newpsyche

Hi there, friends! I'm currently juggling between offers and can't help but begin to feel worried about stipend amounts between schools. They are incredibly low, even in California schools where the cost of living is quite high. A few examples can be found in any UC school, where a stipend of about $17,000 or $18,000 per nine months is expected to be enough. Of course, summer work is almost guaranteed...but is this possible? I'm the most frugal person I know and spend money only on necessities, but even so, I'm worried about this. I currently live on the east coast, so moving expenses would have to be taken into account. Does anyone have any suggestions or first-hand experience with these dilemmas?

Can we re-open this thread, please? If there are any current UCSB grad students, is parking available on-campus? Could we get by without a car? Where are the best places to live? I'd like my own place (no housemates) with a pet cat... And back to the car topic, I currently live in N.C. If l should bring my car, would it be best to drive it cross-country and make an adventure out of it?

Hello, all! Is it safe to assume that all Duke, UCLA, and UVA interview offers have been extended for nonclinical psychology?

Has anyone heard from UC Berkeley?

Oregon is now extending interviews!

I think the "big week" is either the next one or the one after. UCSB (Social Psychology) is starting to extend interviews and acceptances--I was asked to an interview Thursday and was accepted on the spot Friday. UNC-CH (Social) is also offering interviews now. Best of luck to all!!

Mid-January sounds like the norm indeed...so why am I so jumpy about my Inbox? This is terrifying!

Thanks to all for the responses! Yes, I think I was a bit vague in my question--my Tweets are followed by my parents, my priests, etc. and I'm Facebook friends with my parents, priests, professors, honors advisor, etc. This is nothing crazy, just a mention every here and there of, say, wine. I think it's definitely true that there's a wide spectrum of what is and is not acceptable to reveal in social networking profiles, so I agree with all of you in some way or other. Thank you again!

Hi, friends! I have a question related to admissions and social networking. For those of us who are 21+, should we be worried about having hints about alcohol on our Tweets or Facebooks? My Tweets are unprotected and every once in a while there might be a small mention of alcohol, but nothing crazy. Should I be worried that a professor or admissions committee member will view that negatively? Again, I'm of legal age. Many have said that committees want to see that you're "normal"...

Hi there, Blue Camel! Ugh, they say something dreadful like 3-4 weeks, but it actually takes about 3-4 business days. (: They typically send them electronically.

I'm actually going to disagree with you there--I'm just a 21-year-old undergraduate and don't know a single other person in the undergraduate major who has a publication, and only a handful with (school-wide) presentations. I'll have two presentations under my belt by the time I graduate. But the idea of having 5 publications at my age? I've also been conducting research since I was a sophomore, have collected my own data and ran my own IRB-approved studies, am CITI certified for human research...that has to mean something. I know I'll be up against some 30-year-old returning students in the applicant pool, but we have to be realistic here.

Yet another fantastic response! Thank you, @coachrjc--and I think the same ideas cross over between study areas, or have a good feeling that they do.

@Behavioral--that is a fantastic response. Very truthful, very well-rounded. Thank you!

@Behavioral--whew! I'm glad Cornell backed off to $95, then! Mine actually could have been more--Iowa granted me a free application and three of my GRE reports ($23 each) were sent for free while taking the GRE. Three schools also didn't require official transcripts ($9.25 each). It could have been worse...but it hurts my wallet enough as it is. ): I'm applying to Dr. Srivastava and/or Dr. Hodges at UO. I had no idea the whole flight wasn't paid for! Oh dear...that's going to hurt just as badly.

Hi, friends! I've been browsing through many psych-related forums and am growing increasingly nervous about my own applications. Here's a bit of background: Year: undergraduate senior Concentrations: B.A. Psychology, B.A. Spanish, Information Systems Minor GPA: 3.944 cumulative, 4.00 junior/senior, 4.00 psychology Phi Beta Kappa GRE: 610V, 740Q, 5.5A, 730psych Letters of recommendation: from two program directors (one Quant, one Clinical) and one associate director of undergraduate studies, all of whom I've known for 2 to 3 years and basically consider aunts and uncles--we're Facebook friends, we text each other, we play Angry Birds together, etc. Job history: full-time H.R., Legal, and IT Assistant at a federal law firm for the past 2.5 years (and still working there during breaks) and contracted data analyst (see below) Research experience: 1 semester of Quant (SPSS, SAS, Mplus working with multiple regression analyses of latent trajectory models), 2 semesters of Clinical (data analysis, coding, independent research, CITI training), summer internship at a substance abuse treatment center as a (later contracted/paid) treatment outcomes data analyst I'm also a Carolina Research Scholar, which means I've taken a certain number of interdisciplinary courses that require research. To finalize becoming a scholar, I'll be presenting in at least two conferences in April once I defend my honors thesis in late March. The problem here is that although I have a number of nationwide publications and one international publication, these are either fictional or nonfictional--that is, they're completely unrelated to psychology. As of now, I haven't presented at a conference or published an article. SO. The point of this is that now I'm terrified that because I don't have this experience as of right now--and I'm almost finished applying to all 11 schools--I have a substantially smaller likelihood of being accepted anywhere. What are your thoughts? Do I still stand a chance?

@lewin00--hah! That made me smile. Dr. Payne has such a reputation around Davie Hall--he's passionate about what he teaches, that's for sure. @lox26--UNC is around the 20th top social psych school. Not #3 like UCLA or #8 like UC Berkeley, but still a good position... Thank you all for your helpful replies! I'll keep this in mind. Definitely applying to UNC, but we'll see what happens...

No no no, Jellybean24--don't throw them in the recycling bin! I know it's difficult for all of us now that we're nearing the "wait phase", but just imagine going through these materials--particularly our personal statements--in two, four, ten years! It will make us smile and reconsider all that we'll have done by then. You will be so proud. I'm in the same boat as many of you...I've submitted 5 and am about to submit my last 6 (total of 11). I'm so terrified that I'll press "Submit and Pay" and then find a dozen things terribly wrong with my applications. When I say "terrified", I mean "definitely worthy of nightmares".

Whew, thank you @cunninlynguist! That's precisely what I was hoping someone in this forum would say--I've submitted 5 and am holding on to the last 6 applications simply out of fear...what if I feel like I need to change something in the next few weeks? But at this point I just don't see what else can be changed. Gosh, though...we're in for so much wait time.

So exciting! I've just submitted Arizona State, U Oregon, WUSTL, U Iowa, and Duke. I'm finished with Cornell, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UNC-Chapel Hill, and UVA but have yet to actually press the 'submit and pay' button. Has anyone taken the time to total up application costs? Taking into account app fees, GRE score reports, transcripts, postage (for the few schools still using snail mail...I had two) I'm at $1,331.77. If anyone has any questions about UNC-Chapel Hill I'd be glad to answer them!

Hi, friends! Would it be a bad thing to get my PhD in Social Psychology from the same university from which I got my Bachelor's? It's a great university in rankings, but again--it would be the same one. What are your thoughts?