stereopticons

I tend to agree more with BrianM, though maybe not as vehemently. There are substantial differences in the way you study for and take a test for a class compared to the way you study for and take a standardized test. They are testing different things. The GRE is not an accurate representation of how you will perform on tests in class, your studying abilities, or coping style. I understand the general point of the GRE; admissions committees need something "standardized" on which to base the first round of admission decisions. Once you get past that, the emphasis is more on what I consider to be more relevant aspects of your application, like research experience.

Obviously, the system is not perfect. Most everyone hates the test (naturally). Many people who would probably do very well in grad school do poorly on the test, even if they study extensively, and yes, even if they are excellent test takers in class.

Anyway, my advice to the OP is that yes, it probably is worth the time and money to invest in a class. Whatever you did last time for studying obviously worked, but you need just a little more. I know that sometimes adcoms frown on people taking the GREs too many times, but with a clinical program, you'll need them to be higher to even get past the first stage of decisions.

This. No one likes to interact with someone who goes in feeling superior without any information to base it on (are you older? I don't understand how you can say before you even meet these people that you know more and have more life experience). "Unempathetic" is way, way different than being a jerk who thinks he/she is better, knows more, etc, etc, etc. No one is asking you to become BFFs with every grad student in the department, but you really have to be friendly, nice and polite.

Uhhh YES.  My department will ask if we had particularly strong feelings (good or bad) about the applicants.  Faculty have never accepted someone that one of us has said was unfriendly/rude/arrogant/competitive/non-appreciative of the opportunity to interview in our department. 
 
The grad students end up seeing the applicants a lot more than the faculty, and you wouldn't believe how many applicants BLOW IT by saying something in front of a grad student that they just should NOT have.  Go in with the attitude you have and you will not be admitted into my department--we really do not want to work with someone who thinks they know more and have more life experiences than us--you don't even know anything about these grad students and this is how you view them!?  And even if you DO know more and have more (notice, not better) life experience, does this mean you cannot be friendly, polite, and interact with them in a professional way??  That kind of attitude would surely be communicated back to the faculty, the faculty whose loyalty is to the current students, who put their trust in the current students assessment of your character. 
 
How about you just act like a nice, happy, normal person who is appreciative of the opportunity to meet with current students at the place you might live the next 5-8 years?  Also these are the people who you will see more than anyone else for those years, so how about you try just being nice to them and maybe make a friend?

I just called NYU and learned that the social area has not yet invited people. Might be interesting to some of us.

Because there was some discussion on the interview thread about whether that was the right place for PM requests, I thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread.  Here's a place to put your "Would the person who heard from ____ school please PM me your POI?" requests.  I would suggest that you include some information to help people know that you are talking to them, such as the date the results were posted.

Ha, at least you heard from UIUC. They still have yet to inform me of my rejection from last year! But focus on the interview and don't let the rejection bring you down!

Neither of the schools I asked about have been posted here.

Ha, at least you heard from UIUC. They still have yet to inform me of my rejection from last year! But focus on the interview and don't let the rejection bring you down!

It depends on the professor whether they like it or not, but I think it's a good idea because even if THEY don't remember you (and sometimes they do!), you remember how the interaction went and that can give you some information about whether or not you should apply to the school.

It depends on the professor whether they like it or not, but I think it's a good idea because even if THEY don't remember you (and sometimes they do!), you remember how the interaction went and that can give you some information about whether or not you should apply to the school.

Careful. Don't ask for anything you can find online (including psycinfo) or you'll look lazy, dumb, or inconsiderate.

A lot of places have a PhD in Experimental with a specialization in whatever field you choose (developmental, social, cognitive, etc.), which is usually separate from the Clinical PhD. I don't think the programs like that and the ones that are specifically PhD in Cognitive, etc. really have any substantial differences. It seems to have more to do with how the program and the department is organized. It probably doesn't matter much--I suspect you'll be doing the same work and same research regardless.

A lot of places have a PhD in Experimental with a specialization in whatever field you choose (developmental, social, cognitive, etc.), which is usually separate from the Clinical PhD. I don't think the programs like that and the ones that are specifically PhD in Cognitive, etc. really have any substantial differences. It seems to have more to do with how the program and the department is organized. It probably doesn't matter much--I suspect you'll be doing the same work and same research regardless.

The problem with low GREs is that they might cause people to question the rigor of your undergraduate program. It might be that you are a "poor test taker," but presumably you had to pass many tests during your undergraduate career, and you should have learned how to cope with the stress or whatever your issues were. The GRE is a test you can study for, so perhaps you don't know how to focus your studying appropriately. This might also be concerning to admissions committees. In other words, it is worth the effort to make sure you achieve acceptable GRE scores. They do not need to be perfect, but they should be very close to the average scores for the programs you hope to get into. According to data published by the school, the students in my program had (old scoring) totals above 1400. I don't know if the program selected for high scores, or if all applicants were in the same range, but why give them an easy way to eliminate you?

Ok, not little

All too often people post here asking what their chances are at this and that school. I completetly understand their desire to know the answer. However, I also understand why some other people get somewhat annoyed by this question. Indeed, it is very hard to tell what somebody's chances are at certain schools, even if you know their stats and other details like a number of publications they have. That is why I decided to write this post. I will explain how, in my opinion, one can estimate one's chances and choose programs correctly. I hope that other people experienced in application process will correct me if I am wrong and add their advice. And may be, if moderators consider this post useful, they will be able to make it always stay on top of this board - if it is possible on this forum.

First of all, if you want to know whether your stats (GRE, GPA, TOEFL score) are good enough for you to be accepted to certain schools - there is one easy way to find the answer. Most schools post stats of students they have accepted, like on this page here. So try to find this info on websites of schools you are planning to apply to and if you can't find it, ask graduate secretaries/coordanators if such a page exists and if not, where you can find those stats. Remember that if your stats are low but not abysmal, that does not mean that your chances are low. It does not (always) go like - lower the grades, lower the chances (unless they are above some bare minimum) and vice versa. Because...

Second of all, even with the best stats, numerous publications, brilliant letters of reference, etc. you may not be accepted to a school if you have not chosen a program wisely. Because the most important thing in this game is fit. If a program thinks they are a bad fit for you, they will not admit you, however wonderful your application is. So you should apply only to schools that fit well your research interests and experience. How can you find schools with a good fit? First, of course, you schould know what your research interests are. If you know that, visit as many websites of programs in your field as you can find - and read about them, very carefully. Where can you find a list of programs? Well, browse the internet. When I was applying last year, I came across a biiiiiig list of programs in my field (it was not a ranking, just a list) and I spent a lot of time just going through all these program's websites. If you don't find such a list, just find some rankings. Not in order to find out what programs are the best in your field (many people don't believe in rankings anyway) but just to see what programs are out there. So, you read about the programs on their websites. From the way these programs are described you should get an idea if you would be interested in studying there or not. When I was choosing programs to apply to, I first used the list that I had found to make a shorter list of programs with a very general fit. Then, as I knew that I would not be able to attent a program without funding, I looked through this new shorter list looking for programs that were offering funding. As you can imagine, the list became even shorter after that Then I started to read about faculty in the programs from the last list, looking for professors who could potentially become my advisors. Then I contacted these professors, telling them about my research project, asking about their opinion. When some replied and I saw that they liked my ideas, I asked them if they would be taking graduate students next year. In the end I had only 5 programs left and I applied to all of them.

About contacting professors. As far as I understand, you can do that in all fields, except - for some mysterious reason! - English. (Here I ask other experienced forumers to correct me if I am wrong.)
BUT: If a professor is interested or even very very interested, that in no way guarantees that you will be accepted to this program because there are many other factors at play during the application process (most important of them being funding and faculty politics). But of course having a professor in a program who has expressed interest in working with you is a very good sign. It is definetely better than having no such professor. If you find a profesoor who is willing to take you as a graduate student but you are unsure about your stats, you can ask them about that. But of course don't ask it in the first letter to them!!! Only when you see that they are interested (and friendly).

Finally, I want to say, that all I have told above is based on my experience and it helped me - I was accepted to a school with a great fit (which is supported by the fact that they decided to give me a nice fellowship). May be there are other ways to choose programs and estimate your chances with them. May be in other fields (I am in social sciences) rules are different. I hope that others will correct me or pitch in some ideas based on their own experience with application process.

Good luck!

As I was reading this, I kept waiting for you to get to some massive pro for IIT, but it never came. So the answer is no. Sure, it'd be nice to live somewhere cool like Chicago, but that's not what you're going to grad school for and is certainly not worth a difference of $80,000 plus cost of living. You sound happy with the Louisiana program. Stick with that.

And I'll just add to this that people should stop being so concerned with judging others on their grad school choices and focus on their own lives.

As an undergrad, I had three conference presentations and one in prep manuscript. Leaving my MA program, I have 1 officially published, 2 revise and resubmits, 1 under review and a whole bunch in prep, including two first author papers. I also have 7 or 8 conference presentations. I applied to 10 schools and did not get in to any (assuming at this point). Clearly, publications are not everything.

A big problem in social psych is that researchers have a tendency to publish their results in journals and leave it at that, so that the only people who consume the research are other researchers. There are a lot of findings in social psych that could have applications in policy and education, they just never get there. Part of the reason I want to go in to social psych is to try to change this.

A big problem in social psych is that researchers have a tendency to publish their results in journals and leave it at that, so that the only people who consume the research are other researchers. There are a lot of findings in social psych that could have applications in policy and education, they just never get there. Part of the reason I want to go in to social psych is to try to change this.

This is a really good point. My advisor told me about how her PhD advisor moved to a different school partway through her program and there wasn't really anyone else she wanted to work with, so I made the number of people at the school that I wanted to work with part of my rating system. I also included research interests, goals of the program (does everyone go in to academia? what is the program designed to prepare you for?), general impression, location, cost of living, and crime.

I imagine a better way might be to look at some articles that are about what you're interested in and find those people. That way, you can specifically look for people in your area of interest without having to go through every faculty members' profile.