GREBlaster9000

Just got my first acceptance!! Yale SOM marketing, behavioral track -- email came this morning from one of the profs on the admissions committee. It's so validating to have my efforts recognized by such a great school, and I feel quite honored and lucky. That said, I'm surprised they didn't interview candidates after asking the short list to critique an old psychology paper a couple weeks back. Of all the schools I applied to, Yale is the program I've done the least research on, so I'll depend on the upcoming open-house days to learn more about the team in New Haven before making a decision. Best of luck to all as we continue to interviews and hear decisions! I've really appreciated the support + good vibes from this thread, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everyone.

Honestly I'm not so sure that most programs have made first-round decisions. At USC's interview day, held yesterday, the department chair said they received over 1000 applications this year for all of psych, up from like ~660 last year. That plus funding uncertainty due to COVID chaos means that schools with Dec 15 or Dec 31 deadlines may very well still be figuring out who to interview. An email at this point in time is unlikely to result in any useful information imo, give it at least another 2-3 weeks.

@bebelong & @IWannaBeAPhD I applied to consumer behavior tracks for my three marketing programs (Yale SOM, CBS, NYU Stern). Thanks for the kind words + good luck to all those interviewing! We'll kill it for sure

Updates from my week: Yale SOM Marketing: Asked for an article review last week, I sent that off and was told profs will review over this coming weekend. Columbia Marketing: Received interview invite this afternoon (scheduled for next week)! They also want me to look over a prof's current manuscript, for discussion during interview. NYU Stern Marketing: Received interview invite yesterday afternoon (scheduled for next week). Penn / Wharton OID (Decision sciences track): Interviewed in early Jan, received emailed Monday that I would not be advancing in their process. Super nice rejection email, tho! Any news on Harvard (micro OB), Stanford (micro OB), or U-Chicago Booth (decision sciences)? I'm guessing no from Harvard based on a couple interview notifications in the results page, and looks like we're still waiting on GSB/Booth (seems like people last cycle didn't hear until Feb).

Sharing a few updates from social psych programs: Rejected from Michigan this past Saturday. congrats / best of luck to those advancing in their interview process! Was told USC's open-house dates will be Feb 4 + Feb 5. I have not received official communication from USC's psych department, but did have a brief get-to-know-you Zoom with the professors who'd be my advisors last Friday. Not sure when official invites to interview days will come. Cornell sent out an email that they're still deliberating. Any updates on Princeton / Brown? Someone in GradCafe's results database posted that Princeton interviews went out pre-New Years but there's only the one post so not sure if that's reliable info. Same for Brown, though with four people reporting interviews, I'm more inclined to believe that their interviews have actually already happened.

Hi all! Wanted to introduce myself, as I'm applying to a smattering of b-school PhDs this cycle (in addition to some social psych programs). Ended up submitting applications to a mix of marketing / OB / decision sciences programs at U-Chicago, Penn, NYU, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard and Yale, plus six social psych programs, 13 applications in total. No news yet of course, but best of luck to everyone as we continue to wait! We're all expecting timelines to be substantially delayed this cycle due to COVID, right?

@Regression2theMean Thank you for the insight into this year's admissions process! I assumed that we'd be pretty delayed due to COVID / budget impact / apparently an uptick in application numbers (any #s from your university this year, out of curiosity?), but good to know for certain. Wanted to briefly introduce myself to the other social psych applicants! I graduated in spring 2018 as a psych / statistics double major, with three years of JDM research + a senior thesis in social psychology under my belt. Since graduating, I took a year off to teach English + travel abroad, and am now working in consulting. I submitted social psych PhD apps to Princeton, Harvard, Michigan, USC, Brown, and Cornell (no news yet ofc), plus a few apps to business school PhDs in related fields (marketing, org behavior, decision sciences). Best of luck to everyone as we continue to play the waiting game. Happy new years!!