devpsych2020

YUP. Especially because they don't do interviews, just straight up acceptance or rejections. I just want to know! Ahhh!

Is anyone else going crazy waiting to hear back from Minnesota? ?

So I think I will propose research to see the prevalence of psychiatric disorders caused by PhD application process. 

My optimism is in seriously short supply. I found out I was waitlisted by a program this morning (which is better than a straight rejection) and I just feel like I keep barely missing the cut. It's very disheartening and I want to hibernate until this process is over. I want it bad enough to apply again if needed, but holy crap I totally don't feel like I have the energy or willpower to apply again. Blah. 
I also cannot stand uncertainty and this process is all uncertainty! Not being able to plan my future is a struggle for me.

This is a really stressful time. Be kind to yourself and do something nice for yourself just because. This is my third application cycle, and I can say that I have watched so many amazing, qualified, wonderful candidates get rejected, and some candidates with a seriously unique/ atypical background get accepted. It is such a gamble that is often sprinkled with some combo of knowing the "right people", luck, hard work, being the right applicant at the right time, funding, and a million other variables that we aren't even aware of. You were probably confident because you are qualified. But being qualified doesn't always equal getting the spot. It is not about you and your self-worth, even though it is easy AF to feel that way. Look how many people are on here freaking out. And that's just the people who are on here and posting. Think about the thousands of applicants who are in your shoes. This does NOT define you. YOU define YOU. Keep your head up, keep busy, and keep going. Rejection is NOT the worst thing in the world, and sometimes, in a crazy way, it helps put you on the right path. 

I don't think it's extra. For every official invitation I got, I would send a thank-you email, just in general. But you don't need to accept it immediately, if you have better choice that might overlap with this one 

Frozen 2's "Show Yourself" has been a great music to listen to before phone/skype interviews. Reminds me of all the hard work I've put in thus far (in layers of images/slow mo), makes me feel like my (well alive and healthy) parents are watching over me in the sky with graceful smiles on, and boosts my confidence and I internally shout, “Come to me now, [School]”. 
 
...Idk guys, as long as it works, right?

PLEASE

I honestly thought we would start getting blasts of emails (good or bad) starting this week but it's been so quiet...Except for clinical folks. Does anyone else think things are running super slow this cycle? What is happening!

Need to rant! I am suddenly feeling really freaked out about this entire process. So many people I spoke to kept telling me, "oh you'll definitely get invites!" And now I'm feeling really anxious and ajdgsdljfgdjh. I got my first rejection and now I see invites coming in from schools that I applied to. I was so confident in my application but now I'm not so certain. Why was I so confident?! Such a garbage feeling to question your work, your time, and yourself!! I also know it's asinine to base your self-worth off of an application process when you're competing against 400+ people with similar credentials, but so challenging to keep my head up right now.

Frozen 2's "Show Yourself" has been a great music to listen to before phone/skype interviews. Reminds me of all the hard work I've put in thus far (in layers of images/slow mo), makes me feel like my (well alive and healthy) parents are watching over me in the sky with graceful smiles on, and boosts my confidence and I internally shout, “Come to me now, [School]”. 
 
...Idk guys, as long as it works, right?

Done! Thanks for the suggestion - new to this website

PLEASE

Frozen 2's "Show Yourself" has been a great music to listen to before phone/skype interviews. Reminds me of all the hard work I've put in thus far (in layers of images/slow mo), makes me feel like my (well alive and healthy) parents are watching over me in the sky with graceful smiles on, and boosts my confidence and I internally shout, “Come to me now, [School]”. 
 
...Idk guys, as long as it works, right?

Ugh. Their waiting game is too strong ?  

It's Friday....there's bound to be good news today...right....RIGHT? 

I’m thinking of pulling a “George” & just showing up on interview day at my #1 school & acting like I was invited. 

I honestly thought we would start getting blasts of emails (good or bad) starting this week but it's been so quiet...Except for clinical folks. Does anyone else think things are running super slow this cycle? What is happening!

Hi! None of my following points are definite facts or professional advice, just my two cents (more like 6 cents).
1. Congrats on your successful undergrad performance. I think that if you cogently illustrate your time-efficient journey, it can vouch for your certain strengths.
2. GPA/GRE scores will mostly only help you to pass the very first bar (e.g., GPA>3.0 / each GRE section>65th %) of the admissions process (i.e., your application won't be immediately dropped) and adcom/faculties won't look at those scores again once you pass that first bar. Also, GPAs are evaluated regarding the competitiveness of originating schools (e.g., 3.5 from Harvard =/= 3.5 from X Community College).
3. Relevant research experience and substantial byproducts (e.g, specific statistics/clinical/programming skills, presentations/publications, grant approval, leadership roles, etc) are definitely the core factors that will help you pass further bars during the admissions process. Some people accrue enough research experience during their undergraduate, however, most people find it practically hard to gain a competitive research profile (not just a few lines under your CV's "research experience" section but YOUR competitive research profile) while committing as a full-time college student. That is why most people do Master's and/or post-bacc research training in labs/hospitals/etc with matching research/career focus. I also want to add that many of those who do Master's and/or post-bacc before applying to PhD are also the ones who actively worked as student RAs during undergrad, wrote senior theses, and were well-exposed to presentation/publication efforts during their undergrad. And that they (we) do Master's and/or post-bacc years to further advance and well-compete for the narrow PhD opportunities, not because they (we) lack certain qualities or were lazy during undergraduate. It is just that competitive and limited.
4. Strong recommendation letters are other important factors that will help you move forward during the admissions process. I believe that the strong letter not only speak for your research/academic achievements, but also your overall attitude/passion/work ethics/growth/and more which are all important characteristics regarded by grad schools to determine if you are a good fit for rigorous graduate curriculum (e.g., competitions, stress, mentor-student attitude, independence, etc). And for someone to strongly voice for your such characteristics, you need to maintain more professional relationship with the letter writer than a regular undergrad-professor one (e.g., Master's advisor, lab supervisor, etc). Of course, PhD applicants bring at least one strong letter from their undergrad, however, you need to submit THREE strong letters and you don't want these three to all sound the same. This is easily another reason why people often continue their research training after bachelor's.
5. I sincerely don't mean to be rude to you in this 5th point. But it seems like you don't fully understand why the replies on this thread (and everywhere else on the internet) emphasizes "research experience" for Psychology PhD application. Just as one can't ask, "How many coffee dates qualify me to kiss my date without asking her or considering the overall chemistry, etc?", I think it just out of touch to ask how many pubs/presentations you should have to qualify for a psych PhD.
6. Talk to your faculties about this stuff! It sounds like you have a few professors from college who are happy to chat about your plan for advanced education in psychology (and write your letters, I am assuming?).
I didn't mean to write so much initially but oh well. Wish you the best in your academic/professional career!

I honestly thought we would start getting blasts of emails (good or bad) starting this week but it's been so quiet...Except for clinical folks. Does anyone else think things are running super slow this cycle? What is happening!

I want to say it wouldn't (shouldn't) matter! And life definitely happens.
You could try a minimal makeup, just to spot-correct some. BUT I think it is unnecessary and would be the best to just go without makeup and be comfortable. Especially if you don't know a specific product that would not worsen your acne or are not familiar with setting the concealer/fixing it throughout the day.
Maybe look up some sleeping masks/sheet masks/moisturizers with tea tree oil, green tea, or cica. I find those to be the most effective with alleviating blemishes, acne, and other dermal inflammations.

I honestly thought we would start getting blasts of emails (good or bad) starting this week but it's been so quiet...Except for clinical folks. Does anyone else think things are running super slow this cycle? What is happening!

I want to say it wouldn't (shouldn't) matter! And life definitely happens.
You could try a minimal makeup, just to spot-correct some. BUT I think it is unnecessary and would be the best to just go without makeup and be comfortable. Especially if you don't know a specific product that would not worsen your acne or are not familiar with setting the concealer/fixing it throughout the day.
Maybe look up some sleeping masks/sheet masks/moisturizers with tea tree oil, green tea, or cica. I find those to be the most effective with alleviating blemishes, acne, and other dermal inflammations.

Hi! None of my following points are definite facts or professional advice, just my two cents (more like 6 cents).
1. Congrats on your successful undergrad performance. I think that if you cogently illustrate your time-efficient journey, it can vouch for your certain strengths.
2. GPA/GRE scores will mostly only help you to pass the very first bar (e.g., GPA>3.0 / each GRE section>65th %) of the admissions process (i.e., your application won't be immediately dropped) and adcom/faculties won't look at those scores again once you pass that first bar. Also, GPAs are evaluated regarding the competitiveness of originating schools (e.g., 3.5 from Harvard =/= 3.5 from X Community College).
3. Relevant research experience and substantial byproducts (e.g, specific statistics/clinical/programming skills, presentations/publications, grant approval, leadership roles, etc) are definitely the core factors that will help you pass further bars during the admissions process. Some people accrue enough research experience during their undergraduate, however, most people find it practically hard to gain a competitive research profile (not just a few lines under your CV's "research experience" section but YOUR competitive research profile) while committing as a full-time college student. That is why most people do Master's and/or post-bacc research training in labs/hospitals/etc with matching research/career focus. I also want to add that many of those who do Master's and/or post-bacc before applying to PhD are also the ones who actively worked as student RAs during undergrad, wrote senior theses, and were well-exposed to presentation/publication efforts during their undergrad. And that they (we) do Master's and/or post-bacc years to further advance and well-compete for the narrow PhD opportunities, not because they (we) lack certain qualities or were lazy during undergraduate. It is just that competitive and limited.
4. Strong recommendation letters are other important factors that will help you move forward during the admissions process. I believe that the strong letter not only speak for your research/academic achievements, but also your overall attitude/passion/work ethics/growth/and more which are all important characteristics regarded by grad schools to determine if you are a good fit for rigorous graduate curriculum (e.g., competitions, stress, mentor-student attitude, independence, etc). And for someone to strongly voice for your such characteristics, you need to maintain more professional relationship with the letter writer than a regular undergrad-professor one (e.g., Master's advisor, lab supervisor, etc). Of course, PhD applicants bring at least one strong letter from their undergrad, however, you need to submit THREE strong letters and you don't want these three to all sound the same. This is easily another reason why people often continue their research training after bachelor's.
5. I sincerely don't mean to be rude to you in this 5th point. But it seems like you don't fully understand why the replies on this thread (and everywhere else on the internet) emphasizes "research experience" for Psychology PhD application. Just as one can't ask, "How many coffee dates qualify me to kiss my date without asking her or considering the overall chemistry, etc?", I think it just out of touch to ask how many pubs/presentations you should have to qualify for a psych PhD.
6. Talk to your faculties about this stuff! It sounds like you have a few professors from college who are happy to chat about your plan for advanced education in psychology (and write your letters, I am assuming?).
I didn't mean to write so much initially but oh well. Wish you the best in your academic/professional career!

Sorry, but literally no one in a PhD program will care at all what you got on your SAT. It doesn’t come up, and if you bring it up, it would probably just come off as bragging. My personal feelings here are that you seem to lack the maturity right now for a PhD program. I believe you would come across as overconfident and perhaps even a little arrogant at interviews, and that would be a kiss of death. I’m a mom, so I am a bit blunt. I think you need more time to mature and get that research experience. Yes, the GRE scores are great, but that doesn’t guarantee acceptances. I see plenty of people with your stats get rejected. 
I mean people on here are giving you advice and you’re replying like a child with “exactly how much of this and how much of that do I need?” Even after it’s been explained there is no magic formula. I also suggest you get a post bacc or master’s before applying. I think schools will look at your current profile and wonder why you don’t have more research and research output. Your application fees would likely be more of a donation, especially at top schools. Most people applying to those schools have your stats AND much more research and pubs. The brutal reality is, currently you would not stand out to them with your current credentials. I say wait a year or two and get that experience. I also think programs will be reluctant to go with someone so young. Unfair perhaps, but a reality. I get it too with me being older. Good luck!