imemine

I completely agree that strong letters make all the difference, but I wouldn't worry so much about who they come from. From my interviews last year I could tell that PIs place a TON of weight on the evaluations of both academic potential and personal character conveyed in LORs, but they don't need to come from colleagues they know well (or even know at all) in order to be effective.

At the end of the day, be honest about who interests you-- oftentimes one strong fit is all it takes. You can also say you are primarily interested in working with the one faculty member but that you could envision yourself collaborating with X/Y/Z professors in the department in X/Y/Z ways. I did this in some of my admissions essays, it's one way to show departmental fit without claiming to match equally with multiple primary mentors.

I agree with a lot of the advice on this thread! Self-reflection is definitely key. It can be daunting at times to think about projects you might want to do in the future, so I'd recommend starting with projects you've done in the past. This includes research studies as well as term papers for class, projects for fun, etc. Think of broad keywords describing each venture-- are there some that repeat more than others? Personally, I found that I had almost always chosen topics related to a handful of keywords (emotion, self, etc.), which led me to solidify my interests.

When I was going through the process, it helped me to recall what topics I was most drawn to in each of my psychology classes. I had a lot of final papers that allowed me to pick a topic, and I realized I kept going back to the same topic areas (ie. emotion, self, individual differences) for each of these papers. It's okay if you don't have a specific question that drives you, or if you have more than one area of interest. But try to narrow your focus to just a couple of these broad content areas. Nobody really knows if their research interests are what they "really want to pursue" forever (in fact, your interests are expected to evolve in grad school!), but it stands to reason that if you've been gravitating towards certain content areas throughout undergrad, you'll likely still be drawn to them in grad school.

I did my undergrad at JHU and I'd be happy to answer any questions about the area! The Homewood campus is in Charles Village, which is a relatively nice neighborhood (Baltimore standards lol) and where all the undergrads live. Plenty of housing and some restaurants, but if you want to avoid undergrads I'd stay away from N. Charles and St. Paul Streets. A little further out from the undergrad-heavy blocks is Oakenshawe, which is a safer residential area about a 10min walk from campus. You'll find single-family homes here compared to the apartments closer to campus. You could also consider Remington on the opposite side of campus, but safety in this area is a bit more suspect. There are a bunch of other neighborhoods within driving/bus distance that are worth checking out. Hampden is about a 5-10min drive from campus and a fantastic area. The main drag is filled with great local restaurants and hipster boutiques, and there are other shopping areas and grocery stores in close range too. Mount Vernon is another cute area with generally lower rent prices than Charles Village. Since Peabody (the music campus) is located there, you can easily take the free JHU shuttle to Homewood. And, of course, there's also downtown, but I can't speak to affordability or convenience there.

Hey all! Last year, someone started a reflections and advice thread, and reading it gave me valuable perspective as I went through the process this past fall/winter. Now that we're all one year older and wiser, I was thinking we can share some insights for next year's batch of applicants! These are some things I learned from this process: - Don't do this alone. Looking back at my first draft of my SOP versus the final draft after months of meeting with one of my professors for feedback, it's night and day. I would have been so lost if I had insisted on doing everything by myself. Having a good support system is so, so, so important. - Publications are overrated. My biggest anxiety during the app process was that I was at a major disadvantage because I don't have any publications. However, I was pleasantly surprised that PIs seemed so interested in my prior research despite never publishing. I really do think they care more about experience and potential than publication record. - Recommendation letters matter WAY more than you think they do. I was shocked by how often my letters were brought up during interviews. The non-academic content of these letters also carries a surprising amount of weight. PIs are looking for genuinely decent people that they can get along with, and they get information about your character from your LORs. - Interview visits aren't meant to be formal/stressful. Every one of these visits was so fun and relaxed. I was shocked by how few candidates were left at that point and how informal everybody was. It was great just to meet so many interesting people and gain the insight I needed to make my decision. - You're going to end up where you belong. I always assumed it would be impossible to get into my top programs. What I didn't realize was that since my top programs were the ones where I had the best fit with PIs' research, I would actually be more likely to get into those programs than ones where I was less of a fit. I found my perfect program match, and they found their perfect match in me! - You DESERVE your success. Ultimately, as competitive of a process this is, people do succeed. That person will (at some point, if not this cycle) be you, and when it is, be proud! You've earned it.

UT Austin - Social & Personality PhD ?

Immediately after each interview visit, I made a list of pros and cons for each program. These included the important factors OP mentioned, as well as little things like the appearance of the psych building, difficulty of qualifying exam, weather, teaching opportunities, etc. I ended up paying the most attention to the cons. It's really important to consider which problems you're willing to deal with, versus which will cause you undue stress or even hinder your progress in the program. And if you can think of 3 serious cons for one program and only 2 minor issues for another, it can be an eye-opener as to which program you're actually leaning towards. Some of the factors that most strongly influenced my decision were 1) whether I could see myself collaborating with other PIs in the area, 2) whether graduates of the program were successful in finding good postdocs/academic jobs, 3) stipend amount relative to cost of living. I also highly valued how well I got along with the other grad students and faculty, but everyone was so nice at each of my visits it was basically a wash across programs!

I wouldn’t worry about it. I only sent a thank you after one of my interviews (it was my top choice, and I was paranoid about getting in). I don’t think sending a thank you will make or break your application either way

Is anyone else finding it hard to pull the trigger on officially accepting an offer? I have my mind made up with where I want to go, I love the program and the PI and the city and I can't wait to make it official. But my gut feeling about this came on so quickly-- I feel like I need to force myself to slow down, even though I know I'll accept there eventually. It's also weird to have this application season come to an end so suddenly after being the focal point of my life for the better part of a year. Is there a "right time" to accept an offer? Is any of this making sense??? ?

School: UT-Austin Type of Program: Social-Personality Psych PhD Acceptance Date: 2/20/2020 I've been getting a flurry of sweet, supportive emails from PIs, postdocs, and grad students over the last half hour and I'm so overwhelmed with happiness. I haven't made the official decision quite yet, but wow. This might be the one. ?

I haven’t even made my decision yet but I keep obsessively looking at apartments in my top 2 cities..... it’s a problem?

I don't read books in my free time AT ALL. Not one. I got asked this question by a PI on one of my recent visits, and I told him honestly what I actually read for fun: analytical articles about the NFL! I genuinely don't think anybody cares whether or not you read (or what you like to read). Just be authentic!

If you're looking for a free option, some schools list these statistics on their websites! This one from Berkeley (scroll down to see it) doesn't include waitlist statistics, but shows just about everything else. Some stats seem pretty easy to generally estimate for (the 5% admissions rate seems especially common), but others definitely vary from program to program.

Sorry if this is a dumb question haha (first-time interview-goer here!), but where exactly do people put their padfolios/document holders? Do they carry them around all the time, or do most people bring purses large enough to fit them? Is it weird to carry both a padfolio and a small purse? Also, for non-clinical interviews, is it expected that everyone has their own document holder going in?

How do applicants typically dress for these things? I assume it would be more dressed-down than the full-suit interview day. Do people still wear blazers for these, or is it actually meant to be (modest) casual wear?

School: University of Florida Type: PhD Date of invite: 1/11 Type of invite: Phone call from POI Interview date(s): 1/31 (or any other date that works for you if your travel schedule is as hellacious as mine lol) Feel free to DM for POI!!

Roughly, yeah. I also came from a top-10 school, but if I'm honest I don't think that matters as much as the quality of your research/recommendations.

I'll go against the grain here and say that non-published undergrad projects can still be enough experience, depending on your involvement in them. I'm applying out of undergrad with no publications, but I designed/implemented/analyzed two independent projects in my lab, one leading to a poster (presented at my university's undergrad research day). I was really concerned about not having enough tangible research products, but the application cycle has gone well for me regardless. I think as long as you can frame your research experience in terms of having seen as much of the research process as possible and how that prepares you to do similar work in grad school, you'll be fine. Great letters of rec also really help!

Okay, let me preface this with saying I'm incredibly sorry if this makes me sound like a total ass. It is absolutely 10000% not my intention to sound ungrateful, and I know that hearing nothing but rejections is by far the worse scenario. I've just been really overwhelmed lately, and I'm hoping some of you will be able to empathize. I currently have 4 interview invites with the possibility of a 5th, and it's really stressing me out. I have a pretty solid top 3, and the other 2 schools have a slightly different focus that I didn't realize would be less of a fit until after I submitted my apps and got to talk to some of these PIs. The interview dates are all within days of each other, and I simply don't have the stamina for that much cross-country travel. The constant emailing back and forth, the skype calls, the travel arrangements, it's so overwhelming!! It's especially hard to find the energy when I suspect that some of these schools may not be the right fit for me. Of course, I'm incredibly blessed to be in this position in the first place, but man, just having a few rejections to narrow it down would seriously give me peace of mind right now. I guess it goes to show that with this crazy a process, even being "lucky" comes with its own stressors!! I've seen past applicants say they had upwards of 5-10 interview invites-- how the heck did yall manage it?! I feel like I'm going to go insane from it all...

School: University of Oregon Type: PhD Date of invite: 1/3 Type of invite: Email from POI Interview date(s): 1/31-2/2 Feel free to DM for POI

I just got an in-person interview invite for Davis today! Feel free to DM for POI

I've literally thought about that so much, this entire process is basically dating haha

Thanks❤️ Every program is different and looks for different things, I'm sure you'll stand out to someone. Getting an informal interview is still a great accomplishment, and it goes to show how qualified of an applicant you are. You got this!

School: UT Austin Type: PhD Date of invite: 12/19 Type of invite: Email from POI Interview date(s): 2/6-2/9 Feel free to DM for POI!!