LetMeInnnnnn

I finally was able to accept an offer! I'll be attending Indiana University!
I found out yesterday afternoon that I was awarded an Adolescent Mental Health Fellowship from the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. 
Along with an hourly position I was offered working at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community I now have full funding for next year!
It feels late in the process but I am so glad things worked out and I am able to attend my top choice. 
I wish everyone here the best of luck in securing funding, receiving acceptances off of the waitlist and enjoying the remaining time they have before we start in the Fall!
Thank you so much to everyone that has given me advice on the forums here or via chat. This community has been so helpful in navigating through this cycle. This cycle may have been the most competitive one in history but I know so many of us have made it through to the other side!
If anyone else has accepted an offer from Indiana University either for their PhD program like me or their EdS program I'd love to connect!
 

Not trying to be a downer, but something to consider if anyone is thinking about Columbia:
Among your choices, you should also consider which programs have a grad worker union AND treat grad students right. I am a current 2nd year PhD student at Columbia. The majority of grad students are currently on strike for a living wage, better healthcare, and protection from harassment and discrimination. I have been watching the process of our new graduate union try to bargain for our first contract for over two years. In these sessions, I have seen admin (and their sleazy lawyer, who charges $1,500/hr) do everything possible to stall negotiations, belittle us, and play down heartfelt testimonials that make clear why our demands are reasonable and necessary. Every time we've gotten a raise in the past, our Columbia rent magically goes up by a higher percentage. Our wages are not enough to live in NYC. There is no dental or vision coverage, and they recently removed the better health insurance plan option. The school has a terrible history with harassment and discrimination cases brought by both undergrads and grads (Google it), and at the moment they are doing everything possible to avoid meeting our contract demand about changing the investigation process to give more rights to the complainant (see link below).
We're entering the 3rd week of the strike, and Columbia has made very clear that they plan to not only doc our bi-weekly pay (which we receive for TA/RA work), but our academic stipends--yep, they are going to debit our student accounts, thereby jeopardizing course registration, degree progress, visas, and health insurance. We have a legal right to strike, but this later action constitutes illegal academic retaliation.
Long story short: I'm sure a lot of schools are as corrupt as Columbia, but I've just seen first hand how rotten this place is to the core. They only care about profit (their endowment grew $300 million during the pandemic alone), squeezing as much our of grad workers and adjuncts for as little pay as possible, sweeping bad press under the rug, and gentrifying Harlem with multi-million dollar campus expansions.
I encourage folks thinking about attending/applying to Columbia to express concerns to department chairs and administrators, and ask them why they insist on denying grad workers a fair contract: 
President Lee Bollinger officeofthepresident@columbia.edu, Phone: (212) 854-9970 Provost Ira Katznelson provost@columbia.edu,  +1 212 854 2404 GSAS Grad Admissions: gsas-admissions@columbia.edu  
https://gothamist.com/news/columbia-grad-students-strike-over-wages-and-harassment-policies-nyu-counterparts-vote-similar-actions

Hello everyone! I just formally accepted my admission to the University of Washington’s School Psych EdS program, have any of you decided to attend for either the EdS or PhD? Excited to hear from any of you who will be in the cohort! 

Yep! It seems that timelines are wacked out in a ton of spots. 

Yeah the fellowship I was nominated for has it posted on their website that they would have an answer by early March but I'm not sure if that timeline is super accurate. Especially because of Covid and it says we will be notified either way. Just wanted to know if others were in limbo as well.

Found this slack group that has a ton of resources and great people to network with. It seems to be primarily counseling and clinical individuals, but I think it would be great to bring school psych into the conversation. Thought I would pass it along! https://join.slack.com/t/psychinout/shared_invite/zt-ly3nslz9-8EwXLR2HhpRFDxinkiyOcQ

I just received my first acceptance from Northeastern as I am super sick with COVID
Really happy I could get in somewhere! Best of luck to everyone waiting  

I got accepted to my first program!!!! I have a few more interviews coming up but I’m SO excited. Such a weight off of my shoulders to know that no matter what happens, I’m going to be a school psychologist!!

For those who have received an offer but have not secured funding (particularly for year 1), what are you going to do? Part-time job, loans, look for external funding? Interested to hear perspectives. Seems like years 2-4 are easier to find funding, so I am more focused on that first year.

Just got an offer from the University of Washington -- my top choice. Just emailed other programs to reject offers/interviews, so hopefully that means good news for others. Best of luck to everyone for the rest of this application cycle, and thanks for being there! Grateful for this little community  

I'm guessing that the program is Ed.S inclusive, so they will be getting the Ed.S and PhD!

Officially past the 2-week mark for Washington interviews...anyone hear anything? I'm such an anxious mess!

I actually am in the same situation you are in right now.  For Indiana U and Ohio State in previous years all students have been able to secure funding for at least 3 out of 4 years or for all 4(1 student opted out their first year as a veteran with GI bill). They can't guarantee it however as the funding comes from the college of education or department itself and is allocated to applicants depending on available positions and skills that prepare applicants for roles. 
Depending on where you got accepted (your best chances are at large R1 public universities) you should find funding somewhere at the university it just may be different than research work in a lab. You might be a TA at the tutoring center or a program assistant for student teacher placements. 
The majority of programs in school psychology actually do not guarantee funding. This is due to the heavy applied role of our field compared to clinical psychology. Less faculty are pursuing grants that fund their research since most faculty have a large teaching role. Even if a program has been able to find funding for their students in the past 10 years they almost never will guarantee it unless they have hard funding (grants) they have control over. Soft funds at the department or university level change year after year and while are almost guaranteed are not their yet. 
This is what one of my POIs said. I wont disclose what program or professor since it could identify me.
"Regarding fellowships, we advance accepted persons names for these, there is nothing you need to do. And you do not need to accept your offer in order for us to do that. While we would love to you to come to our program, we respect your right to take as much time (up to the universal deadline (the school psychology programs nationally have agreed to this April 15 deadline, no program should be pressuring you to decide sooner than that) as needed to make this important decision. We pursue funding for you regardless of whether you have already accepted our offer. We understand for a lot of people whether they accept our admissions offer is heavily related to the funding they receive and I promise you will pursue funding for you with just as much vigor as we would if you had already accepted the offer, they are unrelated. Until the minute someone says they are not coming, we assume that they are and try to get funding for them, you most certainly included.
Regarding timing, that’s a bit harder to know. I think it’s possible that we will know more about funding by early March, but it really varies from year to year and the fellowships in particular are decided at the college level. On our end, we nominate people and then it goes through a selection process that we are not directly a part of as individual faculty as different awards are decided by different committees that we are not a part of. So, while we may or may not know more by early March, we certainly will know about the fellowships by April 15. We typically know about fellowships well before then, but with COVID I am so hesitant to make a specific prediction about the timing of anything. That said, most programs have an April 15 deadline, so I would imagine that we will hear well before then just as we normally do.
Please also keep an eye on postings for assistantships, as you will be very competitive for these. Ultimately, most of our PhD students end up with an assistantship rather than a fellowship. I’m not saying this will happen with you as you are a strong fellowship prospect as well, but I just don’t want you—or anyone else—to have all of their eggs in the fellowship basket as this is just one source of funding and the most competitive source. When I looked a few weeks ago there were not yet any assistantship postings for jobs that start in the fall, but if this has not already changed it will as the semester progresses (we are the end of week 2 of our semester, so it’s still very early to be thinking about August in terms of job openings, but that will change as we get closer to mid-semester).
The bottom line is that while we don’t have funding to offer your this exact moment, we are going to pursue this vigorously and I encourage you to do so as well for assistantships as they start to be posted. While we cannot promise funding to anyone we accept, our track record is very strong and we are committed to working with you and on your behalf to secure funding. Let’s stay in touch, OK? Again, I will never pressure you to make a decision before April 15, but if you have any questions or want to keep me updated on anything that seems promising, I would appreciate it. On our end, we will be proactive.

First off, I am so happy to see this thread doing well. Things are so different this year so I am happy so many of you are still applying to programs. I just wanted to say something that I think everyone should be aware of:
Make sure you are aware of the school's current funding situation if funding is a deciding factor.
A lot of schools are being up front about not offering any funding to new students but I have heard of some programs who are not telling prospective students until interview days or even at all. A lot of schools are using phrases like "we are still determining funding for the next year". As a current PhD student, I've been hearing that schools are prioritizing current students when it comes to funding and might ask incoming PhD students to pay their own way for at least the first year (if not longer). This is especially true for schools that are not R1. Just something to keep in mind as you guys start making admission decisions. I would be hesitant to accept an offer without clear guidelines of the funding. 
As always I am happy to answer any questions you guys may have!
Good luck with the rest of the application season! 

I had an early interview about 2 weeks ago but no offer yet. The professor told me then that they planned to *possibly* start making some initial offers to top candidates “in the next couple weeks” so naturally I’m refreshing my email and the decisions board like a crazy person. For what it’s worth, I also applied last year, had an early interview, and didn’t get chosen. I’ve found it difficult to predict any sort of timeline with them since it’s all apparently done one student at a time.

I’m sorry to hear that! Hope you get interviews with other programs you are applying to. 

I mentioned WR and SO in my personal statement. Phone call was from SO, but they said if I end up going, both would be my co-advisors!

I JUST got a phone call about admittance to the PhD program at Mizzou! Wasn't expecting any notification until the end of the week. Best of luck to you!