metaphorical

Hi Everyone, I was recently very, very fortunate to be accepted to both Stanford and Berkeley for a Ph.D. in Psychology, but I am now having some trouble deciding which school to choose. I would really appreciate some advice! I am currently an undergrad at Stanford (but majoring in something other than Psychology), and I have worked a bit (but not closely) with my Stanford POI. Our research interests match very well, but I have heard some less positive things about his/her advising style from several people. On the plus side, Stanford is ranked number one in my subfield, and the resources and stipend are awesome. On the down side, I've been here for four years already, and I've often heard that it's not the best idea to stay in one's undergrad university for many reasons (going somewhere else gives you broader horizons, more connections, new experiences, looks better on CV, etc). Berkeley is ranked a little lower (ranging from 1~8 depending on where you look), and the funding is not as great (although livable, and surprisingly good for UC standards). On the plus side, there are 3 professors there that I would love to work with, and I've really enjoyed talking to all three of them. Their grad students are also very happy with them as advisors. Although any one of the Berkeley POIs alone would not be as great of a fit in terms of research interests as the Stanford POI, the idea that I would be able to collaborate with all three of them is very attractive. The POIs also share a lot of students and seem to get along extremely well. Berkeley is also a much more exciting (and affordable) place to live and play in than Palo Alto. Plus, it's a different environment, and I AM a little worried about staying in the same school for 9+ years. So I just wanted to ask--is it silly to turn down Stanford simply because I've been here for four years already? Or is it sillier to turn down Berkeley simply because Stanford is a little more highly ranked? Thank you very much guys! I really appreciate your help.

Hey guys, thank you for the great tips! This thread has been really helpful. I've recently been accepted to the Psychology program at Berkeley, and I've been told by faculty that the yearly stipend can be up to 25000 per year including guaranteed summer funding. 17.5k a year sounds tough, but would 22k~25k a year support a "reasonable" standard of living in Berkeley? Reasonable as in being able to eat out 3 or 4 times a week, having one's own room, not having to live in a dangerous/sketchy neighborhood, etc. I would really appreciate your insight! Thanks!

I grew up in Taiwan attending Chinese-speaking schools, so at first I was also very hesitant to call my professors by their first names even after knowing or working with them closely for a long time. Lately, however, my advisor told me that I should really start calling professors by their first names, especially since I'll (hopefully) be in grad school and going on into academia. He said that's usually the norm in the States, and that I'd seem more like a peer and colleague and less like a kid/student if I address professors by their first names. I'm not sure if he's particularly open-minded about this, or if it really is the norm?

Emphasis: Cognitive Background and grades: 3.95 overall Programs applied to: Stanford, Berkeley, MIT BCS, UCSD CogSci, Northwestern, UCLA, Harvard, Yale, WUSTL Interviews (notified by email): Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, UCSD, Northwestern Invites sent to other people: UCLA has sent invites to other areas, but I'm not sure about cognitive Has anyone heard back from UCLA cognitive or Harvard and Yale yet? Thank you!

this is so sweet!!!! =) best of luck!!

This is also something that I wonder about every time I meet a new professor. I tend to err on the side of formality, but I'm also thinking....is it better to address professors as "Professor ______" or "Dr. _______"?

Same here...I'm also in cognitive psych and would really appreciate knowing this if you feel comfortable PMing me. Like everyone else has said, I would trust your professor and not go to the interview with Prof. Y. I wouldn't worry about offending him...I'm sure schools have experience with people declining interviews and will understand. Good luck!!

Do you guys know if Yale holds interviews before or after they accept people? From the results last year it seems that they don't send out interview invites, only acceptances/rejections... Fingers crossed for everyone!

I've heard back about interviews from MIT, Northwestern, Berkeley, UCSD, and Stanford, in that chronological order. omnia, I guess I'll see you at a lot of them! Also waiting from Harvard, and Yale. Is it true that Yale doesn't invite students to visit until they're accepted? Thanks! Good luck everyone!!!

Hey! Glad I found this thread! I applied to: Stanford Berkeley MIT Brain and Cog Sci Northwestern UPenn UCSD Cog Sci UCLA Harvard Yale I heard back from MIT, Northwestern, and UPenn about interviews. Excited but nervous!! Good luck everyone!

Thank you for your input guys! That helps a lot. If there are other opinions, I would really appreciate that too!

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum (and this process in general), and would really appreciate any input! I'm a senior in college, and I'd always thought that I wanted to go into academia. As a result, I've never had any work experience outside of research internships. This past fall, I applied to several PhD programs in Psychology/CogSci. So far I've heard back from 3 schools inviting me to interviews. On a whim during a Career Fair on campus, I also submitted a resume to Microsoft just to see what would happen. I ended up going through two interviews with Microsoft and (very luckily and unexpectedly) received a job offer as a Program Manager. The job pays very well and is something that I would also be very interested in--I'm passionate about technology and how people communicate (hence CogSci). I am now considering accepting the job offer and reapplying to PhD programs after a year or two. My reasoning is that I could save up some money to use when I am a starving grad student, and also gain some work experience to make sure that research is what I really want to do. Admittedly, the job would not be that related to Psychology/CogSci research, but I'm hoping that the skills I would gain while working--communication skills, managing skills, technical/programming skills--would help my research career in the long run. However, I'm also worried that I would become "out of touch" with research during the two years I would be working, and significantly lower my chances of getting into an equally good program when I reapply. I guess this dilemma leads me to several related questions: (1) Is it helpful to work first before getting a PhD, or should I go straight out of college? (2) Would industry experience help me with my research career in the long run? (3) Would I be less likely to get into a program if I decline it this year to work and then reapply in a few years? Thank you very much! I really appreciate your advice and comments.