Hopelessly_Neurotic

Hi socialpsych... I got a phone call from someone I'd named on my app to one school as someone I'd be interested in working with. We chatted and it was clear that she was calling to see if I was seriously interested in the school and if I thought it was a good match. Based upon our discussion, it seems, the department decided to invite me to the recruitment weekend. But this is only one case. I think some schools don't even have recruitment weekends, so they do phone interviews instead. How did the call go? Did they say they'd be in touch? Did they mention a recruitment weekend?

You are brilliant. I found one of my schools' room schedules and I am pretty certain that the adcom meeting for my area was last week and the recruitment activities are on Valentine's day weekend. So now I know. It's a good thing I looked into this because the FAQ on the program's website suggested that the recruitment activities would be in March. Thus I would have been waiting a couple of more weeks expecting possibly positive news. Now I can relax a bit....finally. A little disappointed, of course, but I knew it was unlikely I'd get in. Besides, I got into another really decent program so it just makes the decision process much more straight forward. :| Nevertheless, i feel I still won't rest completely until I get the final rejection notice! I would hate if they strung me along until March or April because I know I will feel weird about accepting at another school before hearing the final word from this one.

I'm still not very worldly when it comes to understanding how universities work. Wouldn't it be in the university's interest to resist hiring too many contract/adjunct faculty? I know they have to think about their budgets, but if they want to build solid departments, then investing in top quality faculty and offering TT positions would seem logical. Am I naive?

I think deferral sounds like a good option. Otherwise, I think withdrawal is the courteous thing to do, especially if you don't want to burn any bridges. Are you sure you wouldn't attend if you were accepted? Is this school really far off from any other place your wife might be accepted? Wow, having to be accepted in the same region really adds a whole other level of stress to the process. I'm not married but have been living common law with my partner for ten years. He's working and I will be leaving him behind when I go to grad school -- not permanently, of course; he will follow me after a year. He just got a new job and needs to put in more time and get more experience before taking off. Of course, he will also need to find a job where I am, which isn't necessarily going to be easy. I wish you luck and hope you both get into great schools in the same region!

If you are really serious about going to Berkeley and it is your first choice of the schools you have heard from then I would certainly seriously consider going to the interview in person for many reasons (i.e., showing them how serious you are, having the opportunity to shine in person, seeing firsthand what it would be like to go to school there...etc). Good luck!

Oh man... I just checked the current weather in Texas. 3 degrees Celsius!! And a couple of days ago it was 25!! I think I'm going to save my money and just bring an older pair of slightly casual pumps. I tried em on today and I can wear them without socks if it's hotter than anticipated. I'm just going to pair them with black pants and a nice top. It might not be a smashing outfit, but inconspicuous is the look I'm going for. I have this fear of wearing something inappropriate and sticking out like a sore thumb... My advice is to stick to really a basic/classic wardrobe and you can't go wrong. If you have to buy pants or shoes, that's okay because you will need to wear them again some day, so consider it a smart investment! I know that for my visits there will be "parties" at night...so I'm going to stick with the black pants (very multifunctional!) and maybe bring along a more dressy/party top for the evening festivities. I'm also bringing jeans and runners/boots for when I venture out on my own (I will have time to kill between the end of the visit and my flight back home).

I'm visiting Texas and I don't know what to wear!!! I think I just might have to go shopping.....for shoes!!

I never give up though. I'm checking my email and this site all the way up until bedtime. I've really lost the plot......

Most of my news has come on Friday afternoons around 4pm my time (3pm their time)!! One time I heard back on a Monday at 6pm...

Yeah, some schools/programs seem to move fast -- likely because they have to arrange the visiting weekends...so knowing approximately when a recruitment weekend will be scheduled is a good way to figure out if you can expect to hear anything positive. Quite a few of my deadlines were at the beginning of December. I'm glad I found out early, but still so frustrated that my top choice hasn't said anything yet. I don't think I have a chance of getting in, but I really just want to know for sure so that I can move on (and not obsessively check this board anymore ).

I don't think I've ever been so impatient in my life...thankfully I have this forum to help me cope!! I'll probably ask about funding at the recruitment weekend, if I can wait that long.... I'm still waiting on one school -- my top choice -- and it's driving me mental. I know people will say it's still early but I've already heard from six schools so I feel like it's not that early anymore....the school in question had a deadline of Dec 5th.

Haha...telling me not to be so neurotic is like telling me not to be myself!! I was just wondering what to expect. I didn't even know if my department would send a separate letter. Hmmm, I imagine it could take some time. The department did, however, say "official letters will be in the mail soon" -- but I don't know if they were talking about letters from the grad school or the department. And I'm not going to call and ask because that truly would be too neurotic, even for me . I don't need to know that badly.. Thanks for your insight into the situation...

Hey all.. I've received my official admission letter from a school I found out I was admitted to a couple of weeks ago. Problem is it makes no mention whatsoever of funding. My potential advisor told me that the school offers "full" funding", but I was kinda looking forward to seeing exactly what this means. The official letter from the grad school says that my department will give me the details regarding financial awards. I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the usual procedure is and when I might expect to get this information? This is a really good school and they've seemed really on the ball up until now, so I imagine there won't be any unusual delays. Just wondering what's normal in this situation. Oh, and I'm visiting the school at the end of Feb. Thanks,

I have an interview at a school that I'm interested in, but am already accepted at a school that I'm a bit more interested in, so the pressure is off somewhat....however I'm still nervous just thinking about it. Ugghh.... My hope is that these interviews will not be all that formal, and that it will be more about getting to know one another and seeing if it's a good fit.

What is a good source for info on placement/on the market PhDs?? I'm really curious. Is it THAT hard to find a job after graduating? I've become progressively more worried about this and I will definitely taking ranking/quality of the program into consideration. I'm curious about whether there are more jobs in a field like psychology versus a field like philosophy. I've heard really bad things about the philosophy job market...What fields are notorious difficult to get a job in?

Maybe I'm a little old fashioned, but I would say do not wear black leggings (or leggings of any other colour). We should post pics of our "interview outfits" and get feedback! That would be fun...

I think nice black pants, dress shoes, a nice sweater would be perfect. Whether you are accepted or not, you want to make a decent first impression (and show that you care about the impression you make!) A neat pony tail would be fine. And dress shoes or boots don't have to be uncomfortable or obstacles to a campus tour. There are plenty of business casual dress shoes that are comfortable to walk in but that are nice enough to wear to work or an interview. I work in a research environment and I have some colleagues who think that the way to gauge what you can wear is to look at what your boss is wearing. I don't think that is a great way to reason. The boss has earned the right to dress how she wants, but you still want to make a certain impression on that person. Sure, in some environments a more casual dress code is in effect and therefore you have some flexibility, but just because the boss wears lululemon pants to work doesn't mean you should too!! Sorry, I think I went a little off topic and I know you don't plan to wear lululemon pants to your interview. I just had to mention it because there are people in my work place that dress like this. Rant over..

Hmmm... I think that if you just do really, really, really well in the interview then the odds will be in your favour for sure!! :wink:

You should search through the archived results. Good luck!

I've been admitted to one of my top choices. If I hadn't been then I would have flown out for the visit to this school (distant third choice).

I think you are right. I really don't want to spend the money/energy, which I think says a lot about how I feel about going to this school. I applied because I thought I would go to this school if I didn't get in elsewhere. At this point I would say that I'm 95% likely to go to my top choice. I'm also thinking that if this school is really interested in me, then they will give me an offer even if I don't visit. So....I think I'm going to skip out on the visit and hope for the best!!

The overall Psych program is ranked comparably to my first choice, according to the NRC and US News and World rankings; however, when you look by sub-specialization, my first choice is #3 overall and the school in question is not in the top ten. Nevertheless, the school is very reputable for other areas of psych that are related to my area. Based on my own knowledge, my top choice is very reputable and seems like a very stimulating environment in which to study in my area of specialization. The school in question would give me a solid education in experimental psych, but likely is not an ideal place for someone in my sub-specialty. Another major concern of mine is that this program is very far from home and I will want to visit home regularly. Most flights are not direct and the travel time is around 8-10 hours by plane. But...I have a nagging feeling that I shouldn't be too narrow about where I will visit/consider going to school. I'm pretty sure that I'll go to my first choice, but without having visited yet I feel a bit of anxiety about closing doors on other options. Am I just being neurotic???

Ahhh.... I still can't decide. $300 is a lot of money for me to spend if it's only 25% likely I'd go to this school (I'm being generous in that estimate). But I may have to bite the bullet and go. UnlikelyGrad, that's a good point you make about your future plans (post doc). In my field I hear that post docs are less common, but if I did one it probably would be somewhere else.

Hey Fresh Prince.. Congrats on getting into UT Austin!! About your question, I think it's impossible to know what that means. If you want to be strictly scientific about it (i.e., thinking in terms of probabilities) then perhaps it's not a good sign -- however, that depends on how long ago the interview invites were sent out and when exactly the interview weekend is. My reasoning is assuming rejection notifications haven't gone out yet -- there will be more rejections than waitlist notifications, so probabilistically, assuming all invites have been sent out, it wouldn't look good. That said, I have made a lot of assumptions here that may not be accurate. However, it may be that you are still being considered. As far as I know there is even a chance that people can get admitted even if they weren't invited to the interview weekend, but I think it's relatively slim. Anyway, don't give up hope! It's still early.

If I were you I would focus less on trying to impress him and more on asking questions that you really want answers for. Brainstorm. I'm sure you must have questions about the program and the prof's work. Read articles and do some research on the program itself and make a list. But try to keep your questions more general -- no need to ask him about some obscure finding in one of his research papers My approach would be to take some time to settle down a bit first and really try to get an understanding of the program and the prof's work and then ask questions. Again, it's not about impressing him, but rather about gaining some insight!! And if you only have a couple of questions, that's fine. You can always follow up later with more. If you really feel like you have nothing to ask at this point, or aren't ready, then maybe just let him know that you are going to read up on the program and take a look at some of his work again and will be contacting him with questions. That should be more than fine. Good luck!!!