[Another interview question]

I have already had 1 interview and have another coming up in a couple weeks. I am wondering if it is acceptable to mention the other places I applied to during the interview. I know interviewers like to ask "where else have you applied?", but how much detail should I go into?

Specifically, my situation is this: at School A, I was interviewed by Professor X who pretty much told me he would accept me into his lab as a grad student. At my upcoming interview at School B, I will likely encounter Profs. Y and Z, who happen to be close colleagues of Prof. X. Should I bring up Prof. X during the interview with Profs. Y and Z? I was thinking it may be a good conversation topic, especially if I am running out of things in common to talk about.

I am not particularly interested in working with Profs. Y and Z (their work is too theoretical), but rather with another prof at School B. Hence, I'm not trying to impress them or anything like that (of course I will want them to like me). I'm just wondering if it's OK to bring up Prof. X in the course of conversation.

Thanks for any ideas.

If you prefer working with Professor X, and if you're sure he's going to offer you a position, why would you even want to interview at school B? Also, if you get accepted at school B, would you prefer school B over school A because of the other professor at school B you're interested in working with? If that is the case, you might want to put on your best front at the interview..tell them that you're interested, etc and don't go into too much detail over Prof X's work and how excited you are about that. Y and Z may be close colleagues of X but when it comes to getting the best grad students possible, nobody cares if they are friends or not. They will want the best students for themselves. So if you prefer B over A because of the "other" professor at B, try to get accepted at B and then tell A (X) that you are rejecting their offer. If you prefer A over B anyway, don't interview at all! Its a tough year just like the last, give up the spot to another student.

Good luck with your decision.

[Anyone ever confused by your profession?]

A: So what do you study?

Me: Psychology. Cognitive Psychology.

B: Wow.. you get really high paying jobs with that!

C. Read my mind.

A. You should treat my mother in law.

Me: I'm not going to be a psychiatrist.. I'm going to be doing research and on how human beings cognize, i.e, how they perceive and understand the world around them, etc. And no, you don't get paid hundreds of thousands a year to be doing that.

D: So what do you work on?

Me: Human memory.

D: Remember the time when you were..

Me: .......

[Do you regret picking one school over another?]

I had lingering thoughts of "what if.." for about a month. That had to do with the research I was put on. However both my adviser and I recognized that I wasn't comfortable with it right away and he shifted me onto something else. I'm now very happy with the project. I also got a second project with a professor at the Dept of Music. So its all going very well at the moment. I no longer think about the other school whose offer I'd rejected. Also that was a Linguistics PhD program. I did a syntax course here in my first quarter which I HATED! I realized that a PhD in Psychology is probably what suits me the best. So I no longer think about that school (which was ranked top 10-15 in linguistics) whose offer I'd rejected. I now know that I made the best decision possible. My adviser is awesome, has a very strong quantitative background (which I think is extremely compatible with my own Physics background). He is also well respected by everybody here. Everybody (professors) I meet tell me "Oh, you're with X...he's awesome. I can see why he chose somebody with a background in Physics to be his grad student", etc.. These are professors who are stars in the field, so to hear all this from them is very reassuring! I'm among my adviser's first set of graduate students here at this university. He has advised people before but this is a beginning for both of us in a lot of ways. I think we have a lot to take from each other..so its perfect, at least for now. He is also encouraging when it comes to me collaborating with people outside the department (I have a different set of interests which don't overlap with his but he seems perfectly okay with it). So I couldn't ask for more and am perfectly happy now.

If you have thoughts of "what if..", they will change with time and when you get more comfortable (and happy) with the project(s) you will get to work on.

[How many times have you taken the GRE?]

I can't believe that some school actually take the average of both scores... That just seems ridiculous.

Ridiculous, but true. However, I think they do averages when they have to decide between equally eligible candidates. When evaluating if you're good enough, I guess they could use the highest score to see what you really are capable of (if at all they use the GRE score for such a purpose..but I really doubt it. A&M from the above post seems like they do use the GRE score to evaluate a candidate's eligibility). So if the GRE score serves only as a parameter based on which equivalent applications can be compared, you could argue that taking averages is fair (because the other applicant might not have the financial resources to take the GRE multiple times and hence shouldn't be penalized for it).

[The negatives thread...for people who made it!]

I also spent about a week so upset I couldn't even enter my advisor's classes. We never patched things up after that, which resulted in a few other problems that aren't relevant here.

Something VERY similar happened with me and my adviser. Our paper ended up getting rejected from a top journal and the reviewers gave comments that had already been expressed by me to him several times. He was just so adamant on sending it off without proper results. There were comments in the reviewers' reply that sometimes looked like quotes from my emails to the professor discussing what the results were and how they were not good enough for publication, maybe a conference, but definitely not a top journal.

Anyway, these things happen. Some people are just not happy enough with their jobs. These are cranky people who seem to be pissed off all the time about some thing or the other.

[The negatives thread...for people who made it!]

Can't beat the above!

I had a 6.8/10 (with two F's on the transcript) when applying which is pretty bad. However my bad grades were from undergraduate core engineering courses in which I had absolutely no interest in. Also, I had no background in Psychology. I completed a 5 year integrated Masters program in Physics and then applied to PhD programs in Psychology and Linguistics. Got an offer from a top ranked Linguistics program (top 10 I think). Got another offer from a very decent Psych PhD program and one MS offer (fully funded) for a Music Tech program at Georgia Tech. I ended up accepting the Psych offer. It was a crazy year. I applied to 12 places. Got in only at 3. Was a scary ride but I got the offer from the linguistics place very early, 2 weeks after I'd sent in my application..so that calmed me quite a bit. All my friends (top rankers) spent nerve wrecking months waiting for their results. My professors were surprised at my success too. My own adviser wrote me off ("you shouldn't be applying to all these top schools with your grades"). However, those were Physics professors who knew nothing about Linguistics and Psychology. So I never really took them seriously. I had an awesome LOR from a linguistics professor with whom I'd done 3 courses. GRE (1390), TOEFL (118) were good enough too.

So you never really should freak out just because one aspect of your application looks bad Decisions are made based on different things..most of all research fit. If you've made a good case of why you should be there working with the professors there, you will do fine.

[Social Psychology RESULTS]

Sandra Murray and Mark Seery. I'm not hearing anything from Sandra, but Mark is "very" interested. He's calling me tomorrow for our phone interview. He sounds like an awesome guy! Who did you apply for?

Also, updates: U Missouri is flying me out to Columbia, partially funded, and Wayne State wants to have a Skype video chat Anyone else had a video interview? I read somewhere that someone did...

I had a skype interview last year. I am now a happy student working for/with that professor (I rejected an offer from a higher ranked school because this person felt "right" for me). In fact, we talked over skype thrice. We discussed one of his papers, he wanted to know what I made of it (basically to test what I understood of the plots, etc. He would send in the paper just a few mins before the interview ). So yea, skype interviews are fun. Good luck!

[SoP - Ravage Me]

I have the flu. I should be working on an article but I don't feel concentrated enough. I figured I'd put the time to good use.

Classes begin in February. We have a whole month and a half off for winter break, which is great. I've already finished one article (submitted on Friday) and I'm working on a conference presentation and the article, which are due in late February. But if I didn't have those, I could relax for about 6 weeks and really do nothing. It's great!

Great. We had just about a month off (25 days, which is not all that bad either). I did no work however and I absolutely needed that rest. Also visited my aunt in Denver (which is a beautiful place). I'm working on a conference paper now too..due in early Feb (Cognitive Sc conference). Writing my first ever independent Matlab code (I've always had programming help before). It feels good to finally get the code working, etc. Discovering the little pleasures of being a student/researcher.

Oh btw, is anybody planning to go to the conferences in Portland, Oregon in late July-early August (there are 3 of them I think..one is the summer interdisc conference, the other is the cog sci conference and probably also the math psych one. All at the same place and one following the other)? If so, we should meet up when we get there and maybe even get going some grad cafe collaborations in research.

[SoP - Ravage Me]

Thanks

And you have a lot of time on your hands! That's good to know after all the hard work you did last semester. When do your classes begin again?

[How many times have you taken the GRE?]

I took it twice and actually scored lower the second time (1270 was the highest). But I know that all the schools that I have applied to only pay attention to the highest overall score no matter when it was taken.

Are you sure about that? I've heard that they almost always receive all the scores from ETS and they tend to look at the average performance.

[Anybody heard back from PhD programs yet?]

I'm Clinical & I applied to 7 programs:

University of South Florida, University of Florida, University of Miami, University of Louisville, The Ohio State University, University of Iowa, & UCLA.

I'm getting pretty antsy as it's getting down to that time - but based on the Results Search page, the only results anyone's gotten from Clinical Programs have been rejections. So I guess no word right now is good, right?

I know that interview invitations have been sent out from OSU and students are visiting in the first week of February. I know only about the Cognitive Area though.

[Neuroscience / What if I haven't received interview invitation]

Dear all,

I am an international student and am applying to Neuroscience PhD program

However, I haven't received any interview invitation except for two rejection (still 12 schools pending)

Can anyone tell me how is my chance to get into PhD program?

Is it already time to announce my failure this year?

Thanks everyone in advance.

I don't know if international students also get interview invitations. I doubt it. Keep your hopes up. Not yet time to give up.

[Engineers: Reading Publications?]

I'm an aural and tactile learner, so the method of reading to learn things is kind of difficult for me. Does anyone else have a lot of trouble reading articles and conference papers and actually getting anything out of them? So many of these papers are either really poorly written, way over my head, or both. Has anyone figured out ways to get more out of these ubiquitous documents?

Do more journal clubs..so that you actually discuss what's in the paper. So if you haven't understood a lot of it, you will get a very good gist of it when people discuss it with you. You could also explain your difficulty to a small group of people you're comfortable with and form a journal club with them (as its beneficial to everybody to attend journal clubs).

[Difficult situation / issue with admissions/graduate study]

The only other law firms are 6 hours away. I'm waiting on a call back from the last firm in town right now (another no-name firm). Hopefully something pans out there before I have to try and start searching for firms all the way across the state. From what I heard from the lawyers I did talk to, it would require me going to physically meet with the other attorneys. The problem being a 6 hour drive that I can't afford. I hate being an out-of-state student and, therefore, non-eligible for free legal help.

As for attorney-client privilege, I'm not sure. I wasn't officially their client. As soon as they heard what I was there for, and the school's name, they told me it was a conflict of interest.

You know, I was faced with a lot of challenging questions (about my future) at the time of applying and I managed to forge friendships with professors in the field through friendly emails asking for advice. I also applied to a few of them. So they all responded with heaps of advice. I would also suggest you to email professors in your field who you might be interested in working with. Be truthful and explain your situation. Ask them if there was any chance you could continue your graduate education with them. Its basically come down to that OR a long legal fight with your university. I would advise you to first also explore your options (at other universities) because once things get heated up (if you manage to find attorneys who will help you), things get unpredictable.. some people might do stuff to harm your reputation or whatever. So it might be better to first contact other people, ask for advice, see if you have options to attend some other school.. maybe a lower ranked place if it comes to that? Definitely start exploring your options.

I'm sorry that you're in this situation..hope it gets better soon.

[Classmate FORGED letters of rec... What do I do?]

Sorry, but I think ranting on the OP's supposed jealousy and blah blah blah is stupid. Yeah, maybe s/he is motivated by her jealousy towards the girl and her seemingly better chances at getting into the same graduate programs, but I don't think she is wrong in any way for reporting it to her department head. Should she be devious and underhanded about it waiting until the girl gets into graduate school? Hell to the no, but its a good thing that she alerted her department head and the department head should notify his staff, past and present (or any professors that the girl had taken classes from) that this kind of action occurred. Even if she is a good student wrong is wrong. What she did was unethical and the professors who "wrote" her letters should be notified that their names were signed to something that they did not approve of or know about. Basically, in my eyes, that's identity theft -- which is a crime.

And being so brilliant, the girl could go on to forge data and stuff in her research..she could get so good at it that it might even go unnoticed. Its not exactly a service to science that such students should be allowed to continue on unquestioned.

[Classmate FORGED letters of rec... What do I do?]

They should accept names, phone numbers, and email addresses of three references and then get off their butts and contact those people if they so desire. That would be far more ethical.

Try doing this when you are on an ad com with 600 applications to process within 1-2 months. That's 10 applications per day (if you're iven 2 months to do the job), so that's contacting 30 professors (and take into account availability of the profs) a day. Not exactly an enviable job..and its not like they're getting paid extra for it. They have to teach and do research and do everything else.

[Classmate FORGED letters of rec... What do I do?]

I registered just so I could respond to this person.

It's a rat race baby.

I guess the same argument (that this is a rat race) could be used as a valid reason to go ahead and be a telltale! And I agree with you..its a rat race. Its not the case that the most deserving people always get into the best grad positions. Depends on how you project yourself on your applications. Also like you said, its a rat race and all's fair in love and war. So go ahead..inform the authorities, I see nothing wrong with it! LORs and SOPs are things that can be used to make up for bad grades, etc on the application. If you have a competitor who has excellent grades AND also forges LORs, its unfair to you (from your point of view). So no hard at all in informing the authorities!

[Wrong score reported on application]

Today was orientation for new students, faculty introductions, food, advising, etc, for a program I applied to for Spring 2010. While my academic advisor and I were going over my application (so he could get to know me a bit) I noticed that my reported GRE score was not my highest nor my most recent score, nor even the first score (I took the GRE 4 times). I know the school received the later (and highest) test score because the university website showed the score in late August before the application deadline of 1 September 2009. I got in to the program anyway but it worries me because I've applied to another program and thought maybe they have the wrong score too? Eeek!

I guess I can call the new department to see what my score is reported as. But I'm wondering if anyone had a similar experience?

I've heard that many universities take the average of all your scores. ETS makes available to them all your scores (that are still valid).

[Role call!]

Completed a masters in Physics. Then decided to shift to Cognitive Psychology. (Want to be studying music cognition). Working on mathematical modeling of human memory at the moment (My adviser is from the Computer Sciences background, our collaborators are in the Computer Sci dept here). Also about to start working on a side project in music cognition with a professor at the music dept. Will use concepts from Physics in the former. Its all working out well and I'm happy.

[Difficult situation / issue with admissions/graduate study]

As for how they absolved themselves, well, it goes back to what I stated above regarding the disorganized distribution of authority. Basically, I was told that the only reason I was accepted was that my former advisor wanted me there and anyone else in graduate studies/the department (except my advisor) did NOT see my application before I was accepted or before I showed up for my mandatory meeting with the chair to discuss an initial plan of study on the day before classes started (at least this is what I was told). Basically my enrollment at this school seems to have been billed as a last ditch effort to keep his job by a professor that knew he was on his way out.

If they actually told you this, I'm sure there has to be a way in the legal system to hold them responsible for this. I'm sure they have policies in place for their admissions procedures. They cannot wash their hands off by saying that none of them ever saw your application prior to your arrival at the school! I'm sure they have procedures that they have to follow while recruiting their grad students. If they did follow those procedures, this would not have happened to you. I suggest you consult a lawyer about this. So far, you've only been talking to officials associated with your school. It might be a good idea to go outside and get a consultation..nobody has to know about the consultation and its not going to affect your future with other grad schools. Just make sure you have no legal rights regarding this before you submit yourself to the situation and submit yourself to all this extra debt that you probably wouldn't have had to incur had you been given information about this situation earlier (which the school had full knowledge of before you came in).

[Telling a Professor you no longer want their rec]

Thanks for the advice everyone.... I was able to mend the situation with the professor and all was well HOWEVER she did not turn her rec in for the fellowship and the deadline was a hard one. So she screwed me over in the end. Not to mention I sent her a reminder on Monday which she replied too and saw her in person on Tuesday but she still didn't turn it in and now the system is locked. I'm beyond annoyed right now

See? You should have refused her LOR. Always trust your instinct. If you get bad vibes from somebody, that is a strong message to be careful and you ought to take measures to guard yourself against such people. I always do and I've never been wrong.

[How'd the first semester go?]

So far grad school has been far *less* intense and engaging than my undergraduate experience. It is a bizarre feeling. I may create a separate thread to discuss this, but has anyone else experienced this?

Absolutely not! Grad school for me has been really draining, at least this first quarter. School reopens on Monday and I think I would have loved 4-5 more days of rest!

[If one day you decided to start all over, what would you study and why?]

Doing a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, did a masters in Physics.

If I started all over again, I'd probably do a music major with minors in the above and then go ahead and do all that's necessary to be an active performing musician who is also a scientist (doing music cognition research). Right now, I'm headed to doing music cognition research but I probably will never be a good active performing musician (I've had my share of stage performances, including paid invited performances in my country but I'm not good enough and don't possess enough training to continue doing that elsewhere in a more demanding genre (eg: jazz which I love very much) than what I've been doing (rock). My training though has been in classical music (about 8 yrs of piano), I'd have loved to go to school to do jazz piano and trumpet).

[How'd the first semester go?]

I don't think my school gives plus or minus grades, so it's really not fair to say I got a better GPA than him but...it's just so fun to rub it in.

I'm glad you're not my mom!

[Master's student research quick]

I have only a year before I would want to apply for PhD, and I haven't taken too many of the advanced courses in my area of research, so haven't come up with a lot of ideas for research projects yet. I was wondering if anyone had advice for me about what I should do to get the research experience to make for a strong PhD application in time for next year. About how much time do I have to be doing research before I should apply PhD?

Thanks!

One year of good work is good enough. You should aim to get yourself in a research group ASAP. Talk to your own professors, I'm sure one of them could use manpower, esp if you don't demand to get paid. Some departments however cannot accept students without paying them and for this reason, you may find it difficult to get involved in research. So if you're in a taught course track, you probably are too late to convert that to a thesis/research track and probably will find it difficult to get into a research group. However, that's the only way you can get to do some research before you start applying. Look at other departments also. Computational linguistics I'm sure does work on the stuff you might be interested in. So contact professors at the math and linguistics departments and see if one of them will let you work on a project with them.