gellert

I had a severe car accident the day of four of my deadlines, so submitted the applications from the hospital, while on a morphine drip. I'm kind of afraid to find out my results from those schools....

If it makes you feel better, I didn't take the subject GRE either. It was only "strongly recommended" at one of my schools (and not even requested at all at the rest), and I decided my 4.00 major GPA and research experience more than spoke for themselves. If you have a good GPA in your major and took a breadth of challenging classes therein, I don't see the point in taking the subject GRE (in psychology) unless it's required. All the subj GRE tests is your ability to memorize random experiments, results, and psychologists. It's rote memorization -- not indicative of graduate work. I think it is more important to take for non-psych majors or those with low psychGPAs. Adcomms will note you didn't take it and think, "Oh, she didn't take the subject GRE. What's her major GPA? Oh, it's above 3.75? Noooot a problem. Let's look at the rest of her app!"

Anyone know how common it is for interview invites to arrive (via email or phone) over weekends?

Right now the scariest thing about the whole waiting game for me is the fear that all I will hear is silence. No invites, no acceptances or rejections or waitlists. Just a never-ending silence.

Under Clinical Ph.D. for Yale on the SDN thread, it says that all invites will be sent out by the weekend. Anyone know if that's just clinical or for the whole department?

^ Yep. Thought about it some more, and I think the bottom line of my advice is kind of like what I did myself -- best of both worlds. Have 1-2 labs that you stay in for at least 3 years each, and then feel free to explore a bit with a few other labs to widen your horizons.

Not mine. I did see on their website that interview invites will be extended by mid-January, though, so ... could be legit.

Not in English, but I lurk all forums and read this topic and ... yeah. You stole the thoughts right out of my head. D: I check my email probably...5-6 times an hour? I DO have a smart phone, however, but it's a bit slow on uploading emails, sadly.

Honestly, whatever floats your boat, as long as you feel it gives you the experience you need. I've been in nine labs total since freshman year. Some of them only lasted a semester or year (like the labs I was in internationally), but there is one lab I've been in for three years and another I've been in for two. The reason I chose to do it this way was because I wanted to get a breadth of experience in my field, and because I genuinely loved doing as much research as possible. (This translated, though, to 40-50 hours a week in the lab. This year, with my honors thesis and only two labs, I'm still hitting 30+. Combined with a 21-25 credit hour course overload and a part time job, I was/am pretty stressed. I personally do this kind of stress really well, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. Something to keep in mind.) Having two labs that were really long-term, however, gave me depth in the subjects I was really passionate about, and those are the labs from which I requested my LORs. However, for you, you may already know you want to study X topic only and forever, so you only need one lab, and want to be in it as long as possible -- but that may look like inexperience. Some people may worry that being in 9 labs like me will show indecisiveness. Honestly, I think you can spin anything whatever way you want in your SOP and LORs. Do what is right for YOU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmwVMDZJUOY

Yep, I had this problem, only with mixing up alma mater GPA and cumulative undergrad GPA (I studied abroad, etc.). I called the four schools for which this had been a problem. One wants me to send in a hard copy correcting the error, which will be added to my file and may or may not be seen by the adcomm (the correction, that is). One manually fixed it in the computer while on the phone with me. One requested I send an email giving them permission to change it before they made the correction via the computer system for me (presumably to have evidence that I requested said correction). The latter said it wasn't a big deal since the difference was relatively insignificant and was kind enough to glance over the rest of my app and told me I wouldn't have any problem getting an interview invite either way so he suggested I just leave it (and I did). Still, I felt better knowing that my acknowledgment of the error was on record, and fixed. I hope that if attention is drawn to this, the adcomms will appreciate that I took efforts to rectify the problem as soon as I recognized it. Even if they don't -- what's the quote? Integrity is doing the right thing, even if no one is around to see or appreciate it.

I think this is actually one of the best, most self-aware posts you've made on this subject so far. You admit that the language barrier can cause you to come across a way you might not intend, and you also recognize that acclimatizing to a foreign culture is a very difficult experience. You can already be commended for taking the step to come to a foreign country and go through all the difficulties inherent in being an international student. It is clear from this post that you understand that this process is fundamentally challenging, which is an insight it had not been clear you possessed from your previous posts. If I may suggest it, take this awareness one step further and accept that maybe the way your roommate is behaving is not due to her rudeness, but perhaps just a difference in culture or language comprehension. One thing a lot of Americans really value is communication. My advice would be to sit down with your roommate and express the way you feel about this situation. You may find that your roommate can explain her motivations in a way that satisfies all your concerns. Phrase it like this: "I know this might not be what you meant by it, but I feel [this way] when you do [these actions]. I was hoping you could help me understand why things are this way in America." I know I had a LOT of conversations like that with my Chinese roommate while I was living in Beijing! Good luck.

^ idk, I'm not interested in applying to schools just to be sure I get in. The end goal for me is not "go to grad school," it's to study what I love and gain the knowledge, connections, and expertise I need to be successful in my field. If I don't get in this cycle because I applied only to top schools that are perfect research fits, I'm okay with that. I'll take a year off, regroup and get more research experience/pubs, and try try again. At the end of the day, I'll be at a school I love, working with a POI I love, studying what I love, and I won't care if it took me more than one cycle to get there. Better than going to a "loose fit" and dropping out after a year because I'm miserable.

I thought of best-case scenario: f = fellowship. This person is so awesome we want to recommend them for tons of funding, stat.

Oh god it IS time for this thread again, isn't it? D: Bad day: Ahahahaha, look at this, this person thinks that medical hospitalization is a good excuse for all those W's? WRONG. There is never an excuse. Also, wtf @ research experience being only half-salient to our own? The rest of it is all so...ugh...clinical. Why is this person applying to social programs again? Just for kicks? I'm not even reading this SOP; I already don't care. NEXT. (With a total of 12 seconds spent looking at my app.) Perfect Good day: Well, they have a really high GRE score and four years of domestic and international research experience. That first-author pub with Famous Professor isn't half bad, either! Let's see here, this person wants to work with ... ah, yes, Professor X. And they're interested in studying powered mutation within an evolutionary context, with emphasis on telepathy -- a very good fit with X! They've only studied metallokinesis in a genetic context before, but that's okay, they still seems to understand everything we're about and have tons of experience with our methodology. Designed all their studies themself, so won't need to be micromanaged. ACCEPT NOW, QUICK, BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DOES! Weird day: All right, now for this other application -- oh, it's time for lunch? F this mess, I'm out of here. (And when adcom returns, my application has been eaten by the under-desk troll, never to be seen again.)

I'm not sure if this is due to a language difficulty or not, but this phrasing right here makes it seem like you don't really care to learn about American culture or the ways in which Chinese and American culture differ -- you just want to declare that you are categorically "right," and desire commiseration in that respect. Speaking as someone who has been an international student before (in China, no less), you'll find it is much easier to get by in a foreign country once you stop thinking of their culture as inferior to your own or somehow less-evolved/less-civilized. What you think is "careless" or "poor-people-skills" is really just "not-Chinese-culture." There is nothing wrong with a culture being different from your own. Accept that it is different, and that it is what it is, and learn to work within those parameters -- not against them. It can be challenging, especially when things that are considered normal in one culture would be denigrated in your own, but that doesn't mean they're wrong. Part of the beauty and the educational value of being an international student is being exposed to different cultures and different ways of life.

I dunno, mine has that too. Been there since I submitted it. Maybe it's 'f' for 'finished?" Haha.

Yes. If you look at the top toolbar and click "Results Survey" you can then search things like psychology, quantitative psychology, and your school names + subject. Warning: it's totally addictive.

^ I was talking with the clinical program, so I'm guessing it's strictly clinical. Generally clinical and non-applied programs have different adcoms. As for when your results should come in, as always, my advice is to check the results survey.

Not an English lit person, but I recently read The Lexicographer's Dilemma by Jack Lynch and loved it. It's all about how conceptions of "proper" English have evolved since the time of Shakespeare, and what does "proper English" mean in the context of all the native English speakers who don't use it.

Congrats! For whom it's relevant, I was on the phone with Minnesota clinical the other day, and they said decisions are being made (and will probably be finished by) the end of this week. I'm the only TGC-er I know for sure is applying to Minnesota clinical, but just in case there's someone else...thought you'd like to know.

I still respectfully disagree. If someone is applying to those schools for the reasons you enumerated, yes, that would be a very bad idea. But if someone is applying in, say, particle physics and is interested in studying X particle under Y conditions, and it just so happens (I have no idea if it does or not) that the majority of people interested in studying X under Y are located at those schools. (Which does tend to happen frequently, at least in my own field -- there are certain topics that are 'hot' and complex, which are not being studied at the lower-tier universities which prefer to focus their energies on more "manageable" subjects.) Therefore, if our applicant is interested in X under Y and realizes that the prestige of her university will affect her ability to later attain a TT job, she may choose to apply only to the top n schools in her field. Not JUST because of prestige, but because that's where she has the best fit -- that's where people are studying what she's interested in. Prestige is a minor factor that only comes into play in her perception insofar as it affects her ability to get a TT job eventually. Sure, she might not get in to these n schools, but she can then take time off and improve her application until she can. tl;dr Fit >>>>> prestige in terms of importance. However, sometimes the two are correlated. While these questions are optional, I feel you can answer them in such a way that will help your application. When I personally answered mine, I held two ideas in my mind: 1) Answer with schools of a similar tier (because I didn't want schools thinking they were my only reach or my only safety, and 2) Answer with schools that had the most similar research focus and theoretical foundation. For example, if applying to school B, and POI B went to grad school at C and collaborates frequently with D (both schools to which I'm applying), to answer that question I might list C and D for school B's application. Just my personal approach to it, and the main thing I'm trying to emphasize by this is that there are a lot of different ways answers to that question could be perceived. When answering, it's best to decide how things are viewed in your own field and the sort of message you think it is most appropriate to transmit, and respond accordingly.

^ This. In clinical psychology, for example, you'll be called out for applying to 10 programs because, with the lowest acceptance rates of any grad discipline, 10 clinical programs is far too few. Best not to make sweeping generalizations when giving advice.

lead poisoning

Okay, I've got to stop rereading my applications and noticing all these tiny little mistakes. Seriously. The problem is that I was in a severe car accident the day before deadlines, so I ended up submitting some of them, quite literally, from the hospital while half-drugged on morphine. Wasn't able to check over quite as well as I'd have liked. Moral of this story? Submit early. You never know what will happen at the last second.