha

How do you know this, do you work there? Do you know who has and who hasn't?