rubberduck

It has been three years since I religiously used this website when I applied to clinical psychology programs and I thought I would revisit it. Here are some lessons I learned after three years into a clinical psychology PhD:
The interviews are just to confirm that you're normal. Professors have a ranked list based on stats and essays alone. They invite multiple people to interview so they can weed out which ones are normal and which ones aren't. Don't stress over any mistakes you think you made during Interview Weekend. Most likely, you were fine, you just weren't high on the list to begin with.  Students who don't like the program don't go to Interview Weekend. So if you actually talk to a student who doesn't have good things to say about the program, that is a terrible sign.  Your advisor is the most important thing, ever. At the program level, programs don't really care about students. The power of professors and administrators will always be higher than the rights or wellbeing of students. However, your advisor can defend and represent you, but if you can't rely on your advisor -- unfortunately, you're f*cked. I would take a friendly, reliable advisor over an advisor that's doing research I personally consider interesting every time.  Cohorts are temporary, labs are forever. When you take introductory classes and have bonding/semi-traumatic experiences in those classes, you think that you'll be best friends with your cohort. You will, for a time, but you'll eventually start to drift as you all finish your courseload and that's okay. I don't want to advise people to ignore their cohorts, but prioritize the relationships in your lab first and foremost. Those people will stick with you and you'll end up sharing hotel rooms during conferences, so you might as well like each other. Squatter's rights. Lab space, desk space, furniture, equipment. You get ownership as long as you continue using it. If you get access to a room in a building, don't ever give it up. If an item isn't nailed down and doesn't an item barcode or university number on it, it's fair game as long as you don't get caught.  Befriend other faculty members for committee purposes. Once you find a nice person who agrees to be on your master's committee, ply them with compliments and baked goods and whatever it takes so that'll be on your candidacy and dissertation committees.  The code to the printer is 1111. I don't why admin keeps using simple codes, but whatever. 

I don't want to catastrophize, or to sound selfish, but I would be very sad to see my program be moved to be online/ cancelled given all of the work that I've invested into this. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

School: The Ohio State University
Type of Program: Clinical
Acceptance Date: 1/15/2020

School: The Ohio State University
Type of Program: Clinical
Acceptance Date: 1/15/2020

Also in the attending-but-haven't-formally-accepted-any-offers boat. I'm winding down things at my current position and making sure things are documented so they don't fall apart when I leave my lab manager post. 
Somehow I didn't get the relax memo though and I'm working on a manuscript haha. (I don't want a big gap on my CV and I enjoy the work--hence applying for PhD).

School: Columbia University 
Type of Program: Counseling Psychology PhD
Acceptance Date: 2/14/20
POI: BV
 
Dreams. Come. True. 

Hi y'all...anxiety post here
I have my first (and only) PhD interview this week. It is at my top program, and it is my only chance this year to get into a PhD program.I have an interview at a Master's program that I also like, but I would love to jump straight into PhD. I love absolutely everything about the program and I truly believe I am a great fit for them (i'm really not just saying that!). However, that doesn't change the fact that I am nervous as HELL. 
I am less nervous for the interview (because I feel like I have mock interviewed enough to at least having a basic idea of how to answer), and more nervous for things like the social and chunks of time between interviews to interact with current students and other applicants. I want to make a good impression and be myself, but I am worried about either coming across as TOO social or too reserved. 
I am also nervous that some of my answers are kind of long-winded, especially for questions such as "so tell me about yourself" "why are you a good fit for this program" "what are your strengths and weaknesses" etc. 
Also, I am in a cast and on crutches. The school really has bent over backwards to accommodate me which I am SO thankful for, but I'm worried about sticking out like a sore thumb or coming across as high maintenance. 
Overall, I guess I'm just nervous because I love the program so much and really want to make a good impression. There's really no point to this post, I just NEED to vent, lol.

Just had my first interview. I think it went well. 
 
Things I didn't expect:
-How little time was interviewing. 2 1-on-1 interviews (30 minutes each) and the rest was talking to grad students, dinner social, round table discussions, a presentation, and campus tours. 
-The awkwardness of talking to the clinical director and other administrative staff. It was really hard to come up with questions for them (and this was after a presentation about the program that already answered any question I had). 
-How much I was grilled in one of my interviews. The prof was actually asking me about specific details from my POI's journal articles. 
-How casual and comfortable the interview with my POI was! 
-How honest and upfront the grad students were with me about funding, stipend, and my POI's positives and negatives.
-How interesting it was to talk to the other applicants. Also, how much time I spent around/socializing with the other applicants. 
 
Suggestions:
-Bring blister band aids, even if you think you won't need them.
-Bring floss (you'll be eating and you don't want things stuck in your teeth after breakfast/lunch).
-Plan out your bathroom visits. I'm serious. Look at your schedule and decide when would be good times to go.
-If you have a break, plan to maybe call a loved one during that time. It will be a relief to talk to someone without having to worry about your image and the loved one can give you positive affirmation and words of support. So after your call, you can head back to the interview refreshed and in a better mood. 
-Have a prepared list of questions to ask your POI, written down, that you can pull out and take notes on as your POI responds. 
-Even if you've read them before, go over your POI's recent journal articles on your flight there so everything is fresh in your mind.
-Bring Tylenol pm, so if you're too nervous to sleep before interview day, you can knock yourself out. 
-Have some prepared statements about hobbies. They shouldn't be rehearsed, but have a bullet list in your mind, because you will be surprised how often they become a talking point.

I would agree with this. 
 
 
The reality is that none of us know, we aren’t admissions committees. But looking at historical averages for the programs you apply to is, I think, the best option for most applicants. 
 
GRE being fair or not is a completely different topic of discussion, but the reality is that it IS frequently used for narrowing down the pool. 

Unfortunately, you are wrong about the GRE not mattering. In Psych, it is often used to screen people out to the sheer number of applicants and small amount of spots. Social Work is a completely different field. To be blunt, your GRE scores would not get you interviews in a clinical psych program. Your advice is well-intentioned, but misguided here. Many schools won't even look at scores below the 50th percentile and rarely accept people even that low. Look at the stats of accepted people in clinical. It's eye opening. 

Hey guys! I know this is an old(ish) thread, but I just wanted to update and say... I got my first acceptance today! I got into the MS in Psychology at Villanova University! I won't hear about Graduate Assistantships or financial aid until mid-March, but I think this is a good sign for me. I just wanted to let you all know that I'm not doomed. ?

Today I had my first interview day of the application season and I was nervous but excited. I really liked the program and the students spoke very well of the faculty. I had individual interviews with three of the faculty members. The first faculty I met with I was very interested in their research, it closely mirrored my own research interests. I had the worst interview of my life with him (let it be known that I cried in an interview once from stress). The interview started off rocky because he immediately started grilling me about my interest in the program. Like I barely had time to sit down. Then he proceeded to tell me that one of my letter writers did not write a good letter for me (this is a whole separate issue) and that because of that he did not have enough information about me to think I would be a good fit for his lab. Then he proceeded to what felt like interrogate me on why I was even qualified to apply for PhD programs. He cut me off multiple times as I was trying to answer him. I was so flustered by the whole letter writer thing that I could barely fumble together answers for his questions. I felt like a bumbling idiot. I felt so stressed out and depressed after this interview but I still had two more faculty interviews after this one. I managed to pull myself together and do well in the other two interviews and I liked the other faculty. Now I feel like I ruined my chances at this school that I really liked and would want to go to. Has anyone every experienced something like this? What do you say when someone is just grilling you about your qualifications/ability to work in a lab but does not give you anytime to answer? 
Now I am worried that the letter writer may have negatively impacted my chances at other schools. I am annoyed because when I asked the person I made sure to stress that if they felt they could not write a good letter I would be happy to find someone else. I had an extra writer who wrote this really amazing letter for me that I could have used instead. I am stressed about my two interviews next week now. Should I ask the professor who wrote the "bad" letter if I can read what he wrote? I know who it is as I have read the letters by the other professors. 
If anyone needs me I am going to be drowning my sorrows in a tub of ice cream and cheesy romance movies. 

With the *I is stressed* venting thread being fairly active (which I appreciate greatly), I thought I'd start the antithesis of it: an "I feel capable and ready to go into my interview and I would like to share my positive thoughts to others" or "Things aren't working out exactly the way I want but it'll all be okay" or "I'm getting a ton of interviews and I just want to say I'm happy" thread.
Me personally, I'm feeling pretty excited about my interview. Obviously the nerves are still intact, but I'm in a good mood and very aware of how lucky I am to be in this position and to have had such wonderful opportunities in my life. Whatever happens this year, I know I should be happy with the work I put in--I think we all should!
If you're feeling positive, post some encouraging words here for others who may need a boost. The one rule is that I think we should refrain from bragging or trying to covertly one-up each other with our achievements. Post things you're proud of, obviously, but make sure it isn't to prove some sort of academic superiority. 

This happened to me last year with Florida except they said I could complete a Skype interview and then never scheduled one or replied to my emails about setting it up (I emailed 3 times then let it go)... it obviously wasn’t my top choice because I chose to go to a different schools interview weekend (where I’m now a grad student) but definitely left a bad taste in my mouth! 

General question, has anyone gotten an invite through a 2nd round? Meaning, your PI went through first round invites, all which didn't work out, to then invite you? I have four schools in which I"m in this boat (no rejection, in weird limbo) and I wonder if I should bother holding out any hope. All places tell me it's either going to happen (2nd round invites) or the chance is "low." Just wondering if these elusive 2nd round invites ever actually happen or if I should just move on.

School: Columbia University Teachers College
Type: Counseling PhD
Date of invite: 1/29
Type of invite: Email from DCT
Interview date(s): February 13th
I CANT BELIEVE THIS AHHHH!

Hi GradCafe family! 
Have my first of a few in-person interviews coming up this week, and I'm pretty excited and nervous. Question for those who have done in-persons- it looks like generally there's quite a bit of time allocated for presentations and panels for all the interviewing grad students. This might be a ridiculous question, but what are the expectations around participation/asking questions at these presentations? I'm more of an active listener than question asker myself, but want to mentally prepare in case that expectation is part of the process!

the stress of waiting between interviews is too real! i've been trying to learn to bake (can't get a lot of my favorite german sweets in the us - or at least not near me), so i'm sending you all virtual cookies as comfort ❤️ we got this

...So this is why I didnt get into Harvard lol

Harvard applicants: can someone who has been in contact with their POI share a little info on the situation?? The several posts about the significant cut in spot availability are making me worried now that two different POIs are no longer taking students... I applied to JW. Has anyone heard from him?

I was clearing my computer desktop of all application materials. I had put them there for easy access. I randomly opened my writing sample to remind myself that it was good, when what do I see?? It is an earlier draft, with several typos and a formatting problem that had later been fixed. This is what I sent to every school.  Mind you, this is WEEKS after deadlines. I panicked. Then I died. Then I came back to life and cried. I spent two days reading blogs telling me to let it go. I couldn't. 
Today, I wrote a letter to every school, explaining my mistake. 11/12 schools responded with kindness and understanding and allowed me to submit the correct draft. One school also responded with understanding, but informed me it was too late (to which I responded that I understood).  I will send thank-you notes to all who helped me. 
I'm just sharing in case there are others in my situation who think it is too late—it might not be! It won't hurt you to ask. This is your dream, do whatever you can to help yourself succeed. 

I just finished my first interview. I can't speak for all programs, but this one made visiting day so easy. It was relaxed yet professional and informational. If you haven't been to any interviews yet, just know that it's not anywhere near as scary as you are thinking it is. You've got this! 

I would like this post but I'm out of reactions too lol

FYI, reached out to Harvard and they said faculty are currently reviewing applications and conducting interviews. Interviews would most likely be before Feb 6. Decisions to be sent out early March.
Hope that helps!

Hooters shirt, plus skates. Keeping it classy.