beegee529

Every program I looked into (in Social Psych) required that you have at least a 600 in each section just to apply for the PhD program. I'm not sure if there are lower ranking programs that have less stringest requirements. But given that you want to go for the PhD, I'd recommend taking the GRE again.

I would not take a lack of a response to your email as a sign that they are not interested in you. Personally I never got a response from my potential advisor at Columbia. I filed an application, but figured there was little chance that I would get in given that I never heard back. I ended up getting an interview at which my potential advisor seemed particularly interested in me over the other applicants for his lab and I ultimately got accepted. Professors get SO many emails that I think a lot of times they end up forgetting to respond to an email if they don't respond as soon as they read it. The professor at Columbia even mentioned the email when I got the interview and didn't seem to realize that he had never responded to me.

Did you guys get your housing assignments? I got a townhouse in Weyburn (was hoping for a single, but whatever). Any idea when we'll find out about roommates? I've been out of college and living in my own one-bedroom since, so going back to living in university housing with a random roommate is going to be a huge transition.

I know a lot of people have been posting "can I work while in school" questions but I'm curious about my particular situation. Since graduating in '07 I've been doing research during the day and paying the bills by working as a bartender. I never planned to work while in school because a part-time job on top of graduate school seems like a ridiculous amount of work. But the thing about the bartending industry is that it's very doable to get a job where you only work one shift a week (say every Saturday night) and I've heard that bartenders at clubs in LA (where I'll be going to grad school) can make $1000 on a weekend night. I wouldn't take a job if I were only going to make a few bucks an hour, but it seems worth it to more than double my stipend for one night of work a week. Do you think I would totally burn myself out? And would most programs even allow this?

I graduated in '07 so I've been anxiously waiting around to start grad school since June. This year I've been serving as a research assistant at my alma mater, but I doubt I'll have any research to do over the summer. So the plan is to get as many shifts as possible at my "paying" job: working as a bartender at a busy sportsbar, and hoarding the cash so I can survive in LA on a graduate stiped.

Do you guys know when we'll hear about Weyburn? My department (social psych) has a bunch of guaranteed spots and I put my request in in March so I can't imagine I won't get a spot. I'm just curious when we'll find out for sure and when we'll find out if we got a studio or a 2 bedroom. Also, I didn't even bother to put down a back-up building...do you think this was a bad idea? The current grad students said it's a 2 year waitlist for current students to get into the other buildings, so I didn't see any reason to list any of these.

UCLA's social psych PhD program!!

No news is bad news at this point. I found out I got an interview at Stanford in mid-January. FYI, they only invited six of us for three spots.

I'm going to be going to UCLA in the fall to get my PhD in social psychology. Are you guys going to try to do Weyburn Terrace? I really wanted to get my own apartment for the first year and then get an apartment with roommates that I actually know for the subsequent years (instead of living with a total stranger in Weyburn). But since it was going to cost me $1500/month for a studio, I decided I couldn't really pass up the $900 including utilities thing at Weyburn.

I was in a somewhat similar situation. I had an interview scheduled at my safety school. But once I got into my two top chocies and got interviews at a few others I would strongly consider, I realized going to the interview at the safety school would be a total waste of everyone's time, even though there wasn't a scheduling conflict. My mentor from my undergrad institution said that the best thing to do for everyone was to cancel on the safety school. I sent an email to the professor I was to interview with at the safety school that went like this (my mentor looked over it and said it was just right): Dear Dr. XXXXX, Since I last spoke with you I found out that I've been accepted with funding at my two top choice programs. Given this new information, I think there is a slim chance that I would attend XXXXXXX. In the interest of not wasting your time and the program's resources, I think it would be best if I did not come out for an interview. I feel badly about having to cancel on you last minute, but I want to be fair to you, the program, and the other applicants. If there were any costs associated with my visit, I would be happy to cover them. I was very much looking forward to meeting you, and I hope that I will have the opportunity to do so in the future. Best, XXXXXX The professor emailed me back thanking me for letting him know and wishing me the best of luck. My safety school was not going to cover the cost of the flight, so I didn't have to worry about them recouping any money. But in your case I would STRONGLY suggest that you find a way to pay them back for the flight/hotels/whatever costs they were going to incur on your behalf. You will eventually run into these professors at some point in your career and you don't want to start your graduate career off by having already made a negative impression on people in your field. With regards to the school you want to attend, I wouldn't worry about what they think of your sudden ability to attend. Just tell them that you were able to move things around in order to attend; they won't care about the details. Best of luck to you!

I don't feel like I should brag to my friends about my admissions results, so I'm going to take this opportunity to do it to strangers...I just found out my funding package for Yale's social psych PhD program and I am so ridiculously excited! Full tuition, and $25,000 stipend for 5 years. The only work requirement is serving as a TA for 9 units (3-4 classes) between my second and fourth years. I can't believe I got such a good package at such a good program!! Ok, done bragging now.

I've been fortunate enough to have a number of invitations for interviews and recruitment weekends so far for social psych PhD programs (thank goodness!). So here's the question: what is the appropriate attire for these visits? I assume that one should wear a suit for an interview, but how about meetings with potential advisors at schools to which you've already been accepted? How about social events? I don't want to go underdressed, but I also don't want to be that one annoying person that is wearing a suit when everyone else is in business casual or jeans. Thanks!

I found out early this week that I got an interview at Stanford for their social psychology PhD program. And now begins the process of trying to prepare/not freak out about the interview. I briefly saw something on one of these boards about some interview weekends existing mainly to make sure that you are as good in person as you are on paper. Is that true? Out of 100+ applicants, Stanford is only interviewing 6 students, it's a whole weekend with social events etc., and they are reimbursing us for our travel costs. Do you guys think this is the usual case where 50% of the interviewees will get accepted, or are we probably in if we don't blow it?

I've already started hearing from a couple of social psych PhD programs. I got a call a couple of weeks ago from the director of grad admissions for social psych at UCLA saying that I was going to be accepted. Now I'm just waiting for the official notification, because I'm terrified it's going to turn out not to be real or they are going to change their minds. I also found out on Sunday that I got an interview at Stanford. Apparently they got 100+ applicants and are only interviewing 6 of us. I should be jumping for joy but unfortunately the Stanford interview is the same weekend as the UCLA recruitment weekend. I talked to the guy at Stanford about splitting my time between the two schools for the weekend and he said that would be fine and to let him know when I had heard from the people at UCLA about their schedule so we could coordinate. But I'm afraid to contact anyone at UCLA until I get official word. Would it be presumptuous to email the guy from UCLA? His words on the phone were "we haven't finished reviewing everyone but in a couple of weeks we will notify the people who have been admitted and you will be on that list. We haven't notified other students yet, but since I'm the director of graduate admissions I can do what I want so I decided to call you. So mark your calendar for the weekend of February 22-23 because that will be the recruitment weekend."