paiged2

No one has accepted yet (as Bren mentioned, people are coming in this weekend, so no official offers have been made). We did have one person decline visiting weekend because they decided to commit somewhere else. We were discussing it in our program meeting last week, because it seems like there is a pressure for students to make decisions super early this year and we don't really know where it came from. I know at least when I was in the decision mode (which was 5 years ago at this point), it wasn't until the end of March that schools started harshing my mellow about not making a decision. Don't feel like you need to make a decision right away; visit schools are figure out where you will be happiest. (That being said, once you make a decision, be courteous and let people know as soon as possible).

What the people above have said is accurate; when I saw three I was skeptical, but I asked a faculty about it and he laughed, said it was a good question, and said I wouldn't have to worry about it. If you're talking about who I think you're talking about (lest I be egotistical, at which point ignore me), I've seen students funded into their sixth year, and there's *never* been a problem finding funding. We were actually told at one point that we had too many students on grants and didn't have enough available to teach. So, if you're not on grant funding in your 4th/5th/possibly 6th year, you would teach, but you will get funding. Summer funding is similar, in that they find funding for basically anyone who wants summer funding-- which is really really great.

Oh, I should probably note that some faculty are faster than others for PSU for making calls. I think last year they did it over like the course of a week, and that had nothing to do with applicant rankings or ability or whatever. So just because you haven't received a phone call doesn't mean you're not necessarily going to. Things are just a bit chaotic right now with classes starting, proposals, and travel. I know this can be a stressful time for people. Try to take some time to relax and have fun.

Looking forward to meeting you in a few weeks! If you have any questions let me know.

Don't let things like that intimidate you. A lot of programs (like mine) look for people who fit their baseline criteria in terms of GRE scores and GPA, and then beyond that look at research interests and fit. My overall from undergrad was like a 3.65 and I ended up in Happy Valley. (I took my GREs when the scoring was different, so I have no way of comparing). At this point we make basically all of the final decisions based on P-O and then P-R (person-research) fit. (Hooray new construct!) Keep a positive attitude! I know it's a trying time, but you'll make it through.

Good luck everyone!

I agree with Engali that at this point it depends on your research interests. It's all about fit, because you have good "stats" in terms of what top programs are looking for. It looks like a solid list, but that is a large number of programs to be applying to, in terms of both time and money. Engali is also correct in terms of the spike in applications, at least at PSU. I don't know about other programs.

Penn State does. I mean, it's not technically a "firm" per say, but you do three years of consulting work during your first three years.

I don't think there's any harm in inquiring about your application status, but I would do it next week since we're on break. As I noted above, I think they generally let people know, but I'm not positive....

I believe it's their general policy to let people know, but I'm not positive. I think that more information will be communicated once we have an idea of how the initial set of acceptances goes. Also, yay FutureSchoolPsych! Try to convince him/her to come here

Welp, sorry I missed this. Acceptances have been offered, though I don't know the status on any of them at this point. We're on spring break right now. (And I think there might have initially been some confusion with you thinking I applied this year? I'm a 4th year ABD there)

You should try. I know it's a really trying and difficult position to be in, but you never know what's going to happen. There are so many degrees of freedom in play at this point because multiple schools end up recruiting the same people that a spot could open up anywhere once decisions start being made. Just because you haven't heard now doesn't mean you won't in a month, or even on April 14th.

I would say that's a fair assessment... it went to the wait list last year, too, so being on the wait list doesn't mean you don't have a shot. I think someone in the thread mentioned getting a rejection from PSU? If I'm remembering that correctly, I'm not sure how many have gone out. I do know that we had a *lot* of applicants this year-- similar to last year-- so everyone at the top of the pool is very talented and capable. For us at this point it comes down to fit with the program.

Penn State hasn't sent out any acceptances, no... but visiting weekend is this weekend. We stopped doing flat out acceptances a few years ago.

We were thinking we'd play hookey on Saturday afternoon, but we get in at like 10:45 on Wednesday so that may not be a bad idea either... I'm definitely pro party crashing-- I'll send you our info when I figure it out

That I am! Not presenting this year, but unfortunately that's just how things turned out this year. With the snow we're currently getting, I am dreaming of San Diego. It works out nicely because my brother graduates 3 days later from ASU, so I only need to do one big cross country trip this summer. Looks like we're planning on doing beer adventures at some point (Stone, Port, Lost Abbey, etc) if you're interested.

Yes. Just as general info, Penn State averages about 90 applicants a year, and this year we recieved 150 (and from our faculty talking to other programs, it seemed that they saw some level of increase, roughly about 10%, but nothing as substantial as ours). The faculty also said there was a large increase in terms of quality this year, too. I know it was a very difficult set of decisions. A lot of very qualified candidates did not get invitations.

This is partially right. Penn State switched acceptance models last year, which we are also following this year in having a larger pool visit for the weekend and then making decisions. It's not hard core interview-y though, like some schools. Purdue has also done interviews in the past for I/O, though I don't know if they're doing them again this year. It seems to be becoming more comon; I know other schools are contemplating switching models. Edit: We do reimburse for travel.

It's not "not promising." My program didn't accept anyone straight out this year... we have a small pool visiting so that they can meet us, see what our program is like, if research fits, etc. Then decisions will be made.

Just to let everyone know, a fair amount of programs are moving away from the "accept everyone before they visit" model. So if that is what you here, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Play it by ear. Masters programs usually have much later due dates, often after when you hear from PhD programs. I was planning on applying to a few masters programs, but it turned out that I didn't have to spend even more money on all that is involved.

At Penn State, things split almost at the half with people pursuing academic v. industry careers. There is three years of consulting built into the program requirements, so it is definitely a place where both aspects are well respected. A lot of the faculty do consulting on the side too, and have been known to bring interested students in on projects. It is definitely correct that your advisor is your greatest strength, especially in a program that has graduates in academia and industry. It's amazing what can be done and the opportunities that present themselves when you ask for help or information. The size of the town has little to do with internship placement. I know people from my program who have interned in Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., Houston, Chicago, London, and Princeton, N.J. So, I would recommend not knocking out the Big 10's just because we're in smaller towns.

So, I'm in the same boat as IOpsych (aside from managing to forget my password, then realizing that the notification e-mail was sent to my undergrad address, which has long expired, womp womp). I'm a second year student who found this when I was applying, and try to come back and help out. I did in fact also meet IOpsych at SIOP this year. Pretty cool dude. I agree that your stats will make you competitive anywhere-- you're in a better position, stats wise, than I was when I was applying to grad schools. I'm heinously biased with Big 10 pride, but I think that you should consider adding some Big 10 schools to your list-- yeah, they're not in the biggest towns in the world, but most of them are pretty close to good towns, and Minny/St Paul is a large town with lots to do in itself. I think that it depends a lot more on program culture, your cohort, and the cohorts around you, than the size of the town. This is the smallest town I've ever lived in by a longshot, and yeah, I want to go on vacation, but that's moreso a byproduct of grad school than the town