Modulus

According to the April 15th Resolution FAQ: "The deadline should be 11:59 pm of April 15 in the time zone of the school offering financial support."

The April 15th Resolution speaks more to competing offers than needing to reverse one's intention to enroll altogether. Additionally, the circumstances may be very different for a Master's level program with a general track for all students* versus a mentor-model PhD program. While I would strongly advise anyone against accepting an offer with the intentions of potentially reversing course and trying to accept a different offer, I think that if you can see a realistic possibility of attending the program, and the alternative would be not attending (as indicated by your interest in deferral) that you should consider accepting the offer. I would continue to speak with Admissions officers and program directors regarding your particular situation, express your keen interest, but also be a bit forthcoming (if possible) about the extenuating circumstances which you are under. * Four years ago, I accepted admission into an unfunded Master's program but ultimately declined to enroll for personal, financial, and professional reasons. I personally did not find this to affect my outcomes in academia (and I was actually accepted into the PhD program in the same department in this previous round).

If the program adheres to the April 15th Resolution, you will have to receive written release from the first institution to reverse your decision. "Acceptance of an offer of financial support* (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties.... an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer." This being said, in general, one should not accept admission to a program which they do not intend to attend. I would reach out to the waitlisted program and let them know that you would accept their offer if given, but otherwise you will be accepting another offer.

Clinical psychology is an extremely competitive field. I would spend time reading scientific literature regarding bipolar disorder to familiarize yourself with the theories, current research directions, and big names in the study of the phenomena that most interest you. Finding a list of faculty who are interested in a certain psychopathology without doing the more extensive background work (likely including post-bacc or master's level research of your own) will not serve you particularly well in applications.

I think in this strange time, it might be worth it to ask the first program if you can potentially have an extension on the deadline. I would be transparent about your interest, but say that due to delays regarding COVID-19, you don't feel that you have all your information to make a decision. I would provide a date by which you felt you could make your decision, and be ready for them to stay firm to the April 15th date, but I don't think reaching out could hurt. I do think, even if it is possible to be released from your acceptance, that it is not wise to put yourself in a position of doing so.

With proper permission (and perhaps paying royalties if the measure is not open-source) and citation, you are certainly able to replicate and extend the research of other scientists in this way. Be transparent about what parts of your protocol and theoretical conceptualization are your own intellectual work and which build off the work from others.

I was in a similar situation and reached out to the faculty member I intended to work with at the other institution and said that I had an offer I was interested in taking but that I wanted to reach out to them first before I made my final decision. (I got an offer from the second school in within an hour--however, I had been in close contact with that PI a few weeks earlier to check in on the progress re: offers.) I felt bad b/c I ended up taking the earlier offer, but I really do feel like being honest and just not promising anything you aren't sure of is the best policy.

I finished finding housing before my destination city had a stay-at-home order. I had not planned on being able to visit in person anyway as I am far away now, but at that time, I was able to get a virtual tour via Facetime. This may still be possible in some locations? Other than that, good luck and I have to think that many are in the same boat.

From those of you on the other end of this process--any tips for applying? I plan to apply this coming cycle. I'm especially interested in folks from Clinical Psychology PhD programs as explaining the basic science value of our work can be tricky.

Publication is very important in clinical psychology. I aim to finish with no less than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles of which no less than 10 should be first authors. I hope to have closer to ~30/~15. I also expect to have 1-5 other CV line items per year (posters, talks, book chapters, etc.). These are reasonable/typical numbers for the lab I'm joining. Excited and intimidated. I'm at 1/1 now post-bach, so we're off to the races.

Find out if March is too early to look at housing from current students. In some markets, specifically college towns, this is actually the prime time for leasing for August 1st move-in dates.

Also sounds like you got a TT job right out of grad school? Seriously living the dream if so.

If you have stable and affordable housing in D.C.. I think staying local sounds like a really good option. I'm not sure what your ultimate goal is, but especially if it is to be a practicing clinician, the ranking of the school is probably not that important as long as it is generally in the range of strong, highly-rated programs. DC is an area a lot of people want to go but find to be financially infeasible and I believe Howard in particular would open up a lot of doors network-wise as one of the nation's premier HBCUs. In short, I wouldn't discount the local opportunities just because you feel like you need to push yourself out of a comfort zone and/or you feel you need to go to the #2 school in the nation?

I would encourage you to spend time refining exactly what your research interest is more narrowly and see who is doing that sort of work and what program they are faculty in. I am a big proponent of the research-match first approach to determining where/what program to study. I would discourage you from obtaining a PhD to increase your salary in vague terms. If you know a specific career you want requires doctoral-level education in certain fields, start there. PhDs are not guarantees of jobs, much less high paying ones.

What is your motivation to apply for a PhD Program? I think the strategic move would be to find out what sort of outcome you're looking for and work backward from there. Do you want to move into a research career, perhaps as tenure-track faculty? A PhD in the field in which you wish to conduct research is your best bet. Do you want to open up greater economic opportunities for yourself? A PhD is probably not the best route. If you are interested, obtaining clinical licensure alongside your existing MSW would probably be more lucrative (and a much shorter timeline).

The very successful tenured faculty member I work for now attended this program for a master's degree before PhD and speaks highly of the program.

I opted to work as a paid laboratory manager in lieu of doing a Master's program so take this second-hand knowledge with a grain of salt... However, I have only heard good things/success stories from the following three Master's programs (note I'm talking individuals interested in ultimately pursuing Clinical PhD only): - William and Mary - Villanova - Wake Forest All three have at least some fully-funded lines for Master's study as well. However, I haven't heard much specifically negative about other programs, just that I haven't heard good things.

I would consider whether you think you will be better prepared for graduate study after gaining more work and life experience post-undergrad and/or whether you need more funding to be able to attend graduate school. However, I would NOT think of the funding offers as an indication of how "wanted" you are by the university. I am generally unfamiliar with your area of study, but I do not think the institutions to which you applied are in the practice of admitting students who they are not impressed by. Sounds like imposter syndrome talking.

This is honestly my worst nightmare. Had you already formally accepted and was it a funded offer?

The academic market is pretty saturated with those who do want to do research and many who would rather be on tenure track end up making a patchwork of adjunct work. With your interests, if you are truly uninterested in teaching at the high school level, I would consider positions at community colleges or other programs geared toward adult learners outside of University.

Blacksburg is a "small college town" and has that feel to it. There's not much going on, but there are still places to eat, drink, and relax. I really like Roanoke, which is about 30-40 mins away and has a lot of festivals and cultural events. I would say that the culture is less Southern and more Appalachian--think West Virginia, not Alabama. My brother went to VT for undergrad and loved it. I actually highly considered it for my PhD too, but ultimately chose UGA for a more senior mentor and perfect research match.

I will be moving to Athens to start my PhD in Clinical Psychology this Fall. Updates on this city? I am interested especially in quality of life/safety for lesbian and/or bisexual women, vegan food offerings, places to play pinball, and HOUSING LEADS.

I was told that if the university is your #1 choice and you would attend, regardless of the specifics of any funding offer, that it is reasonable to say that you are holding another offer but would gladly accept theirs instead.

University of Georgia - Clinical Psychology PhD Fellow future Dawgs, please reach out!

Although I'm not sure if the same holds for Counseling Programs, I second the recommendation to get a paid position in a lab. I understand I am incredibly fortunate to have a very supportive PI, but my CV coming into this application cycle looks as good if not better than anyone I know coming out of a master's program.