socialpsych

Neat! I study morality too, although definitely more on the psych side than the philosophy side. No doubt I will be seeing you at conferences fairly soon (:

I don't think it would be bad to go for it, but don't beat yourself up if you decide not to, either. True story: I was at the interview, in March, for one of my top choice schools. On our second night there, one of the profs hosted a party, and at that party I was introduced to a prof in the department whom I'd never heard of, but whose research interests aligned perfectly with mine and whose name I surely would have mentioned in the SOP if I'd known about him! Long story short, it wasn't really my fault for missing his name on the department website because there was an issue with how he was listed...but still, I was so embarrassed I could have died. He wasn't offended, fortunately, and he ended up being my main faculty contact at the school and (AFAIK) an advocate for me in the admissions process. So, your timing can't possibly seem worse than mine, and these contacts are valuable whenever you have a chance to make them...if you don't go for it now, but you end up interviewing at the school or something, make sure you reach out to this person at some point in the process!

It's true that adcoms can take a long time to meet despite early deadlines, but I wouldn't expect for your application to be reviewed early just because you submitted it early. Except at schools with rolling admissions, I am pretty sure everything gets to the committee in one batch, and you'll hear together with everyone else. Plus, seriously, if I'd known what to wish for last year, I would have wished for all the news to come at the same time! If you think the waiting is hard now, just wait until you get your first piece of news...I heard from one school about 3 weeks before I heard anything else, and about 5 weeks before when most of the action started, and that month in between was just awful...may the process be brief and happy for all of you! (:

Not always. I don't think it really matters, though. You should read up on the 2-3 profs whose interests match yours, in any case, but no one will fault you for not being familiar with the work of profs outside your area of interest. Depends on the school. I interviewed at one school where the students were formally part of the adcom, and that was made pretty clear to us. At another school, the students were clearly reporting back to the faculty in an informal way (and I didn't do anything horrendous), but I don't know how much that report was really taken into consideration. I think the most detail was precisely about the research I've done and am interested in. People went pretty in-depth into my senior project (as much detail as you would see in a paper, maybe), and I definitely had to go into detail about my research interests. To be totally safe, I would have a fairly concrete idea of what research you might want to start doing in your first year, and be somewhat familiar with how your interest fits in with other work that's being done in the field (if you have a few interviews, you will start getting really good at this spiel). But it's not at all like they're going to give you a field exam on the spot. And don't freak out -- you're applying for grad school; they know you haven't been through it yet! They are just looking for evidence of potential so they can teach you all about the field once you get in. NOTE: the above applies to psychology and related fields, but YMMV.

If you do this, I think it would have to be subtle and implicit. I would NOT say something like "I felt I did not give the best answer I could have during the interview, when you asked me X, so..." If you put in something that addresses what you are worried about, but sounds like a natural part of a SOP, that could work well, but...I wouldn't mention the interview at any point.

Keep checking the results. My earliest phone interviews last year were mid-Jan so I wouldn't freak out yet.

This.

Since you are in psych, I can tell you that it varies a lot by program. In some programs, from what I've heard, you are really expected to work with just one person, and there can be tug-of-war situations if a student wants to work with multiple profs. I would think that if you are applying to such a program it would be a good idea to send a clear signal about which of the two you are more interested in working with, to show that you understand the culture of the department. On the other hand, at many other programs, students are expected to work with multiple people and an applicant whose interests fit with only one would not be viewed very well. I strongly recommend contacting current grad students at the program in question and asking them (in an open-ended way) about this cultural variable. They will be honest with you and could potentially be very helpful. As you and others have said, there is probably nothing going on here that you should worry about, but you may as well watch out for the small chance that you have actually hit a sensitive spot.

I agree with other people that you shouldn't ask if you're not really interested -- both because it can be a waste of your time and the prof's that way, and because if you aren't willing to engage and follow up, it could make you look bad. However, it is good to have some open-ended questions in your toolbox in case you really do want to chat but don't know how to initiate it. Asking what they have been working on lately (if that question makes sense in your field) can always be a good conversation-starter. I also had some interesting conversations come out of "What kind of student does well in your program?". On the more concrete side, you could ask where people tend to end up once they graduate -- I know this is something you can find out to a certain extent from some programs' websites, but people don't mind if you ask. Again, though, once you ask something like this, you will need to be interested enough to follow up, so don't initiate contact if you're not really interested in having a conversation.

I'm totally the kind of person who tries to figure out what I'd want to do in every possible permutation of outcomes. However, I have to say that my preferences changed a lot over the course of the entire process last year. Once I started getting information, it narrowed my options dramatically (in a good way, I'm glad to say) -- and once I'd visited several of the schools, I had a ton more information (even about the ones I hadn't visited), and it was not that hard to make decisions about different possibilities I previously had no idea how I'd deal with. So, if figuring everything out right now makes you happy, go for it, but I wouldn't stress if you can't nail down all the details at this stage in the game.

You don't have to contact somebody, no. I didn't contact anyone at most of my schools last year and I did pretty well. Most people here on GC seem to say it is a good idea to contact profs beforehand, but most of the people I talked to IRL when I was applying said it was a bad idea. So know that there is a difference of opinion at least.

Totally depends on the field. In my field (same as Alexis'), there are political reasons for the importance of saying you want to be an academic. If you're in a field like English where it seems like a no-brainer, I'll bet it is a no-brainer -- and you should just include it. But I am pretty sure in some fields it is not as important. So you should check with people who are in your field.

Definitely send a CV and an explanation of your research interests, or a draft of your SOP if you are comfortable sending one. For people I wasn't currently working with, I also put together some of the work I'd done for them, as a reminder. In addition to all of that, it would probably be fine to explain what sort of thing you want the person to play up.

This is an old post, but for the record: definitely prof. Some people even advised me not to get a letter from non-tenure-track faculty.

Another vote here for Dr. Lastname.

I have heard of cases where a student wants to work with Prof X, and Prof Y knows Prof X and the student but for some reason isn't writing a letter for the student otherwise -- and Prof Y has sent a brief email to Prof X about the student. Not a full letter, just a few expressive lines. You could try explaining the situation to prof #4 and seeing what that person would be comfortable doing. Maybe prof #4 has his/her own ideas.

Ditto. Probably differs dramatically by field. (Mine is psychology.)

Apparently Thai Cafe is not going to be around fall and winter quarters this year...it had to switch rooms due to plans to install an fMRI magnet in the psych building. It will be pretty close to its previous location, but apparently it will take a while to re-open. The Stanford Dining places are generally okay but not great. I sometimes eat at Olives (history corner of main quad), which is Mediterranean-themed. If you live on campus you'll probably be visiting The Axe & Palm, so you can form your own opinion. Some people dislike it, but I think it's fine. Also, the Treehouse has inexpensive Mexican food and beer!

I'm sure her advice is worth more than ours -- or anyway more than mine!

I'll be off campus, too, in Mountain View.

You are right that if you get a marketing PhD, you will probably be limited to jobs in marketing departments. I know of only one case where a business school PhD has gone on to a job in a psych department. That said, if your training is very psych-focused (which depends on the program/advisor), it is not unheard of. Believe it or not, business school profs do not necessarily study business. At many of the top schools, their research is no more applied than what their psych department colleagues are doing, and they publish in the very same journals (JPSP, etc). I do remember hearing from someone that marketing tends to be a little more applied than organizational behavior (my own field), so you should talk to more people at top marketing programs rather than take my word for it. In any case, yes, of course business profs can speak against anything they want -- business academia is still academia, and senior profs have tenure, just like other profs. And many people currently working in business schools are doing very socially minded research. For example, many researchers in both marketing and organizational behavior focus on prosocial behavior and charitable giving, just as cogneuro said. My own research interest is in moral decision-making, and believe it or not there are at least as many people working on that topic in business schools than psych departments. Again, I really encourage you to talk to people in the field rather than making assumptions about what they study. As you yourself pointed out, a lot of JDM research goes on in marketing groups right now -- it is still the same JDM, no change in focus; it just happens to be housed in a different department. Also, In addition to psych and marketing programs, you may be interested in the OB program at the University of Chicago -- they are very JDM-focused and they're starting a joint program with the psych department, so you can graduate with a joint degree. They place graduates in both marketing and psych as far as I know.

Just to clarify your question...do you mean schools that can accommodate families in terms of housing and other concrete things, or programs with an attitude that is friendly toward students with families? If the latter, it probably depends on the advisor rather than the program. Ask their grad students when you apply/visit.

Your numbers and research experience should be enough to get you noticed. Your SOP and LORs will be what makes or breaks you. Now is a great time to start focusing your energy on those -- writing SOP drafts, for example, if you haven't already. Good luck!

Just because a program is focused in a business school, that doesn't mean that its research directly benefits the business world -- any more than research in a psych department does. Many behavioral marketing professors at the top, research-focused business schools have PhDs in psychology and are basically doing the same work as psychologists, getting NSF funding, etc. No difference except the department in which they are housed. I hope you take the time to talk to marketing professors or visit marketing programs, and see that your fears are unfounded. Good luck!

What are your long-term goals? I know people who get an MBA and then later apply for a PhD because they become interested in research through their MBA classes. I also know of one PhD program that allows students to get an MBA while in the program. I have never heard of anyone getting a PhD first then an MBA, and frankly I can't imagine why you would do that. If you want to end up in industry, a PhD -- a research degree -- probably isn't worth your time. If you are really interested in research, the MBA won't impress anybody. And, as someone pointed out above, the admissions criteria are totally different: it is hard to get into an MBA program with no business background.